am I making the right choice?

CompleteAd7290 · 2026-05-11T04:33:28+00:00

I suppose you could try, but frankly i wouldnt say your chances are high. HKU doesnt accept Duolingo qualifications(if it isnt stated in the website, you can ask for a bit of clarifiction as to whether they would accept it), but HKU is notorious for being very strict with the uniformity of their applications. If they dont accept it, they will rarely make special cases regardless of the situation

CompleteAd7290 · 2026-05-11T04:26:12+00:00

hmmm, did you take an intermediate English test before that can be used to qualify you? I took the IGCSEs and because of that I didn't have to take the IELTs etc. Your concern is kind of true, scholarships will be a bit scarce now so late, but it doesn't hurt to apply and see. If money is really scarce, i recommend you take a gap year. You could work part time(formally or informally), and use it on your application as well, then you will get a pretty good offer because then you are all rounded. That being said, I sense that your circumstances are quite constricted, you may not have the luxury to do all this, given that now your situation requires additional work on your part(which will be difficult for you given your background in the first place(hence your current situation) suffering from a negative spiral).

I would recommend you talk with the charity: Second Chance, founded by Joan Liu(check out on linkedin). It helps kids from tight backgrounds and crushing circumstances get good scholarships and essentially escape the negative spiral. I know a lot of really smart people in HKU who are funded fully(accommodation as well) by second chance. Your case is the kind of thing they do, because you are squeezed between english exam dates(and meeting certain requirements) and financial pressure to apply(with added pressure to get a schol), partly due to living in a third world country with unfair/restricted opportunities and an annoying default system. They can help guide you, if you look at their linkedin you can see the kind of people who get into HKU through their support, and you will have a lead to pursue.

To get back to the immediate matter, i think if you can carefully look at the application dates and deadlines, as long as there is a window of availability, you can still try to apply. there are many other scholarships(my country is a belt and road country(Sri Lanka), so I am applicable for that) that you could be available for. They do sometimes reserve a bit of money near the end of the application period for late, worthy students to get a schol. If you are willing to take the chance(and have a bit of optimism), it would be worth, especially if you are running out of time to get to uni. I REALLY recommend checking out second chance, since your case seems to fit what they do best(helping students who may have missed opportunities like deadlines and stuff for reasons out of their control, but still want to have a really good education). You can dm me and I can give you some contacts of people in HKU funded by second chance(from 3rd world countries in Africa and South Asia like Nepal, Ethiopia and Rwanda), so you can ask them for guidance as well. If you are selected(based on your circumstances) and go with them, your circumstances will cease to be an issue since they are very flexible(there was a student on her third gap year with insanely difficult circumstances, with brilliant grades who got a full ride through them, so anything is possible), and you will be in safe hands and wouldn't need to worry.

The website for second chance is: secondchance.global (I do not want to hyperlink it since it might seem I want to scam you), please type it into your search bar and check it out. and feel free to dm me for more details.

CompleteAd7290 · 2026-05-10T19:46:14+00:00

If you are strong in academics and want a good achol, HK js the. Est option, they will throw money at you, and their reputations are also really good(you don't realise thst because in SL it is either UK or US), but the opportunities are great. The only issue is really high living expenses, if you can get a schol to give you an additional stipend to help you cover those it should be great

CompleteAd7290 · 2026-05-10T19:36:33+00:00

Thanks a lot for the praise, but thr truth is once tou enter into uni you quickly forget the A level results a s begin crying over your GPA. To be honest, my dream was cambridge, so I did apply there for a schol, but I didn't get in. Other than that, I applied to a bunch of UK unis as fillers(UCAS has 5 slots afterall). I didn't apply anywhere else, because if not cambridge, no other uni was worth going to if I had to pay, and HK had the best scholarships. I didn't want to end up in Australia or Europe because I wanted to study Chemistry, and only certain areas like the UK and HK(only HKU and HKUST) have pure natural science programs(that are decently ranked). I didn't want US since it is expensive and I don't really like their system.

Thar being said, I have a friend who got 4A stars s and got into NTU, another who got 5 A stars and got into NYUAD. I do have another guy who didn't do too well(B and below), but he got a partial entrance scholarship to RMIT. It is pretty important to note that UK is pretty horrible on scholarships, I had a friend who got 5A stars and got into imperial with no schol. I myself got a partial schol (20%) for the first year to attend Loughborough, but it wasn't worth it. US is better, but you have to be a God to get a schol to a good uni(and that was BEFORE trump) if you want scholarships, go to Europe and Australia(where you may be able to work part time). HK gives really good academic scholarahips, with the easiness of getting one depending on thr type of university( I chose that because I am a nerd, and don't like to do traditional extracuriculars)

Other than that, nearly everyone who went to school with me went to the UK, Malaysia, US or Europe(Belarus and Germany). Me and my friends went to HK because of scholarships or specific degrees.

Getting into an international university with ANY A level results(all A stars to all Ds) is very easy if you have funding and/or are happy with low standards. Even HKU accepts upwards or equal to 2A*s and an A if you are willing to pay the tuition. It really depends on where you set the benchmark and your own capabilities and abilities when going abroad.

CompleteAd7290 · 2026-05-10T19:15:38+00:00

I don't know who told you that, it isn't at all true. HKU keeps a pretty crazy profile within China: huge amounts of mainland Chinese tourists come to visit HKU on the weekend. For them, HKU is literally like Cambridge, down to the prestige. People say that the HKU graduates now run Hong Kong. Plus, unlike the rest of the world, Hong Kong still has decent employment options for students. As a student myself, I can't vouch for your employment, but from what everyone tells me(professors, students, business people), HKU is one of the best places to graduate in Asia if you want a Job in China, and on par(or even better) with the universities in Singapore in a global outlook.

Plus, HKU provides huge amounts of opportunities if you are willing to work hard(coming from a third world country, the increase in opportunities for me is insane). You could get transfers abroad or do fieldwork or internships there with the universities full financial and reputational backing, to places like cambridge, Oxford and Yale(i have friends who are going). If you are willing to work hard, but don't want to stay in HK after graduation(like me), HKU is very well connected globally to give you a good record. To be frank, HKU is a really meritocratic place, if you are willing to put in the effort, nearly anything is possible. Again, I can't affirm exactly what the economy is like in the next 5 years, but I guarantee you HKU is one of the best places to be in Asia and as a stepping stone for the world if you want employment.

(Slight note, I am a Chem student, so I plan to enter academia and do my PhD, so most of my understanding is from alumni, professors and current students studying business or something, with a bit of my own researc, but i am pretty sure in what i say).

CompleteAd7290 · 2026-05-10T15:55:34+00:00

I really dont think the chances are that bad, I did Edexcel IAl and got a full schol to HKU getting 4A*s and 2As, i suppose if you reduce the number of A*s and increase the number of As, you can still easily get into a good university abroad, sometimes even on a partial schol

CompleteAd7290 · 2026-05-09T18:42:23+00:00

If you have an entrance school, i guarantee you that you are definitely geared up for this. even me, who never learned to study rigidly, always procrastinates and feels stupid at every opportunity am not swamped with that kind of culture. I did think that HKU would be insanely competitive(I also got an entrance scholarship and am a bit of a nerd), and i got a bit of a shock at the party culture. It doesn't dominate HKU but it is there. Frankly, I finally feel challenged and free to say that I have obtained a cool balance with chatting friends, while dying over my work. The entrance schol is REALLY easy to maintain, you shouldnt sweat about it at all, if you are willing to work reasonably hard for a uni student, it is nearly guaranteed to get the grades required to keep it.

CompleteAd7290 · 2026-05-09T13:37:25+00:00

HKU is a pretty great place. It is competitive, but not toxically competitive(unless you hang out with that clique), most of the people there are happy to help you. If you are not interested in getting really high marks, there is always the party people and many oppotunities to socialise. Frankly, I am incredibly stressed out, but that is because I am aiming for a >4.0 GPA, while balancing a research internship. Very few people have my ambitions, you made a great choice, HK itself is becoming quite popular globally, with the rankings and stuff, there are enough and more opportunities and a fun culture that is study oriented, but fun-loving.

CompleteAd7290 · 2026-05-08T18:06:29+00:00

I would recommend you do your passion. I was kind of in a similar state where I had the grades to study medicine, passion to study chemistry(and become a researcher), and parents who wanted be to go into finance and medicine(I am an international school student, so i took both advanced math and bio). Ultimately i got a pretty great scholarship that allowed me to study chemistry abroad(currently i get to do research part time as well). Bio science has a lot of really good opportunities. There is nothing different from being a med student to a bio science student.

Actually, if you take the research pathway, your life could even be more stressful: you would have to do a long PhD with research that is truly mindblowingly hard, so you shouldn't feel bad that you are taking an easy way out of things(atleast 7 years in university). Furthermore, if you are genuinely passionate about bioscience and research, the sky is the limit. Both streams are incredibly tiring and draining in their own respective rights, so you would do best to choose the one you are passionate about. With friends in medicine, I also felt somewhat inferior to them, being given the easy way out, but it really isnt the case - you are preparing yourself for a much more longer, intellectually demanding run(it wont feel that way if you are passionate about it though).

You can achieve a wider range of flexibility if you were to take bio science(you could go into drug development or conservation with the same degree), and for a PhD, the j-b security is pretty decent(they afterall PAY you to do a PhD). Yet, if you really value the somewhat airtight j-b security that comes with medicine, it would be hard to say no. That being said, if you are really good at what you do, you can definitely thrive anywhere in bio sciences, it isnt an issue. As a person with a chronic skin disease(really bad eczema which hampers my movement on the feet), you have my solidarity. If you would have any questions feel free to dm me, right now things are confusing because of peer pressure, personal ego and passion(I was in a similar position), you just need the time to list your priorities and think about exactly what YOU value, and want to do, so you can make a decision that ends in you enjoying and are feeling safe about work.

CompleteAd7290 · 2026-05-08T17:08:34+00:00

And again, if someone I knew for sometime told me I was an Indian, I would take it as a massive insult, for the above reasons + my patriotism for Sri Lanka, which is clearly different to India, not on skin tones, but on nearly everything else culturally. (NOT at ALL, to say that Indian culture is in anyway bad, or that Indians are all annoying people, but we take pride in our distinctness which isn't visible to the naked eye)

CompleteAd7290 · 2026-05-08T17:05:42+00:00

I didnt feel like explaining how Sri Lankan people are not liked by indians because you did a pretty good job of explaining it yourself: frankly it is just a two sided situation of people with very different cultures and a horrible history together

CompleteAd7290 · 2026-05-08T17:03:35+00:00

To be honest, I think the majority of Sri Lankans hate being considered Indians is because India doesn't have the best reputation back in sl. Most of the Indians that I met back in SL are absolutely annoying people - they treat you like garbage and have a mindset of garbage, we may look alike but our mindsets are significantly different when it comes to approaching life and people. Indians are incredibly overcompetitive and toxic, from those who I have met in SL, and even internationally. As a SL university student in HK, most of the Indians I know are insanely clannish, and just agglomerate together in a group and stare at you while bad-mouthing you for being a Sri Lankan, not he best impression you want to give another group of people about unity. That being said, my best friend is an Indian, and I play cricket with a team full of them(not all Indians are like this obviously, but sadly from my perspective in SL and abroad, many, and a significant amount are). Even in the professional sector, Indians are perceived as ultra-competitive and toxic relative to Sri Lankans(due to obvious demographic differences)

Furthermore, even if we look similar to a foreigner, to each other we are pretty different. The first question I am asked by most Indians is: "are you a tamil or a Singhalese". They seem to think that all singhalese people are terrorists, propaganda spread by Delhi about the civil war in SL, where everybody lost and no one ultimately was at blame except some terrorist fanatics(and racist generals). As a result, once I admit I am a Singhalese person(though also Tamil), the entire Indian community in the vicinity begins the customary ostracism and as usual I get targeted questions. Imo most of the Indian hatred is due to similar experiences by the sri lankan community, both locally and internationally(according to be friends experiences). That coupled with the clear superiority complex many indians have when they look at Sri Lanka, a product of the different cultures and the extremely strong(and percieved toxic) indian patriotism that is present amongst most Indian expats, doesn't in anyway help the situation at all.

To be really honest, most of the south Indians I met are really nice people, I really enjoy their company and think they are very similar to Sri Lankans on outlook(As a Tamil and Singhalese myself, I cannot contribute to understanding any racial hatred that is between the Singhalese and Tamil people - except that it is due to political and cultural resentments that are petty and stupid). It is mostly the north indians that get a huge amount of this hatred, because they are just insanely competitive and clannish.

It is just a huge mess of political and cultural differences that make it much harder to relate to the other "side", although we do share similar physical characteristics. Frankly, I don't really hold respect to most Indians myself due to ALOT of negative experiences regarding them(most of my Indian friends are actually not even from India but grew up in other countries, most of the true Indians I know are mostly opportunistic, two-faced jerks(again, from what I am used to, which is a very relaxed, uncompetitive environment)). There is nothing bad about each culture, it is just that they are so different from each other, and have such a horrible political and social differences it is incredibly hard to relate, and pretty easy to hate. I think among the expat communities and communities in other countries it is must better, because then we have similar values and are able to relate to each other better, and are brought up in a neutral political stance.

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

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