<p>So I'm planning on studying abroad at HKUST next semester and my school requires a minimum of 12 credit hours. </p>
<p>As a MechE, I'm planning on taking two courses toward my major and two electives. At my home university, I'm also taking 12 hours (3 toward major, 1 elective that requires a decent amount of work) and it's a fair amount of work, but definitely manageable.</p>
<p>HKUST is ranked significantly higher than my school (top 20 in US though). Though I know this doesn't relate to how rigorous a school is, I'm just worried that I'll have too much work to enjoy studying abroad. I'm not saying I don't want to work when I'm abroad, but I want to be able to balance academics with social and cultural life too, especially since I've never been there before.</p>
<p>So can anyone shed light on how rigorous HKUST courses can be? For the record, I was considering taking Fluid Mechanics, Intro to Materials Science, and two electives.</p>