“Every trade has its master” HKU cultivates elite students for all walks of life

Over the years, the University of Hong Kong (HKU), through the establishment of interdisciplinary courses and a wide range of scholarships, has cultivated talents from different fields or cross-disciplines to meet the ever-changing challenges in the future.

This year, HKU has launched an enhanced version of the “President’s Scholars”, where the top student from each faculty will be named a “President’s Scholar”. There are also newly established “HKDSE Top 1% Scholarships” to reward the top 1% candidates taking the HKDSE this year who have been successfully admitted to HKU. Both scholarships attracted elite students with a wide range of interests and outstanding academic performance.

“We have always encouraged students to choose subjects according to their interests, not to underestimate their dreams, and be brave enough to pursue them. The University will allocate more resources to enable students with different ambitions to give full play to their strengths. We will further support and encourage students to develop in different fields, empowering them with interdisciplinary skills and helping them to become more competitive, so that they can make contributions in different fields and contribute to society,” said Professor Bennett Yim, Director of Undergraduate Admissions and International Student Exchange.

Enhanced President’s Scholars award encourage top students to broaden their minds
13 students will be admitted to HKU as President’s Scholars. They are the top HKDSE scorers in the respective Faculties, including three students achieving 5** in 7 subjects, who will study Bachelor of Science in Quantitative Finance and Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery programmes. Other President’s Scholars will study the Bachelor of Science in Surveying, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Dental Surgery, Bachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Sciences, Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Social Sciences, Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Laws, Science Master Class, and Bachelor of Social Sciences (Government and Laws) and Bachelor of Laws programmes. Each of these students will receive at least HK$100,000 scholarship in recognition of their outstanding achievements.

Professor Yim said: “These students achieved excellent results. The scores they obtained in the HKDSE are good enough for them to gain entry to any highly sought-after programme, yet they selected programmes according to their personal interests and covering various academic fields, which I highly admire. ”

HKDSE Top 1% Scholarships encourages comprehensive development
This year, as many as 115 students will be awarded the “HKDSE Top 1% Scholarships”* newly established by the University, where each student will receive a scholarship of at least HK$50,000. The University hopes that the awardees will make good use of the scholarship to broaden their horizons, undertake innovative projects, and take part in international exchanges to accumulate more experience for self-enhancement.

*Awardees of the “HKDSE Top 1% Scholarships” must be the top 1% scorers among those who have met the University Entrance Requirements (ie, “332233” in 4 core subjects and 2 elective subjects) in this year’s HKDSE and have gained admission to HKU successfully.

HKU takes in the most top scorers
HKU continues to take in the most top-notch students in the HKDSE, admitting 76 candidates who have obtained 5** in four or more subjects in the HKDSE, the highest in Hong Kong. In addition, based on the four core subjects of Chinese, English, Liberal Studies and Mathematics, or other various selection principles, the average scores of the HKDSE candidates admitted by HKU are also the highest among all local universities in Hong Kong.

Cultivate future scientists to meet the needs of scientific research
The new “Science Master Class” elite programme launched by the Faculty of Science is extremely popular among many top students who are committed to scientific research. Based on the “best six subjects” selection principle, the median admission score for this programme is as high as 40 points. The course aims to incubate a new generation of scientific researchers and equip them with the skills to translate scientific knowledge into practical applications with far and wide-reaching impacts. The University hopes that under the guidance of “Science Masters”, students can unleash their academic potential in research fields.

21 outstanding athletes admitted to a wide range of programmes
HKU has admitted 21 outstanding athletes via the HKU Sports Scholarship Scheme this year who are passionate about their sports including fencing, swimming, badminton, handball and taekwondo. These athletes also performed well academically and are admitted to programmes including Bachelor of Science in Surveying, Bachelor of Dental Surgery, Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, Bachelor of Nursing and Bachelor of Social Sciences.

Admitting the most non-Chinese speaking students
HKU admitted 63 local non-Chinese speaking students this year, the highest among all local universities. They will be admitted to Bachelor of Economics / Bachelor of Economics and Finance, Bachelor of Business Administration (Law) and Bachelor of Laws, Bachelor of Education in Early Childhood Education and Special Education, Global Engineering and Business Programme, Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Global Health and Development, Bachelor of Journalism and other programmes.