As I started a tour around the school, I learned that Hong Kong University was constructed around 100 years ago and had been rebuilt because it burned down. When I was walking around the buildings, I felt like the buildings were archaic, but at the same time modern because there were beautiful small gardens in diverse places. The buildings were divided into different departments of majors. Notably, there was a statue called “The Pillar of Shame” which was made by students in Hong Kong University to condemn the breakdown of Tiananmen. Also, because Hong Kong University is located in the middle of the city and has a long history, many travelers come to take pictures of the school and its surroundings.
After taking a look around the school, I talked about the education of Hong Kong University with Mr. Park. Hong Kong University, different with Yale-NUS, has specific majors. There is a common core curriculum that was similar to those of Liberal Arts colleges. Many South Korean students think of the economy, finance, and management majors when they think of Hong Kong University, but when I talked with Mr. Park, I realized that Hong Kong University now has many students from South Korea who study in STEM majors.
Over 50% of faculty members were from foreign countries. Notably, the qualities of studies were excellent. For example, if students got 3.0 out of 4.3 GPA in Hong Kong University, it was a superpass. Specially, Hong Kong University has an extremely high employment rate because of the networking from school to different companies has a history of 100 years. For double majors and changing majors, it was very easy even if the previous majors and present majors had no relationship. Lastly, there is a huge variety of activities such as internship programs and field trips, which gives students an opportunity to travel to other countries. For example, Hong Kong University was the first university to host North Korea visiting programs.
For admissions, there was no big difference with other universities. Students are required to take the SAT, get good grades in GPA, Especially, extra-curricular activities take very huge part in Hong Kong university admission.
After the conversation with Mr. Park, I was amazed at the freedom and opportunities that the university gave to students. Also, I was shocked that Hong Kong University has a history more than 100 years and amazed at the employment rate of 99.7%. In addition, when I visited Hong Kong University, I felt like there was an atmosphere which helps students study hard. Overall, I found Hong Kong University a great university which provides great education and benefits them by making most of them getting employed.
Dongki Kim