Best Semester of my College Career at CUHK Past Review
By A student (The University of Texas at Austin) - abroad from 01/05/2017 to 05/15/2017 with
University of Texas at Austin: Chinese University of Hong Kong
I had to be more independent and a better problem solver, since I couldn't ask for help from my parents. I also learned to be more adaptable and adventurous; I traveled to so many places that I've never been before and stepped out of my comfort zone.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The courses were not as rigorous as compared to UT. Many of my classes had a heavy curve which I was unaware about but was pleasantly surprised to find out. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I lived at Morningside College, which I personally really enjoyed. In terms of location, Morningside and SH Ho were closest to the MTR station and to most of my classes (which were located in the Chung Chi teaching blocks). Morningside and SH Ho also have communal dinner three times a week and I thought it was a great way to talk to CUHK students, since I otherwise would not really have been able to make friends with non-exchange students. Morningside is also known as the "international" college since there were alot of students from outside Hong Kong such as Mainland China, Taiwan, India, and Southeast Asia. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I think it's difficult to integrate of you don't speak/read Chinese or don't have some sort of Chinese background. Many of my friends, like myself, were overseas ethnic Chinese (Chinese British/American/Canadian ect) so integrating wasn't as big of an issue with us. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Going to the university clinic was very simple and straightforward. I was able to get medication free of charge for minor issues. |
| * Safety: |
HK overall is much safer in terms of violent crime compared to most American cities. I felt much safer walking around at night |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* 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) |
Typical meals at the campus canteens ranged from 25-45HKD. If you stick with eating on campus it's usually not difficult to live on a student budget. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | The Octopus card is basically a debit card for HK. You can use it for the MTR trains as well as payment when you go to many stores so what some people did is upload a fixed amount of money to the card every week and that's how much they had to spend for the week. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| 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? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I don't need to pack so many things. When going on exchange I would have just packed things I would use on a weekly basis. |
