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  1. #1

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    Question MBA options

    I'm looking to go back to school for my MBA, and I'd prefer to study in Hong Kong, but I don't really have any kind of "local" knowledge about the way that the various unis are regarded.

    The only schools I'm familiar with are HKBU and CityUHK - but other posts on this board lead me to believe that they may not be terribly respected in the business community in HK? How true is that?

    Of what seem to be the three major schools - CUHK, HKU, and HKUST - which have the best reputation with local business? Or do the schools have reputations for being strong in any particular discipline?

    Thanks!


  2. #2

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    HKUST is the one with the best reputation worldwide I believe. Second would be HKU and then CUHK. The others don't really rank seriously for general MBAs - my perception is that they are more for lower level vocational stuff.


  3. #3

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    CUHK is, as far as I've understood it, best if you think of doing business in the mainland afterwards as the options of taking additional Putonghua courses are better. In terms of international recognition (and international class mates), UST is certainly best. HKU, well... is the oldest


  4. #4

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    if engineering i am told Poly U is most respected


  5. #5

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    I have a considerble amount of work experience in investment banking so have a reasonable idea about what makes a good MBA, and done a lot of research in to this since I am starting an MBA this year and can say the following as a judge without original bias:

    1) All three main universities, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Hong Kong University (HKU), and The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKIST), are very good with high reputations for their MBA course both locally and abroad. Their overall difference in reputation is marginal at best, and you would not nescessarily have a competitive advantage amongst employers based on various reputation rankings alone from one of these particular three univerisities in comparison to each other; however you may gain a small advantage if there is a specific desirable strength in a course that is sought by an employer-but these desirable strengths depend on the employer. Their quality of teaching is that of Western university standards, and the course instruction is in English.

    2) The tuition fees for these three universities are all very expensive though, similar to that of highly ranked USA business schools, reflecting the competitive intensity for places, however some limited scholarships are available to a lucky few and the rewards very high if you get a job at the end of the course. Moreover, the GMAT entrance requirements are high for all three, so you need to be smart to get in.

    3) The remaining univerisities in Hong Kong vary in standards for their MBA courses and are adequate for local, smaller businesses but less appropriate for larger companies with an international exposure; the course fees are also much cheaper but for good reason.

    4) The HKIST MBA appears to be the most technical and mathematical, which is perhaps no surprise from a scientific university. This may be helpful for taking the introductory levels of the CFA etc but will not nescessarily give you exemptions-or you could argue that you would study some of these aspects again later anyway so you may as well focus on courses with more valuable real business world subjects. Hence it could do with more practical business content, since the whole idea of an MBA is obviously to learn about business in the real world, and not to learn about obscure theorums. Moreover, the application selection process is very mechanical and totally lacks a responsive personal communication structure if you have specific enquiries.

    5) The HKU MBA appears to cover a lot of subjects, both mathematical and practical, and is more balanced, but could do with more depth and focus. Again, the selection process is very mechanical but personal communication on enquiries is more reasonable.

    6) The CUHK MBA has a stronger emphasis towards practical Chinese business culture together with the Western business real world. CUHK is often referred to as the "Cultural University", because of its stronger links with China-and culture is a big part of Chinese business. It is also a massive university with a huge modern campus and considerable language learning facilities that are reputed to be the best. The selection process is more personal and they are more responsive to enquiries.

    7) It seems very logical that if one makes the decision to study an MBA in Hong Kong, the reason is to learn about both Chinese and international/Western business-which is the primary differential strength compared to studying an MBA in Europe or the USA; it is also logical that if an employer is interested in MBA graduates from a Hong Kong/Chinese university then knowledge about Chinese Business is quite obviously high on their list; the most important objective of any MBA student is to get a job and then do it well, instead of pure academic indulgance which is done in the first degree anyway-hence CUHK becomes the best choice on this basis.

    8) In the above assessments, I am not saying the respective univerisities completely lack the strengths of others, instead I am simply emphasising the relative strengths and weaknesses. There are people with a personal bias that may disagree with me on some points.

    9) There are other factors such as size of the research department, location, accreditations, links to industry, etc etc, all of which are also important, but ulitmately its how it is all put together as a package that really counts.

    Anyone that wants to discuss more with me on this is free to contact me.

    Colage likes this.

  6. #6

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    Either HKUST or CUHK will be fine, just don't choose HKU. They don't pay much attention to their full time MBA program (it's not generating much profit), their program is small, between 40-60 in a year. Between HKUST and CUHK, they were head to head a few years ago, meaning when people got offers from both schools, half go to each; but nowadays, most choose HKUST.


  7. #7

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    I have to agree with md23 for a few reasons: 1) I've been told that CUHK has a better business school than HKU (could be biast because those comments were from CUHK students) 2) HKUST was one of the first asian universities to be AACSB accredited and have a large variety of masters programs instead of just MBA.

    Personally I plan to go to HKUST for my Masters in Financial Analysis.

    good luck!


  8. #8

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    Although you specifically said you were interested in studying locally, I've found the University of Liverpool to offer a good experience and it's certainly a well regarded university:

    Master of Business Administration - Laureate Online Education & University of Liverpool - Online Masters Degrees

    Might be worth a look even if just for comparison :-)


    Disclaimer: We both get 5 free credit points if I make a referral


  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by MXZ:
    Although you specifically said you were interested in studying locally, I've found the University of Liverpool to offer a good experience and it's certainly a well regarded university:

    Disclaimer: We both get 5 free credit points if I make a referral
    This is a joke I presume?

  10. #10

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    No.

    Why do you say that?


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