Hong Kong’s universities sought more-diverse recruitment practices in student admissions, while medicine and business programs continued to attract the top scorers in the city.
The Joint University Programmes Admissions System revealed on Wednesday that 15,776 out of 39,634 applicants have been accepted into local universities, reflecting a 39.8 percent admission rate.
These students will be enrolling in undergraduate courses across the eight public-financed universities, self-financed bachelor programs at Hong Kong Metropolitan University, or a Higher Diploma program at Education University of Hong Kong.
Among those admitted, 87 percent have secured spots in their top three respective choices.
ALSO READ: 18,314 students qualify for university admission
This year’s admission rate remained steady compared with last year’s, when 16,149 students, or 40.4 percent out of 39,948 applicants, were offered a place.
The University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong remain prestigious choices, admitting four and five top scorers respectively — those who achieved the highest grade in six subjects of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education examination.Only 10 students achieved this highest distinction among the around 49,000 candidates who took the exam.
The remaining top scorer will pursue a Bachelor of Business Administration in Global Business at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Medicine remained a favorite discipline among the city’s best, with both HKU and CUHK allowed to admit 295 students each. All of the five top scorers admitted by CUHK have chosen its Faculty of Medicine.
The university also shared that half of the top 100 HKDSE scorers were enrolled in CUHK, with 43 studying medicine, and seven opting for business or science.
ALSO READ: 18,314 students qualify for university admission
CUHK will ultimately admit 212 medical students, fulfilling about 70 percent of its 295 available places. HKU’s medical school quota was met by 155 JUPAS applicants. Notably, two local sports athletes — hurdler Chloe Pak Hoi-man and squash player Lee Tin-hang — were accepted by its medical school through the university’s special programs.
Continuing to support elite athletes, HKU admitted eight athletes through its Top Athletes Direct Admission Scheme, including Paris Olympian and backstroke swimmer Cindy Cheung Sum-yuet, and 15 outstanding athletes through the Sports Scholarship Scheme.The university said it will provide comprehensive resources to facilitate these students’ academic and athletic pursuits.
HKU welcomed a relatively diverse cohort among its distinguished students, as those with full marks in at least four subjects will be enrolled in a range of programs such as medicine, surgery, business administration, accounting data analytics, dental surgery, urban studies, and science.
The 15 students with the best HKDSE exam results from each faculty each will receive a President’s Scholarship of HK$100,000 ($12,825) or more.
Furthermore, the university has admitted 48 local non-Chinese speaking candidates, the highest among all eight publicly funded universities.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology said its quantitative finance, global business, and international research enrichment programs have attracted the best-scoring students among its 1,676 new-term enrollees via JUPAS.
Students who didn’t obtain a spot at publicly funded universities in Hong Kong have various alternatives for further studies in the city.They include self-financing degree programs offered by the eight publicly funded universities and other privately funded institutions.
Other options include associate degree programs bridging between the diploma of secondary education and bachelor’s degrees, twoyear vocational-oriented courses for a Higher Diploma, as well as other courses for Diploma in General Studies and Diploma of Applied Education.
They may also opt for international education overseas, employment, or starting their own businesses.
Contact the writers at amberwu@chinadailyhk.com
