Abroad101: Study Abroad Reviews

Mesmerizing Hong Kong and rigorous, but doable CUHK Past Review

By (Business, Brandeis University) - abroad from 01/03/2018 to 05/11/2018 with

Chinese University of Hong Kong: Hong Kong - Direct Enrollment & Exchange

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
I learned a lot of Chinese/HK culture and history mostly through the Urban China class and the Chinese Economy class.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 1 month - 6 months

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

There is a lot of work/readings; especially for classes within the business department. You might/and probably will get by with skimming and even not reading the material, but that is no way to truly learn and engage with the professors which all were open to discussion in and outside the class environment.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

They were helpful. Alex Chau was there to help.

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Housing was OK. I was placed in CWC (C.W Chu), which was pretty far away from classes ; and a 20 minute walk from the MTR/metro station. Kitchen was often dirty; and only one kitchen per floor. The room was double; it didn't feel so cramped nd the large windows added much needed light/space to the room. The administration for CWC were very strict, to the point many students (local and exchange) found it unnecessarily annoying.

* Food:

Food on campus was not good; the canteens were subpar, but there were places such as Ebeneezers (kebbab/pizza) which was very tasty - it is a chain fast-food rest. from HK. The supermarket on campus was fairly good offering some good meat; pork; chicken; rice; and other essentials.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

HK was fairly easy to integrate to; it was marvelous and receiving - though there are culture shocks, it is easy to integrate. HK is simply wonderful.

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Didn't need it.

* Safety:

It might get some time getting used to the cars on the other side, but overall HK is a very safe place.

If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? Yes

I LOVED Hong Kong.

Finances

* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? About $400HK weekly on food(groceries) and around $40HK on MTR/metro and $250 to go out to eat at a medium range place.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? Buy groceries at cook on campus.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? No

Direct Enrollment/Exchange

* Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? Exchange

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Dorm
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Local Students
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Local Students
  • International Students
About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with?

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?
  • the city
  • the location of CUHK - not on the very inside of downtown, on the outskirts, but helps because there are many gorgeous views and QUIET!!
  • professors were engaging.
* What could be improved?
  • program to be less strict
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? How easy it is to move around HK.

Reasons For Studying Abroad

To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you.
The Academic or Linguist
You went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you!

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:

Urban China
Course Department:
Instructor: Ling Minhua
Instruction Language: English
Comments: It had many! and long readings: some were very engaging and interesting and some were quite difficult to get through, specially for me since I hadn't ever studied any subject like this before. However, the class was really great (we even went out for a field trip with prof. Minhua to visit a quarter of Hong Kong and see "in action" many of the things we had learned about Asian urban issues/ specially HK).
Credit Transfer Issues: