<p>Which one do you think has better engineering program?
I am biased because I have only 10% chance at cornell,and HKUST is less expensive,so I think HKUST is better.</p>
<p>considering most people in the US have no idea what HKUST is?</p>
<p>While China is growing in its adoption of standard engineering curricula, its graduates are still said to be lacking in rigorous analysis.</p>
<p>yea go to some other Hong Kong forums for ideas too since this is definitely going to be biased</p>
<p>I think Ive answered this before and I’d go for Cornell, but don’t worry, HKUST is pretty prestigious in Asia too</p>
<p>I studied abroad at HKUST while on exchange from Cornell engineering. HKUST is great and has a lot of prestige in asia. Comparing the teaching styles, HKUST uses more of a british system, meaning your grade is mostly based of 1 or 2 tests. I felt like HKUST was a lot less work than Cornell, but it was a lot harder to get a good grade both because of that system, and because a lot of the students there study ALL the time. (there are some of those at Cornell, but not as many). It also seems like there is less of a chance at HKUST to experience other subject areas as the curriculum is more defined. </p>
<p>It is a lot cheaper to go to HKUST. As long as you can stay in the dorms and don’t have to find your own place (which could happen, i’ve heard of international students getting put off campus), it will be less than coming to cornell. Apartments in HK are small and expensive. Also consider the costs of plane tickets…which can definitely add up. </p>
<p>I also think Cornell also offers more diversity in the things you can do outside of academics. It appeared to me that the students at HKUST get really really involved in one activity while cornell students are involved in many different activities. </p>
<p>In terms of the campuses, both are amazing, but also very different. HKUST is much smaller (all the academics are in one building) but also closer to a major city and essentially the gateway to the rest of asia. Also, a lot of students commute to school so there is less of a campus atmosphere. The weather was great when I was there, but it got incredibly hot toward the end and you’ll have to deal with Typhoon season in the fall. </p>
<p>One thing you may wish to consider is where you want to be after college. There is a lot of recruiting at Cornell for jobs all over the world, while at HKUST recruiting was less structured and also HK focused. </p>
<p>hope this helps…pm me if you have more questions.</p>
<p>vivace13: Its always good to hear a first person narrative and opinion of things! All the things you said related to cost would be vice versa for people going to Cornell from Asia. Considering it is Undergraduate Studies and quite a lot of people move onto to Postgrad, do you reckon it will still be necessary to keep in mind the job market … What I had in mind was to do my undergrad from a good uni in Asia, build some good contacts get a lot of exposure and perfect my mandarin, and then do my postgrad from an ivy league in US to get further exposure and contacts… But the postgrad uni really depends on where the job market will be in 3-4 years from now…
What course did you do ? I have also applied to Cornell havent heard back from them yet but they did not seem to encourage any student aid for International applicants… and as you said the flight cost and all :)</p>