<p>DS1 had his 10th grade teacher write one of his LOR’s. We felt it was appropriate because the same teacher also was his research supervisor in 11th grade. He plans to send this teacher’s LOR as supplement to colleges that insist on LOR’s from 11th and 12th grade teachers.</p>
<p>Fwiw, I received confirmation from all DS1’s EA schools that they do not call for interim grade report. One of the schools was also confirmed by his GC.</p>
<p>Its a craps-shoot try anyways no matter what</p>
<p>i hate to double post but 10 kids from my school got into Boston College, barely any of them were upstanding students, all of their gpas were under 3.6, and the highest one in the class that was accepted and applied took 2 AP classes. This is a regular public high school in metro Boston area.</p>
<p>^^Sounds like a pipeline to me. :)</p>
<p>Okay, so now my son wants to apply to the University of Hong Kong.</p>
<p>Here’s what I know:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>They have full scholarships for international students, but I don’t know how competitive they are.</p></li>
<li><p>The Times Higher Education Supplement ranked HKU the 26th best university in the world in 2008, a bit below Michigan, McGill, and Carnegie Mellon, and just above Brown, UCLA, and Northwestern (for what that’s worth).</p></li>
<li><p>My son’s best friend from kindergarten lives there with his mother and says that my son could live with them if he wants to. My son stayed there once for three weeks and loved it.</p></li>
<li><p>My son speaks some Mandarin, although I believe Cantonese is the dominant language in Hong Kong (perhaps after English).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>So…uh…anyway. Hong Kong. Hmm.</p>
<p>I guess it couldn’t hurt to apply. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>I’d say you’re due for a college visit first :)</p>
<p>wow that is a long way to go for a college visit.wonder if they have a dvd?? or anybody here with advice…</p>
<p>DH has colleagues who teach there, and there are plenty of British, US expat types on the faculty. HKU is an a “colonial” university, so all the instruction is in English. Mandarin is definitely more prevalent than it used to be, so for daily life he’d probably be fine.</p>
<p>If he’s interested in Asia then it might be a great place to be. Otherwise, I’d investigate pretty carefully and make sure that he’s interested in living where ever it is that people who rank HKU higher than Brown, UCLA and Northwestern live.</p>
<p>Frankly m.s. this sounds like a delaying tactic on your son’s part. Maybe he’s worried that he won’t get into a place he wants to go here in the States, maybe he’s just not wanting to write all the essays. He needs to focus on all the work you’ve both done to date. My strategy would be to say, </p>
<p>“UHongKong? OK, you do all the research and show me why it’s a better choice than what’s on your list now. But I’m not going to consider it a viable option until you’ve completed and submitted your apps to all the other schools on your list first. I’m not against the idea, but I won’t agree to pursuing UHK until everything else is taken care of.”</p>
<p>If he’s serious about UHK he’ll get all his other apps done; if not, the idea of UHK will die a quiet death.</p>
<p>vinceh, I don’t get the sense that it’s a delaying tactic so much as an attempt to make this process exciting somehow. His interest in China is genuine, so he may have been thinking about this for a while and just didn’t tell me until recently. But I am sure he hasn’t thought through all of the details: getting there and back, culture shock, homesickness, etc.</p>
<p>qialah, I think he will almost certainly end up in academia, where everyone knows that HKU is better than Brown, UCLA, and Northwestern. 
But seriously, I’m not worried about name recognition or reputation. I’m sure it will be fine.</p>
<p>What I’m most interested in finding out is whether this is just a lark or something that he is truly ready to do if he’s admitted and if we can afford it. (Neither of those things are certain at this point.) We’re going to get together tomorrow to discuss this, along with his other applications.</p>
<p>I’ll let y’all know what comes of it. Thank you for your comments and suggestions.</p>
<p>mantori - the University of Hong Kong is a VERY good college. I believe it is the highest ranked university in the Chinese speaking world, according the recent QS World University Rankings. Your son definitely made a good attempt to make the process exciting!</p>
<p>We did the same with Oxford. It is still a long shot, but it is something different and this difference mixed in a little much needed excitement. But still, I made sure DS1 knows the focus is still domestic.</p>
<p>Progress Update:</p>
<p>MIT app is in :). His interviewer also sent in the interview report! The only thing missing is one teacher’s eval which will be mailed today. Finally a completed app for a domestic college!</p>
<p>Recent days have been very intense. DS1’s been in a debate tournament since Friday and won’t be home until late tonight. This leaves him only a few good hours to finish up three more EA apps before 11:59 pm on Sunday. I sure didn’t expect a down-to-the-wire finale when we started this thing.</p>
<p>Paperchaser,
My son, also a debater, applied to Oxford on his own initiative a few years ago… he did well on the test he had to take, but be prepared for the interview! He happened to be in Costa Rica at the time and it was scheduled for 7am due to the time change. He was on a pay phone with the three tutors or deans (??) whose accents he could barely understand and the first question was something like, “If you were going to buy a used car and there was a 50% chance it would be worth $1000 and a 50% chance it would be worth nothing, how much would you pay for it?” My son was totally taken aback, and according to him, it went downhill from there. Needless to say, he didn’t get in which was a relief to us since we couldn’t afford it anyway. Just try to prepare you son if you can – I guess they want to know less about what you’ve done and more about how you think. Good luck!</p>
<p>Mantori- good for your son for looking at the world globally. China is obviously going to be a major power in coming years, and the associations he would make at HKU would be invaluable no matter what career he chooses. Lots of Chinese are coming our way to form connections, but few Americans are going the other way- he would be on the ground floor of the next “big thing”. D spent her jr year in Beijing, and is now fluent in Mandarin (now the official language of China, though not spoken much in Hong Kong). College interviews have ranged from “Why would you go to China”, to “OMG- you lived in Beijing and speak Mandarin!!! That is HUGE!”, depending on the school’s commitment to global studies, and, I suspect, whether the adcom knows anyone who has spent time in Beijing, a daunting place for a western kid.</p>
<p>The expat network that exists in Hong Kong means your son is likely to meet many high level executives, who realize the importance of a global network. Something he wouldn’t have at any but the HYP’s.
Of course it will only work if he really wants this for himself, but if he were my son, I would be as encouraging as possible. Good luck!</p>
<p>All four EA apps are in! Now he can take a much needed break before working on his RD apps. Finally a Sunday without app attack.</p>
<p>Congrats to son - er, I mean you, PaperChaserPop!
Just make sure to congratulate me this time of year next year when I have this times two!</p>
<p>merryecho, thanks for your encouraging words. When my son first spoke of applying to HKU, I didn’t think, “You’d better live someplace where people recognize that name.” It was, “I’ll bet a lot of grad schools and employers would think that’s pretty cool,” followed by, “I bet he’d meet some awesome people there.”</p>
<p>I still consider it a bit of a lark, until he follows through, but I don’t think it’s a bad idea.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth - UHK is where University of Pennsylvania send its engineering students for their semester abroad.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, thanks. At least for these four schools, we’ll know the decisions in 6-7 weeks. I’ll be rooting for you and your twins this time next year.</p>
<p>Any other EA submissions out there? Do you and your child feel a lot better after hitting that submit button?</p>
<p>mantori, in case you havent seen it, I just read this article from NY Times [Asian</a> Universities Seek Students From Nearby Shores](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/world/asia/20study.html?_r=1]Asian”>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/world/asia/20study.html?_r=1).</p>
<p>Here is an excerpt from the article on Hong Kong.</p>
<p>
</p>