<p>Hi!
I'm really having trouble deciding which school (well first off, which country) to head off to.
Here are the colleges that I've been accepted to:</p>
<p>Hong Kong University of Science and Tech - for mechanical engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign - m.e.
Georgia Tech - m.e.
Purdue - first year engineering
UC Santa Barbara - m.e.
UC San Diego - computer science
Carnegie Mellon - admitted for physics (mellon college of science), waitlisted for m.e. (carnegie institute of technology) and computer science (school of computer science)</p>
<p>Now I'm thinking mainly between HKUST and Carnegie Mellon... so where should I go??</p>
<p>HKUST provides a 3 year program for me (because I'm an IB Diploma student) and I could potentially get renewable full tuition. Now that... that's what really makes me want to go here. </p>
<p>Otherwise I'd go to Carnegie Mellon, but another problem there is I've been accepted for a physics major, which isn't quite my first choice. Also, I've been studying in China for these last 9 years and I was kinda looking forward to studying in the states...</p>
<p>I'll most likely study as a grad student too, so some suggestions have been to study in HK for my undergrad and go to the states for my grad study. I'm thinking of a master degree in m.e., maybe MBA or a dual master degree, or perhaps even a doctorate for m.e.. I'm Korean so I also have 2 years of mandatory military service, so the 3 year program in HK might really save me some time.</p>
<p>So my questions are, which school would you recommend? Would it affect my study a lot if I majored in physics instead of m.e.? Besides that, I'd also appreciate some information on the campus environments and college life these schools. Thanks!</p>
<p>It seems to me you’d rather major in something you aren’t most interested in just to go to CMU. Is there any particular reason why you’d favor that over Georgia Tech, given that it doesn’t seem like you have even visited there? GA Tech has the stongest engineering program including m.e. On the other hand, CMU isn’t that great in natural or physical sciences including physics.</p>
<p>Nono, I really don’t. That’s why I’m asking. I’m actually leaning more towards HKUST so far, so I wanted to post this to ask if Carnegie Mellon or whatever else is a better choice. I included the whole list of schools so I could get insight on those other schools too.</p>
<p>So I guess you wouldn’t so much recommend CMU for physics, right? But if I do get a spot in the computer science major (unlikely, I know), then would it be worth going? Thanks for the tip!
But yet still, I guess the bigger question I’m asking is HKUST? or colleges in the states?</p>
<p>I think it’s between HKUST or GA Tech, HKUST because of the $$ and GA Tech for its strength in engineering. Consider CMU if you do get off the CS waitlist.</p>
<p>GA Tech is also in a nice part of Atlanta. It’s no Hong Kong but it’s more urban than others on your list.</p>
<p>Are you an international student who would pay full list price at the US universities? If so, HKUST would be hard to pass up if you have free tuition there.</p>
<p>I could afford to pay full tuition at the US universities, but it would certainly save up LOTS of money if I just went to Hong Kong.
Can anyone give me some information about HKUST?
How is their education system? How is the college life there?</p>
<p>Go to the States if your family can afford it comfortably. Engineering is not a popular major in Hong Kong due to lack of career prospect in the local market. The best students prefer the most lucrative majors – medicine, law, business, actuary, etc. The most selective department at HKUST is global business, followed by sciences; engineering comes in last.</p>
<p>^Well, those medians actually put them in the top-10% of their age group. Grading in A-level is ridiculously/insanely harsh. Don’t let those Cs and Ds fool you; those guys would (easily) score above 700s on SAT I Math and SAT IIs math/physics/chemistry. As an anedote, my friend got 800 on SAT math when he was in the 10th grade but got a E on Applied Math in A-level. </p>
<p>About 30% of senior secondary students qualify for the two-year program that prepares students to take A-level. Out of those, slightly less than 50% will get into university. That already means roughly top-15% of the population, a population that regularly rank among the top cohort internationally, based on their performance in <a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/timss/index.asp[/url]”>http://nces.ed.gov/timss/index.asp</a>. So there’s really no weak student in any of HK universities, let alone HKUST, which is generally regarded as #3 in HK.</p>
<p>Those in Globall Business probably think APs/SAT II are complete joke and would likely get 800s and 5s in whatever they would have prepared for.</p>
<p>With a good degree from HKUST, your completed military service, and a year or two of work experience in your field, you will be an attractive MBA candidate. You also will be in a better position to pursue graduate work in engineering if you want to. HKUST now, grad school in the US later, is a very good plan.</p>
That may be, but you need to consider that less than 18% of the high school grads get to go to college in Hong Kong. Also consider that your future classmates are in the bottom half (if not the bottom third) of UST’s entry class.</p>
<p>Also consider this… Unless you major in computer science, none of the global companies will be recruiting engineers locally at UST. There is no local industries requiring engineering skills; perhaps in sales & marketing but then you will be competing with your b-school classmates. Of course you can go back to Korea, but there you will be competing with grads from elite engineering schools.</p>
The students sitting at HKAL already survived through HKCEE and represent roughly top-30% of their age group.<br>
HKAL is more advanced than AP. The effect of self-selection is enhanced further.
The majority in most subjects get E or below. </p>
<p>My guess is those Cs and Ds probably represent mid/upper 700s if it were translated to our SAT scale.</p>
<p>HKUST has only science, engineering and business for undergrads. Since business is more competitive, engineering admission doesn’t look competitive in comparison. But the social sciences, humanities, and others in other universities actually have lower medians. As mentioned, the caliber of the students is high and the engineering school has exchange programs with schools like Penn, Northwestern, Cornell, UC Berkeley, and GATech.</p>
<p>It doesn’t really matter whether the engineering majors are bottom half or whatever at HKUST. It’s like the people in the school of fine arts at CMU don’t worry about how bad their test scores are when compared to their roomates and hallmates majoring in engineering. </p>
<p>Job shouldn’t really be a concern here. If it doesn’t work out, there’s always a grad school in the US after only 3 years of quality education at HKUST. The OP could do one of the 1-yr MS programs at schools like Stanford or GA Tech. So for just a quarter of the cost (if he were to do undergrad in the US), he would get a BS at HKUST and MS from schools like GA Tech. </p>
<p>I am an Indian Student and I applied to US as well as Hong Kong. I am depending on scholarship to attend university. I have applied for the computer science program in both of these universities. </p>
<p>I have been admitted into Florida International University with 100% scholarship and in the honors program. I have also been admitted into HKUST and the scholarship amount will be disclosed once my final year results come out. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, I am confused about whether to go to Hong Kong or to US. There are several advantages to attending both of these colleges. I am still not sure which choice is better for me.</p>
<p>My academics are strong, but I want to know if HKUST has healthy competition between the students. In Indian colleges, students don’t generally take the courses that they are interested in taking and take them as it will yield good amount of money for them. I want to know if this is the case in Hong Kong as well. I would like to know if the students are truly passionate about the majors that they are doing as that will ensure how interested my peers will be in the course matter.</p>
<p>Also, I am worried about the dorm facilities available to the students at HKUST. I feel that the single rooms were very crammed and that disturbed me alot. Do computer science students at HKUST get proper facilities that are needed such as high speed internet, labs etc?</p>
<p>Also, how is the job scenario for computer science students at HKUST as compared to Florida International University. I don’t want to end up working in Hong Kong, though. I want to be attached with a global organisation. Will HKUST ensure this?</p>
<p>Comparing with Florida International University, how is HKUST for academics as well as extra-curricular activities?</p>
<p>I had also heard that people usually take transfers to better places within the US in order to finally complete a degree from a better place. </p>
<p>What option do you think would be better for me?</p>
<p>If you have a full scholarship, and you need that scholarship in order to afford FIU, then you shouldn’t be planning on transferring out. You won’t get that kind of aid anywhere else as a transfer student, let alone as an international transfer student. If you can afford the list of places you would apply to as a transfer student, that is a different thing. Just be certain to have excellent grades, and good recommendations so that option can stay open in case you decide to pursue it.</p>
<p>For information on HKUST, pay a visit to the International Students Forum. You can find it by going to the main page where all of the forums are listed, and scrolling down.</p>
<p>If you have not heard about your final scholarship offer from HKUST before you must commit to FIU, go ahead and commit to FIU. If you get into HKUST later on, and the aid package there is workable, you can withdraw your enrollment at FIU. You may lose any deposits that you have paid, but that is all.</p>
<p>All I know about FIU is that it is in Miami. All I know about HKUST is that it is in Hong Kong.</p>
<p>One thing that you should verify with potential employers in your country, is if they prefer one over the other. It might matter a lot where you get your degree. Or it might not.</p>
It used to be that CS was that hot majors that many people in Hong Kong will try to get in regardless of whether they are that interested in. But now the hot ones are finance/global business and acturial scieces, along with the traditionally popular medicine/law. The students are still of higher-caliber than FIU by a good margin. </p>
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<p>The dorm room is crammed because real estate is the most expensive in the entire world (it makes new york city look not too expensive). It doesn’t mean its facilities/labs are poor.</p>
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<p>Hong Kong is an international financial center; many global companies have offices there. But if you mean places like MS/Google in the US, well, it’d be pretty impossible to get a job offer there while you are physically not in the US and without visa status. You’d need to somehow be in the States to have any chance; so FIU is the better option in that regard but please note that FIU is probably not on any of those companies’ radar because it’s more like an average school in the US.</p>