HKU?

W/e Dude I am highly suspect of any "foreigners" chinese that claims to be at a below top 5 university. I am not bitter at all just observant. Even my own colleagues have admitted that they have on more than one occasion been accosted by students that have asked to buy. If you really need tones then you are no way ready for any university. And honestly its a bit bizarre. I don't know how long you've been in China buddy but you are naive and very arrogant. You can ask a chinese friend what does "bai mian" mean (and if you need tones for that there is no way in hell you got and HSK 5). SO lets be frank, you can't get into a british uni so you want to boost up the ego, my RA calls people like you paper baskets and its quite understandable. But then again the British have always been arrogant when it comes to China so it shouldn't be surprising its continued. And Token laowai is quite adequate description of a foreigner with no chu xi that gets an ego boost by saying NI HAO MA decently... but then again its for "personal" reasons. I meet plenty of you paper baskets at PKU that decide to take the exam for entrance to PKU and then complain when they get rejected. Maybe xiamen doesn't check to see if an individual is at a certain level but Im sure SOAS and sheffield will.

I do fully see the point in going to HKU - I even like their library and am thinking of doing a PhD there (as if they'd ever accept me ). But... when it comes to mainland China, well, I was considering to do a Masters/PhD there, at some of the universities mentioned above (originally I thought that there's no sense in doing it at a non top 5/7 university).

What I was told by academics at SOAS and Warwick that all have been to mainland Chinese universities for numerous visits or have taught there for some time was: don't do it (and most had a somewhat irritated expression when saying that). It's not worth it, the academic education even at the best couple of universities is at best average to UK standards and it's basically just a waste of time if I want to stay in academia or want to "show off" my China knowledge after having lived/studied there for 2-4 years to companies/organisations that have a clue about Chinese education. I was rather irritated at first but kind of started to understand them after having talked to a couple of Chinese students I know and that have studied at these kind of universities before. Last but not least, I was told, a degree from globally renowned universities will make it easier for you to find a well-paid job in China, no matter in which sector you wanted to work. <- just hear-say but I do believe them to have a point.

Hey,

I'm hopefully applying for HKU to study Economics in 2012, the university and country is amazing! Now for UK students (non-jupas) the requirements on the website are around 'EE' surely this cannot be correct?

I have a few questions I was wondering if anyone can answer;
I'm an english student studying: Maths, Accounting, Economics and Financial Studies all currently at AS level. It's probably to early to judge predicted grades but I am aiming for AAAA. Next year I pick up Further Maths (AS) and Mandarin.
My GCSE's were all A's and B's, bringing me onto my main questions.

What would companies offering scholarships look for in a student?
Are my potential grades an issue?
Is there anything I can do to make me stand out from other applicants?

Thank you so much for reading!

You make good points, and I've had the same told to me too. But in the end what I feel is that the education quality and what you get out of it greatly depends on your subject. The subjects I mentioned above of course might have plenty of downsides in some universities, but considering them has been the product of several years of research and knowing Chinese students who have talked to me about Xiamen Uni. Things like Chinese law, and economics in certain ways, don't differ in huge ways when it comes to what you learn. You can easily get a really poor education in English Language or History, but Chinese law is, well, law on paper really in some ways, and learning that properly is a lot towards your own responsibility. I'm probably writing my points a bit weirdly, sorry.

I'm very aware that I would be making a sacrifice in potential education quality and degree worth, but a lot of it comes down to personal reasons. And because I've had reassurance that there are companies and unis in the UK which will value me.

Anyway, I've not settled on studying in China. I just mentioned it as an option in my first post. I'm applying for both the UK and China.

I am from HK so I think I may help you abit. Since most HKers recognized that UK AL is much easier than HK's one, I strongly encourage u to study IB if u want to study in HK..and..I think u need at least 3 A* for econ.

Actually, I have read the same advice a couple of times before - that an IB would be the better choice for foreign students when applying to HKU. I'm not sure where it was (not on here, though) but I expect this to be the case.

(Just as a side note: there are [two?] other decent universities in HK as well)

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When it comes to Chinese economics I hardly believe that this will be taught in a mostly unbiased way. But, then again, I did study exactly that at SOAS and it cannot be found elsewhere in the Western World except for very few other highly specialised institutions. Thus, it might be much more and much more adequate than what you could find elsewhere. Chinese law... I am not sure if there is much sense into studying it when the practical aspect lacks that much significance in China, though. For the literature/language aspect, yes, makes sense and I expect for obvious reasons China to be the right place to study about it (although I do believe that SOAS does a good job there, too).
)

Maybe in the UK but from an American most top universities have strong East Asia programs that are just as good for East Asia as SOAS and many of them are better.

don't look at tufts.....look at most of the ivy leagues...stanford...the UC system....Johns Hopkins SAIS.....University Hawaii.....Michigan University Anne Harbor. University of Wisconsin Madison, University of Washington Seattle... Maybe Boston College....NYU......Duke....Georgetown...WUSTL.......USC.....UNC Chapel Hill....Rice.....Boston University....MIT....and to be frank no top phD program in America will take a westerner who went to a Chinese university that wasn't the Big 7(Renmin, PKU, Tsinghua, Fudan, Shanghai Jiaotong, Zhejiang University, HIT) BUt only renmin PKU or fudan possibly tsinghua for Ir for humanities/social sciences. If you really want to go to a us university for phD stick to western schools. The quality of education is not comparable. In America Chinese universities and students not from "western re-organization" group are not what you would call....most favored areas. As someone who gives interviews for a top American universities to potential chinese candidates for the school's undergrad and grad programs in Beijing and sometimes in Chengdu, Shanghai, and Harbin its very obvious why we are taught to look at their applications not with a grain of salt, but with an entire salt mine.

Also CHinese EConomics taught in CHina is actually classified as Marxist Economics.....thats the theory of what you would be studying which is what SOAS supposedly has. If I remember correctly Stanford Harvard Yale and Columbia have centers devoted to Chinese Economic policy....thats what you are interested in. JHU just got a new China center that is devoted to policy (foreign economics legal etc) USA schools are indeed expensive but the level of education is incomparable.

I have been told that US Business degree= UK Economics degree but not US economics one as there are very few Quantitative related modules in US economics degree. What's your opinion?

Yeah who ever told you that is sorely misinformed.....economics at MIT Stanford JHU Upenn and other top programs are pure quant unless you are doing Social Economics.

Hence both business n economics are highly respected? Or the former will be slightly more respected than the latter one?

Hmmm I am almost fluent in chinese holding offers from Imperial, Warwick for Msc Finance pending Cambridge. Any point in me applying to universities in the east? I want to improve my Chinese, but still have good job prospects. I have work experience in risk and corporate finance.