<p>Got into HKUST with an 80k scholarship!!</p>
<p>Still no word from HKU on finances…this is getting so late</p>
<p>Btw, BEng in Electronics Engineering…and yet another dilemma presents itself. Offer is almost non conditional, but scholarship is…so HARD to decide what to choose and what not to…</p>
<p>Question: How much will be my expected finances in case I choose UST’s 80k scholarship?</p>
<p>hk2009- hi thanks for your input, oh i know US unis are good but i really want to experience new culture. HKU is a good university and I have never lived abroad before. and I have the chance to learn new languages and immerse myself in new culture while getting a really reasonable priced education =D im not a mainlander, im from the US actually… and a lot of ppl think its really cool that im going to HK but also crazy. =P i think i would like to live in HK, singapore, or some oriental or deeply cultured area when i am older so thats also why i want to go.</p>
<p>lol, thegrand, my dad was joking(actually i think he was serious now that i think about it) that they wouldnt process my student visa because of the swine flu outbreak over here. luckily, my state has no confirmed cases, i think…<em>knocks on wood</em>…i hope they have a vaccine soon, but idk ppl are already making swine flu jokes in my school…screaming swine 09 at track practice. too soon dont you think? jk =P </p>
<p>but quincykid i was actually a tad worried about it too, because ppl are so close there, and the SARS thing, but its not enough to keep me from going…=P and okay i am getting reallllly nervous for my physics final! i hope i dont have to take it in HK, i strongly dislike physics class! lol, even tho my teacher is very nice and fair, not my thing =P.</p>
<p>congratulations flibb! thats awesome, maybe if you are bold enough to tell HKU they will match it! just kidding =P</p>
<p>Flipp,</p>
<p>In my generation Elec Engineering was very good at HKU. I don’t know how it compares with HKUST recently. </p>
<p>HKU nowadays is still able to get a lion share of the good HK students in terms of public exam. In terms of scholarship, sure HKU will not be so generous as HKUST.</p>
<p>We people scare no H1N1, especially the origin is from the US. Last time HK was hardest hit by SARS in 2003 because China covered up the spread of the disease until very late.</p>
<p>@hk2009: Thanks for the info. Actually I am not worried most about schoarships at HKU as well, because they offer students from my country (Pakistan) great scholarships via a special program, so I think they are pretty generous too. What worries me is that if I choose HK Us, I have to forfeit admissions to other places, which means that if I don’t qualify for their conditional offer for scholarship, I am basically stranded and will be forced to waste w year. It is really risky to do so…so I am confused as to what to decide…</p>
<p>I lived in Beijing from 2004 till 2007, and there are no worries about SARS there, as the preventive measures were great. I don’t think HK will do a poor job with H1N1, expecially cuz the disease is originating from US/Mexico and not the orient.</p>
<p>@thegrand: Haha I guess I should decide based on what Uni attracts lesser US students, H1N1 is scary:P jk</p>
<p>@Michelleger: thanks, I think my HKU scholarship letter is lost somewhere in the mail…of all things… LOST!! =D I think I’ll get it in about two days…lets see what happens…I have to ‘Liase’ with the UST admissions office about the conditions of scholarship now…I am praying hard that I get to attend HK unis, it has just become a fascination, expecially with the many interesting people coming to this place!</p>
<p>@flibb: You just met your 1st coursemate niahahaha… I am pretty tensed up for hku interview hope I at least get admission offer.</p>
<p>@dqbonafide: Haha, don’t worry man, don’t fret. HKU will definitely offer you a place! Which makes me feel guilty for not reading your previous post with all the hype 
sorry for not replying earlier. I’ve had a successful HKU Engg interview so I think I can help :)</p>
<p>The BEng interview will be fairly simply. Two professors with accents less funnier than those of UST staff members call you up. Don’t worry if they’re from completely different majors from those you intend to pursue (e.g., Industrial engineering for me while I was thinking of Electronics). It will be no different from the UST one which I am assuming you already have had. They’ll ask you things like:</p>
<p>-tell us about yourself
-have you been to HK before?
-how do you see HK as a place to study
-Why do you wanna study in HK
-Why Engg
-What are your expected grades
-What extra curricular activities are you involved in?
-What sort of engineering are you more inclined towards pursuing
-Can you finance studies? I guess they asked me this because I applied for scholarships…</p>
<p>Something interesting happened during the interview. I told them the truth, that I wasn’t even sure what sort of engineering i want to do. over the phone, I got the feeling he was waiting for me to say that, for he started off saying ‘I am sure you will be very excited to know that HKU allows students to experiment with different courses for some time after which they can choose which ever engineering they want to take…and more information’ When I showed more interest about this he seemed to be really happy…</p>
<p>Point is, show LOTS of interest, e.g. by telling how you’ve researched HKU, and what you like about it. If he provides info on something, say something in return which shows you’re interested, instead of something like ‘heh, okay’ 
remember to be Very confident YET polite. They really seem to like that. </p>
<p>Finally they’ll ask you if u’ve applied to other unis in HK. Remember that you are in an enviable position, so be honest and tell them that you’ve been accepted to UST for Electronics Engineering. Understandably, after that they’ll ask (like they did with me) which one you’d choose if offered places at both. Don’t just tell them you’d choose HKU, tell them WHY you would like HKU better (e.g. more liberal education, not solely concentrated on sciences, any other reasons why you like HKU more…)</p>
<p>That is all, just don’t be scared and be natural, and in time, you’ll get your offer !</p>
<p>@hk2009: you said that hku is similar to second tier school in US. Can you compare hku to a school in US?</p>
<p>Hey guys the UST website says that the living cost would be HK $ 4000 a month. I think its a bit too high. Anybody with experience on how much living expenses would cost in Hong Kong?</p>
<p>@Flibb if u choose HKUST then hey you’ve just met your course mate. I got an 80k scholarship too and i am gonna do BEng Electronics Engineering.</p>
<p>I think my question is similar to the question you asked</p>
<p>“Question: How much will be my expected finances in case I choose UST’s 80k scholarship?”</p>
<p>Thanks for all your input about the H1NI Swine flu, lets just hope that the situation wouldn’t get worse.
By the way, for HKUST students, I just confirmed with the officer in Hkust about the orientation date. This is what he wrote :</p>
<p>Please note that orientation starts from August 24, and
check-in for international students is available from August 23.</p>
<p>does check-in means checking in to the dorms? what about people who have their own accommodation?</p>
<p>A few days later, I lost track of when I first posted a message. </p>
<p>Anyway, have you guys applied for the visa? I sent the application some weeks ago, which would be routed via HKUST. The correspondent, Mr Bernard Chan, informed me that they would send the student package for me to read about matriculation. But, I have yet to receive anything, so I really do not know when to buy the plane ticket, pack my things, or go for health check( Is it essential?).</p>
<p>Also, any of you thought of joing the extracurricular activities? I am thinking of HKUST’s Philharmonic. I have always wanted to play in a Western Orchestra.</p>
<p>@spillcanvas: I did face the quandary of whether to choose BBA, BSc or even the sub-programmes in the BSc. I used to be very pragmatic: business, engineering, chemistry or molecular biochemistry are most relevant to the world, and have good prospects. But, I think the best thing for me now is to pursue my passion. I chose Biology since I know roughly that I love to observe life and diversity and that the field is broad enough to allow me to experience the varied sub-fields in Biology. I can better define over the years which aspects of Biology - developmental, marine, neuro or plant biology - I love most. Only then will I choose to major in one of these. </p>
<p>For now, I reckon I will want to do biological research - just purely indulge in biology! That is what I always long to do, anyway. Haha, my parents are okay with the choice I made even though they have some reservations about job prospects. I cannot actually blame them; they are just more realistic than I am:D Well, who cares? I like lab work!</p>
<p>Oh, guys and girls who are choosing HKUST, may I know which countries are you all representing? Just curious about the would-be diversity in HKUST I am half Thai-Hong Kong. But, I have been educated in Singapore for most of my secondary school years and the A levels.</p>
<p>*nickyyyyyy i am from singapore too! i’m half sing-half hongkong. glad to know someone from my country gg to hkust. anyway, my correspondent also mentioned about the student package. she says that i will receive it this month. i got the same queries too. i am waiting for the package to come so i can book my air ticket and settle some personal stuff. but i guess we got to be patient on that. </p>
<p>and i met Mr Bernard Chan the time i went to visit ust. he studied in singapore too! a very nice person. he’s one of the reasons why i applied for ust. hahaha.</p>
<p>@Fridayevening: That is great! Haha, we sort of are in the same boat, and adrift…
I did go for the uni-tour when I received the offer. Yeah, Bernard Chan was from ACJC and CUHK. </p>
<p>Anyway, when I told Singaporean peeps about my choosing HKUST, they were telling me that I am mad and that Hong Kong universities use Cantonese as the language of instruction. What a narrow vision --’ </p>
<p>Well, I did not have much choice to contemplate to begin with since HKUST’s deadline of acceptance was May 4 when NUS’s offer came like a week later on May 9! I guess the ranks of NUS (30th) and HKUST (39th) do not differ very much; they are both decent. Plus, HKUST is relatively newer; few universities, which have been founded for barely two decades, rise to such standing. Yep, those are why I pick HKUST.</p>
<p>I skimmed through some pre-arrival information and found this part where they mention that all students who have not done Hong Kong Year 12 Mathematics or equivalent are supposed to take their pre-test. Do we fall under this category? I am trying to convince myself that our H2 syllabus for the A levels more than cover for this.</p>
<p>Good to know someone from Singapore are going there too - I thought I was the only one.
</p>
<p>PS: I presume you are a girl since you are not deferring entry to HKUST due to NS?</p>
<p>hahaha i am a guy. i gg to ord in july. what about you?</p>
<p>i’m not too sure about the mathematics part. my correspondent at ust didnt mention this to me. i did take statistics and calculus during poly though.</p>
<p>Woops! HA! Wrong guess. So you just graduated from a polytechnique and applied to HKUST right away or planned to defer entry? LOL. I am confused now. For my case, I don’t need to go NS since I am holding Thai and Hong Kong passports. ;P</p>
<p>nope i graduated in 2007. i applied late last year. i gg to finish my service next month. so just enough time to head over to hk. =)</p>
<p>So here is the diversity line up…according to this thread we’re going to have people from:</p>
<p>Thailand
Singapore
USA
Hong Kong
Cameroon
Pakistan</p>
<p>forgive me if I missed something :)</p>
<p>@zax: wow, I’ve met two classmates already! interesting! Electronics engineering is most popular I think</p>
<p>so how cut throat is the competition at UST/HKU for engineering itself? I mean, aren’t we up against like the biggest nerds from all of HK, Mainland China and perhaps Taiwan? Wonder what we’ll have to do to stick out academically…and how that will affect grad school admissions…</p>
<p>@Flibb : There are around four Malaysians in this thread too, add in :)</p>
<p>@Nickyyyyyy : I am quite curious, how come you got two country’s passport ?</p>