Calling all HKU-MBA Applicants: (2016 Intake) Class of 2017!!

Could you please shed some light on life at HKU in terms of time spent in clubs, class and lecture related activities as well as the amount of time spent on networking. I am trying to get an idea of the life balance and a gauge on the lifestyle led by students at HKU.

HKU_Cheng: Regarding to the questions you mentioned, there's no fixed time, it all depends on the incentives of the students. Let me briefly explain... Certainly when you join HKU MBA, apart from attending the lectures, there are lots of opportunities for the networking events of different types e.g. alumni sharing events, company visit, seminar talks etc from different industries. Also, the students will join the student club organized by the career office. We have finance, consulting, entrepreneur, luxury/industry, women in leadership club. It depends on which area you want to work after the MBA, and then you will join a particular club. Under the student club, you will have mentorship programme, and live project opportunities, though it is a intensive journey, but definitely you will learn a lot from it, through the teaching and learning, networking with different people etc.



Hi Mr. Bon Cheng, is language barrier a hindrance in getting a job in HK, after MBA??

HKU_Cheng: No. Language is definitely NOT a barrier in getting the job in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is an international city and its official language is English. As long as you could communicate in English, it is fine to work in Hong Kong without a problem, even if you do not know the Cantonese and Mandarin. We have many non-local students, Indian, American, Canadian, European....they work in Hong Kong for so many years after MBA graduation, and nearly all of them do not speak Mandarin and Cantonese.



Can you throw some light on admission process at HKU Business School ? GPA, GMAT, Application Essays, Interview, Work Experience, and Extra Curricular. If you asked to arrange these parameters in the order of their importance at HKU – what would it be?

HKU_Cheng: From the admission perspective, we take holistic approach. We will look at their academic qualification, work experience, GMAT, essay etc while making decisions.

During the interview-selecting stage, we put more emphasis on your professional background/work experience, so, even for those candidates without the GMAT during the application period, we still welcome them to apply. In some cases, we will call them for the interview, if they could show good interview performance; we will issue the conditional offer subject to GMAT and for the final decision of admission offer, interview performance is the most important. Plus we will get the balance between GMAT score and no. of year of work experience; e.g. if you have only 2-3 years of work experience, we might require a higher GMAT score to compensate. on the other hand, if you have 8-9 years of work experience, even GMAT 600-610 is fine from our side.

For the interview questions though it might cover different aspects but to a large extent, the interviewers will put more emphasis on your work experience, professional background -- that mean, they are looking for how much you understand about your industry, your contribution of your job, your future career objectives etc.



Sir, Only GMAT score is required or do you also accept GRE?

HKU_Cheng: We accept the GMAT with minimum score 600. We do not accept GRE.



Thank you sir. Is there any importance of IR and AWA section of the GMAT? Also what was median GMAT score of latest intake?

HKU_Cheng: Our median GMAT score of our current MBA batch is around 650. We will take the IR and AWA part as reference, but you still need to take those parts during the test. For the reviewing and considering side, we will take the verbal and quantitative part as the indicator.

FYI, Our average age of full-time MBA batch is around 28-29 years old, 5-6 years work experience. We admit 55-60 students each year and the Admissions Committee will review your profile AFTER you submit the online application. Temporarily our early round deadline is on 26 November 2015.

In terms of student profile, they come from different nationalities, apart from Hong Kong and China, we have students from India, Korea, Japan, Singapore, USA, Canada, Argentina, Italy, Switzerland, UK, South Africa etc.

In terms of their professional background, it is very diversified, from finance, consulting, I.T., engineering, NGO, government, logistic, automotive, aviation, family business etc. That means, we welcome the applicants from different industries

Our full-time MBA will start at late June 2016. You will first spend 1 month in Beijing, for the China Immersion Programme. Then you will come to Hong Kong to spend 9 months time for the study. Later students will go to either London Business School or Columbia Business School or Shanghai Fudan University of the 4-5 electives, or if they want to stay in Hong Kong for the whole 14-month study, it's welcome.



Hi Mr.Cheng, Is IELTS/TOEFL requirement waived if university transcript bears the statement that Language of instruction was English.

HKU_Cheng: Yes, if you could provide the statement that the language of instruction and examination was in English, you do not need to take the TOEFL/IELTS test for the admission of full-time HKU MBA.



A few questions on Employment; what is the employment scenario at HKU? Do most of the recruitments come from companies based in HK and China only? Which companies, and from which industries, typically recruit at HKU? Also what support do students get from career services dept in post MBA job hunt?

HKU_Cheng: For the employment of HKU MBA, for the past 3 graduated batch, around 85% of them got the job within 3 months of graduation and 80% of them work in Asia. Our career network is also Asia focused, not only Hong Kong, we cover China, Singapore, Dubai etc

You will get the career service training and support on DAY 1 you join our programme. They will give a tailor-made career plan to each full-time MBA student, depends on what job function or industry they want to enter after MBA. e.g. CV workshop, personal coaching, case cracking, mentorship programme, live project opportunities, etc. They will certainly help the student to polish their skill set and give a good people connection to you, especially for those students who want to make a big career change. e.g. mentorship programme. - We did find a senior person from Alibaba group as a mentor for a student who wants to know more about e-commence and a senior person from Finance Times as a mentor for a student wants to enter media industry.

Our career office with many big companies from different industries, even Hong Kong government, assigns live projects to our students under different student clubs.



What scholarships are usually offered to students? Any definite criteria which affects this?

HKU_Cheng: For scholarships, they are 100% merit-based. Decision depends upon your interview performance (most importantly), high GMAT and professional background (2nd and 3rd), and academic qualification (minor). We do not restrict to any nationality. But for sure, there will NOT be a situation that all students are granted scholarships. In general, I will say around 15% of the students get scholarships. If you apply earlier, it will be better for you.



What options are available for international students for admissions interviews? Do you connect applicants with local alumni?

HKU_Cheng: For international students, if they are shortlisted, we will conduct the video interview with them. Also we will connect the selected candidates who receive the admission offer to our current students and alumni.



Mr Cheng, How is HKU adapting or changing its curriculum to suit the change in the job market in the recent years? What changes are on the horizon? How have employers reacted to these changes in HKU's curriculum or program?

HKU_Cheng: We review our MBA curriculum from time to time. There is a committee comprising industry gurus who share their thoughts. We keep modify the course in order to fit the job market. e.g. big data is our recent elective. Few years ago, we had business lab, to teach students about entrepreneurship.



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