Hongkong Applicants 2014

Is that the case? From what I know CU grads are averaging 4x-5x k per month, UST 3x-4x k and HKU 2x - 3xk per month :/

That is not true at all. Where did you get that from?

You are somewhat close about HKU as the average salary is HKD$30,600. But HKUST's GBUS is only at HKD$18,500, which echoes the overall difference as HKU's overall average is also almost doubling that of HKUST's. CUHK doesn't publish anything, but considering how their overall average is also lower than HKU, I should think theirs would also be slightly lower. Averging $40-50k per month would be very difficult for any programme at CUHK unless you assume that everybody gets very similar salary, because the highest in the whole university is at $88,000 (v HKU's $100k) and those tend to be a sheer minority. Seeing the only publication about where their graduates go to, listing I presume the best companies, it seems their average is $20-30k at best.

HKUST figure you cited is out of date. If you compare HKU's IBGM salary in the same period it is similar.

Pay has risen by a lot since 10 years ago.

I guess the first university to start GBus is the best among the three. Isn't it HKUST?


Posted from TSR Mobile

Hmm…what about CU IBCE vs HKU IBGM? Assuming that I have not been rejected (yet) by the former and might stand a chance.

Anyway, among the opinion from different people around me (online/in person/young/experienced…) these few days, most people are telling me that a traditional US college experience easily exceeds any possible program locally in terms of quality by a scale that I shouldn't even be evaluating or comparing between the both…yet many people also say that it would be ridiculous to turn this offer down :/

Not comparable; the only business program that can be compared to IBGM at CUHK is GLOBE. IBCE is definitely worse than GLOBE and IBGM.

As an American who left college in NYC to come to HKU because of financial reasons, that statement is 99% correct. From both quality of life (study stress, workload, fun, social scene) and prospects (starting salary out of graduation, more flexible job opportunities in different fields, general prestige in the job hunt), a comparable college in the US (say, BostonU or UMichigan) does much better than HKU ever could. It really just isn't the same. If you are from HK and haven't had the privilege of experiencing something like a US college experience, do go and give it a shot - it's once in a lifetime. You will come back to HK and employers will give you more looks than they would give a local grad.

However, I would say that the quality of life and "college experience" only apply insofar as you attend a typical American campus university - think places like Dartmouth, not NYU. I had many friends at NYU and they were as disconnected from the community as I am at HKU.

If you get into a comparable college in the US, go to it. It will be better than IBGM. But if you only got into say, a community college, then the trade-off is not as high - you'd be better off with IBGM. I can only really give you advice if you tell me what colleges you're considering.

Hi, thanks for your advice. I'm enrolled at Northwestern and on the waitlist for a few Ivies and U of C. My only concern is Northwestern sounds less dazzling than it actually is in HK not only to the curbside stranger but also employers…but this I am not sure. Econ major. I actually turned down numerous more 'well-known' schools in HK (think UCLA/USC/NYU…) for this but now my parents are very convinced about HKU IBGM.

CUHK.

Northwestern Econ is known by everyone and anyone in the employers' world here in HK. If you can get the Kellogg Certificate even more so.

Anywhere between 60%-90% of people reading resumes for top business jobs in HK (Consulting, iBanking, etc) are US educated, so they will all regard Northwestern as very prestigious.

Comparing Northwestern and HKU is a joke lol. Layman's reputation for Northwestern in HK is, of course, less than spectacular since the average joe will only know HYP, Oxbridge and HK universities at best. But if you're concerned about day-to-day prestige I can't help you - honestly nobody gives two damns.

But in the job market and for people who matter (i.e. educated people in HK), there shouldn't even be a comparison between Northwestern and HKU. Northwestern, even disregarding the fact that employers here are biased towards foreign degrees, is a MUCH better institution all around. Better teaching, better funding, better facilities, better social life, better and closer alumni network. Uncle did an MBA at Kellogg and he got in touch with the Kellogg alumni network here to try and find me a job; Northwestern has a huge network here in Asia. Better than HKU honestly, even though it's like 200 times smaller.

And one more tip: Recently I was networking, trying to find a job this summer. I will quote verbatim an informal text conversation I had with a banker at a top bank (the type of company that all HKU business students would get their panties' wet over): "We mainly hire non-local grads because most local grads are useless but an American studying in HK would be worth a look."

There's clearly a huge (perhaps justified) bias against local HK grads. The common string I've pulled together from conversations with a lot of hiring professionals is that the best HK talent goes overseas to study. This is a fact - on average, the best and brightest get the **** out of this place for 4 years, have more fun, meet nicer people, get a more outward-looking worldview, build a more interesting personality, and come back to dominate the other HKers when it comes to job-hunting time. Nobody likes to admit it but this really is overwhelmingly the case. Even though you were bright enough to get into Northwestern, if you choose to go to HKU, there will be a generalization that you are not as good as a foreign grad - not just academically, but as a person. This perception is here to stay for at least the next 20 years, since all the top jobs hire US/UK educated people, and those people in turn have the same prejudices when they hire applicants.

See here for anecdotal evidence. This is a girl from CUHK bemoaning how tough it is to compete with the US educated grads in Hong Kong, even though she's probably just as bright:
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/too-many-americans-us-graduates-in-hong-kong

I guess the first university to start GBus is the best among the three. Isn't it HKUST? Posted from TSR Mobile

They don't just take everybody from American universities however, Bank of China for example has an exclusive list for you to choose from. I don't remember the options for US, but for the UK as an example, they only have Oxford, Cambridge, University of London, Imperial, and Edinburgh. If you expand it to 10 in America, there could still be 10 better universities such as Harvard, MIT, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, UC Berkeley, University of Chicago, Columbia University, John Hopkins University, UPenn.

UCB and JHU > Northwestern?

They don't just take everybody from American universities however, Bank of China for example has an exclusive list for you to choose from. I don't remember the options for US, but for the UK as an example, they only have Oxford, Cambridge, University of London, Imperial, and Edinburgh. If you expand it to 10 in America, there could still be 10 better universities such as Harvard, MIT, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, UC Berkeley, University of Chicago, Columbia University, John Hopkins University, UPenn.

Also keep in mind:

With the US your choices are:
1. Pledging a frat (assuming you're a guy)
or
2. living in a regular dorm in spacious Evanston, IL.

With HK your choices are:
1. Live with your parents, as most HKers do (miserable pathetic lack of independence - you'll wish you had room to breathe. I swear HK is the only place where it's normal to live with your parents till you're 35; I don't know how they do it)

2. Live in stupid "Halls" where you get to experience all the hazing, meaningless sports activities, hall cheers, lack of individualism.

Big thing to consider, honestly. I know people in HKU who really are gouging their eyes out over hall life. Of course, there are some that like it, but quite few.

But that's irrelevant. Why anyone would want to work for BoC is mind-blowing to me. It's a second-tier or third-tier bank in every aspect you can think of, and for Chinese banks they actually get a LOT of their talent from Peking and Tsinghua. And I'm pretty sure the targets they have for America are more vast. Mainland personnel go to the US for their educations much more than the UK, and Northwestern would definitely be considered a target.

But for firms that matter in Hong Kong (i.e. top foreign firms) Northwestern would be a great name to have on your resume. With Northwestern you have a shot at all the jobs an HKU IBGM graduate wishes they could even touch.

And regarding UCB/JHU....UCB = JHU = Northwestern; they're basically on the same tier. People can argue or whatever but they pretty much compete with each other on the same level. Each of them are the second-tier to whatever "amazing" school in their area. Stanford, UofC, for JHU you basically have the entire East Coast.

So BoC would have a higher recruitment standard than the companies that actually 'matter' you mean?

Also, for what it's worth, the big ibanks do have recruitment sessions at HKU, CUHK, and HKUST; and there are a lot of people who got into them. Though they seem to favour law students a lot more, they do have random ones like history graduates.