Info about HK Medical School

[janan]

Hi

i would like to get some informartion about HK medical schools and i have some other concers regarding my admission to one of the school.

my first concern is that i got my graduation in 1997 and afterwards i wasn't able to continue my studies as there was a big gap between my educational standard from Pakistan and what the universites required here for entrance.

Anyway, i applied to one of the universtiy and my application was turned down due to that educational Gap reason, as they require a bachelor degree from a recognized University in Pakistan ,which i didn;t had.

But , recently there was some relaxation in their general entrance requirement and they do accept my qualification, in addition with that i need to take SATand SAT Subjects , just to prove my competence level.

As for As SAT is concern i have already joined some prepatory courses with Kaplan.

THis year i submitted my application with a condition that i will submit my SAT score before august for their final verdict.

My other concern is that on application form i have shown my preference for two programs i.e
1. Medicine- MBBS
2.BEd , English language

Why i have put the second one is that if unlickly i am not able to get admission in Uni, i can got for the 2nd programme.

I am really worried that how will Adcom take this situation into account.Will they get the idea that i have opted for 2nd option if i am not selected.

secondly how will they take this 8 years gap of my studies.and in case if i am asked at the interview why i selceted this 2nd option what should be my strategy.

please advice.

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[kickbutt]

Are you refering to the Hong Kong medical school? University of Hong Kong?

In the first place, it is extremely difficult to get into the medical school. Non-hong kong citizens stand a very very low chance of getting in despite having a good qualification. This happened to me when i applied. Moreover, good working knowledge of Cantonese & English is a must.

I also have abt 8 years gap between one degree & another degree. I entered med school with my 2nd degree. To get round your problem, why don't you go get an accelerated degree?

 

[ch96485]

Are you refering to the Hong Kong medical school? University of Hong Kong?

In the first place, it is extremely difficult to get into the medical school. Non-hong kong citizens stand a very very low chance of getting in despite having a good qualification. This happened to me when i applied. Moreover, good working knowledge of Cantonese & English is a must.

I also have abt 8 years gap between one degree & another degree. I entered med school with my 2nd degree. To get round your problem, why don't you go get an accelerated degree?

Hi all,
How old were you when you entered the med school in HK? I am actually considering to apply for med school in HK after my graduate degree, by when I think I would be around 26 or 27......and I am hesitating for my age issue. How old was the most senior student you've met? Is this age gap causing any problems for those older students?
Any suggestions/advice will be appreciated.Thx!

HC

 

[kngkng]

Hi HC,

I am a 27 year-old 2nd year med student studying at HOng Kong. There are about 6 of us in the class with an undergraduate degree at hand. And the oldest one is in his mid thirties. We seem to get along fine even though the youngest students from our class can be as young as 18 or 19 year-old.

Hope the information would help!

 

[ch96485]

Hi HC,

I am a 27 year-old 2nd year med student studying at HOng Kong. There are about 6 of us in the class with an undergraduate degree at hand. And the oldest one is in his mid thirties. We seem to get along fine even though the youngest students from our class can be as young as 18 or 19 year-old.

Hope the information would help!

Hi kngkng,

Thank you so much for your info! It helps a lot! I am really glad to hear from someone with the actual experience.

Does that mean each of the 2 med schools in Hong Kong will accept around 6 degree-holder applicants each year? The competition must be keen. Would you mind revealing more about your entrance statistics or other degree-holders' statistics?

Thx~

HC

 

[kngkng]

Hi HC,

I am not sure if both schools accept a certain number of degree holders each year. But I know there are, in fact, a number of local and overseas degree holders who got accepted into the class. You certainly need to have a decent grade to get in. But, in my opinion, I believe as a degree holder, the competition of getting into HK med school is less keen than getting into one in Canada (which is where I come from). But still, you would need to get at least, I guess, an A- average in order to be considered?

In terms of statistics. I really don't know if you are looking for grades cuz we never ask our peers "How many As did you get!?". But I would say most of the degree holders from my class are really quite smart.

 

[D30417995]

There are some facts that I know (maybe kngkng could correct me if I'm wrong):

1) Unless you do really well academically, HKU and CUHK are absolutely not back-up schools for most people, I'd say;

2) People who didn't do the HK A-levels exam applied via the non-JUPAS stream. Entering med via this stream is insanely competitive. (kngkng I guess you're just humble; you must have done well to be accepted by HKU as a non-JUPAS applicant.) Close to 1000 applicants applied for HKU medicine from all over the world in 2003 and only about 10 were accepted. I believe this holds true from year to year. (Roughly 10-15 non-JUPAS med students in each year.)

3) If you are not accepted by your first choice program, it's very very unlikely that you'll be accepted by your 2nd or 3rd choice program unless it's just a BA that you're aiming for.

BTW, I obtained all these info after having bugged the admissions people many many times via the telephone in the past. The staff at both schools are very unwilling to disclose anything with regards to admissions; I was lucky that I was able to talk to someone new to the admissions office and who was "naive" enough to tell me the data.

In the end, I chose to study med in Melbourne Uni because of its reputation and research track record.

 

[ch96485]

Hi HC,

I am not sure if both schools accept a certain number of degree holders each year. But I know there are, in fact, a number of local and overseas degree holders who got accepted into the class. You certainly need to have a decent grade to get in. But, in my opinion, I believe as a degree holder, the competition of getting into HK med school is less keen than getting into one in Canada (which is where I come from). But still, you would need to get at least, I guess, an A- average in order to be considered?

In terms of statistics. I really don't know if you are looking for grades cuz we never ask our peers "How many As did you get!?". But I would say most of the degree holders from my class are really quite smart.

Hi kngkng,

Seems like I would have endless questions until you start to ignore me

Did you apply for med school in HK while you were in Canada? How was your interview done? I'm currently staying in the US, and I am wondering if they will send out interview invitations to applications not using a HK mailing address.

Just for curiosity, what were you doing before you entered hk med school? Did you work for some years after your bachelor degree or did you get a graduate degree prior to the med school?


HC

 

[ch96485]

There are some facts that I know (maybe kngkng could correct me if I'm wrong):

1) Unless you do really well academically, HKU and CUHK are absolutely not back-up schools for most people, I'd say;

2) People who didn't do the HK A-levels exam applied via the non-JUPAS stream. Entering med via this stream is insanely competitive. (kngkng I guess you're just humble; you must have done well to be accepted by HKU as a non-JUPAS applicant.) Close to 1000 applicants applied for HKU medicine from all over the world in 2003 and only about 10 were accepted. I believe this holds true from year to year. (Roughly 10-15 non-JUPAS med students in each year.)

3) If you are not accepted by your first choice program, it's very very unlikely that you'll be accepted by your 2nd or 3rd choice program unless it's just a BA that you're aiming for.

BTW, I obtained all these info after having bugged the admissions people many many times via the telephone in the past. The staff at both schools are very unwilling to disclose anything with regards to admissions; I was lucky that I was able to talk to someone new to the admissions office and who was "naive" enough to tell me the data.

In the end, I chose to study med in Melbourne Uni because of its reputation and research track record.

Hi D30417995,

Thanks for the info!

I absolutely won't treat the 2 med school in HK as back-up schools. I know both of them are extremely hard to get in. In fact, I applied after I finished my undergrad and didn't get in. But I think I will apply again when I finish grad school.

1000 applicants and only 10 got accepted thru non-JUPAS?! I thought they accepted more than that. 10/1000 is like 1%......

So did you actually apply to those 2 med school in HK afterall?

HC

 

[D30417995]

1000 applicants and only 10 got accepted thru non-JUPAS?! I thought they accepted more than that. 10/1000 is like 1%......

Well, don't be too stressed about it. These same 1000 applicants would have most likely applied to both HKU and CU so the situation should be slightly better. Also, don't forget that many of these people apply to multiple schools (UK, Australia, Singapore or whatnot). Hence, in the end, the odds should be better than just 1%.

In the past few years, HKU and CU have each accepted about 10-15 non-jupas applicants each year into first year med, so the total is like 20-30. I think this number has dropped or will drop because of the EAS (early admissions scheme) implemented a few years ago for Form 6 local students (They can skip Form 7 and enter med directly). A certain number of spots have been reserved for them each year, making the spots for non-jupas applicants even fewer. Both HKU and CU actively and aggressively recruit EAS applicants!

So did you actually apply to those 2 med school in HK afterall?

Yes I did, that's why I know all these details. I even attended the CU interview. However, I've also applied to Melbourne and UNSW and Melb is my favourite. I got the offer for Melb so I gave up on HKU and CU.

 

[D30417995]

PM me if you wanna know the specifics about CU interviews, like the questions asked, or who the interviewers are likely to be, etc.

 

[kngkng]

Hi HC,

I was in Canada while I was submitting my application and I believe I have used my HK relative's mailing address instead of my Canadian one. Fortunately, I found an internship placement (for my master degree) during that summer in HK and was asked for an interview around June. So I didn't need to rush to get a plane ticket to fly back.

Hi kngkng,

Seems like I would have endless questions until you start to ignore me

Did you apply for med school in HK while you were in Canada? How was your interview done? I'm currently staying in the US, and I am wondering if they will send out interview invitations to applications not using a HK mailing address.

Just for curiosity, what were you doing before you entered hk med school? Did you work for some years after your bachelor degree or did you get a graduate degree prior to the med school?


HC

 

[ch96485]

D30417995 and kngkng, thank you so much about all the info!! I really really appreaciate your inputs.

Hi HC,

I was in Canada while I was submitting my application and I believe I have used my HK relative's mailing address instead of my Canadian one. Fortunately, I found an internship placement (for my master degree) during that summer in HK and was asked for an interview around June. So I didn't need to rush to get a plane ticket to fly back.