China's top students have increasingly been applying for niche liberal arts colleges instead of Ivy League schools as they have become more aware of their interests and needs.

Among them is 17-year-old He Qixiao, who studied at Chongqing Foreign Language School. In early February he received a full four-year scholarship from New York University Abu Dhabi worth more than $300,000.

When local media reported his success story, the university in the Middle East gained a level of name recognition it did not have before among Chinese.