Melbourne or HKU

Question

Got admitted to both. Which one would you choose?

Mo2men · Answer

You should elaborate your self, background and goals so that any member can give real advice. Your post does not help at all.

bb · Answer

Congrats, laconic member.

Does MBS allow you to procure a work permit/residency to work in Australia or can you work there in general? Hopefully you are an Aussie and don't need it but if you do, make sure you do your research.... same kind of applies to HKU - what do they offer in terms of work permit after graduation and for your internship?

Do you speak Mandarin or Cantonese?

Do you always provide so little information when you ask others to help?

Do you really expect quality advice from a one-liner?

maciejczos · Answer

You guys are right, not enough info about me. I am Polish, spent my entire career in Asia (Saudi, Indonesia, Cambodia, India), some in the private sector but a bulk in international development as an economist/researcher. I want to transition out of development, but I am not totally sure where - hopefully not consulting.

I speak no Mandarin, and I understand Melbourne is quite helpful in finding jobs. With respect to Melbourne, I am afraid it is removed from where the action is, while HK may be a bit too hectic.

Got a really good package at Melbourne and a smaller one at HKU.

Hope this helps. Any advice would be appreciated!

bb · Answer

You want to go to school ideally in the country/location you would like to live/work after graduation.

One thing is finding jobs and the other is actually being able to hold them. Australia has notoriously difficult immigration policy. I am sure you have looked it up. I don't know much about the state of Australian Economy but Melbourne and Sydney were fantastic when I spent a week in February - Australia is probably my favorite country at the moment, though Melbourne is a bit rainy and unpredictable with weather to my liking, kind of like London, Reykjavik or Seattle.

Hong Kong is a special place and yes it is crowded and has grown quite a bit in the last 10 years but it is very vibrant. The issues with HK is English does not go long ways there and it is very expensive. My guess most international HKU grads move on to Singapore, or other more suitable locations.

P.S. With your skillset, I am not sure where you can be employed to leverage your skillset. High-end consulting is the only thing i can think of, i.e. Monitor that was acquired? by Deloitte

maciejczos · Answer

This is an excellent reply bb, thank you. In fact I also have an offer from NUS in Singapore, but much less attractive than the other two.
At the moment, I am working for a small consultancy doing value chains analysis in agriculture (coconut and palm value chains), in the past I've worked for Australian DFAT in Jakarta on poverty reduction. Private sector wise, I did quality assurance work (ISO) in Saudi Arabia.

Would this be of any further help in giving advice? My undergad is economics from Tufts.

maciejczos · Answer

No more advice? Some more inputs would be greatly appreciated.

jxav · Answer

Hi there,

Based on my personal experience, most students in Australia that do not have 'permanent resident' or 'citizen' status will have harder time in obtaining jobs especially jobs from large companies that offer good career prospects. This matter is further aggravated due to a rapidly increasing number of students in Australian university and therefore higher competition in the job market. Furthermore Australian economy currently is somewhat stagnating in my opinion.

I almost went to MBS too and did some research. I noticed that a lot of people commented that majority of Australian companies favor work experiences more than an MBA degree. Of course with MBS I am sure there are internships along the way and other career-related opportunities at the very least, but I personally think that Asian/European tend to value MBA graduates more.

My personal recommendation for you is try to go into NUS or ESSEC instead as those unis have great links and have been feeding a lot of their graduates to MNCs. Australia has been gaining reputation as cash-cows among international students due to its exorbitant school fees (without scholarship i mean) and decreasing quality among admitted students. A lot of my relatives and friends went there and commented that a lot of students especially from mainland China that has sub-par English are admitted to top uni such as University of Melbourne.

I apologize for any remarks that I have made that someone might find offensive, but this is just my personal conclusion after researching Australia and MBS in general. I personally really love Melbourne as a city and will definitely feel that I will enjoy my experience as a student there, but I decided not too as I consider my prospect on landing a decent job there is kinda low.

Hope this helps!

bb · Answer

Thank you and I think you are bringing up valid concerns - you can read more about some of these echos here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/calling-all- ... 32-40.html - quite interesting and disturbing feedback at times.

Mo2men · Answer

How old are you? why did you apply to BS in Asia?

Actually, I share bb the same concerns. If you are going to Australia where it is difficult to obtain job, MBA is not values enough with even switching career, I find it not a good plan. If your nationality gives you the same privilege as American, British..etc, so it might be an opportunity for you. You can talk with as many students as you can to verify info about the school.

the aim of questions above to offer you to apply next year in European or Canadian schools. You are doing MBA once a life. You need to get the max of the that degree.

good luck

Melbourne or HKU

Melbourne or HKU?

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