r/HKUST

hi i'm an alevel student and i feel like everyone's gotten their student visas except me??? hello??????

Hi! I’ll be joining HKUST soon and had a few questions about the campus gyms, especially LG4 and iVillage.

1. I heard that workouts at LG4 are limited to around 55 minutes per session. Is this strictly enforced? If I go during a quiet/off-peak time, can I stay longer, or do I still have to leave after 55 minutes?

2. How well-equipped is LG4 for weight training? Are there enough squat racks, benches, cable machines, and other equipment, or do you usually have to wait?
   How crowded does LG4 get, and what are generally the best/worst times to go?

3. How big is the iVillage gym compared with LG4? Does it have a decent selection of free weights, racks, benches, and machines, or is it more of a small residential gym?

4. Also, how strict is the booking system in practice? For example, if the gym isn’t busy after your booked session, can you book another slot or continue training somehow?

Any other tips about training at HKUST would be really appreciated. Thanks!

I keep seeing so many people with very competitive applications so I started doubting whether I had good chances or not ;;

I am applying for Pure Math major, currently taking IB Bilingual Diploma

Pre-Predicted (A little different from PGs)

Spanish A Lang and Lit SL: 6 (anticipated diploma, this is the final grade)
History SL: 6
English A Lang and Lit SL: 6

Music HL: 5
Math HLAA: 5
Physics HL 4

Core: 2

Total: 34/45

My most relevant EC would be leading a competitive math club (but I will participate in the actual competition after I submit my application, so I have no awards to report)
SAT still pending, will be taking it soon

Other ECs are very focused on math and music+taekwondo

I know that I can easily raise my music to a 6 and english to a 7 but I am worried about math as I want to major in it but I don't have an outstanding score (nor am I confident that I will be able to raise it a lot in the next couple months)

Given my current stats, how are my chances at being accepted looking like? With how competitive HKUST sounds like I'm really unsure

Hello,

I'm an international student (asia) interested in HKU/HKUST/Hong Kong in general for undergraduate studies in neuroscience.

I'm currently in a situation where i have to decide between:

1. Hong kong University / HKUST with fin aid or

2. Lower tier US College with fin aid but more costly than hong kong.

I wanted to compare experiences in Hong Kong with US colleges to see which option was better.

If anyone could type out the school atmosphere, routine, work-life balance, campus life, etc in hong kong, I would greatly apprecitate it - thank you!

I got 3C in puremaths,physics,egp and 2D in further maths and chemistry in my alevels and i am a local i wanna study Bsc physics or Bsc maths (im not sure buy probably physics) . Should i go for hku space or should i go to just any uni that accepts my grades ??? Pls help

Hi, I've been allocated to HKUST hall 5 (UG05-02-242T). I was wondering if anyone would be down to swap with me. Preferably VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, or XIII, but I'm down to possibly consider other buildings as well. (Female)
Possibly could compensate (financial). DM me if interested

Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering

international student

Academics:

• CIE a level predicted : 2A* 2A
• IGCSE : 4A* 5A 1B Best across 9 subjects award 3rd place in my country ( cambridge outstanding learner award)
• ielts : 7.5

Extracurricular:

• Took part in international robotics competition securing 1st place
• Participated in international chess competition
• 2nd place in national robotics competitions
• first place in national math competition
• Active high-level member of UNICEF school club

is there any chance of getting accepted with such high competition without the best grades? even a slight chance of scholarship if i apply in early decision even if its not a huge scholarship

I got placed in jockey club hall. Ive heard non locals like this hall, so im willing to swap if you are from 7,8,9,10,11,12,13 (i will offer financial compensation)

(I will offer financial compensation)

I have a hall offer for iVillage Hall 13 and would like to switch to JCH. If anybody is interested, please dm.

Ive just got my offer and I was not able to receive the entrance scholarship.

30k tuition expenses are pretty tough, especially when there is cost of living as well.

Im curious are there students that used to be in my situation and was able to get some sort of merit or other scholarships to afford the attendance?

Hi everyone, I’m 16 years old, from Kazakhstan, moving to 11th grade in September 2026, and graduating from high school in May 2027. I want to apply to universities in China, Hong Kong, and South Korea for the Fall 2027 intake. I am from a public school, my GPA is 5.0/5.0 for 8th, 9th, and 10th grades, SAT 1530, and around 7.5 IELTS. I also placed 2nd and 3rd in the district chemistry olympiad, 2nd in the district law olympiad, and 2nd in a district debate tournament. I ran a debate club at my school for 3 years, as well as a free online SAT prep club for 2 months with 50 participants. Additionally, I have an Honorable mention for Excellence in Perspective in the National Essay Competition dedicated to the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and lastly, I volunteered for 2 months helping to collect humanitarian aid during the floods in my country. I want to major in biomedical engineering / mechatronics or engineering in general on a full-ride. My current college list:

HKUST - Early Round November 20, Full Tuition + $60,000 HKD (Bioengineering in engl)

CUHK - Early Round November 13, Full Tuition + $66,000 HKD (biomed in engl)

EduHK - Early Round November 17, Full Ride (no engineering)

HKU - Full Ride, First Round November 26 (biomedical)

CityU - Full Tuition + $66,000 HKD, Early Round November 15 (biomedical)

PolyU - Full Tuition + $60,000 HKD, Early Round November 19 (biomed)

HKBU - Full Tuition + $52,500 HKD, Early Round November 16 (no engineering)

Zhejiang University - Full Ride, December 1–February 28 (CSC-A) (biomed)

SJTU - Full Ride, December 8 – February 5 (no biomed)

KAIST - Full Ride, Early Round - October 22 (bio&brain eng)

DGIST - Full Ride, February 3 (interdisciplinary smthng idk but no biomed)

GIST - Full Ride, April 8 (also no biomed)

UNIST - Full Ride, January 23 (biomed)

Beijing Institute of Technology - Full Ride, February 15 (no biomed, mechatronics)

How can I figure out which of these universities are reach/target/safety, and how can I assess my chances of getting a full-ride? ** Also, does anyone know the average SAT, GPA, IELTS, etc., scores of international students who applied for undergraduate studies in these majors taught in English and received a full-ride? **

I know my profile is a bit weak, but I am ready to improve it before application deadlines and would welcome any advice.

hi! i want to swap to hall 3 (preferably double room), i got an offer from hall 8 but want to swap

hello i had offer for sbm with condition of AAA. today i got my results and got Astar A B, with the B being further maths whihc i scored 246/300. the official grade boundaries say that an A is 247/300 so i missed it by only 1 mark. what do i do

I got BCD this May/June. I knew I would get bad grades and retake all of my subjects this October/November 2026, so I’ve been studying throughout the whole summer.

I’m targeting HK universities as well as CUHK Shenzhen. I’m also taking a full A Level Chemistry this May/June. I thought getting 4A*s would at least get me a full-tuition scholarship at HK universities, but I’ve seen people with better stats than me who still didn’t get any scholarship.

I’m super anxious, and I don’t even know if retaking everything is worth it anymore.

I have good extracurriculars, including some national awards. I also got AAB in my AS Levels

Dimensions: Frontier Lab Anchor Density, AI Research Output, AI Curriculum Depth, Founder & Capital Pipeline, Compute & Infrastructure, AI Citation Share (Modeled)

Hi everyone, I’m trying to understand my application results for the three Hong Kong universities and would really appreciate some insight from people familiar with admissions there.

I’m an AP student graduating from an Asian high school, but I do not have a Chinese passport. My academic profile was roughly:

• SAT: 1550+
• 7 AP scores of 5
• Graduating from a well known Asian high school
• Non-Chinese passport
• Applied mostly to economics/finance/business-related programs

I applied early round. Despite this, I was rejected from every program I applied to at HKU, CUHK, and HKUST.

I know these programs are competitive, but I’m honestly a little surprised to have received no offers from any of the three, especially given the SAT/AP results. I am pretty sure that these statistics qualify for a scholarship, let alone admission. I’m wondering if there are any factors I’m overlooking.

Hello everyone, I’m an Indian student planning to apply to HKUST for the 2027–28 intake. Academic Profile Class 10 (CBSE): 84% PSAT: 1420 SAT: Expecting around 1580 Class 12 (NIOS): Expecting around 95%

Achievements

Qualified for the first stage of the National Physics Olympiad Qualified for the first stage of the National Astronomy Olympiad Participated in the NASA Space Apps Challenge and plan to participate again this year Independently published two research papers, which were evaluated by professors Mentored 1,500+ students through Telegram for STEM competitions and Olympiads and provided them with free resources Participated in the John Locke Essay Competition

Planned Activities

I still have around 16 months before applying, so I plan to: Participate again in the NASA Space Apps Challenge Participate in the Indian National AI Olympiad (INAIO). I’ve been preparing seriously and will try to qualify for the international stage. Participate in the International Astronomy and Astrophysics Competition (IAAC)

Target Program

Mechatronic Engineering I’m also considering taking at least one AP course, possibly AP Calculus BC, although it is quite expensive. I would really appreciate your advice: With my current grades and extracurriculars, should I apply to HKUST? Do you think I have a realistic chance, and what should I focus on improving over the next 16 months?

Hi!
I’m coming to HKUST for an exchange year from Newcastle university in the uk. At Newcastle I have just used my iPad for the last two years for everything and then used the uni computers when necessary for running programmes and stuff (marine biology course). I’ve debated getting a laptop for a while but was wondering if it would be necessary for Hong Kong? If so I’ll get one now but do you think it’s a ‘need’ or a ‘really good if you have it’? Thanks :)