HKU or HKUST

Student Lounge International Students
981

<p>^Unsurprising, because UST’s admission standard for international students is really not that selective for majority of the courses (not intending to offend anyone), and gives scholarships to international students like freebies. Competition is more evident in the more selective courses and where local students form the bulk.</p>

<p>Just another addition, which may be why UST students <em>generally</em> regard the course load as high. I can be wrong though. Nevertheless, this is part of UST’s strategy is becoming one of the more internationally reputable institution. I would imagine it would gradually become more stringent in recruiting international students once it has establish its status in the world stage.</p>

982

<p>I hear UST is otherwise known as the University of Stress and Tension - lame, I know but I’m starting to panic… I’m going to be a Global Business student so errrrrr my butt is going to be whooped by the hardcore local and mainland students. The whole graded on a curve business is quite worrying as well… how am I going to stand a chance in classes like Maths and Mandarin when I’ll be attending these classes with people who speak fluent mandarin/do maths in their sleep.</p>

<p>On a side note: have any of you seen the new Transformers movie? Why the hell is Shia LaBeouf’s dorm room so big?! If extreme anxiety and sleep deprivation doesn’t get me at UST, claustrauphobia definately will… library buddies, anyone?</p>

983

<p>There is virtually no competition because the mainland chinese students are very smart and they work very hard? And they are always the top few in class.</p>

<p>Actually scholarships are also meant to help the students. That is also why they asked us during the interview about our capability in financing our studies and how much do we have.
And that is also why hku require a separate application of scholarship if you need one.
Not every student are capable of studying overseas. Most of the mainland
chinese included. So they work very hard to retain it which explains
their exceptional good results. But I will agree that competition is less
keen in engineering because of the lack of interest on it among locals. I wouldn’t bet thats the case with Global Business or general BBA. </p>

<p>Truthfully , it doesn’t bother me at all and I will do my best when I am there. I am just waiting to see Hong Kong :D</p>

984

<p>Some of you say chinese students study alot, if they study a lot then how come there is no competition. The more the students study, more is the competition .
I think it depends on you more ,how much hardwork you can put in.</p>

<p>I heard from a few students who are studying in HKUST that competition is stiff and lot of hardwork is required(I dont know whats their definition of hard work , maybe 2 hrs a day or 8 hrs). But one professor says there is no competition and other says totally vice versa.</p>

<p>Btw you guys are going to hkust for BEng or BBA. One more thing, Is it necessary to learn chinese to work in HK.</p>

<p>How are the job prospects for an international student graduated from HKUST in HK and US? Have not got this answer clearly from anywhere and the average placement package for BEng student, isnt these basic things an international student should know? One will only leave his own country if he/she is getting something better in the other country, atleast for me these questions are important and I am looking for answers. I will pursue BEng in COMP SC.</p>

<p>Also, I know majority will be chinese sudents but on an average how many international students are there from countries whose natives don’t look like chinese ie. Indians,srilankans,pakistanis etc ?(Stupid Question).</p>

<p>Last, for an international student , BEng is for 4 years , can we get credit waivers , because i think they are going to teach basic maths and physics in 1st year which I will already know.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

985

<p>Not sure if I’ll get any answers for this but, anyone here applied to master programs at HKU or HKUST? if so, have you gotten any replies yet for September admissions? Any advices on their phone interviews… I have one scheduled tomorrow :/</p>

986

<p>niksy_nik7:
HKUST (as well as HKU) have a careers department that will guide you during the process of procuring a job after graduation. It might be with the company you interned with during your studies, or with a completely new company. Whichever it is, the university will coach you in interviewing techniques and what not. In terms of job prospects, I guess that will vary among majors… since HKU and HKUST are both well-regarded in and outside Hong Kong, I’m sure any employer would see you attending these institutions as a plus. </p>

<p>You mention universities in the US - clearly HKU and HKUST are of a completely different calibre than Wharton (my main focus is on business undergraduates) or others like it, since universities like these have a long history of supplying the top companies in the finance industry with truckloads of eager and well-educated trainees who’ve already survived in extremely harsh environments. </p>

<p>But Ivies + Stanford etc. aside, HKU and HKUST are just as competitive as any other respected university in the US. Again, you have to consider which department you’ll be studying under. HKU’s law, medicine, and architecture departments are supposed to kickass. If you get into one of those then… you’ve really proved yourself I guess. HKUST’s dual degree program (inc. Engineering? I have no idea, sorry) + BBA are supposed to be extremely competitive as well, and it’s business school (yes, for GRADUATE students but hey, the professors/knowledge/research is there) is #1 in Asia and among the top few in the world. I’m pretty sure if you’ll be studying under any of these programs, you most definitely won’t be studying among slackers. Like dqbonafide said, the local and mainland students you will meet at UST will be used to intense studying, mostly because they compete against so many other students to get in. I know for a fact that students in local schools have a considerably larger workload than students in international schools. The local school curriculum is focused more on academics whereas the international schools put equal emphasis on studies and extra-curricular activities. Which is why I’m ****tting bricks just thinking about the competition I will face…</p>

<p>Also, you can’t just pick a university because of it’s place in the rankings… Do you like HKUST? Do you like the course you will be taking? Will you enjoy life in HK? No matter how good the institution, it’s no good unless they offer a course that is right for you (and vice versa). Take IBGM at HKU for example… that course sounds so good, I think I would’ve chosen it over Global Business if it weren’t for the scholarship (maybe… I try not to think about it :P). But another BBA course is HKU might sound terrible to me. A lot of employers don’t give a toss whether you’ve majored in Business or English or Philosophy or History, they just want to see if you were able to get the most out of it, how well you coped under pressure, how much experience you have, and so on. Not the case for vocational majors like engineering, though.</p>

<p>Okay, I’ve rambled on again but my main point is that yes, job prospects are supposed to be pretty damn good for those taking one of the competitive and well known courses, but getting a job will be a lot harder that it used to be because of the crappy state the economy is in right now. It’ll be the same whether you’re in the US, UK, Australia, HK or wherever. Even before the financial meltdown, I knew loads of people who graduated from Ivy League schools and other very competitive universities who failed to find a job after they graduated… getting a job is difficult, end of story. Despite the shrinking number of jobs, I hear the I.T sector is still going strong… so it may be a completely different story for you, niksy_nik7.</p>

<p>At HKUST, 10% of the student population are international students, and there are always a whole bunch of exchange students every semester. The last time I visited, I saw about… erm 20? 30? “non-chinese looking” international students in the space of, I dunno, 10-15 minutes. A lot of the jobs available in HK require you to be able to speak both English and Cantonese. I hope hope HOPE it won’t be necessary to learn Cantonese but… I honestly can’t say. Obviously they’ll prefer it if you do. But then again, HK is the only country that speaks Cantonese so learn it if you definitely plan on working in HK in the long term.</p>

<p>If you have the right grades from your sixth form years, you might be exempt from taking the introductory courses. Because you didn’t take the Hong Kong equivalent of A-Levels (HKALEs, I think) you’ll have to check directly with the people who are in charge of course registration. Make sure you do because my maths grade definitely matched the requirement and even the dean said I didn’t have to but to e-mail the person in charge to check anyway… and I got a reply saying I had to take the maths course anyway. Ughhhh.</p>

<p>Relax, niksy_nik, it seems like you’re trying to choose between choices that are equally as good as each other. Whatever you choose to do, you can’t go wrong so don’t worry too much about it. Just give things a chance to happen. :-)</p>

<p>Supreme86: Nope, sorry… but good luck!</p>

987

<p>Thanks for your reply,
I am not that worried about competition ie. I want extreme competition as in my country , major focus is on Academics /studies. Since 1st grade I have been in the top few in my class. In 11 and 12 grade , you have to study on an average of 7-8 hrs and towards the end even more, as you have to prepare for your school exams as well as the entrance exams, and there are hell lot students giving exams.</p>

<p>and I dont think I am going to work in HK for long , only till MBA i think, most probably will work in US or in my country.</p>

988

<p>Wow I haven’t been here a long time and that is an extremely long but informative post haha.</p>

<p>@Niksy, what kind of HS program are you in? For example, IB diploma candidates can skip the foundation year and go straight into their course program.</p>

989

<p>Well I am from India , here we have class 12 board , I dont know what level of physics and maths they will teach, but i have done calculus ,coordinate geometry and algebra etc in maths , electrostatics, mechanics,optics,thermodynamics etc,
You have any idea what they will teach in the foundation year.</p>

<p>Actually ,I am not getting the best in my country, but i am getting good colleges ie. except the best, but HKUST IS better than the best in my country in ranking</p>

990

<p>@niksy : is your year12 equivalent to a GCE? I thought only non-english qualification
will require foundation studies. An extra year means an extra year expenses.
I think CompScience in hkust is very good in terms of prospect.
Microsoft, HP , HSBC , their placements are good. But you need to be
on top of everyone to land their internships.
HKUST’s extreme interest in research should be used by us.
If your an academic person, join their undergraduate research opportunity!
I feel its a good programme, giving us a chance to assist prof. in making research.
Looks nice on CVs if you are pursuing R&D.</p>

991

<p>My board’s name is CBSE .
I have no idea what its equivalent to.
dqbonafide, Do you have an foundation year in HKUST?
and yeah I can work hard to stay in the top.
Which engineering are you pursuing. You have any idea about the salaries in these companies,</p>

992

<p>Any of you guys seen any pics of the triple rooms in HKUST.</p>

<p>What type of room will you guys be staying at? </p>

<p>Pros and cons of triple/double rooms?</p>

993

<p>Guyz, I am freakd out
I don’t wanna learn contanese at all…
I want MAndarin!!
Mandarin please!</p>

994

<p>@niksy : Nop. Mine is only for 3 years thank god. I am taking electronic engineering.
I think the CSE department website has most of the details you want.</p>

995

<p>hey dqboanfide, have u done the topics i mentioned in previous post,
anyone else from hk , can u pls clarify if u have done same topics in your class 12 or 13</p>

996

<p>@niksy : Well I did everything you mentioned about math , I did alot more (matrix ,
first order/second order calculus , complex numbers, hyperbolics). Its hard to gauge
the level if you just mention calculus. I mean calculus can be a real headache.
I took further math so i might have did slighty more than average.
The normal math includes (calculus -the easier ones including trigonometric calc.<br>
diff/integration,statistics and some mechanics)</p>

<pre><code> Note : Algebra is not a topic at all right?

     I don't remember my physics and chemistry. I just gorge upon everything.
     You should ask the department instead if you have inquiries like this.
     They are the ones fastest to answer to your questions with accurate answers.

</code></pre>

997

<p>well i have done the same things u mentioned in maths,i will ask them</p>

998

<p>Your reply is real fast. I am guessing your Year 12 is equal to a GCE.</p>

999

<p>if its equivalent to GCE , then its for 3 0r 4 years</p>

1000

<p>Just my suggestion , HKUST 4 year programme is for people who studied 12 years of school.
I think you need to ask HKUST about it. And do research or ask your high school teacher about your Year-12 depth against GCE. If needed, I think you may be needed to show what you have learned in depth ( formal letter from school or something). Good luck to you.</p>