Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Fall 2012
I
Introduction
Hong Kong has been an amazing adventure for both of us. It has been a memorable
semester in so many ways, and this view seemed to be the consensus for all the students
that exchanged in to HKUST. The academic part of the experience was challenging and the
majority of the students here are really competitive. The cultural part is truly exiting and Hong
Kong has a lot to offer. You will find several dissimilarities from the western world, so you are
bound to learn and discover.
This report will provide you with some practical information that might come in handy. At
times we encountered small difficulties, but people are helpful, and things usually work out
eventually.
II
General information about the school
As of September 2012 HKUST had a total of 12,603 students and was ranked first in Asia
according to the QS Asian University Rankings. The University is located in Clear Water Bay,
around fifty minutes outside of the city center by public transport. It is positioned on a hillside
overlooking the sea, providing an amazing back drop. The campus is comprehensive, and
you will find everything you need; restaurants/canteens, training facilities, swimming pool, bar,
supermarket etc. The School has three main departments; science, technology and business.
The business school is regarded as the best in Asia Pacific. The study structure is quite
different from BI. You will be evaluated on several different criteria; presentations,
assignments, participations, mid-term exams and final exams.
III
Practical information
Information before you leave
The University provided us with information through two ”information packages”. The first one
was received around mid May, and contained instructions mainly about visa-, insurance-, and
housing-applications. The second package arrived mid July, and related to the course
registration procedures. The information in both packages was in the form of both hard copy
papers and web-based sites.
If any problems occurred or if we had any general inquiries we contacted our ”HKUST
exchange in”-representative Wendy, who was more than willing to respond.
Visa Procedure and travel experiences
The University asks you to submit all relevant forms and paperwork related to the visa
application directly to the university, and they will take care of the VISA application for you.
We found the easiest way to find tickets to Hong Kong through www.finn.no. Your flight ticket
should be booked early, in order to get a decent price. We waited until the final exam
schedule was announced before we ordered return tickets, but if you do not want to wait,
make sure you have a flexible return ticket.
Academic calendar
The fall semester started on the 10th of September, and the earliest check-in date for the oncampus accommodation was the 3rd . We arrived Hong Kong the 27th of August in order to
explore the city on our own before we started school.
The last week before the official semester start was based on introduction of the school
system and providing us with the necessary items. During the week it was also an optional
”buddy-program”, where local students introduced us and guided us around Hong Kong. We
strongly recommend you to attend these events to interact with both full-time local students
and other exchange students.
The semester ended the 21st of December. The classes lasts almost all the way up until the
first final exam, so you won’t have much time in between to prepare for the exams. The
examination period lasts about two-three weeks, but it highly depends on what classes you
have chosen.
It is also worth noting that the university has mid-term exams, which means you have part of
the exam during the middle of the semester.
Reception
The school was very used to handling exchange-in students, and had prepared everything we
needed for the coming semester in terms of information, items etc. when we arrived.
Some of the schools full-time students participated in the reception of exchange students
through the optional buddy-program that we could choose to participate in. Here, the
”buddies” consisted of both local and non-Hong Kong resident students.
Housing
The University provides on-campus housing for all exchange-in students, but you can choose
to find a place on your own if you don’t want to live on campus. The on campus housing is
way cheaper than what you can find on your own, with a housing-tuition of about 5330 – 6700
HKD (4100 – 5200 NOK) for the entire semester.
The on-campus accommodation consists of 7 different halls, with no.6 and no.7 as the
newest ones. It is highly recommended to ask to live in one of the new halls if possible (hall 7
as the best option). The rooms on campus are twin bedroom only for the exchange students,
where you can choose to live with another exchange student or a local student. The rooms
are pretty small, but you have a refrigerator and your own study desk in the room (and a sink
if you live in hall 6 or 7). The bathrooms are shared for everyone in the floor you live in,
except for in hall 7 where two rooms share one bathroom. Air-condition is necessary
particularly during the summer, and can be purchased with your student-ID card.
Costs
Books are much cheaper; at least half the price and you can buy them in the bookstore on
campus. Food on campus is really cheap and you can have a dinner for 30 HK dollar or about
25 kroner, with drink. Off campus you can find a broad variety of food for all kinds of prices.
The International office
There is an International Office on campus. The contact person is Wendy Cheung
(bmwendy@ust.hk). Her telephone number is (+852) 2358 8047. Wendy’s assistant is Olive
Tsang (bmolive@ust.hk). Wendy and Olive can be found in the office of Business
Department, and are happy to help with any inquiries.
Exchange promotion
There was an exchange fair in the beginning of October. BI sent us all the necessary
materials. The locals tend to be shy, so hardly anyone stopped by the booth.
Social activities
There is a vast amount of social activities at HKUST. You will be assigned a local buddy
whom will show you around in Hong Kong and attend orientation activities with. The Uni-bar
is an excellent place to meet and socialize with other exchange students in the beginning.
The exchange students on campus quickly bonded and we arranged travels, parties and
excursions together.
There are also several student organizations available for membership, including all kinds of
sports and interests. There is a fair each semester where all organizations present
themselves and enroll new members. If you are interested in joining any of the sport-oriented
activities, sign up early since there is a limited amount of spaces.
Among several places you should visit while you stay in Hong Kong, we will recommend;
Lang Kwai Fong – LKF is a street on Hong Kong Island at the center of all of the nightclubs
and bars. There are lots of different types of bars and nightclubs catering for all different
tastes. They range from your exclusive rooftop terrace bars to your student packed clubs.
SoHo and Hollywood Road - Soho and Hollywood road are located within a short walk from
LKF, and they offer some of the most upmarket restaurants and shops that Hong Kong has to
offer. It is also home to what the Guiness World Records states as the world’s longest
covered escalator. The Symphony of Lights – Named the “World’s Largest Permanent Light
and Sound Show” this multimedia display is one of Hong Kong’s most popular attractions.
The show has 5 main themes, Awakening, Energy, Harmony, Partnership, and Celebration.
They create this effect using a combination of lights, laser beams, and spotlights. The best
way to see this is to take a harbor cruise or walk down the waterfront promenades in Victoria
Harbour.
Culture and language
All professor are fluent in English, at least in the business department, there are however
occasions where administrative staff are struggling with English, hence there is always
someone fluent in English around.
The university offers language courses in Cantonese and Mandarin, a great experience but
very demanding. Since local students are fairly kept to themselves, a great way to get to
know them more is to choose to share room with them in the Hall, however be aware that
their hours are very different and they hardly sleep at all.
Cultural and social effects from the exchange experience
Our time in Hong Kong has been an experience of lifetime. Hong Kong represents endless
opportunities to learn about different cultures from all over the world both through the
extraordinary city where east meets west and also as a great traveling platform for further
travels in Asia. We have gained valuable knowledge about the way of life in Hong
Kong/China. There are social norms here that can solely be understood through experiencing
it. We believe that this will be an advantage for our future career as China is getting greater
importance in world business.
IV
Academic information
The Teaching situation
All the courses are taught in English and we had no problems understanding the lecturers
even though some of them had an Asian accent. The quality of the teachers is very high and
most of the professors had experience from top business schools in the US before starting at
HKUST. The level of study compared to BI really depends on what courses you are taking.
Most classes take place in smaller classrooms, similar to what you are used to from upper
secondary school. For us, the workload was heavier during the semester, but when we
approached the exam period, it was less stressful than at BI. The relationship between
students and faculty was friendly but not very personal, except for the smallest classes with
fewer students. The relationship between the students in class was good, especially amongst
the exchange students. On the other hand, some of the Asian students, mostly the ones from
Mainland China were very shy and that made it harder to communicate with them.
Required literature
The majority of the courses have a few required books, but according to the local students,
the lecture notes and the available literature on Internet will be sufficient to achieve a decent
grade. However, if you are aiming for the top, you may need to purchase what the lecturer
recommends you to do.
The textbooks are similar to the English-written literature we use at BI. Most of them are
American and easy to understand. American textbooks are usually pretty detailed so most of
the topics that are not covered in the lectures are available in the books. Our book expenses
were way less than at BI. A thick textbook usually costs around 250-300 HKD.
Exams
We were given written exams, mostly a combination of multiple choice, short concept
questions and numerical questions. In order to pass the exams/course you should be able to
perform well during the entire semester. Your grade also depends on other students
performance, because you will get graded on a curve. You should at least get a 60% in order
to get a decent grade. We found it quite easy to achieve a C but more difficult to achieve top
grades. On a Pass/Fail basis you should have no problems with passing all your courses.
Other
All students have easy access to the library where you will find computers, printers, scanners
and everything you will need during your semester. You will also get a card, which you can
use, in the printers and scanners. You can access a range of useful resources through the
library or through an online webpage. There are many computers available for use, and in
some of the lectures IT is used in order to let everyone get class participation where you get
your own handset to answer questions and polls. Information from the school will be sent to
your personal HKUST e-mail.
Course descriptions
FINA 3104: Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management
Prerequisite: SØK 3520 Microeconomics or equivalent
Examination form: Written
This course was a quite popular course like most of the other finance courses, so it might be
hard to enroll. The course gives you an introduction to the fundamental aspects of
investment, including functions of capital markets, applications of modern portfolio theory for
personal and institutional investment and pricing of financial securities. The workload of this
course is relatively high compared to other courses at HKUST, however, with a basic
understanding of finance this course is not too difficult. We had two exams (mid-term and
final), five quite big group assignments and you also have to attend all the tutorials which are
held once a week.
FINA 3604: Wealth Management
Prerequisite: FIN 3510 Financial Markets or equivalent
Examination form: Written (Multiple choice, numerical exercises, concept questions)
This course was interesting, however, we felt that the lecturer made the course more difficult
than it has to be. The professor gave us unclear messages and the description of our group
project was very vague. The course covers the process of financial planning with a focus on
the process of investment advisory. Main topics are risk profiling, asset management and
advisory techniques. The grading was based on one mid-term, one final, one group project
and tutorial attendance.
ECON 4204: Equity Valuation
Prerequisite: FIN 3511 Loan Risk Management, SØK 3520 Microeconomics or equivalent
Examination form: Written
This course had a practical approach and the professor used a lot of real life examples in our
homework. This course provides you with different tools to analyze and put a target price on a
firm or a project. The main focus of the course valuation by multiples, discounted cash flow
and real options. Our grade was based on two exams (mid-term and final), four group
assignments, one group project (analyzing a given company listed on the Hong Kong Stock
Exchange), attendance and participation.
FINA 4929: Student Managed Investment Fund
Prerequisite: FIN 3510 Financial Markets, FIN 3511 Loan Risk Management, SØK 3520
Microeconomics or equivalent
Examination form: No written or oral exam
To be enrolled for this course it is required that you hand in a written application and your
resume to the professors upon arrival at HKUST. Then they will call you in for an interview
before they select which applicants that can enroll. There was a new guest lecturer from the
finance industry every week, mainly analysts and portfolio managers. Our grade was based
on the two individual stock reports we had to write and present, and attendance and
participation.
Contact information
Please contact us through international office.