UU Study Abroad Report Form

Family name: xxx

First name: xxx

Student number: xxx

Faculty/college: Geesteswetenschappen

Level: bachelor master PhD

Name degree programme: International Studies

Destination city & country Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Name host institution Chinese University of Hong Kong

Purpose of exchange study/courses other

Departure date 1/1/2018 (dd/mm/yyyy)

Return date (dd/mm/yyyy) 1/6/2018

Preparation Exchange/placement application process: The first time I applied for the University of Hong Kong was in March. Initially I wanted to attend the university in Haifa, Israel, but (in hindsight: luckily) this was not available for me. Then I applied for CUHK and I got in. We had to write a motivation letter and explain why and how we wanted to go to CUHK. My reason was that there were specific courses that fit perfectly into my courses and study. Using this as a main reason why I wanted to go to CUHK helped my (at least that’s what I think) application. Counselling/support at Utrecht University: In the beginning it took a while to get the hang of the way how these things for exchange go, but once you get used to filling in all the forms, it’s actually quite easy. When I got to CUHK I mostly asked help from our contact person there, because they were very helpful and there respond-time is crazy fast. They were very willing to provide me with all the information needed. Academic preparation: I used the official CUHK site to find out what kind of courses I could take in the semester I’d be there. I made a list of all the possibilities and the ones I really wanted to do and started to cross out the least valuable. I found several courses (taught in English) that would support my minor (Conflict Studies) and also a few that I just wanted to do because they seemed interesting. Language preparation: I did not have any preparation for language. I sent my CAE document with my application just to be sure, but even if you don’t have that: everyone at CUHK speaks English and there are more than enough English-taught courses to choose from. Do not worry about your abilities in English at all, you will be fine! Finances: I saved up around 1000 euros to finance my flights and in hindsight, I should’ve saved up a little bit more. Not because my life in Hong Kong was so expensive: I just flew out of it way more than expected! In my exchange of 4.5 months, I flew to 6 different countries and after my studies at CUHK to even 3 more. Good to know: in the beginning of the semester you have to pay the whole price of the hostel (I think it was around 600 euros), so note that it is not a monthly thing like we’re used to. However, life itself in HK can be expensive > but it DEFINITLY does not have to. If you want to eat just western food in Soho, Central, you can expect to pay a bit more. However, if you just eat the foods of HK, dim sum and noodles for days (which is in my eyes the best food in the world): you won’t be paying more than 10 euros and still eat like a king. Also public transport is not expensive: just be sure to stop your public transport finance of your home institute. Study abroad period Study programme (concerning content and organisational issues): I followed 4 courses in the 4.5 months there. In the add/drop period I switches 3 of the 4 courses I initially wanted to do. I found out about a lot more courses once I was there, so I switched courses to fit it in in my schedule. Be sure you select the right times of every course: once you select one that crosses another course, you will be automatically denied to follow the course. ALSO: make use of the add/drop period, it is a very convenient way to find out if you want to follow these courses for the next couple of months. Academic quality of education: Coming from the University of Utrecht and following quite demanding courses: I’m used to long study-days and knowing the librarystaff by name. However, at CUHK the semester was divided differently. We had midterms and finals, which meant for me basically that the studyload per week was significantly less than I was used to. I could fly out for the weekend (I managed to fit all my courses in 3 days so I had 4 days off for weekend trips) and still have enough time to keep up with all my courses. Don’t worry about the ‘work hard, study harder’-attitude that a lot of Asian countries have, there is more than enough free time to go out, fly out and sleep in. Counselling/support at host institution: As I mentioned above, Wynne Leung (the CUHK coordinator for European countries) was the most helpful person I’ve had this whole semester. It didn’t matter what time I emailed her all my worries and questions, within no time at all I would have an email in my inbox with all the answers. Wynne Leung was the real hero of the exchange. Transfer of credits: I’m still kind of on this part. I will let you guys know once I have them. Student life Welcome/orientation programme: The first week of HK, CUHK had a whole programme to get familiar with the other exchange students, Hong Kong and their campus. At some point, you start to hang out with some people more than others and that stuff all goes so quickly. Accommodation: I was in a hostelroom with 2 other girls, both American. One of them became my best friend (the other one already had her own friendgroup so she kinda stuck with them), and we hung out basically all the time. At first I was a bit worried about the whole ‘sharing a room with strangers’ situation, but I could not have been happier to share my room and exchange life with those girls. Leisure/culture: Hong Kong is literally the most beautiful, lively, diverse and best city in the world (sorry Utrecht). While there is a concrete jungle with huge skyscrapers, people everywhere and smells you never really can explain, 40% of HK is preserved nature which means: beautiful hikes, mountains, beaches and waterfalls. The city literally never sleeps and you can always go eat somewhere no matter what time. The nightlife is truly amazing (especially ladiesnight on Wednesday in Wan Chai and Thursdays in LKF) and really every day I found out about something new I wanted to see or explore in Hong Kong. Even after 4.5 months, I still feel like I have not seen everything I wanted and I can assure you: you never want to be away from this city for long. I’m not even home for 10 days and I’m planning my return. Suggestions/tips: If you really want to know the in’s and out’s: I’m more than willing to tell you everything, my contacts will be below. Conclusions Would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? Please explain: YES YES YES A THOUSAND TIMES YES. Do you have any additional advice or comments?: Just go to CUHK Can students contact you for additional info? If so, please write down how they can get in touch with you (e-mail, Facebook, Instagram etc) Yes, contact info available at IO

Contact details Student Services / International Office Visitors’ address: Bestuursgebouw, Heidelberglaan 6, Utrecht +31-(0)30-253 7000 [email protected] (information/questions) / [email protected] (report) www.uu.nl/students/exchange UU Study Abroad Report Form

Family name: xxx

First name: xxx

Student number: xxx

Faculty/college: Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance

Level: x bachelor master PhD

Name degree programme: Law

Destination city & country Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Name host institution The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Purpose of exchange x study/courses other

Departure date 01-01-2018 (dd/mm/yyyy)

Return date (dd/mm/yyyy) 12-05-2018

Preparation Exchange/placement application process: The whole exchange application process for CUHK is made easy to understand. They send you an email for everything so there is no real excuse to miss deadlines. The hardest part in my opinion was to find all the required documents they asked for but I think this was mostly for the Hong Kong student visa application, which they organise for you. They have a counsellor for every region of the world with who you can stay in contact with during the application process for all questions. Counselling/support at Utrecht University: The counselling at Utrecht University was good enough in my opinion. Almost a year before I went on exchange most of my communication was already with Hong Kong so not much help was needed from Utrecht. Academic preparation: The semester in Hong Kong starts in the middle of our second quarter of the year. I flew on the first of January to Hong Kong while writing my essay at Utrecht University so there was quite some overlap. Therefor I did not have a lot of time for any academic preparation. I did look in to the courses I wanted to take, but the first real week of the semester is where you really choose your courses. During this add-/drop period you learn more about the classes and their schedules. Language preparation: Everything at CUHK and almost everything in Hong Kong is spoken in English. I did read what I before read in Dutch now in English the months before leaving, but as a lot of my courses at UU were in English this wasn’t a big deal. Finances: Finances are a very important subject while considering Hong Kong as your exchange location. First of all I lived on campus which is even for us cheap. The rest of Hong Kong is not cheap! From rent too food all is reasonable priced on campus, although you get sick of the food on campus after finding all good noodle spots in Hong Kong. You have to keep in mind that this is one of the most expensive places on earth but after a while you find your way without losing all your savings. Study abroad period Study programme (concerning content and organisational issues): I took classes at two different faculties. Half of my courses were final year law courses, which they take very serious and are of a high quality. International professors and speakers from multiple big firms in Hong Kong gave lectures. The content was interesting since I never had a course on Chinese law. Small classes and interactive lectures made these courses great. On the other hand most other courses were only in big lecture halls with over 150 students. No interaction at all which made it hard to keep up with the content since I for the first time only had an exam at the end of the semester. The only material were the lectures and with two lectures of almost 3 hours a week it was hard to find all the content after 5 months. At the end with some help of the teacher when asking for it during the exam period it all worked out. Academic quality of education: High quality of education. Students work extremely hard which always gives an extra dimension during all courses and teachers were very enthusiastic and passionate in front of the class. Counselling/support at host institution: Counselling during the semester was good. During office hours you could just walk in to their office where they give advice on the spot. The most stressful period was the add-/drop period, but maybe the fact that this is your beginning on the other side of the world is the biggest factor. Transfer of credits: I hope this will be as easy as they told us. The final grades were sent to us only two weeks ago, so I don’t yet know how this will work out. I have the feeling that their contact with the UU is good and that this will all be okay Student life Welcome/orientation programme: The welcome was great, they let you meet other people from the moment you walk in. The first week they organise a welcoming event and diners which made it easy to make friends. Also the fact that you get the opportunity to speak to a lot of local students made it easy to figure everything out just asking them. Accommodation: The hostel on campus was great but what would you expect living with three guys in a dorm. Besides since rent in Hong Kong is just insane living on campus was a great opportunity. Also this is the place to make a ton of new friends, which is just the easiest living with so many international students. Leisure/culture: Great! Hong Kong is in my opinion one of the best places to live! The city is so big and full of fun things to do that I did not even have time to do everything I have on my list. You can go out every night of the week at least somewhere in the enormous city. On the culture aspect there is maybe even more, with a ton of museums and beautiful temples nearby there is always something to do. What I liked the most besides the crazy and enormous city are the national parks. There are a lot of hikes you can do close to the city where you suddenly have the feeling of not being in Hong Kong. On top of that most of the hikes end on a mountain peak overlooking the cities beautiful skyline. Suggestions/tips: Travel as much as you can during/after your exchange! Hong Kong could be just the best location to start your travels all over Asia. During vacations or just on long weekends this is your chance to travel around with a bunch of internationals to where ever you want! Conclusions Would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? Please explain: Yes, besides CUHK being a great organisation the city is just unbelievable. When do you get the chance to live in a city this big, with a culture so interesting, beaches just 10 minutes from the city centre and the chance to travel to most Asian countries for a weekend trip? Do you have any additional advice or comments?: Travel as much as you can while on exchange! Can students contact you for additional info? If so, please write down how they can get in touch with you (e-mail, Facebook, Instagram etc)

Family name: xxx

First name: xxx

Student number: xxx

Faculty/college: Faculty of Law

Level: X bachelor master PhD

Name degree programme: Law

Destination city & country Hong Kong

Name host institution The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Purpose of exchange X study/courses other

Departure date 02/01/’18 (dd/mm/yyyy)

Return date (dd/mm/yyyy) 26/05/’18

Preparation Exchange/placement application process: There is quite a lot to do during the application process, so I would definitely advise to start on time and make to do lists out. But you will receive everything on time, so you will have plenty of time to finish everything. Counselling/support at Utrecht University: We did not receive that much help from Utrecht University, but it was okay. I feel like having to Google/figure out some stuff by yourself is also part of the experience. Academic preparation: I am law student at Utrecht University and I followed courses that did not have anything to do with my major, but yet I did not have to prepare myself in any way. Language preparation: At CUHK you will be able to follow courses in English, so speaking Cantonese is not a requirement. My English was sufficient to follow the regular courses. Finances: An exchange is quite pricey, especially if you are planning on traveling a lot. I would definitely advise to start saving up on time. Hong Kong can be quite expensive, but eating on campus is very cheap! Study abroad period Study programme (concerning content and organisational issues): Everything was pretty well organised at CUHK. The first two weeks were the “add-drop” period, where you can follow courses and still decide to drop them or add them. You will be told about all of this once you’re there and the international office will also provide you with information. Academic quality of education: The academic quality of the education was pretty much the same as in Utrecht. Although the pressure for local students to get high grades is higher. Counselling/support at host institution: CUHK provided us with more than enough support. There are counsellors you can talk to, or you could talk to your professors/teaching assistants. I felt that everybody was very willing to help where possible. Transfer of credits: My credits have not been transferred yet. Student life Welcome/orientation programme: There was a welcoming programme, a tour around campus, a dinner and plenty of activities organised throughout the semester! Accommodation: Accomodation was fine. I had to share a room with a Chinese student and she was nice. The dorms are pretty clean and there is a kitchen and a fridge. There are study rooms in most hostels. And the campus is beyond amazing! Leisure/culture: There is so much to do in Hong Kong, I don’t even know where to start. You will definitely not be bored! Suggestions/tips: I would suggest to arrive in daytime in HK, since you will most probably have to buy yourself sheets/blankets/pillows for your bed in your dorm. Go to the IKEA to buy everything right away. The locals are not always that nice, so don’t be too surprised by that. Be prepared for the humidity. Get a ChinaMobile simcard from the airport, it will only be around 10 euros a month for unlimited internet. Download the MTR app, so you will find your way easily around the city. Do plan a lot of hikes. And please just enjoy your time in HK, you will absolutely love it!!

Conclusions Would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? Please explain: A 100% yes! You will have the time of your life. Do you have any additional advice or comments?: No. Can students contact you for additional info? If so, please write down how they can get in touch with you (e-mail, Facebook, Instagram etc) Contact info available at IO. UU Study Abroad Report Form

Family name: xxx

First name: xxx

Student number: xxx

Faculty/college: Rechtsgeleerdheid

Level: x bachelor master PhD

Name degree programme: Bachelor of Law

Destination city & country Hong Kong

Name host institution The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Purpose of exchange X study/courses other

Departure date 23/08-2017 (dd/mm/yyyy)

Return date (dd/mm/yyyy) 18/01/2018

Preparation Exchange/placement application process: In my opinion the placement application is organised really well at he University of Utrecht. Counselling/support at Utrecht University: I think the support at Utrecht University is in general good. Everyone is willing to help when necessary. Academic preparation: What could have been better in my opinion is the information about how many courses and which courses you would have to follow. This became clear to me when I was already in Hong Kong when I had to sign up for my courses, I had to change all the courses I was originally was planning to enrol in to meet the criteria to bring the courses into my bachelor’s programme. This was a bit stressful.

Language preparation: The language I spoke during my exchange was mostly English and Cantonese. Utrecht University did not really help me preparing for this. However, I don’t think this would be necessary. Finances: For me it was quite clear what I eventually would have to spend on my exchange, I think this is very important to know. Study abroad period Study programme (concerning content and organisational issues): I am very satisfied with the study programme; it gave me a chance to broaden my knowledge by following other courses other than law courses. Academic quality of education:

I think the quality of education of the Chinese Universit of Hong kong is very good.

Counselling/support at host institution: The support at the Chinese University of Hong Kong is very good. Everyone was really willing to help whenever you would face any difficulties. Furthermore, they provided help for example you would feel lonely or homesick. Transfer of credits: The transfer of credits went really well; all I had to do was hand in my transcript of records. Student life Welcome/orientation programme: When I arrived at the Chinese University of Hong Kong everything was very well organised. They started with a tour to show you around the campus which is necessary since it is so big. During the orientation programme you are able to get to know other exchange students and make friends.

Accommodation:

The accommodation was very clean. Although the room was not that big and you had to share it with a (local) roommate, I really liked my accommodation. Leisure/culture: I have been to Hong Kong before so I was already familiar with the culture. In my opinion al the people there are really nice. Suggestions/tips:

Conclusions Would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? Please explain: I would definitely recommend this destination to others! Hong Kong offers a lot of different things. You could go shopping but also you could also go hiking if you would feel like it. Most of the people there speak English and the public transports is also in English so getting around it really easy. Do you have any additional advice or comments?: - Can students contact you for additional info? If so, please write down how they can get in touch with you (e-mail, Facebook, Instagram etc) Feel free to email me when there are any questions; contact info available at IO.

Family name: xxx

First name: xxx

Student number: xxx

Faculty/college: Faculty of Social Sciences

Level: x bachelor master PhD other

Name degree programme: Clinical Psychology (electives in Hong Kong)

Destination city & country Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Name host institution Chinese University of Hong Kong and/or company/organisation

Purpose of exchange x study/courses work placement field work other

Departure date 24/08/2017 (dd/mm/yyyy)

Return date (dd/mm/yyyy) 28/01/2018 (the actual study semester was shorter)

Preparation Exchange/placement application process: The application was fine! The application was mostly online and did not take a lot of time. CUHK will help you a lot with arranging your visa which was really convenient. Counselling/support at home university: I did not need a lot of help from Utrecht University but I am sure they were willing to help me. Academic preparation: I did not had to do a lot of academic preparations. It was my minor so I could choose whatever I wanted. Language preparation: My English was already fine so I did not needed any language preparation. Finances: I had no preparations regarding the finances either. The tuition fee is the same as in The Netherlands. Study/placement abroad period Study programme/work plan (concerning content and organisational issues): That was fine. There is an add-drop period where you can attend all the courses you want and choose the one you like the most at the end of the week. This was a bit difficult because I was on the waiting list for a few courses (there were too many students). They were not really helping me with this but at the end I just chose a different course and this was also fine because it was my minor. Academic quality of education/placement activities: I think that the level was easier than here in Utrecht. It was more about reproducing instead of applying. It was still interesting though! Counselling/support at host institution/organisation: There were a lot of counselling options at CUHK. I did not use them so I do not know how they were. There is also a free clinic if you want to go to the doctor. Transfer of credits: This was really easy. I had to give my transcript to STIP and they arranged it for me. They transferred some of my grades lower than I expected. I emailed them and then I had to prove some things and they changed some of my grades. This process was all really easy and quick! Student life Welcome/orientation programme: There was an introduction week but it was not full with activities or something. There were some welcoming things but mostly just free time. I did really enjoyed this week because all the exchange students arrive and you will meet a lot of them. You will have all the time to make friends enjoy, the city and party! Accommodation: I stayed in I-house 3 (international house). I liked it that there were a lot of international students in this building. It also had a really nice location on campus. I could walk everything in less than 15 minutes (the campus is huge). I shared my room with two other girls and the hall with I guess 20 girls. The building was not perfect but had everything I needed. Leisure/culture: I really liked the Hong Kong culture. It was a bit of everything and totally different from our culture. Also the landscape is beautiful. I did not really know that there was so much variation: huge skyscrapers, beautiful beaches and a lot of mountains. Suggestions/tips: Go!! Conclusions Would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? Please explain: I would definitely recommend The Chinese University of Hong Kong or Hong Kong in general. I never believed that an exchange semester was the time of someone’s life, but it really was mine. I can’t wait to go back sometime. Do you have any additional advice or comments?: Enjoy! UU Study Abroad Report Form

Faculty/college: Social Sciences

Level: bachelor master PhD other

Name degree programme: Psychology

Destination city & country Hong Kong, China

Name host institution Chinese University of Hong Kong and/or company/organisation

Purpose of exchange study/courses work placement field work other

Departure date 04/08/2016 (dd/mm/yyyy)

Return date (dd/mm/yyyy) 31/01/2017

Preparation Exchange/placement application process: The application process went smoothly; it was very clear what I needed to prepare to apply for a semester abroad. I was very happy with my placement, since it was my first choice! I was getting a bit impatient though, when most people in my surroundings have heard about their placement already and when I still had to wait. I was also a bit confused when the remaining places were known already and when I still didn’t hear about my placement. But all is good, the application went smoothly and I was super happy with my placement! Counselling/support at home university: The international office was very helpful during the whole process. I had several meetings with Farah and she was very patient with the questions I had. Academic preparation: I didn’t have to prepare anything specific academically for CUHK. Language preparation: Because I had a IB diploma already, I didn’t have to prepare for my English. Also, Cantonees was not a requirement for CUHK. Finances: I made a financial plan for my application and I must say that it was quite useful! Living in Hong Kong is not cheap, but the dorms on campus are very affordable, more so than in Utrecht (around 100 euros a month I believe). I really wanted to travel during my semester, so I saved up money for that as well. It depends on the destination of course, but because Hong Kong is so central, the prices of the flight tickets are not bad at all. Food in Hong Kong is great and also affordable. Public transport is well arranged and you can get 50% discount for the metro system (you’ll use it super often) as a student. Overall, save up some money before you go to Hong Kong, but don’t be too scared about the expenses! Study/placement abroad period Study programme/work plan (concerning content and organisational issues): To meet the 30 ECTS of Utrecht, you’ll need to do five courses at CUHK. You’ll have these courses for the entire semester. Because I had extra ECTS, I decided to do four courses instead. It took me some time to get used to doing that many courses at the same time, but the semester went by very quickly and it was manageable. I followed three psychology course: Psychology & Law, Educational Psychology and Counselling. And one linguistics course: Sociolinguistics. Although I selected the subjects in the pre-selection (in July) already, the add-drop period in September determines your courses for the semester. So keep in mind that there is a possibility that you can’t do some course that you’ve selected. But all the applications and procedures are very clearly described and explained at CUHK, so just follow the instructions and you’ll be fine ;) Academic quality of education/placement activities: Although more emphasis is on the lectures instead of the tutorials (werkgroepen), the level and the way the courses were given are quite similar to UU (psychology courses). Books are often not a really needed since the tests are on the materials presented in lectures. Quite a lot of activities are organised for exchange students. Such as day trips to some main attractions in Hong Kong, cooking workshops etc. A welcoming dinner and end-of-semester dinner are organised as well for all exchange students. Counselling/support at host institution/organisation: The staff at the i-centre are very helpful, for all the questions you may have. There’s a medical centre on campus for students. Transfer of credits: It went very smoothly; the grades are already known mid-January. I could just collect the transcript from CUHK at Student services and hand in at STIP. Keep the syllabus of the courses you’ve taken, your faculty in Utrecht might need it to transfer the credits. Student life Welcome/orientation programme: The orientation week was well organised. I had a lot of opportunities to meet other exchange students. The information given about CUHK was very useful. It was a good start to the exchange! Accommodation: I stayed in I-house block 2. It was my first choice. I didn’t regret that at all since I had two lovely roommates to share the dorm with. Also, there were a lot of exchange students and it was very close to Lee Woo Sing college, which had the best canteen. But the facilities of I-house weren’t that great compared to other colleges. The location was also not that great, since it was quite far from the metro station and some university buildings. My friends who stayed in the colleges with communal dinners were the luckiest I would say. The facilities were great, the rooms were nicer, the location was better, and even though they paid more for the communal dinners, these weren’t mandatory. So they could just go to those dinners whenever they wanted to (during exam periods for example). These communal dinners also include high table dinners. A dinner where they would get really good food and get to wear official gowns. The other colleges without communal dinners were okay too. But it depends on which one you get. Lee Woo Sing was a very good college too, with great facilities and good canteen. Shaw college though, had an even worse location. So I think after having friends at different colleges and hearing all their experiences, I would recommend the colleges with communal dinners. But don’t worry too much about it, I’m sure you’ll be fine with whatever college you get! Leisure/culture: Hong Kong has so much to offer, there’s tons to do in the city! Most people speak English and all the signs are in English, so you’ll be absolutely fine! I loved how Hong Kong has both Eastern and Western influences, there was so much to see and to explore. There’re a lot of museums, a lot of fascinating local neighbourhoods, a lot of good food places (super international), a lot of nice bars, jazz bars, clubs… you name it, Hong Kong has it ;) Suggestions/tips: Be open-minded and explore as much as you can! And don’t waste any time at the beginning, the semester will fly by very quickly! Conclusions Would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? Please explain: Absolutely! Hong Kong is a very divers city that has a lot to offer. It has everything that you would find in a metropolitan city, a lot of skyscrapers, great shopping areas and amazing night life. But the city also has a lot of culture, because of it’s fascinating history being colonised by England. You really can see the influences from the Eastern and Western world. Moreover, Hong Kong has a lot of amazing nature to explore. There’re so many lovely hiking trails with waterfalls and beautiful views over the city, beaches and islands, I’m sure you won’t be bored! Do you have any additional advice or comments?: I’ve been documenting everything from my exchange by making vlogs! So if you’re interested in this amazing city and what it has to offer, feel very free to take a look! Link available at IO.

Contact details Student Services / International Office Visitors’ address: Bestuursgebouw, Heidelberglaan 6, Utrecht +31-(0)30-253 7000 [email protected] (information) / [email protected] (report) www.uu.nl/students/exchange UU Study Abroad Report Form

Faculty/college: Faculty of Science

Level: X bachelor master PhD other

Name degree programme: Chemistry

Destination city & country Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR China

Name host institution Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and/or company/organisation

Purpose of exchange X study/courses work placement field work other

Departure date 28/08/2016 (dd/mm/yyyy)

Return date (dd/mm/yyyy) 31/01/2017

Preparation Exchange/placement application process: Initially, I wanted to study abroad at the National University of Singapore (NUS). However, there were more applicants than places at this university. CUHK was not even in my top 3 choices. In the end, I am really happy that I ended up at CUHK! I had a great time there! The application process was really lengthy and did not go as smooth as I hoped it to go. This was primarily due to the fact that I wrote my motivation letter for my first choice and that I made an outline for the courses I wanted to take for my first choice. I had to do this again as I didn’t end up at my first choice. The application process on the CUHK side was straightforward yet tedious. It took quite a while to get all the right documents and signatures. Even though it takes quite a lot of effort to complete the application process, it is more than worth it! Once you leave for CUHK, the only thing that is left is to enjoy it! Counselling/support at home university: I was not placed at a university in my top 3 choices. So I decided to go to the international office to talk about the possibilities that were still left. This was really useful in the sense that I was introduced to universities that are less well-known. I am really happy that I chose CUHK. It is a really nice university and I have met tons of nice people! Academic preparation: I didn’t do any academic preparation. My major is chemistry, but I didn’t do any chemistry courses at CUHK. I only did free electives. So I did courses from Economics, Psychology, Urban Studies and Management. These were first and third year courses. Especially the first year courses were pretty straight forward. Econometrics was pretty difficult. I took the course Business Environment of China from the Economics department. This course gives an introduction to the way China works and the Chinese economy. This was really interesting as I didn’t have much prior knowledge on this topic. On the other hand, the lectures were 3 hours long, which was too much sometimes. In general, courses take about 3 hours a week per course. A lot of international students choose their courses in such a way so that they have Fridays off. There are even Saturday courses at CUHK. Don’t sign up for these as there are a lot of fun activities going on in the weekend. I even met international students who had all their classes in just 2 days. I think 3 or 4 days of classes is normal among international students. Language preparation: I didn’t do any language preparation. All classes at CUHK are conducted in English. The language that is spoke by local people in Hong Kong is Cantonese. I knew a little bit of Mandarin before arriving in Hong Kong. Most people do not understand this or prefer to speak Cantonese. All students speak English even though they are not always really comfortable speaking it which can sometimes be a bit troublesome in regards to group projects. Bus drivers, taxi drivers and waiters at restaurants on the other hand, generally don’t speak English. After a week or so, you’ll know some basic words in Cantonese. For example, how to say that you want to get back to campus. Finances: I spent roughly the same amount as I would have spent if I had stayed at Utrecht University. This is including the trips I made after the semester was over. This is primarily due to the really cheap housing at CUHK. I paid around 600 EUR for housing for the whole semester. I ate almost all my meals at the cafeteria on campus which are not too expensive either. Travelling by public transport is really cheap as you get a student MTR card which give you 50% discount on the fares. A MTR ride to downtown Hong Kong costs around 1.30 EUR and takes around 45 minutes. Also, after the semester was over (half December) I travelled through Southeast and East Asia for 6 weeks, I went to Indonesia and mainland China. Hostels and food in these places are really cheap. Transportation can be more expensive. In the end, I spent almost the same amount as I would have spent back in Utrecht, this includes my 6 weeks of travelling. Also, I sublet my room in Utrecht. Also, you get public transport compensation (OV vergoeding) because you don’t use public transport in the Netherlands. Study/placement abroad period Study programme/work plan (concerning content and organisational issues): My study program was that I had around 2 to 3 hours of classes from Monday till Thursday. For some classes there was mandatory attendance (even though this was rarely enforced). For most classes you could easily skip a lecture if that would be convenient. Organisation is pretty good, they tell you where you have to be and when you have to be there. Academic quality of education/placement activities: I did courses from 4 different departments, I did some first-year courses and some third-year courses. I think I got a pretty good image of the academic quality at CUHK. First, classes resemble a high school setting in which small part of your grade is attendance and participation. Second, tests are more about reproducing what is in the textbook than about comprehension (with the exception of Econometrics). Third, the way that courses are graded is also different from Utrecht University. CUHK uses a grading curve. This means that a certain percentage of the class can get an A, a certain percentage a B and so on. This means that the absolute level of your work does not matter and that you only have to do better than your classmates which results in a lot of competitiveness. Many local students at CUHK study a lot. International students on the other hand, primarily focus on having fun. This can sometimes cause some minor disagreements in regards to group projects. Counselling/support at host institution/organisation: The international office at CUHK organises some events during the semester which are always fun to attend. Before the semester starts, there is an introduction week for exchange students. Be sure to be there! There were not a lot of organised event by the university which made it hard to meet people at first. There were gatherings on the rooftop of the Mon Man Wai building, just a bunch of exchange students chilling out over there. These are really fun to go to and this is the perfect way to meet your fellow exchange students. During orientation you live in a temporary dorm with a temporary roommate. This is to group all exchange students together. After orientation is over, all students are spread out over the entire campus. Transfer of credits: As soon as I knew for sure what courses I was taking at CUHK, I wrote an email to the board of examiners. This was after the add/drop period in the first few weeks. The board of examiners replied quickly and told me that I would get 6 ECTS per course I took at CUHK. This meant that every credit at CUHK is worth 2 ECTS. I took a total of 15 CUHK credits (5 classes) which translated to 30 ECTS. After returning back in Utrecht, I pick up my transcript at the international office and sent a copy to the board of examiners to make everything official. Shortly after I had done this, my grades were added to the Osiris system. Transfer of grades went really smoothly, also the level of the courses was scaled correctly. CUHK uses a grading system with letters which is hard to translate to the Dutch grading system. Therefore my classes were transferred as pass/fail. Student life Welcome/orientation programme: I didn’t know anyone when I arrived at CUHK. During the first week, orientation week, there were some events organized by CUHK. However, these events usually lasted only like half an hour. This made it really hard to meet new people. The best way to meet people was to hang out in the living room of your dorm or to go to some parties in the night or to some rooftop. Accommodation: I lived in International house 2. All international students are divided among all dorms at CUHK. There are 9 colleges and even more dorms. Before arrival, you can give a preference whether you want to live in International house, a dorm with mandatory dinners or a dorm without mandatory dinners. I don’t think this preference was really taken into account as a lot of people did not end up in their first choice. I lived together with 2 international roommates in a pretty small room. I-house 2 is pretty old and its location on campus is far from optimal (it takes a 30-minute walk to the MTR station). The quality of the room was pretty poor. On the other hand, there is a relatively large group of international students that live in I-house 1 and 2. During orientation, I stayed in I-house 3, which is better located and newer. It doesn’t really matter where you live. I didn’t stay much in my room. I was gone almost all day. Lee Wo Sing is pretty nice though it’s also far away from the MTR station. C.W. Chu is the newest dorm I guess, but its location is even worse. It doesn’t matter in which dorm you end up, you will have a great time anyway! Leisure/culture: There is a really rich social life amongst study abroad students at CUHK. There are a lot of events that you can go to in Hong Kong. It never gets boring! Weekends start on Wednesdays. Usually, I either went to the horse races in Happy Valley or to Wan Chai on Wednesdays. Or both. Horse racing is really big in Hong Kong. Definitely visit the horse races once during your time there. There are a lot of exchange students who go there. Wan Chai is a bar district on Hong Kong Island. On Wednesdays, there are a lot of exchange students here. Also, there are a lot of hikes that are organized in Hong Kong for students. Before coming to Hong Kong, I didn’t know that there was that much nature in this city of 7 million people. There are really beautiful hikes all across Hong Kong. Definitely join one of these! Lan Kwai Fong (LKF) is the big party district in Hong Kong. There is always parties going on over there (except for Sundays and Mondays maybe). Also, there are a lot of international people that want to travel to surrounding countries. People went to Japan, South Korea, North Korea, mainland China, Nepal, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Philippines and so on. You can always find someone who wants to travel with you. The only trip I did was to Taipei, Taiwan. I primarily wanted to get to know Hong Kong really well instead of being gone each weekend. Also, especially at the beginning of the semester when it was still warm (even though it was still 15 to 20 degrees in December / January) there were a lot of junk boat parties. This means that someone rents out a boat and you go party on that boat all day. At the end of the semester I travelled to Indonesia for 4 weeks with friends I made at CUHK. Then, I went to the Yunnan province in China with another friend from CUHK. Then I went back to Hong Kong, met up with some people who stayed for 2 semesters (this is only a small group of exchange students) before flying home back from Hong Kong. Suggestions/tips: - Go to Mr Wong’s. This all-you-can-eat restaurant has a mythical status among exchange students! For only 60HKD (around 7EUR) you have unlimited food and unlimited beer (or ask Mr Wong for anything you want). Exchange students from all the universities in Hong Kong go here. It is always super crowded and it is a really nice place to meet other exchange people or to go to before going out in Wan Chai or LKF. Don’t forget to say hi to Mr Wong himself! - Join a lot of CUHK Facebook groups. There is a group for all international students. There is a group for hiking trips. There is a group for island trips. There is the group with all exchange students. This group is used a lot to find people who want to travel to specific places. - Join the teaching in China program. The university organises a program in which you teach in a middle school in mainland China. The year I was there, we went to a town around 2 hours away from the Hong Kong/mainland China border. This is a unique experience as you get to see a real Chinese school in a place you would otherwise never come. Definitely sign up for this program! - If you like travelling, this is your chance! The semester ends really early, mid-December for semester 1. This leaves around a month and a half for travelling before classes start again at Utrecht University. I travelled together with friends I made at CUHK. You will definitely find people who want to travel at CUHK! Conclusions Would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? Please explain: I would definitely recommend studying abroad at CUHK! I made a lot of good friends! The campus is really beautiful and the facilities are good. Hong Kong is a vibrant city which makes for an awesome semester abroad! I visited places I would never have thought of before studying abroad, like some towns in mainland China. It has been a great time at CUHK! Do you have any additional advice or comments?: - Don’t spend too much time on the so called course pre-selection. CUHK wants to know what courses you want to take and you have make a list of these somewhere online. In the end, you can add/drop courses during the add/drop period which is the first 2 weeks. - Go on exchange! No matter where you go, it’ll be a great and unique experience!