Hong Kong or gap year?

Hi all,
I have applied to some universities in the US but got rejected from all for some reason that I still haven’t figured out. However, I have a chance to study Computer Engineering at University of Hong Kong (HKU) with a full scholarship.

I haven’t been to Hong Kong before, but I went to a summer program in the US and I really liked the place. I did some research on HKU and most people said there is kinda divide between locals and international students as most students are from Hong Kong and China. I don’t know Cantonese and I suck at languages.

For the academics, engineering is good at HKU. It’s ranked among the top universities in Asia so I don’t think it’s a problem. I don’t know about jobs and internships.

I have always wanted to study in the US but I don’t know what to do now. I have two choices: either take a gap year and apply next year to the US again with better scores and activities, or go to HKU and enjoy not paying anything. It’s not guaranteed that I get into a university in the US next year. Can you please share your opinion?

just curious, do you have any sort of connection to HK? Just wondering why you would apply there (even though HKU is one of the best schools in the world). It actually sounds like a fantastic opportunity, if you wanted to pursue a career in Asia, especially in finance or economics. Free education is very very hard to beat, especially at a top 20 school in the world.

I missed the full scholarship part! I would take that opportunity.

Where are you native to?

Grab the full ride and get your college education.

Almost all classes are taught in English. If you want to learn Cantonese, for part of your scholarship, I’ll teach you lol.

Thanks for replying. My school counselor nominated me for the scholarship that’s how I applied. I wasn’t thinking about it before.
Also, for my future career, I hope to get a job at an IoT company. I don’t know if there are job opportunities in this field in Hong Kong or not. I know there are many companies in the US where I can get an internship while studying.

Appreciated! @ProfessorPlum168

How does an engineering degree from Hong Kong compare to one from the US? I heard that HKU graduates get amazing recognition in Hong Kong and China, but what about internationally?

Where are a a citizen/permanent resident of?

I’m Egyptian

Can you even afford any American schools?

Computer Engineering at the University of Hong Kong on a full scholarship is an incredible opportunity.

The teaching language at the University of Hong Kong is English.

I studied at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in the New Territories a long time ago. Teaching language there was Cantonese, but my study abroad program was taught in English. All of the Chinese students from Hong Kong spoke English.

The University of Hong Kong is the easy choice–especially when you consider that you have been offered a full scholarship & that you have no other option.

Getting admitted to CE in the US is very competitive.

I’m guessing you are an LPC student? No need to say here. If so, a family member went there recently, and I’m very familiar with the school and college admissions process there. The great news is that HKU is a fantastic school and the price is right.

If not a LPC student, you can stop reading.

In terms of US schools, making that LPC assumption, that often works out well for LPC students, AND I thought there were some surprising negative results. It can be hard from a distance–geographic and cultural–to gauge schools and compatibility and what might really pop on an application for that school. Did you have “safety” schools on your list? Schools with under a 20-40% acceptance rates will have to deny admission to a large number of fully qualified applicants. Example, one tip-top LAC told us that 70% of applicants were fully qualified, in every way, to attend the school. It accepted 14% at that time. So 4 in 5 fully qualified students were denied admission. It’s really supply and demand.

If, for example, you applied to five schools with extremely low acceptance rates, I could suggest several other excellent schools that welcome UWC students but have higher acceptance rates.

Of course, US schools will probably be at least fairly costly. How much of a factor is that for you? If a big one, what if you took advantage of the great HKU opportunity, and then did study abroad or grad school in the US? (I don’t know anything about study abroad opportunities at HKU, or for your major.)

Anyway, good luck!