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Horrible experience moving to HK school

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  1. #21

    Hmm...maybe. I don't know. I know definitely no expectations when it comes to how competitive I was. I just didn't know. I'm not that different from my friends in Phd programs in the states...just considered myself a decent candidate. But after the rxn I got, started to think maybe I was quite competitive? Then I found out about other students...and that made me angry. Confirmed my impression by talking to other schools. The more I learn, the more it is reinforced.


  2. #22

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    Ok, so you are now in a pickle. But can't you apply for outside funding? My PhD was funded only partially by the university, and that was only for two years several years in. Otherwise I got independent funding from foundations an joined a research group and taught courses to graduate students one semester. In my field, that is pretty common. I am not quite sure what you mean about HK being a discount from schools in the states. If you are a graduate student of any considerable talent (which it sounds like you are) in the US your tuition is waived and they give you a small stipend from the school


  3. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by drumbrake:
    Admin in local universities and larger companies in Hong Kong is run like a mini civil service, with lots of entrenched ways of doing things as well as petty snobbery and infighting between different departments. Don't even begin to try to understand it, or try to change anything. Just keep your head down and at the end of the day you will have that piece of paper from a 'famous' university.
    Yeah, I think this might be a good strategy... but I literally can't afford it. Even worse if I try to have kids (am early-30s and only getting older!). Live four years in poverty, or transfer and do six years (just how it works out) with proper funding? Not sure which is least painful...

    <--this, haha. This.

  4. #24

    Yes, this is my current solution. Do four years at HKU, and try to get fellowships from home to get by.

    No, US is entirely different matter. A proper PhD is 7 years; you can get funding but you have to factor in the loss of income for nearly a decade. For me, four years with government fellowship scheme funding in HK is a deal. I can do better on that than I can in the US where I have to own a car, etc. Have lived both places; financially, China is way better.

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  5. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by chingleutsch:
    Not having dealt with HKU admin, I won't comment on that, but just a small cultural issue - for Chinese, laughter is a normal embarrassment indicator; it doesn't necessarily mean the laugher finds something humorous. So I suspect this is what was happening when you complained about "Chinglish."
    Maybe so. Also, graduate office is willing to lose face by admitting mistake and apologizing but not willing to do anything further about it. Kinda strikes me as less cultural and more incompetence. Unless it involves the culture of eschewing responsibility, which is alive and well here too...

    I guess knowing that HKers tend to look down on mainlanders, I thought it would be really different...? But turns out a lot of administration/management stuff is the same.
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  6. #26

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    ummmm... while hk is technically china.... they are not quite the same thing.... have you ever lived here?


  7. #27

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    You'll get no disagreement from me that your overall quality of life will be better in HK than in US or Europe on a small salary. That is why I chose a job in HK as opposed to Europe or US. But you had mentioned tuition, and that is a non-consideration in US for PhD students. Plus, of you went to school in NY or Boston or DC or Chicago, you wouldn't need a car.


  8. #28

    No, just visited probably about six weeks in all. But that's my point...I thought it would be so different! And I know it is in terms of people's mentality and behavior. But really, this HKU business...I feel like I'm applying to 北大 as a local undergraduate or something.


  9. #29

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    Apply somewhere else? If they are so incompetent, do you really need us to help you justify your decision (which is fairly obvious incidentally)?

    Last edited by mlclau; 31-07-2012 at 02:13 PM.

  10. #30

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    Quote Originally Posted by Greenieweenie:
    No, just visited probably about six weeks in all. But that's my point...I thought it would be so different! And I know it is in terms of people's mentality and behavior. But really, this HKU business...I feel like I'm applying to 北大 as a local undergraduate or something.
    Being the oldest, most traditional and (supposedly most prestigious) university in Hong Kong, HKU can be rather arrogant and stuffy. Their graduates historically became the political and professional leaders in HK society. But in terms of real academic impact, they still have some ways to go to rival the leading Western universities (Ivy League or Oxbridge). In my opinion, HKU have an inflated sense of ego which does not reflect reality. I have yet to hear of any HKU Nobel prize graduates that would justify their lofty claims to being the best university in HK. Their graduates reek of arrogance and a sense of entitlement, yet aren't really superior to other HK universities graduates and I dare say, are inferior to many mainland graduates.

    But leaving aside those issues, can't you simply apply for another university. You said you had better experience at CUHK or City U. Why not apply there? Or do those universities refuse to offer funding?
    Last edited by Watercooler; 31-07-2012 at 02:48 PM.
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