Most students reach China through an agency they found on Facebook or Instagram. That model works for the agency. This page explains, plainly, how it usually works and why we built something different.
None of this is illegal, and not every agency does all of it. But it is common enough that most students we speak to have experienced at least one.
You are quoted a single figure covering everything. Tuition, accommodation, application fees, and the agency's own commission are never separated, so you cannot tell what the university actually charges or what you are paying for the service.
You state a budget and a field, and you are placed somewhere. The choice is driven by which universities pay the agency a commission, not by which suits you. Students often only learn where they are going once it is decided.
Because the price is bundled, you never see the university's published tuition. Students frequently discover afterwards that the real tuition was a fraction of what they paid, with the difference kept as commission.
This is the serious one. In the worst cases the fees a student paid are not passed on, and the student finds out at registration when the university has no record of payment — thousands of kilometres from home, with no recourse.
There is no dashboard, no record of what was submitted, and no written status. When something goes wrong the only evidence is a scroll of messages, and screenshots are not a contract.
Documents are sent to the agency and handled on your behalf. Many students never see the admission notice or JW202 with their own name until the visa appointment.
Tuition, tuition after scholarship, accommodation by room type, application fee, registration and service charges are each listed on the program page. Nothing is bundled, because bundling is how the difference gets hidden.
The full catalogue is searchable by field, teaching language, city, level, and scholarship. Nobody is promoted because they pay us. You shortlist, you compare, you decide.
We do not sit between you and the university's money. There is no scenario where you have paid and the university has not been paid, because the payment is not routed through us.
Every application has its own page with a document checklist, upload status, a status history, and written updates. You can see exactly what has been submitted and what is outstanding, at any time.
You upload your own files and they stay in your account. You can see, replace, and download them yourself.
Our guides say when a language year is a mistake, that a medical degree does not let you practise without passing your home licensing exam, and that a Chinese law degree will not qualify you at home. An agency paid per placement has no reason to tell you any of that.
Admissions offices, not a chain of brokers passing your file along and adding a margin at each step. When a university changes a deadline or asks for a document again, that reaches you from the source rather than third-hand.
| Typical social-media agency | Masar | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | One bundled figure | Every charge itemised |
| University choice | Chosen for you | Chosen by you |
| University tuition | Not disclosed | Published on every program |
| Your money | Paid to the agency | Paid to the university |
| Application record | Chat messages | Dashboard with status history |
| Your documents | Held by the agency | In your own account |
| Scholarships | Vaguely promised | Named, with the policy shown |
| Advice | Whatever closes the sale | Includes the reasons not to go |
| University contact | Through intermediaries | Direct with the admissions office |
| How many programs | The ones paying commission | The whole verified catalogue |
You will see “guaranteed admission” and “guaranteed scholarship” used as the headline offer. Treat it as a warning sign. Admission is decided by a university committee against published requirements; no intermediary controls that decision, and anyone promising otherwise is either overstating their influence or relying on you not checking. Here is what can honestly be promised instead.
Tuition, tuition after scholarship, accommodation by room type, and every university charge, itemised on the program page.
The catalogue filters on your nationality, your marks and your age against each program’s stated requirements, so you are not paying to apply somewhere that will refuse you on a rule published in advance.
University fees are paid to the university. We do not hold them, so there is no scenario where you have paid and the university has not been paid.
Your documents, application status and correspondence live in your account, not in somebody else’s chat history.
Not every agency is bad, and a reputable one earns its fee. Someone who has done this a hundred times can spot a weak application, has a relationship with an admissions office, and can chase a delayed document faster than you can. If you use one, that is fine — use this platform to check their numbers against the published costs before you pay. That alone is worth the visit.
Every program page lists what the university charges, separately, before you commit to anything.
An agency shows you the universities that pay it a commission, which is usually a shortlist of a few dozen. This catalogue carries every program we can verify — thousands of them, including the smaller and specialist universities nobody is paid to promote.
Police registration in the first 24 hours, the residence permit inside 30 days, the medical re-examination some cities require, the bank account, the SIM card. The month after you land is when most students actually need help, and it is the month most services disappear.
We operate in China, under Chinese law, with a real address and a company behind the platform. If something goes wrong there is somewhere to take it. An account name and a phone number are not the same thing, however many followers they have.
| After you arrive |
|---|
| Usually ends at the airport |
| Registration, residence permit, first month |
| If something goes wrong | An account and a phone number | A company in China, under Chinese law |
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