HKUST MBA, Is It A Good Option For You?

The Hong Kong based HKUST offers its full-time MBA program both in the 1-year format as well as 16-month format which students can choose after securing admission. The cohort size is small at around 120 divided into two classes of around 60 each. Almost 90% are international students representing around 30 nationalities.

The accelerated 12- month program provides a comprehensive, well-rounded business education to unleash the student’s full potential while minimizing time and opportunity costs. This program is ideal for those who already possess a wealth of professional experience or are studying under company sponsorship to enhance their career advancement.

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The 16-month program is designed for students who are planning a career switch, looking to gain more international exposure or simply want to expand their career opportunities in China and Asia by equipping themselves with more solid regional knowledge. As part of the program, they will have the opportunity to participate in a summer internship and an optional one-semester overseas exchange at one of HKUST’s 60 partner schools worldwide.

Both programs start in August every year. The 1-year program concludes in August the next year, the 16-month program continues with summer internship option. It ends with 4 electives at HKUST or an exchange school in fall (September-December).

Since knowledge of Mandarin will be needed for those planning to explore new career opportunities in the Mainland or with China-related enterprises, HKUST has got an optional 4-week course just before the immersion program as part of the inter-university program for Chinese language studies. The classes at Tsinghua University in Beijing provide an opportunity for students to enhance their knowledge of business Mandarin. The costs are not included in the fees and will have to be borne by students. The HKUST Language Center also offers a basic Mandarin course for beginners during the immersion program.

Admission Eligibility

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Applicants for the HKUST MBA Program need to have a Bachelor’s degree, satisfactory GMAT/GRE score and a minimum of 2 years’ full-time work experience after graduation. Those not having English as the first language of instruction in undergraduate/postgraduate program need TOEFL/IELTS certificate.

Application Schedule

HKUST starts accepting applications from September each year for intake in the following August. In the deadlines for the 2017 intake, phase 1 application deadline was November 9. Interview notification will be issued on January 6, 2017 an admission results announced latest by February 3, 2017.

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The second phase admission deadline is January 11, 2017, interview notification by March 10 and admission results on April 7, 2017. The third phase application deadline is on March 8, 2017, interview notification by May 5 and admission results by June 2, 2017.

Ideally, international students should send in their applications by the first or second deadline to allow sufficient time to process their visas and for making other travel arrangements to Hong Kong. Late applications would be considered subject to place availability.

Fees & Other Expenses

The program fee of the full-time MBA program is HK$585,000 (approximately US$75,300) for the 2017 intake. This applies for the 12- and 16-month options as they both require 52 credits. Students are also entitled to enrol for 10 extra credits for no additional charge. Items covered by the program fee include tuition, textbooks and course materials for core courses (excluding course material for electives), and certain self-enrichment activities.

Successful applicants are required to pay a non-refundable deposit of HK$50,000 (approximately US$6,400), which will be deducted from their outstanding program fee. The remainder of the program fee can be paid in four instalments. Students should also expect a slight adjustment to the price of accommodation on campus which will only be finalized by the HKUST Housing Office in May 2017. As a reference, there was a price increase of 3% from 2015 to 2016. The other expenses come to about 790,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$101,600).

Class Profile

The current class has 113 students with an average age of 28 (25-33). They have an average work experience of 5 years (3-8 years), GMAT range is 580-710. International students comprise 93% of the class representing 28 nationalities.

Students from Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand represent the Asia-Pacific region. Likewise Europe is represented by students from France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The class also has students from Canada, United States, Brazil, Israel and South Africa.

As far as their professional background is concerned, 22% are from Finance, followed by 13% Sales/Marketing and 12% each in General Management and Consulting.