24. Where may an applicant certify his/her documents?

Applicant may certify his/her documents before a notary public (e.g. Commissioner for Oaths at Public Enquiry Service Centres of Home Affairs Office, Hong Kong SAR Government), or by the appropriate office/department of his/her institution.

23. May an applicant request an individual meeting with the Admissions Committee?

The Admissions Committee appreciates your interest in the programme. However, in the interest of maintaining impartiality in the review process, the Admissions Committee decided not to have individual meetings with potential applicants. However, applicants are encouraged to submit any questions they may have to jdinfo@hku.hk. The Admissions Committee endeavours to answer them promptly.

20. If an applicant graduated from university years ago and is no longer able to obtain an academic reference, would an academic reference still be expected?

The Admissions Committee expects at least one academic reference from each applicant. However, under exceptional circumstances, such as that described above, the Admissions Committee appreciates that it may be impossible for an applicant to submit an informed academic reference. Under those circumstances, professional references would suffice.

18. If an applicant thinks that his/her English results from A-Levels or DSE do not fully represent his/her current English abilities, what may the applicant do to express that to the Admissions Committee?

The best way for an applicant to convince the Admissions Committee that his/her A-Level or DSE English result does not fully reflect his/her current English ability would be to take either IELTS or TOEFL and submit the result to the Admission Committee. The applicant should also expend extra effort on the personal statement and the … Read more

17. If an applicant is exempted from the English language requirement, but nonetheless would like to provide the Admissions Committee his/her IELTS or TOEFL scores, would the Admissions Committee take this information into account?

Yes. Any information that will allow the Admissions Committee to arrive at an informed decision would be appreciated. Additional information about an applicant’s English abilities would be particularly helpful if the applicant’s undergraduate subject did not require extensive use of English. In such case, the requirement that the test be taken within two years prior … Read more

16. If the medium of instruction of an applicant’s undergraduate degree was not English, but he/she is currently pursuing or has completed a Master or comparable advanced degree in English, is the applicant subject to the English Language Requirement?

No. However, the more years of education an applicant has completed in English, the more confident the Admissions Committee will be of his/her English abilities. Therefore, if the applicant wishes to provide further evidence of his/her English abilities, the applicant may consider taking either IELTS or TOEFL.