Is the University of Hong Kong (HKU) a target school for Hong Kong/Asia IBD/PE?
Wondering a lot.
Since a lot of the bankers I meet in Hong Kong are actually from the US and UK rather than local hires.
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in a word: no
I see. Thanks for being direct. If you could best compare HKU's status with a school in the US in terms of IBD prospects, what would you compare it with? I'm from the US so it would help to get an idea.
Maybe NYU (CAS, not Stern)?
definitely not NYU CAS
if we're comparing HKU's placement in HK BB IBD to an equivalent US college NY BB IBD... i would probably say boston college
as for HKU sending members of its class into HK BB SA IBD... it's very hard to get numbers see, you have different streams in general there are about four different 'tracks' that place people into BB IBD within HKU
each of these 'tracks' are very large, so sample size is also quite different, and you have tons of statistical variances you probably haven't accounted for however, in general, HKU doesn't place many people into BB IBD because historically speaking, BBs in hong kong have usually been more biased towards US/UK people- and because the US/UK people are the ones who got the SA/FT offers, and they moved up the ranks, they carry this bias- it's a very path dependence kind of thing
long story short, if you want to get into NY IBD, go to NYU CAS over HKU (any program) if you want to get into HK IBD, still choose NYU CAS over HKU (any program)
the one caveat might be if you get into HKU's MBBS program, but it's kind of unlikely you will (admission rate lower than harvard)
TOO LATE BRO! haha I am doing the BBA and LLB dual program already. It seemed like a great idea - got told it was really "prestigious" down here too.
I thought I would be adventurous and also gain exposure to Asia, so I moved over here from NY. I guess that decision was a bit myopic....should have done more research. Looks like I fucked up. Oh well.
Anyway, to salvage the situation: Considering the course I'm in, what do you think my chances are of making it into IBD over here? Does that US/UK bias you talk about apply only to schools, or to people in general? (i.e. some weird cultural elitism bullshit - I see it all the time day-to-day here).
What's your story? You seem like you're from HK. I'm guessing you went to the US for school? If so, that would put us in exactly opposite situations lol.
don't dispair BBA & LLB is the best one out of the four if anyone has a chance it's you
the BBA/LLB program is really prestigious, with the caveat of only within hong kong/china realistically speaking, if you hadn't heard about it until after someone told you (in senior year), you probably should have been able to tell that it wasn't as great as everyone said it was
however, if you're looking to enter the legal field, as soon as you complete your PCLL, the BBA/LLB degree is actually really competitive within hong kong for law based degrees, especially if you want to be a judge despite what the plebians at CUHK say, HKU is hands down the best law school in china
why do you want to work in IBD? frankly, being a lawyer is a little bit better from the lifestyle standpoint from a salary standpoint, IBD is a little better, but honestly money isn't all that important past a certain amount
for the best chances of getting into IBD, i'd recommend finishing the degree, do your PCLL (very hard to get employment with an LLB degree if you aren't actually licensed to practice law), try to work for a magic circle firm, then apply to IBD as a lateral
feel free to shoot me a PM if you want to talk more about the BBA/LLB, shoot the shit, or grab a drink
oh, and if i HAD to ballpark it, i would say maybe 6-7 HKU people get into HK BB IBD programs every year
My experience limits to 1 specific bank. But in my year no one in HK IBD came from a university in HK. There are people who graduated from HK who work in a capacity between front and middle office but not IBD.
All HK IBD people were UK/US educated.
Quick question: how does CUHK rate relative to HKU for IBD?
Well when I was applying to schools in the region, the general consensus that emerged was that CUHK was basically inferior in every sense, reputation and prestige-wise. The major exception being Medicine where there's little difference.
The OTHER exception for undergrad I've heard is if you get into the "GLOBE" program at CUHK, which is a triple degree in business from UNC Kenan Flagler, some school in Denmark, and CUHK. People say GLOBE rates as basically on par with the other top business programs in HKU and HKUST (I think analogous with Global Business at HKUST and IBGM at HKU?) I found that schools in HK are very different than back in the US, in the sense that the program you get into matters a lot. Maybe similar to the NYU CAS and NYU Stern distinction, but even more so?
Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, haha.
I don't have any numbers but just from general observation from working in HK - there have been occasional hires from HK universities (even CUHK or something else below HKU... I want to say there was 'Bishop' in the name). How they do it is by pure networking and hustling and a great deal of luck.
But otherwise, US/UK schools, and then Cdn/Aus top tier schools are more common. HK places a premium on top overseas based schooling.
What you should see more and more: rich Chinese nationals that are US/UK educated that join HK offices directly... or if it's lateral, they would likely do 1-2 yrs in US (NY, LA, etc), then they move to HK.
Just POOMA, HKUST is much better than HKU IMO. Why did you go to HKU in the first place...
Because what you said is debatable. HKUST even offered me a full ride; but the fact is that HKU's general reputation is better. HKUST might have a good Global Business program but I'm pretty sure its comparable to what I'm doing. Also, HKUST doesn't have a law school.
In terms of recruiting from the perspective of local Hong Kong unis, every year each BB will take at least 2-3 local university students for their IBD SA programs (nowadays, its usually from HKU / HKUST). The number of local university students getting into these IBD SA programs are increasing (due to more alumni at the banks and cheaper costs [from the perspective of housing, plane tickets...etc.]). However, usually these local university spots are filled by Mainland students due to the nature of IBD in Hong Kong and the need for mandarin-fluent employees.
Nevertheless, the key is to secure a IBD SA position if you want to get into the field - it is very hard to recruit for FT IBD positions...
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