Student Report
Name of the University: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Exchange semester: Fall, 2014
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
The first information from HKUST was received the 5th of March. After finishing the online
application and the second part of the exchange form, there was no information given from the
university until after the deadline, 30th of April. Meanwhile I used the time to look into the
courses available last semester and drafting the Learning Agreement for BI. The 5th of May I
received the greetings letter from the school, including instructions for course registration and
information about available courses in this semester. The letter also included instructions for
registration of name, pictures and email address for the exchange introduction booklet.
The information in this period was well organized and following the instructions was not any
problem. All questions were directed to our contacts at the business school, Wendy and Olive.
Applying for a visa
The visa application was done by the school on our behalf. Instructions for this process were
given by the university and could also be directed through BI. The fee and all other expenses
were paid to HKUST. BI’s deadline for assistance in this process was the 14th of May and the
fee to HKUST was USD$58 for the fall semester 2014.
Travel
I traveled to Hong Kong by plane. A good advice is to book the return ticket if you have
planned the whole semester and know an approximate date of departure. The prices are
varying through the semester and you usually enjoy a discount when buying both tickets at
once. In spring/early summer 2014 the best prices for the return ticket was about NOK5000.
Housing
Housing was provided by the university. The university owns nine student complexes (About
4000 beds) in attachment to the university. In the application process there will be given
instructions for how to put in your preference. This semester the university did not
accommodate all of the exchange students’ preferences, so we ended up in buildings outside
our own wish list.
Quality of the rooms and buildings varies a lot. Personally I lived in UGIV, which is one of
the older student halls. Rooms varies between single, double and triple rooms. My impression
was that most exchange students are placed in double rooms. In the older buildings (UG I –
VI) bathroom facilities and showers are shared with half of the floor and about 30-40 rooms.
In the new buildings (UG VII - IX) bathroom facilities and showers are shared with just two
rooms. The new buildings also have better facilities, such as more modern common rooms in
each floor and balconies with overview of the sports arena and the ocean.
The housing cost is quite low compared to Norwegian standards, ranging from about NOK
6000 – 7500 for the whole semester. Payment for housing are done in cash at the local branch
of Hang Seng Bank at campus and all instructions and help will be provided upon arrival.
My recommendation is to prioritize the new buildings on the wish list.
For more information about accommodation see:
http://shrl.ust.hk/eng/detail.php?catid=2&sid=13
Costs
Paid up front. Range from NOK 6000 -7500 for the whole
semester.
Mostly hand outs and power point slides that are
Books
curriculum for the exams and midterms. In some courses
they advise you to buy books. These are available at the
campus book store and are sold at a discount compared to
the US prices. This semester I bought three books with a
cost of about HKD800 (NOK700).
There are no cooking facilities besides a microwave in the
Food
student halls. The campus got a wide variety of
restaurants and canteens serving food from early in the
morning. A meal range from NOK 20 - 50 including a
choice of beverage. I estimated a total cost of NOK100
per day, including the cost of coffee (Very expensive in
comparison to food) and other drinks during the day. (The
tap water is not the same quality as we are used to in
Norway, so bottled water are to be considered)
Transport Transportation in Hong Kong is cheap compared to
Norwegian standards. Using the Octopus Card
(Chargeable money replacement) will give you a discount
and applying for a student edition will give you an even
bigger discount on the MRT (The subway in Hong
Kong). As the campus is located outside of the city centre
a trip to the centre with bus and MRT will cost about
NOK15 depending on the location.
A tip is to bring the financial calculator from BI. There
Other
are no regulations for the use of calculators besides the
advanced programmable ones. The Texas Instruments BA
II Plus can also be bought at campus for a considerable
discount compared to the Norwegian price.
Rent
Culture and language
All the professors and faculty members involved in the lectures used English both written and
spoken. Some professors also translated between English, Mandarin and Cantonese in order to
explain some special terms in the Hong Kong financial markets, but this was restricted to just
one class. In the business faculty the main language used by both students and professors was
exclusively English. One thing to have in mind is the pace and tone. Some of the professors,
especially from mainland China, seem to have a tendency to speak fast, making it hard to
process all of the information and taking notes. In some lectures the professors with such
tendency repeated some of the content upon request from students not having the time to
process everything.
Mostly communication with other students was not a problem and just some incidents
involving language problems occurred during class discussions between exchange students
and students from mainland China.
Hong Kong gives a great opportunity to explore South East Asia. Located in the middle of the
region and with good flight connections to other countries, weekend trips and trips during
holydays are not a problem. Many of the exchange students traveled together and announced
their planned trips on a common Facebook group encouraging the other exchange students to
join. Besides the independent trips, student organizations at the school arranged cultural trips
both to mainland China, Japan and North-Korea. ANSA also arranged trips to mainland China
during the semester. Depending on the workload of the chosen courses, I believe it’s possible
to explore a lot during the semester. At the same time, many of the courses take attendance,
got high standards regarding participation and give regular homework, all affecting the grade
for the course.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Campus info
The school is located close the Clear Water Bay. This is outside of the city centre and is
reachable by MRT (Subway), bus and taxi. The main building connects the whole school
through a series of bridges and pathways. It’s located on the top of a hill with the student halls
and sports arena at lower levels, close to the seaside and the beach. Inside the main building
you will find restaurants, canteens, coffee shops, banks and a super market. The science and
engineering faculty is located in connection with the main building, while the newer business
building is located in walking distance from the other faculties. The whole campus area is
large and spread out in the whole side of the hill.
Business building
The business building is recently constructed and holds a high standard compared to the rest
of the school. Small lecture theaters and well equipped rooms make a good atmosphere for
student involvement and discussion during class. There is a restaurant, coffee shop and a fast
food chain located in the building and less crowded areas give a better atmosphere for both
study and relaxation compared to the main building.
Independent study facilities
For independent studies and preparation for exams and class the school provides a 24-hour
learning common with both quiet zones, group study rooms and a refreshment zone. Besides
this area the library is open during the day and early evening. These areas are crowded during
the exam period. An alternative is the use the much less crowded areas in the business
building.
Study structure
In the course section I will elaborate on the structure on individual courses. Here I will give a
overview of my experiences with the system. The semester contains of two “exam” periods.
The first about one to two months after the “add/drop period” (The period where courses and
classes can be changed), depending on the course. Some courses got mid-terms early, some
late, some give periodically quizzes and some skip the mid-terms. I believe the majority got
mid-terms. Until this period the professor will include all the materials needed in the lecture
and some professors’ hand out one or two mock exams. Most of my professors also made
assure not to assign any home work the period close to the mid-term. The next exam period is
before the final exams. This period also got a “study break” in order to give the student time
to prepare. This is about one week without any lectures or projects. Exams are very different
from home. While we got just finals or final papers in Norway, exams here can count
everything from 25-60% of the final grade (This is just my experience). Mid-terms usually
count a bit less, but are also important for the final grade. Another difference is the length and
content. Some exams can be two hours while others are three, and they do not have any
restrictions on giving two exams the same day or several in a row, so many of my colleagues
experienced this.
The content for the exams are usually based on lectures and notes taken in class. Curriculum
and books for the course are often integrated into the lectures and are not given unless the
professor specifies that this could be content in the exam. Another difference is the use of
mock exams and past papers. Old exams are not distributed and are always accounted for in
the end of the exam. Some professors give mock exams for training, but in my experience are
these too simplistic and do not give a good picture of what that awaits you on the real exam.
The practices are varying between the professors, but in most quantitative courses I received
one or two practice papers.
I believe the biggest difference is the usage of participation. Many of the classes, especially
electives, got few students. In these classes the professor and the assistant give participation
points, both for being present and involvement in the learning process. In other words, asking
good question and answering the questions given by the professor will have an impact on the
final grade. For some courses the participation is very important and can tip the final grade up
and down.
What the professor will look at when calculating the final grade is different from each course
and is stated in the course description. Besides the practices stated above, use of presentations,
home work and case deliveries are just some of the practices I experienced during the
semester. They use a curve distribution which states a minimum and maximum amount of the
class that can receive each grade. This will affect the final grade as you are not compared to
the curriculum itself but rather with your fellow students. Some courses got high mean scores
while others got low. In those with high mean scores a 90% right can as an example give a B
or less, while an A can be given for quite low scores in courses with a low mean.
Course registration
The course preference list is handed over in line with the instructions given by the university
before the exchange semester. This does not guarantee any of the courses on the list. During
the summer I received a note on my requirements for some of the elective courses.
The courses that apparently were waived were still not registered when I arrived in Hong
Kong. Out of the five courses on my list, I was just enrolled in two of the non-requirement
courses. During the “add/drop period” I met with the professors and the persons in charge of
the enrollment in order to waive my requirements. For two of my courses they did not waive
my requirements in the beginning, but they did after some consultation with the professor.
This period became a bit confusing as the administration just put me into the waiting list even
for courses waived during the summer and courses that was required from my Learning
Agreement. The result of this period was to take five courses instead of four (In order to get
enough points).
Tips for the course selection
Send detailed information of the courses you have taken in Norway up front. Explain why you
should be waived and the necessity of getting the course. Some students countered the
administration during the summer and challenged their decision of not giving them the course.
This was a more successful approach than following the given instructions and wait until
arriving at the school.
Add/Drop period
This period lasted for two weeks from the first day of the semester.
Academic calendar
Arrival date(Hong Kong):
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special
events/holidays:
16.08
01.09
27.11
6.12-18.12
Mid-Autumn festival
Arrival
After the arrival we had an introduction day. During this day all necessary information about
courses and accommodation was given. There was not an extensive introduction process, but
a bus trip with an introduction to the city was arranged by the school.
Other payable activities were available, like a one-day trip to see greater parts of the island,
individually trips planned by exchange students and an introduction dinner hosted by the
school. Many students took the ferry to Macao in order to get the visa approved on the
boarder and also used the day to explore the city.
In class the first lecture was often used to introduction of the course and the professor and
some of the professors used this period to have guest lecturers and give the students a grasp of
what they could learn. Many full-time students use this period together with their option of
overloading their schedule in order to try out courses before dropping the spots in courses
they do not want.
The International Office
The international office is located in the LSK building which is the main building for business
students. This is convenient as this is where most finance; management and economics classes
are hosted. They are available throughout the semester, but you should be aware of long cuing
lanes the first week. A good tip is to negotiate pre-requisite approvals before departure from
Norway in order to be placed on the course waiting list up front.
Promoting BI and Norway
During the first half of the semester a student fair will be held by the international office. You
and your fellow students from BI will be assigned a spot including a wall for pictures and
information and seats. They will give you food and drinks during the event, but how you
present the school, equipment and other things you need must be brought from Norway or you
supply yourself. We used computers and tablets in order to show the material from BIs
International Office and we printed pictures from our school and Norway for our wall.
Social activities
There are a lot of opportunities to meet other students, both local and international. During the
first weeks you will meet a lot of fellow exchange students from all around the world and you
have the opportunity to go along on trips and other social arrangements. Local students could
be a little harder to make acquaintance with, but it’s not impossible. There are a lot of
international students planning trips abroad and local students host parties in both the dorm
buildings and on campus.
ACADEMICS
In the classroom
- How is the level and workload compared to that at BI?
The workload and structure in HKUST is different from BI. Some courses use up to eight or
nine different ways to access your grade. Things like participation, attendance, home work,
essays, quizzes and mid terms are used in different classes. As a standard for the small
elective classes’ home work, semester paper, mid-term, presentation and a final exam is usual
in addition to participation and attendance. In these small classes you will be about 20-40
students and some of the professors will take interest in knowing your names and interests.
This makes it possible for them to use “cold calling”, asking about your opinion, during
classes. The large classes are held in lecture theatres with many students just like in Norway.
In some courses, especially the electives, the workload can be heavy in some periods. During
the middle of the semester, drafts for the semester paper, mid-terms and home work can make
the workload heavy for several weeks. In some classes the professors use an “American”
model with lots of case studies, student participation and hand-ins.
Course materials
For my courses the professors’ PowerPoint, lecture notes and case studies were used for the
exam. In some of the courses the professor relies on some books for self study in addition to
selected articles. My experience was that most professors will tell you what type of
information that are relevant for the exam and mid-term, and following these instructions will
give you a good idea about what to expect at the exam. On the other hand, the administration
urges professors not to give too much insight into former exams, so in most classes examples
and test questions are scarce.
Exams
The exams are very different from what we are used to at BI. With limited time and many
questions time is often scarce and you might not be able to finish all of the questions. The total
duration is also much shorter than in BI, with just 1,5 hour exams in some of the courses.
Description of courses
Course code & name
Example:FIN123
Finance
MGMT 1120
Developing the leader
in you
MGMT 4250
Management
Consulting
Master/
Bachelor
Bachelor
Bachelor
Bachelor
Exam form
Prerequisites
Approved as
4-hour
written exam
Semester
papers
None
Elective
Organizational
behaviour
Elective
Semester
paper
Strategy
Comments
Very interesting and
practical course. Relies
heavily on your own
participation during
class in order to make
the most out of it.
The professor involves
the students with cases
studies each class and
invite interesting guest
speakers from relevant
industries.
Very useful course. The
workload is heavy, but
necessary in order to
enhance the learning
and the final result.
The professor is very
professional and has
good merits as both an
internal and external
consultant. He uses a lot
of the framework from
his former employee,
McKinsey.
FINA 1303
Bachelor
3 hour final
exam
Elective
This course is attended
by students from many
disciplines and many
exchange students.
Not that useful or
interesting course. This
was not my first choice,
but in order to reach an
appropriate amount of
ECTS I chose this as an
extra. The course is
mainly for non-business
students, something I
experiences after
signing up. Much of the
contents are just the
same as we learn the
first years a BI, but with
some alterations to
make it easier.
FINA 4204 Equity
Valuation
Bachelor
2 hour final
exam,
semester
report and
stock pitch
All finance
classes from BI
Finance
NB! This is not an easy
course. Besides the
standard content, the
professor starts to
introduce advanced and
exotic financial
products in the end of
the course. The exam
was quite hard, with
almost 100 questions in
three hours, some of
them very specific. The
class average was just
above 50%.
This course is very
interesting and helpful
for finance students.
You get introduced to
most of the topics from
“Investeringsanalyse” at
BI, but with a practical
approach, wrapped into
one single course. Case
studies are very
common and everything
results in the final
exam, a stock
recommendation/report
and a stock pitch in the
end of the semester.
The workload is quite
high and you will be
evaluated in many
different aspects
throughout the
semester.
NB! The class is
attended by Finance
ECON 4434
Development and
Growth
Bachelor
1,5 hour
final exam,
semester
report and
presentation
Micro and
Macro
economics
Elective
ISOM4530
Statistical Analysis of
Financial Data
Bachelor
25%
Assignments
30%
Midterm
exam
45% Final
exam
None/basic
calculus
Finance
MGMT4210
Corporate Strategy
Bachelor
- Attendance
and
participation
10%
- Case writeup 15%
- Team
project and
presentation
25%
MGMT4110/O
RG3402
Strategy
mayors or finance only
students. So expect high
competition for the
grades and an hectic
pace.
Very interesting course.
The professor is very
good and got great
knowledge of the
content. The course
looks at developing
countries’ economies
and factors
underpinning their
condition.
The class is mainly
attended by economics
mayors and the students
are expected to have a
grasp about some of the
central theories.
According to some of
the local students the
workload for this course
was very heavy
compared to other
economics classes.
Very difficult course if
you lack experience
with computer science
and econometrics.
Home-assignments
expect you to
understand how to code
accurately with little to
no help by the coursematerial. Mid-terms and
final do not require you
to remember the codes.
Okay strategy course.
Very proactive teaching
methods using (too)
many examples. Groups
are given by the teacher
for the group project so
expect potential
freeloaders, minor
adjustments afterwards
based on polls answered
ECON3334
Introduction to
Econometrics
Bachelor
FINA 3104
Investment Analysis
and Portofolio
Management
Bachelor
- Midterm
25%
- Final 25%
- Problem
sets 15%
- Midterm
30%
- Final exam
55%
1 houar final
exam, four
assignments
handin, one
midterm.
by you and your
teammates
One of ISOM
2500, MATH
2411 or MATH
3423(Basic
calculus &
Statistics)
Elective
All finance
classes from BI
Finance
Easy to follow in class.
Exams are heavily
focused on proofs, so
beware of that. Just
reading the course-book
will NOT give you a
good grade in the end.
Focus on learning the
maths behind the
intuition.
You will learn a lot
from this course, it is
not something we have
had earlier at the BI in
other finance courses.
Very interesting, you
learn how to invest.
Along the semester we
hand in assignments
that you will be graded
on. The course is hard
but as long as you work
and study you will do
fine. (Easier than
Equity Valuation, some
would say).
Every week you
have”tutorials” besides
attending the weekly
classes. This is very
helpful; you work in
groups solving different
tasks.
MGMT 2410
Corporate Strategy
Bachelor
2 hour final
exam, one
assignment,
presentation,
one midterm.
Strategy
Student comment 1:
Very fun course! The
teacher we had in this
course was very
talented. You have to
participate in every
class, raise your hand,
ask questions and talk a
lot, can be exhausting
sometimes, but I
learned a lot by being
pushed to actively
participate. I
recommend this course!
Student comment 2:
This course is an
interesting and practical
course. You are
expected to contribute
and speak up during
class. You learn about
strategic choices in a
corporation, relevant for
people interested in
consulting.
ECON 4474
Hong Kong Economy
Bachelor
1 hour final
exam,
presentation,
one
assignment,
no midterm
Elective
It is a very useful class
and I would absolutely
recommend it, but it is
also very demanding.
Student comment 1:
Easy course!! If you are
looking for a course
that is easy to get a
good grade and not a
heavy workload, this is
the course for you.
Kevin K. Tsui the
professor is very kind!
Easy final exam. But
the classes can be quite
boring. Didn’t learn too
much.
Student comment 2:
Not that useful, but an
easy course if you just
want to reach the
required amount of
ECTS. You get
introduced to to some
salient aspects of the
Hong Kong economy.
MGMT 3140
Negotiation
Bachelor
1 hour final
exam,
midterm
Elective
Student comment 1:
Such a fun course - this
is my biggest
recommendation, it is a
must! The professor is
the best I have ever had
in my life. He is so
skilled in Negotiation
and extremely good at
teaching. I have learned
so much in this course.
There is a huge waiting
list so you should try to
sign up as early as you
can!
Student comment 2:
This is a course
everyone should attend
during your stay at
HKUST. The lecturer is
amazing. You learn
negotiation strategies
you will meet in the
future, like for example
salary negotiation.
The course is not that
hard, most of the work
is during class. Very
much recommended as
an elective course.