Hi Aritro9782,
First of all, you can get more insights into what kind of candidates we are looking for by understanding more about our admissions philosophy here (
https://mba.ust.hk/ftmba/admissions/requirement.htm). Generally speaking, we seek candidates who are willing to contribute to the program and their peers, who have the potential and capacity to achieve their future career goals, and whose needs match with what our program can offer.
It is important to demonstrate the above through the essays in the application stage. You can take a look at the questions in this sample application form (
https://mba.ust.hk/ftmba/infolibrary/App%20Form%20Intake%202011.pdf). The form for intake 2012 will be ready in Sep but the questions will remain more or less the same. There is a word limit on each essay question (~200-300 words) so it can be tricky to be precise and let the admissions committee know all you want them to know about you in a short paragraph.
Compared with U.S. MBA programs which usually last for 2 years, the HKUST MBA program is much shorter so that students will have less opportunity costs. But that also means that we expect candidates to have a better idea of what they want to do after the MBA and how they plan to achieve it. Otherwise, half of their MBA will be completed when they finally figure out what exactly they want to/can do.
So prior research in your desired job (e.g. general/strategy management at which industry and where, how you can leverage on your strengths) will add bonus to your application as it shows to the admissions committee that you are prepared and know what it takes to achieve your goals. A good understanding of what our program offers will also help you in explaining how you think our program can help you (e.g. focusing on the General management in China track, leveraging on our alumni network, playing a leadership role in student activities).
Hope the above help. Feel free to let us know if you have any other questions.
HKUST MBA Admissions Team