Student Report
Hong Kong university of science and technology
Exchange semester: Fall, 2013
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
The information given to us before our departure was good. Applying for a room on campus
was fairly straight forward and we got our first choices regarding room mate and campus
building.
Applying for a visa
Applying for a Hong Kong visa wasn’t too complicated. We got the visa application forms
from the HKUST international office and they included a guidline. Just make sure tick all the
boxes and you sign all the places that needs to be signed (mine was returned because I missed
one signature).
Travel
- We travelled with Cathay Pacific and found our tickets on Finn.no. They were about
5500 NOK for a round trip.
Housing
Housing is provided on campus and pretty much all exchange students live there. Rent
is really cheap (about 1/6 of living in Oslo). The rooms are small but you wont be
spending much of your time in your room anyway as there are too many other things
to do.
Costs
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
NOK 1500
NOK 500
NOK 3000
NOK 1000
NOK 9000
Culture and language
Even though English is an official language in Hong Kong a lot of people only speak
Cantonese. This includes a lot of the people working on campus. The hall guards,
canteen employees, gym staff etc hardly speak any English. Smiling and being
friendly will get you a long way. Also, very few taxi drivers speak English so taking a
print screen of google maps on your phone (with Cantonese street names) will make
your trip a lot easier.
There are a lot of opportunities to experience Hong Kong culture. Try to get to know
the local students. Joining a society or sports team will help you get in touch with a lot
of them. Take a trip to Mong Kok to see the market and take the MTR (subway) back
during rush hour. There are also a lot of great hikes in the area around HKUST. Make
sure you go cliff diving in Sai Kung.
ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The HKUST campus is really large and walking to class might take you 20 minutes.
Business students have most of their classes in the new LSK-building. The building is
great but it’s quite far away from the newest student halls. The school is located 30
minutes outside the city center of Hong Kong, meaning you’ll be spending a lot of
time on campus. Luckily there are plenty of stuff to do, like taking a swim in the
awesome 50m lap pool, playing football, basketball or tennis at the outside sports
facilities or get your gun show on in the gym. If you’re not that into sports you can
hang out at the Bloomberg terminals in the library and get your hands on the latest
inside information from the Hang Seng Index. This is where you meet the future
Goldman Sachs quants – Just look for the guys with the thickest glasses and most
intense pads in their armpits. You’ll probably be spending a lot more time in the
library than you did back home in Norway but luckily you’ll enjoy hours of great
scenery of the Clear Water Bay through the huge glass windows.
Course registration
You register your courses online before you leave for Hong Kong but you can change
your choices during the two first weeks of school. Be prepared to spend some time on
getting a class schedule that actually fits and contain enough credits. If you do a good
job you can get 15 credits into four courses (equal to 30 Norwegian credits). This can
be a smart move as there is not too much difference in the workload between three and
four credit courses.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
Other:
28.08
01.08
01.12
06.12-20.12
Arrival
We were met by our Hong Kong buddies (everybody gets assigned their own local
buddy to help you on arrival) on the airport and took a cab together to the HKUST
campus. They helped us with checking in on Campus and took us shopping for the
most important stuff for the first days (bed sheets, pillow, toothpast). The day after
arrival we had an orientation meeting with the other international students and got to
meet a lot new people. There were about 200 exchange students in the Business
School. On the second day after our arrival the school hosted a field trip with our
Hong Kong buddies. I really recommend attending all the social stuff in the start.
You’re likely to meet a lot of cool people you wouldn’t have met otherwise.
The International Office
The international office is super nice and they help you if you have any questions. The
office is located in the LSK building which is very convenient since you’ll probably
have most of your classes there.
Promoting BI and Norway
The school is hosting an international fair where are all the exchange-in students can
have their own stand and promote their school. Pictures of polar bears and Vikings are
always popular amoung the locals.
Social activities
Again, try to get to know the local students. There is no point in travelling half way
around the world if you are only going to hang out with Scandinavians. I joined the
football team and got to meet a lot of cool people (and score a whole lot of easy
headers as the average height was 1.70). Meeting other exchange students is not a
problem as you’ll be partying together all the time. The local students often host
parties on campus were you can buy cheap drinks and listen to a live performance
from the next Asian Eminem. Just look for the posters around campus and meet up at
the parties. They love it when international students turn up so don’t be shy.
ACADEMICS
In the classroom
- How is the level and workload compared to that at BI?
Most classes are smaller than BI classes with around 30-50 students. The teaching
style is based on participation and in most courses will be a large part of your final
grade. The workload might be a bit higher than BI classes but that of course depends
on the courses you take.
Course materials
- The course materials are pretty much the same as at BI. For one of the courses we
used the same text book as back home. In general there was more home work and
hand-ins than we were used to but actually that just means you’ll be spending less time
reading at the last hour before the exams.
Exams
The exams are a lot shorter than back home and you might get short on time. Two of
the courses we took didn’t have final exams or mid terms as they were based on larger
group projects. The other two had both final and mid term. The material covered is
mostly what you’ve been through in class. For most courses the final exams will only
count for about 30-50% of the final grade. In-class quizzes are also popular among the
teachers so make sure you come prepared. Presentations are common but if you’re
generally decent at presenting you’ll do way better than the average local students.
Library and technology
The library is great with an amazing view and five floors. Booking a group room is
kinda hard however, in particular close to finals. The technology is great with a lot of
PC’s, Macs and Bloomberg terminals.
Description of courses
Course code & name
Exam form
Prerequisites
None
Bachelor
4-hour written
exam
2 hour written
MGMT 3140
Negotiation
Bachelor
MGMT 4250
Management
consulting
Example:FIN123
Finance
FINA 3104
Investment analysis
and portofolio
management
MGMT 4220
Entrepreneurship and
Small Business
Studies
Master/
Bachelor
Bachelor
Approved
as
Elective
Comments
“Økonomistyri
n og finans
1”and 2
Programme
course
2 hour written
None
Elective
Bachelor
Group project
“organisasjons
atferd og
ledelse”
Programme
course
Bachelor
Group project
None
Elective
Great
course,
with skilled
proffessors
and a
practical
approach.
Fun course
with a
practical
approach.
The
professor is
world class.
You do not
want to
miss out on
this course.
In this
course, you
solve a real
life
businessproblem
with tools
from
Mckinsey
& CO. The
workload is
pretty high,
but
rewarding.
Boring
course,
where you
actually
don’t learn
anything
useful. The
workload is
very high,
but the
subject is
not hard.
Final conclusion
The exchange experience was a great opportunity to learn about a diferent culture, as well as a
opportunity to study at one of the best business schools in the world.
We met a lot of interesting people from all around the world, which really enabled us to
broaden our horizon.
If you are considering going on exchange. Just go! You will not regret it.