Applying to HKU and CUHK

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Dear everyone,

Please Help!!

I am an international student from HK currently studying in an university in the US. I'm about to finish my undergraduate degree in Biochem in the coming december. Over my undergraduate years, I found out what I really wanted to do is actually MEDICINE. Therefore, I am very interested to apply to the medical programs in HKU and CUHK upon my graduation. However, here comes the problem that my academic record is not that good at all.

My status is :
GPA 3.6 in a 1st tier University
TOEFL 267
GRE verbal 390/ math 780
experience: 2 years of research experience on medical microbiology. Currently a student hourly research assistant in a med micro lab. However, no volunteer record or record of working in a hospital.


Should I try to apply anyway or should I do a master and get a better GPA and some volunteer experience before I apply?

Do anyone of you know someone that was admitted to the med sch of CUHK and HKU as a degree holder applicant, what is his/her statistic?

I will be very appreciated if anyone would give me any advise on this!!! THX
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hku told me that they give NO PREFERENCE to undergrad degree holders :thumbdown:
 
A friend of mine recently graduated from HKU medicine.

He did his high school in Canada. Did one year of undergrad in US with something like 3.8 average, and then applied to HKU.

There is an interview that lasts about 15 minutes.

It's a 5 year program, plus one year of internship. In US it's 4 years with no internship; you go straight to residency after internship.

Hope this helps
 
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ewon2004 said:
A friend of mine recently graduated from HKU medicine.

He did his high school in Canada. Did one year of undergrad in US with something like 3.8 average, and then applied to HKU.

There is an interview that lasts about 15 minutes.

It's a 5 year program, plus one year of internship. In US it's 4 years with no internship; you go straight to residency after internship.

Hope this helps
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, fruity_trident and ewon2004!!

ewon2004, which U in US did your friend attend?
 
so did u apply or get any results? i m an international student also planning to apply
 
is it a must that you must be able to write in chinese to apply to HKU?
 
I've applied to both these universities.

CUHK places tremendous preference on candidates who can speak Chinese (either Cantonese or Mandarin, preferably both).

It's very hard for international students to get into either university indeed... they have set quotas of 1-2 per year, it appears. Even for us local International schools (rather than local school), there are only 20-30 places out of 140 or so. (according to the universites from last year).
 
Just want to clarify the case for med schools in HK.

Since students are being trained to practice medicine in HK, fluent spoken Cantonese is certainly a must for both HKU or CUHK. As for the 1-2 spots for international applications, I assume that you are referring to the non-JUPAS applicants. In my class (CUHK), there are ~ 6 who have gotten a degree from North American universities, several who finished high school from UK, and many more who finished international high school from HK.

Hope that gives u a better idea.
 
Hi,

I would like to know what the pre-admission interview is about and how do I get myself prepared for it?

Do I need to review my academic knowledge such as Chemistry and Biology.

I am a Form 6 student and have applied for the early admission scheme.

Your help is invalulable to me and thanks in advance.
kojing
 
i've applied to HKU; sent in the application forms 3 weeks back

from what i know, this year, CUHK is not offering any places to international students

one thing i would like to know is that the financial assistance for international students

loans/scholarships/bursaries etc etc
 
eggtart said:
i've applied to HKU; sent in the application forms 3 weeks back

from what i know, this year, CUHK is not offering any places to international students

one thing i would like to know is that the financial assistance for international students

loans/scholarships/bursaries etc etc
Click to expand...

International applicants apply to those who do not hold a valid Hong Kong permanent ID card and study overseas.

Local applicants are Hong Kong residents; they are categorized as JUPAS and NON-JUPAS.
JUPAS: Applicants who write the HKEE and HKALE at form 5 and form 7 respectively.
NON-JUPAS: Applicants who study overseas but have a valid Hong Kong ID card.
 
ok..meaning i still stand a chance

be it 10% or 5%

i'm still waiting and praying
 
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Any updates?

I was lead to believe (by their professors) that neither CUHK nor HKU readily accepts international students...
 
i received a letter of "conformation of application" from HKU before chinese new year

that's all

from what i checked on HKU website, earliest i can know of any status is from april onwards

so, in the meantime, i'm doing some voluntary works and as usual, keep praying:rolleyes:
 
hi

please can somebody shed some light on my situation?

i am a UK student currently doing a premed course at a UK university.. and i am planning to apply for medicine at HKU..
I have a valid HKID and a UK passport and can speak fluent english and cantonese.. but not so much write in chinese.

my alevels are ABC in ALEVEL CHEM, BIO, MATHS and b in AS pyschology.
english GCSE C and chinese GCSE C..

do i have a chance?

appreciate you hlep:)
 
vchui,
sorry to tell you but you seriously have 0% of being accepted into HKU medicine or getting an interview.. non-jupas (international students studying anything else than HK A level system) have high standards.. real high.. and the admission officers expect 5 or 6 A LEVELS all at an A grade. even for me, i have >90% A grade in five A/S and predicted to have five A grade in A level too.. BUT i dont expect myslef to even receive an interview offer because last year, in my school, no one did even with the best results (AAAAA at higher average than me).
so..... sorry to not lighten up ur situation, but u almost have no chance :(
 
erikah19 said:
vchui,
sorry to tell you but you seriously have 0% of being accepted into HKU medicine or getting an interview.. non-jupas (international students studying anything else than HK A level system) have high standards.. real high.. and the admission officers expect 5 or 6 A LEVELS all at an A grade. even for me, i have >90% A grade in five A/S and predicted to have five A grade in A level too.. BUT i dont expect myslef to even receive an interview offer because last year, in my school, no one did even with the best results (AAAAA at higher average than me).
so..... sorry to not lighten up ur situation, but u almost have no chance :(
Click to expand...


hi thanks for ur reply.. but on the entrance requirements it seems ok how come it so low on the prospectus?... how much harder is medicine in HK? i mean wats the difference?
everything is structured like meidicine in the uk rite and taught in english?

and how competitive is it?comapred to uk?
do they even take any internationals

sorri about the Qs ok
 
My friend got a GPA of 3.8 from U of Toronto and finished his masters at the same uni, still was rejected by HKU after interview.
 
huh?

masters degree holder get rejected?

oh oh...:(
 
Yes, I'm totally serious. It means either the applicants for 2006 intake were extremely strong or HKU doesn't give preference to degree holders. 3.8 GPA is fairly high.
 
vchui,
to tell the truth hku/cu only accept up to around 10 max 20 etc. non-jupas undergraduates.. and chinese u is more harsh on the offers they make; even if you get an offer after the interview they require you to attain more than 90% average in at least three A levels you sit.. if you get any less than 90% in any of the three A level exams, you wont be getting that place.
the standard's the same as UK.. it's just that hong kong local exams are about three times harder than any other A/S or A level examinations (esp UK ones).. so they are VERY picky!! it's unbelivable to see my friend getting offer from uk university and they only needed to have three A! some only need two As... that's insane ..
 
having a 3.8 gpa means you'll get an interview....passing the interview is another thing. not sure if your friend speaks cantonese well, but i was told that the interview has both a chinese and english component. if you can't speak cantonese well enough to complete the discussion portion, then they probably won't accept you, since working in a hospital setting in hk requires excellent cantonese skills cuz i mean EVERYONE there speaks cantonese. plus...not like you expect to explain to an 80 year-old patient about their medical condition in english and have them understand lol
 
how about phd holders?

i know of someone having a phd and applying to HKU at the same time. what are his chances?

any past stories before?

thanks a lot guys

now i know what to expect..:(
 
eggtart said:
how about phd holders?

i know of someone having a phd and applying to HKU at the same time. what are his chances?

any past stories before?

thanks a lot guys

now i know what to expect..:(
Click to expand...


Yes, a few years ago a guy was accepted to HKU medicine and he's a pharmacist with a PhD.

Often time you see people from Canada or USA who view HKU or CUHK as "backup" without realising that getting into HKU or CUHK as an non-jupas is almost always far harder (judging from the number of applicants and the number accepted each year) than getting into their home schools in the US/Canada....
 
starz said:
having a 3.8 gpa means you'll get an interview....passing the interview is another thing. not sure if your friend speaks cantonese well, but i was told that the interview has both a chinese and english component. if you can't speak cantonese well enough to complete the discussion portion, then they probably won't accept you, since working in a hospital setting in hk requires excellent cantonese skills cuz i mean EVERYONE there speaks cantonese. plus...not like you expect to explain to an 80 year-old patient about their medical condition in english and have them understand lol
Click to expand...


My friend is a Honkie...I guess he blew his interview.
 
Yes, a few years ago a guy was accepted to HKU medicine and he's a pharmacist with a PhD.


now that was the catching phrase

a few yrs ago..that is.:(

never mind, even though i have only 5% chance of admission, i'll still wait..

it's not over til it's over

thanks D30417995
 
OMG, HKU just informed me that I was shortlisted for an interview in April. Is this under Early Admission or normal round? Totally no idea.

Hey guys, any advice on how to prepare for the interview?

To brush up my Cantonese? (I'm a Malaysian Chinese), To read more of the medical books?

What do you think are the chances of my success since I'm not a local?

Regards,:laugh:
 
wgy589 said:
OMG, HKU just informed me that I was shortlisted for an interview in April. Is this under Early Admission or normal round? Totally no idea.

Hey guys, any advice on how to prepare for the interview?

To brush up my Cantonese? (I'm a Malaysian Chinese), To read more of the medical books?

What do you think are the chances of my success since I'm not a local?

Regards,:laugh:
Click to expand...

HKU typically invites roughly 200 interviewees for the 10 or so spots available :smuggrin:
 
Edison said:
HKU typically invites roughly 200 interviewees for the 10 or so spots available :smuggrin:
Click to expand...

Really? 10/200=5%.Is it that low?

How true is this statement.Edison? Where did you get this information? So, you're a medical student in HKU?

If the success rate is so low, then is it advisible for me to go all the way from Malaysia to Hong Kong?
 
wgy589 said:
Really? 10/200=5%.Is it that low?

How true is this statement.Edison? Where did you get this information? So, you're a medical student in HKU?

If the success rate is so low, then is it advisible for me to go all the way from Malaysia to Hong Kong?
Click to expand...

To tell the truth, every year, many people flew back from countries even farther away than Malaysia to attend the 20-minute interview and then got rejected. It's way cheaper for you to get back than those coming from Britain or the United States.
 
i got an interview offer yesterday too from hku. but mine is in june. darn maybe they interview stronger applicants first? i'll be flying all the way form canada :(
 
ryanodine123 said:
To tell the truth, every year, many people flew back from countries even farther away than Malaysia to attend the 20-minute interview and then got rejected. It's way cheaper for you to get back than those coming from Britain or the United States.
Click to expand...

So, is it advisible for me to go there?
Do you think they allow tele-conference?

After all, I really appreciate your information, although it's quite discouraging>:smuggrin:
 
willcandude said:
i got an interview offer yesterday too from hku. but mine is in june. darn maybe they interview stronger applicants first? i'll be flying all the way form canada :(
Click to expand...

I've no idea of whether the date of interview is an indication of the applicants' strength.

Are you Hong Konger? What qualification are you holding and your results?
Mine is STPM (Malaysia Higher School Certificate), something like A-Levels with AAAA and A in every single paper.

I assume if you're Hong Konger, your chances are higher.
 
i haven't heard of anything yet from them..

looks like my chances are gone:(
 
how did HKU notify you guys?

email?
 
hey wgy589, did you apply as an international or as a local Non-JUPAS applicant?

i have hong kong citizenship so i'm applying in the local Non-JUPAS pool. i am in the last year of my bachelor of science right now
 
willcandude said:
hey wgy589, did you apply as an international or as a local Non-JUPAS applicant?

i have hong kong citizenship so i'm applying in the local Non-JUPAS pool. i am in the last year of my bachelor of science right now
Click to expand...

I'm actually a Malaysian citizen, but my mother tongue is Mandarin/Cantonese and I like HK very much. That's why I applied to HKU.

When did you apply ? I actually applied for Early Decision, but was rejected. Maybe that's the reason they interview me first.

OMG, a STPM (something like A-Levels) student gonna compete with a degree holder. Honestly. your chances are certainly higher with HK citizenship and with a bachelor's degree (I think).

Any advice on how to prepare for the interview, please!!!!!!
 
wgy

did you apply to some of the local university in malaysia?

i heard they're a bit err..."bias" towards certain race. is it true?
 
hey wgy589,

i also applied for early decision but was rejected soon after lol :rolleyes:

i guess the reason we have diff interview dates is probably because we're in different applicant pools. you're in the international students pile, while i'm in the local Non-JUPAS pile, so i won't be competing with u! (there are 3 applicant pools in total)

and i think it's much harder to get in as an international because there's only 1 or 2 spots (from what i heard)

anyway, wrt your earlier post about whether you should go for the interview, my advice is, if you're desperate in getting into a medical school and the airfare isn't too much of a problem, then you should go for it

and yeh, i'd really appreciate some advice on the interview format and how i should prepare for it! and what do they ask in the cantonese portion?
 
there's only 1 or 2 spots for international students?

wgy

when did you send in your application?
 
willcandude said:
hey wgy589,

i also applied for early decision but was rejected soon after lol :rolleyes:

i guess the reason we have diff interview dates is probably because we're in different applicant pools. you're in the international students pile, while i'm in the local Non-JUPAS pile, so i won't be competing with u! (there are 3 applicant pools in total)

and i think it's much harder to get in as an international because there's only 1 or 2 spots (from what i heard)

anyway, wrt your earlier post about whether you should go for the interview, my advice is, if you're desperate in getting into a medical school and the airfare isn't too much of a problem, then you should go for it

and yeh, i'd really appreciate some advice on the interview format and how i should prepare for it! and what do they ask in the cantonese portion?
Click to expand...

Get it! Thanks.:laugh:
 
so early?

i submit mine somewhere around last week of jan:D

just make it in time for the deadline:D
 
eggtart said:
so early?

i submit mine somewhere around last week of jan:D

just make it in time for the deadline:D
Click to expand...

Eggtart, seems like you 're a Singaporean being able to speak Cantonese. Right? Nothing, just curious to know.:rolleyes:
 
i checked my application status,

stated that "application under consideration"

meanin still got chance although low
 
hello, everyone,

i have also applied for hku medi. my interview is on 12 apr. eggtart, which school are you from? it's okay if you don't want to reply... just curious..
 
you're talking about which school in HK?

i'm an international applicant
 
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