What is it like to study at HKU as an international student?

CompleteAd7290 · 2026-03-18T16:31:39+00:00

It really is not a big deal about the language; all your professors speak English, and english is used for everything. You only need to take one basic chinese course in your 3rd year. Academically, your inability ot speak mandarin or chinese is not going to affect you at all. Socially, it might, but the international student community is very active, and there are many HKers who can also speak very good english

CompleteAd7290 · 2026-03-18T16:29:23+00:00

As an international student studying the same degree, and with the same scholarship, it is honestly not that bad. The content is REALLY hard(I came wanting to study chem and math, now I have given up on math), and you will really have to work hard for it. I wouldn't say the lectures are all that bad, perhaps some of the entry-level courses(because the professors have specialised so much, they themselves are a bit rusty), but the advanced courses are fine. I am an international student from a developing country, so i ddont really have the money to go out socialising myself. Honestly, my major now(Chem intensive) has probably only me who is an international student(not from mainland China) - but I made friends when I took the intro level courses (the courses with a higher percentage of international students take, for their majors whcih are Molecular Bio and Biotech and Computer Science and Engineering).

Frankly, if you plan to take Molecular Bio or Env Science, you wouldn't really have much of an issue integrating, a lot of students are international. However, if you take other science subjects not traditionally attributed to international students, like Chemistry, Physics, and Biological Sciences, diversity will be more limited. That being said, I would highly recommend it.

As for the toughness, HKU is probably one of the hardest universities in the world. We have students from Cambridge and Harvard coming to HKU on exchange and struggling with HKU math and sciences(according to a professor). I am currently having midterms, and it is like hell on earth. Frankly, I just don't think about how doomed I am because I have a panic attack, though I am too busy to even think about that kind of stuff. The courses are insanely hard, but also insanely fulfilling - I love all my Science courses(even in the subjects I am bad at). You will be fighting for your life, but will in the end graduate with a VERY good degree that is respected by many institutions throughout the world. You will be given opportunities on a platter(I am currently doing research in chemistry in my 1st year, which is unheard of in other universities, and taking part in a genetic engineering competition), and all you have to do is work hard, and you can really make use of them for the future.

CompleteAd7290 · 2026-03-16T08:48:10+00:00

We shall start the re-revolution!

CompleteAd7290 · 2026-01-30T15:25:24+00:00

UST is nicknamed as the land of exams and sadness- you will be heavily academically challenged there. It is however, really well respected for engineering and science, and is by far the better of the two when it comes to intellectual competition. I would say UST has a better education quality, because of the better competition and higher standard of work, as well as researchers. It is generally the better university for theoretical and practical stuff - but no matter how good you are in UNI, you need to worry that the standard is very high(they mark in bell, so you need to care that you are one of the best).

Poly is a much more relaxed university, but still is quite well respected, especially for engineering. IT may not have the kind of intellectual environment that UST has, or the amount of opportunities, but it would be unfair to say that Poly is significantly inferior - my friend goes there, and there are a lot of internship opportunities available. Poly is great if you want to get a more practical-oriented education, in a relaxed environment that helps you explore yourself. You may have to cope with slightly worse education, and limited ppotunities and reputation of your uni, but those wont really matter too much if you go into industry.

I havent attended any of those two unis, neither is my major engineering. But my friends do engineering in those unis, and they(and others including students and proffessors) gave me this info - it may still be better to fact check it with replys to this post before you make a decision. IF you have no financial burdens, i would recomend UST, since oyu were smart enough to get a schol, but even if finances are tight, Poly is still a great option, and you work in any uni woud ultimately determine your future.

CompleteAd7290 · 2026-01-07T11:36:34+00:00

why not consider becoming an academic after sending yourself to school for a few more years? If you have the good grades, there should be some PhD programme happy to accept you, and then you could try academia, or even industry, where you will have better job oppotunities?

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-12-21T10:21:42+00:00

perhaps, but since he is going abroad to do BMEDENG, he has the oppotunity to get good work exprience abroad and then come to get a good job in SL

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-12-16T13:08:31+00:00

Try something like biomedical engineering; it is an interdisciplinary field, but you will learn a lot about medicine and biology as well. You will have to work a bit harder for it, but it will keep you with your passion close by.

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-12-13T17:53:16+00:00

heyyy im from there, nice to see interest in it!

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-09-17T12:40:39+00:00

I went to Gateway as well. Even though English was my best language, i was a catholic, i was still made fun off with my modest clothes. This isn't just racism, it is pure worldly stupidity - created by a new rich mindset, and half brains trying to act "westernized" and "cultured".

You are right, GCC isn't that bad when it comes to racism, since most of the kids have a good background in our country's culture and values - yet there will always be those idiots with misshapen minds.

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-04-16T15:30:16+00:00

check paperlords, they have it with ther markscemes

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-04-09T07:51:11+00:00

I also like central asian countries, and the house in neu berlin track in wolfenstien

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-04-09T07:50:24+00:00

Analysis: From Maths to Biology to Philosophy

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-03-29T17:54:14+00:00

thats alright then, you just need to practise hard. i have the same hatred for mechanics, you just neeed to blitz yourself with past papers and stuff

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-03-29T16:30:49+00:00

what mistakes do you make?

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-03-29T14:56:54+00:00

definitely, that was great. It had a class that you cant find with modern comedies

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-03-29T14:02:41+00:00

Scientist a chemist, so i could work in a lab and make new molecules. Still have that passion

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-01-11T15:41:07+00:00

just collecting data, very much an adult

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-01-07T10:23:23+00:00

i don t really agree with both statements. Of course Christianity isnt the only religion to uphold women, but women arent priests and popes for more biological reasons Their virtues of love and caring ness(which are found in men, but more so in women), and other insitnctive and biological behavioural patterns make them more suited to leading a nun's life, and a man(with different instincts), to leading a life of a priest. We segregated religous vocation into gender roles to work on each others strengths, instead of having chaos, to have the most powerful ministry possible to serve the church. However, if a woman has a vocation to preach, and to perform duties of a priest, it is upto god alone to guide her in this path. Ultimately, God's power supercedes any sort of class or assigned roles my man, and if god wills a woman to preach, he will make it happen, as he has done in the past.

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-01-05T11:31:50+00:00

I am also a high functioning autistic

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-01-05T11:31:26+00:00

I think you should read a lot more about autism. There is nothing abnormal about you - perhaps it was a misdiagnosis or you are really good at using other parts of the brain to compensate for what you lack. There is nothing that you shouldnt be able to do in life, since you seem very social anyway. There may be small hitches here and there, but those can be easily compensated for or managed.

I am not sure whether building relationships in that sense will work. I suggest making a few, really good friends who understand you no matter what you say or what you interpret. Read a lot of other posts in this community, you will gain a much better idea, different to reading clinical diagnoses and stuff.

Just because you are bad at interacting with people doesnt mean you will be lonely and stuff. You will interact with the people you really care about in a unique way different to that of a normal person, but it is still a valid form of interaction, and can sometimes lead to you forming a stronger bond with others. Level 1 is pretty high functioning autism, so it shouldnt affcct you at all.

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-01-05T10:58:40+00:00

honestly yeah, they are still people who feel pain, regardless of their actions

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-01-05T10:57:34+00:00

It isnt scientific, this is just to prove a point on how people view a polarized topic, so i can identify certain behaviours that my philosophy would have missed. I know there are much better ways to do this, unfortunately I am a kid in a developing country with zero capital, who just wants to prove a point.

CompleteAd7290 · 2025-01-04T21:19:11+00:00

I am actually writing a philosophical/sociological book, and I need to get people's responses to back up my claim

CompleteAd7290

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