Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Spring 2014
Sonja Hannus
Preparing for the exchange
The exchange coordinator Wendy Cheung was regularly in touch and clear about which
documents to provide as well as deadlines. Basically there was no need to do independent
research on anything as long as you followed Wendy’s instructions. For the visa and
housing, you will need to send copies of passport, a statement of bank account with a
balance of at least 5000€ and a transcript of your studies.
Flying to Hong Kong with Finnair is very convenient, Finnair flies there directly and twice a
day. I recommend searching flights through Kilroy as they offer student prices. If you decide
to live on campus, you may check in straight to your hall upon arrival (which you have been
informed earlier). I took a taxi from airport, which costs around 25€. You can ask them to
take you all the way to the hall (the campus is huge so you may not want to carry your stuff
by feet).
Studies
Spring semester started on 2nd February and ended 30th May. The orientation week began a
week before the semester started, which I recommend to take part of. Also, Chinese New
Year was around this time, which is worth experiencing. The examination dates are
announced around March so you’ll find out only then when your semester ends.
The university is very prestigious and has been ranked as the best university in Asia for 3
years in row now. The course offering is wide and the level of teaching very high. The
professors are qualified and professional on their subjects, most of them have graduated
from top schools in the US. The level of teaching is remarkably higher than in our home
university, which is why I recommend taking advantage of this and attending some
advanced (level 4000, 4 credit) courses.
The course catalog is published couple months before the start of semester. About 4 weeks
before, you will choose the courses you want to take, and the exchange department will try
to place you to them. However, most exchange students did not initially get the courses they
wanted or enough courses overall. The add/drop period lasts two weeks after start of the
semester so you still have time to fix your courses then. Most students ended up getting the
courses they wanted after struggling with the department for the first two weeks.
I took UG courses, which were aimed for final year students. Prerequisites were required for
most of these courses, which I did not have so I did not quality for the courses. However,
through intensive contacting of the professors directly, I was able to make it to the courses I
wanted to. Basically it is possible to take any courses you wish but you have to work to get
in to these if you do not meet the prereqs. I’m happy to tell more of this system if you need
help. The course offering of the previous semester can be viewed online.
All courses are taught in English. Many of the exchange students took basics of Mandarin.
Overall, the both full-time and exchange students work very hard for the courses. Of course
you can pick easy courses and avoid heavy workloads but the higher-level courses require a
lot of work to get at least a decent grade. Students spend a lot of time in the library!
My courses:
4210 Strategic Marketing level 4000, UG 4 credits
Professor Dennis Lim
The workload for this course was extremely heavy. We did 5 cases, 2 exams and a group
work simulation, which lasted for half of the semester. Most of my fellow students were full
time marketing majors in their final year so the level was very high and competitive. The
professor Dennis Lim was inspiring and professional in his field. I liked the real life case
approach that he used to demonstrate the theories.
The course combined all previous marketing courses offered in HKUST – distribution,
promotion, pricing strategies, consumer behavior and so on. Content was both quantitative
and qualitative – many concepts were accounting based and this course was a combination
of marketing and managerial accounting.
I found the course very useful, as I have not studied marketing before. I feel like I got a
comprehensive insight to marketing concepts.
4550 Brand management level 4000, UG 4 credits
Professor Rod Duclos
This was a final year marketing course so the workload was heavy and the course was
intensive. Attendance is required and the course included a lot of presentations, quizzes and
reports to hand in. The content was interesting and I felt like I learned a lot. The professor
was very knowledgeable on his subject. The course was about how to build, maintain and
improve brand performance to be on the top of its market. I found the course a bit too heavy
and intensive for exchange semester.
ISOM 1380 Technology & Innovation 3000, 3 credits
The course was about how to innovate using current or new technology, and how new
technology disrupts the existing ones. We also talked about innovating to customer needs,
protecting innovations, collaboration strategies in innovation and so on. The professor used
a lot of cases to demonstrate the subject, which I found good. We talked about Google cars
and watches among others. The workload was relatively easy as the course was worth 3
credits. I did not find the course super useful or interesting (I was hoping it would focus
more on IT technology) but overall it was OK.
4290a Art and Science of Digital & Direct Marketing
Professor Gene Raitt
The professor Gene Raitt had corporate background rather than academic and he based all
his teaching on his job experience, which I liked a lot. He shared the best practices from his
own career. I however found that the pace of the course was a bit too slow and there could
have been more content. Most stuff was already familiar / common sense. Very light
workload compared to the other marketing courses.
Campus & living
The campus is huge and beautiful, by the sea. The facilities are impressive; big outdoor and
indoor pools, running track, 2 gyms, grocery store, perfect wifi everywhere, and several
restaurants. The business building especially is super nice and modern.
The campus is 45 min away from the center. You need to take a minibus and 2 metros to get
to the city. We usually took taxis both ways when going to nightlife which costs around
4€/way/person. I chose to live at the campus as almost all exchange students lived there and
the campus itself is beautiful. It was very affordable as well, I paid around 700€ for the
entire semester and I lived in the nicest (and most expensive hall). Apparently campus living
is only offered for UG students. You will need to buy your own sheets, blankets and so on.
There is an Ikea downtown, which is very convenient. We went there on the first day.
You should also buy an Octopus card as soon as possible as you pay all public transportation
with it. It can be bought from any MTR station. Later on, you can fill a form from the uni to
apply for a student octopus, with which you get 50% off from MTRs. I also recommend
having a local prepaid phone deal. Mine was PCCW’s which was affordable. I had unlimited
data and I paid around 15€/month of my deal.
Food at the campus is very cheap. There is western food available; especially lunch salad
buffet was very good. Other than that, the food is nothing special and you get bored it with
eventually but it is decent. For most courses, there is no need to buy a book. For some it may
be required but the books are much cheaper in HK compared to Europe. I bought a book for
one course for around 40€.
Getting to know other students is very easy at least when living at campus. During
orientation week, there were a lot of activities. Also, at least during our semester, the
Facebook group was very active and it was around 450 people. Someone is always posting
suggestions on activities and everyone are welcome to join. I got to know new people until
the end of semester, so no worry about groups forming quickly.
The city
Hong Kong itself is an amazing city. The Chinese culture is strongly present but the city is a
mixture of Western and Chinese as there is huge community of expats and exchange
students. Central, Soho and Sheung Wan are very western areas with international
restaurants, bars, cafes and boutiques. Nightlife is lively and there is a party every night if
you’re up to partying (and there is always someone up to at the campus). There are also a lot
of local celebrations around the year with public holidays and activities around the city. You
will never be bored in HK!
The nature is beautiful and there are tens of beautiful beaches and hikes around the city.
Many of the beaches are as beautiful as in Bali or Thailand. My favorites are Sai Wan and
Cheung Sha. Infinity pool and cliff jumping are also must to-do. As said, the exchange
student organize day trips to all of the major activities and invite everyone to join in the
Facebook group.
Fall semester is much better in terms of the weather. I spent two semesters in HK and I
would strongly recommend going for the Fall. Spring at least this year was first very cold,
then rainy and in May too humid and hot. Fall was warm/mild and sunny with very few
rains.
The location is also ideal for traveling. I traveled to mainland China, Malaysia & Borneo,
Philippines, Thailand and Bali. You can find relatively cheap flights to these destinations.
Final comments
The University is a top university in the world. The campus is beautiful and away from the
hectic city. The downside is 45 min ride to the city. Taxis are pretty convenient and cheap
though. If you wish to attend to a prestigious university while meeting a lot of amazing
people from the top universities around the world and gain a valuable network, HKUST is
the right place for you.
However, you may not experience the city to the fullest. I did an internship as well and lived
in the city during this time, and I must say that most of my experiences of the city I got
during my internship. Exchange was more about partying, traveling and studying. Despite
the location, I would still choose HKUST over City University of HK. If you think you will
enjoy campus life, HKUST is the right option.