Exchange Report

1. Administrativ Preperation - Application for student visa (detailed instructions provided from WU/HKUST) - Ensure passport is valid throughout the stay - health and travel insurance (mandatory health insurance from HKUST) - (optional) check recommended vaccinations (especially if traveling in South-East Asia) 2. Course Selection - Check course availability in HKUST catalog - Check accredited courses in WU database - Have backup courses, registration can be quite competitive 3. Housing Arrangements - HKUST student housing only for undergraduates - off-campus living in HK can be quite expensive (most students chose serviced apartments or shared an long-term Airbnb, with the Airbnb usually being the cheaper option) 4. Financial Planning - In general, HK is a more expensive city, potentially makes sense to do rough budgeting upfront - Plan for higher living costs compared to Vienna (especially housing, food/leisure really depends on your lifestyle) - Budget for traveling (HK is the perfect hub, since a lot of countries in Asia are within 2-3 hours with plane) 5. Travel to HK - might make sense to register as student at Austrian Airlines (extra luggage included) - some other airlines also have student rates

Most of the students chose either serviced apartments (8-15m2, similar to hotel room with shared kitchen and other amenities, gets cleaned once a week) or shared an Airbnb with other exchange students (make sure to connect with other exchange students early in the WhatsApp group. Generally speaking, the Airbnb was the cheaper option with most people spending around 1000€ per month. Serviced apartment prices range from 1100€ - 1800€ for "normal rooms", with the more fancier apartments easily getting priced at 3000€ and more. For serviced apartments check: Weave Living or Townplace For location: Since WU master students (except CEMS) are part of the MBA program, most classes will take place at the downtown campus in HK Central. Therefore, I can recommend looking for housing at HK Island - here Wan Chai or Sheung Wan were two of the best areas to live in (also great night life, restaurants and close to some of the beaches, hiking spots and nature in general.

Facilities on campus include: sports facilities, restaurants, learning spots, bars etc. Academic culture: lots of professors with industry experience and experience of other MBA students make classes quite interactive and praxis oriented Teaching style: Similar to WU, lectures, group work and exams Course recommendations: - Macro investment strategies (favourite class; even though they explicitly mention it, no previous macro knowledge required; gives an interesting angel on the capital markets and good understanding of macro interlinks; highly recommended) - Launching and running a VC firm (even though not accredited at WU, recommend to invest the 3 days; great professor - ex-partner at kohsla ventures, co-founded Formation8 with investments in Oculus, Wish, etc) - M&A (recommended if interested in finance; great professor)

- Very convenient public transport (MTR, buses, etc) - In general quite safe city, never experienced any dangerous situations - Activities: Happy Valley Wednesday Horse Racing (do not plan classes on Wednesday night), hiking, travel to other countries, try out different cuisines (for recommendations write me a mail), beach days (they also have public bbq spots there), LKF for nights out (also great bars on HK Island - again recommendations per mail/phone)

Perfect mix of city/nature, great food spots, and lots of opportunities to make this a special place. You will not regret choosing HK as exchange location, I promise