Many people now use Xiaohongshu as a search engine, and they rely heavily on it for study-abroad applications.
From preparing application materials and tackling standardized tests to selecting schools, choosing majors, and comparing offers... it seems you can find ultra-detailed step-by-step guides for everything.
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However, after reading tons of guides, people end up even more confused.
Let’s see how the toxic trends on Xiaohongshu drive applicants crazy.
I Was Discouraged from Studying Abroad on Xiaohongshu
At some point, a wave of “study-abroad discouragement” swept through Xiaohongshu. Regardless of whether they are abroad or not, self-proclaimed veterans dissuade others from studying overseas in every possible way.
All universities are to be avoided, all majors are to be discouraged, and these armchair study-abroad experts understand it better than actual international students.
Their discouraging remarks include but are not limited to:
“The pandemic has been going on so long, and people still go abroad to study?”
“Only those who can’t get into a 985/211 grad program in China go abroad.”
“Returnees are worthless; Ivy League grads are a dime a dozen.”
“International students just coast along, eating, drinking, and flaunting wealth daily.”
“Spend millions on tuition, earn a few thousand a month back home—a huge loss.”
Even actual international students, posing as “senior insiders,” will earnestly dissuade others.
Reasons for discouragement include: can’t stay there, lack of social life, harms chances for civil service exams, being mocked for a “water degree,” etc.
If you’re not absolutely clear-headed, you might have been successfully discouraged even before starting your application 😅
“Columbia is all cash cow programs, everyone is in SPS, water degrees.”
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“Graduate studies in the UK are only one year—water degrees.”
“If it’s not HYPSM, it’s all trash schools.”
It’s getting more absurd—now even Harvard has joined the “water degree” ranks.
When someone posts their application season results, the comments below are always snarky👇
Someone says their study experience was decent, and the comments immediately call them a shill❓
The hierarchy and stereotypes in study-abroad circles are everywhere.
Doing grad school at HKU? “You’ll get bullied.”
This scared HKU into opening a Xiaohongshu account overnight to debunk the rumors👇
Grad school in Canada? “LOL, UBC grads can’t find jobs at all.” Posting discouragement under a university’s official account is the real traffic magnet.
As for what the program is actually like or whether it suits you, if you ask, you won’t get any real answer.
Every major is a “bottomless pit,” and graduation means unemployment.
Media? Hard and tiring.
Art? Only for the rich.
Philosophy? Don’t even think about it.
Architecture? Not even a dog would study it.
Then be a programmer, right? Sorry, layoffs everywhere in Silicon Valley—CS is no good either.
Before you even apply, you’re already discouraged. Guess we’ll all just stay home together 😅
Xiaohongshu Is Full of Academic Gods, Ivy League Bloggers Everywhere
The “everyone is an academic god” vibe is perfectly embodied on Xiaohongshu.
People compete on credentials and then on looks, having to push from elite preschools all the way to Ivy League schools.
Every start of the semester, a parade of beauties and handsome guys flash their Harvard and MIT student IDs. If you don’t have dual enrollment, you can’t even show your face.
A program with 40 spots might show 100 admits on Xiaohongshu. It’s like the Panamera deliveries—Porsche sales say only 50,000 are sold a year, but on Xiaohongshu, 500,000 are picked up.
Harvard admits only about 20 mainland Chinese students a year, but there are probably 2,000 Harvard bloggers on Xiaohongshu.
And even if they get in, they might not go. Flashing offers is one thing, attending is another—ask and you’ll hear the education program is too “water.”
Why everyone seems to be posting the same offers? Dare we ask? Anyway, names are blurred, and everyone has their own copy of the offer.
Even more absurd: someone didn’t pay the application fee or submit the application, and Columbia still admitted them?❓
Ask and you’ll be told that the joys and sorrows of ordinary people and top students don’t intersect.
Fresh Ivy admittees have become 10-year veteran consultants. Current Ivy students have long signed with MCNs. And those who graduated years ago keep publishing books, posting, and making videos, perfectly mastering the traffic code and capitalizing on the admiration of Ivy hopefuls.
Things like “Harvard Goddess, started a billion-dollar company at 20”—who wouldn’t say “wow”? Then they’re exposed as a clone of Silicon Valley con artist Elizabeth, but question it and you get “Oh, you’re just jealous.”
Anyway, scrolling through study-abroad posts on Xiaohongshu, it’s like: first “wow,” then “❓,” and finally “interesting.”
Xiaohongshu Is Full of Traps
If you want to DIY your study-abroad application, you must follow senior students. A quick search seems to yield tons of experience-sharing posts.
But traps are everywhere. The kind seniors you hoped for? Reach out and you’ll find they’re either awkwardly pushing agencies or offering to write papers or take tests for you.
Stumble upon a post saying “Don’t use writing services” and you think you’ve seen the light. Click in and look closely—they’re instead promoting their own personal studio. Fine, it’s fate; my mistake.
Few on Xiaohongshu are genuinely answering questions; it’s just a cesspool of promotion, rivalry, and negging manipulation.
Are there hidden gem bloggers? Definitely, but you must carefully vet them. It’s normal to admire top credentials, but don’t superstitiously buy into every so-called “heartfelt advice” from self-proclaimed insiders.
Study-abroad applications are a massive undertaking; there are thousands of graduate programs, and information is truly overwhelming. Behind every offer is long-term planning and improvement, including GPA, test scores, essays, resumes, internships, research, and more. Choosing schools and majors is also a big science.
But currently, Xiaohongshu makes this information search even more complicated, straying further from its original purpose.
Don’t blindly trust information on Xiaohongshu. It’s recommended to check university official websites or consult genuinely knowledgeable seniors and professionals around you. Study-abroad applications are highly personal; the path that suits you best is the one worth taking.
With the 24Fall application season approaching, best of luck to all students!
