<p>Hello everyone,</p>
<p>I was wondering if anyone here can tell me a bit about the graduate programs at the Peking U. HSBC Business School. I am accepted into their M. Econ. program in quantitative finance and although the curriculum is not as math oriented as I had hoped for, I still like their program. I also did my research on this forum and I found that PU appears to be one of the top universities in China. Now, I do have a few questions regarding the university however.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Is the university diverse? - I studied at HKU for sometime and I must say I was very comfortable there, just because of the great diversity over there. So, I never really felt out of place with me being a 'Westerner'. </p></li>
<li><p>How do corporations perceive PU in China?</p></li>
<li><p>What are my chances of finding a full time position and/or internship in China as a foreigner? I am not sure what the restrictions are in terms of visa requirements and if china is still apprehensive towards giving out working permits to foreigners.</p></li>
<li><p>Chances of finding a job in the States with a PU degree? (Hard to say of course)</p></li>
<li><p>How is the lifestyle in Beijing?</p></li>
<li><p>How hard is PU really in terms of academics?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Last but not least,
If you had the choice between the following grad schools, which one would you choose? I am looking more for status (yes, sounds elitist and I know), but I want to pursue an MBA from Harvard at point in the future (it's a personal thing ;)). Now, I know that a good amount of students from Peking U. end up at some of the top US universities, but if you had the option to attend PU or either one of the following , which one would you pick?</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins (Applied Mathematics w/ AOC in Financial Mathematics), NUS (Quant. Finance), Chicago U. (Financial Mathematics), Imperial College London (Applied Math), LSE (Mathematics), HKUST (Fin. Math), KAUST (Applied Mathematics), Cornell (FE)</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>No input from anyone?</p>
<p>I’m surprised, am I in the wrong sub-forum?</p>
<p>Hi , </p>
<p>I will attempt to answer most of the stated/implied questions in the post above . </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Most of the international students actually complain that the curriculum of the Quant. Finance program is more mathematical that they had expected and it perfectly fits the description of the program as well . The curriculum itself is not available online , just the names of the courses are . It is difficult to tell the actual amount of mathematics involved in studying those courses. </p></li>
<li><p>Peking University ( abbreviated PKU , not PU) is indeed the premier university of China. It is informally known as the Harvard of China and its graduated are among the highest paid in China. </p></li>
<li><p>Chances of finding internship/employment. Well, this is a toughie. PKU graduates are the highest paid in China with an average salary of around USD 96,000 but there is a catch. It is difficult ( and I am being modest ) to find full time employment in China if you do not know Mandarin Chinese ( with considerable proficiency ) . The same rule applies to internships as well. Also, the student visa does not allow you to pursue a paid internship . However, these rules do not apply to Hong Kong . </p></li>
<li><p>Chances of finding a job in the states . Well, why ? In a place like the US where local reputations of an institution is the most important factor in finding employment, I believe you are handicapping your chances of securing full time employment in USA by pursuing graduate studies at PKU. </p></li>
<li><p>Lifestyle in Beijing. Would be really good I assume , should not bother you in any way though. HSBC Business School is located in Shenzhen adjacent to and not in Beijing .</p></li>
</ol>
<p>6.In terms of academics, Chinese students are known to be the most hardworking students in Asia and the kind of ’ cut throat ’ competition you might have faced in your undergraduate degree is nothing compared to the kind that exists in elite institutions in Asia especially China. </p>
<ol>
<li>The list of grad schools that you have given . Wow if you have admits from all of them. Here is what I feel of it . My pick would be Cornell ( FE ) , U. Chicago is good , but Cornell’s FE is way more reputed that U Chicago’s Financial Mathematics. NUS , the same as PKU but without the language being a bottleneck. If you wish to work in Asia, NUS or HKUST ( no specific choice) are your best bets . KAIST will restrict your employability to South Korea only , same goes foe LSE and Imperial with England and most of Europe. If I wanted to choose from that list I would have gone for NUS although I would have chosen Financial Engineering , not Financial Mathematics.</li>
</ol>
<p>Hi,</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The Quant. Finance program is not quantitative at all !! The level of math required is basic statistic and algebra 1. Expect if you select “stochastic process etc…”, you will never encounter any issue. This is not a quant program at all but it does not mean it is bad.</p></li>
<li><p>PKU HSBC is not the Harvard of China nor PKU is. PKU HSBC belongs to PKU although there is a striking contrast. The school is renowned in China but not in HK nor in the world. </p></li>
<li><p>"“PKU graduates are the highest paid in China with an average salary of around USD 96,000 but there is a catch”" LOL !! Where did you get that??? The starting salary for local students is about 80,000RMB/year ($10,000). None of the international students found a decent job so fat because of VISA issues in part.</p></li>
<li><p>PHBS > the States. LOL</p></li>
<li><p>Yes</p></li>
<li><p>"" Chinese students are known to be the most hardworking students in Asia"" LOL. Hardworking students do not mean efficient. PHBS: The admission rate for local students is about 30-40%. Only a few of them submit a GRE or GMAT and when they do so, their score is rarely above 650-700. International students automatically get into PHBS. There is no selectivity at all !! 
You apply > You get in</p></li>
</ol>