Press Release

Five Faculty of Business and Economics students going to Yale for an exclusive one-year study program

14 Jul 2014

Four students majoring in International Business and Global Management (IBGM) and one majoring in Accounting and Finance (Acc&Fin) have successfully been admitted to the exclusive Yale Visiting International Student Program (Y-VISP) and will start a one-year study in the Yale University from September 2014.

The Y-VISP is an honors program at Yale University designed for undergraduate students from partner institutions. Not more than 30 students are recruited every year. Students in the Y-VISP will become a fully integrated member of the Yale community: they will enroll in Yale undergraduate courses, live in one of the 12 residential colleges, participate in Yale extracurricular activities and be supported by residential college deans, faculty advisers and Y-VISP program staff.

The 5 students are:

CHAN Lok Yee, Michelle, BBA(IBGM), Year 2
CHAN Wing Yan, BBA(IBGM), Year 2
LI Yuk Lok, Samuel, BBA(IBGM), Year 2
WANG Rong, Rayna, BBA(IBGM), Year 2
WANG Xiaolu, BBA(Acc&Fin), Year 2

Hosea Lee, BBA(IBGM) 2014, who participated in the Y-VISP in the academic year 2012 – 2013 shared his Yale experience, “Taking classes outside of my major was definitely easier said than done but I kept challenging myself in different academic fields. In Yale, I took classes in Philosophy, Psychology, American Studies, English, Economics as well as some courses in the MBA curriculum. The best way I can describe the academic atmosphere in Yale is that the professors are happy and eager to meet their students outside classroom. I learnt much from ‘chit-chatting’ with them and I felt extremely grateful for the time they spent with me.”

During the Program, Hosea was the Vice President Outreach of AIESEC Yale responsible for promoting cultural exchange and understanding between students and cultural groups. He also took charge of the Yale Undergraduate Consulting Group as a Strategy Consultant and worked with two of its clients in their start-up businesses. Hosea was also selected as a Yale delegate to participate in the Yale Reach Out Service Learning Trip to the Dominican Republic during the 2013 spring break and attended conferences in University of Pennsylvania and Brown University. “I built friendships outside my Yale circle and gained greater understanding of international studies. I believe the leadership skills and friendships I developed were the most-valuable assets I have takena way from Yale.

My Yale experience did not end upon the completion of Y-VISP. I joined the Yale World Fellows Internship Program and had the opportunity to work as an intern in one of China’s largest commercial banks,” said Hosea.

All five students who will go to Yale in September said they would take some courses outside their major disciplines to broaden their horizons and they were already looking forward to joining the student clubs and to discovering new areas of interest through the many exciting options offered by Yale.

Rayna Wang, BBA(IBGM), Year 2, mentioned, “The IBGM syllabus allows a great degree of flexibility and diversity. I can also pursue a second major on top of the IBGM courses. Overseas exchange is a compulsory component to ensure students acquire knowledge from multiple perspectives. I hope to make full use of my year abroad not only for getting a stimulating academic experience, but also for expanding my network through intensive interaction with students from other cultures and participation in extracurricular activities. I am positive that the Y-VISP will be a wonderful journey of self-discovery and enrichment.”

Michelle Chan, BBA(IBGM), Year 2, shared some of her experience with the students who got their HKDSE results today, “After the release of my HKDSE results two years ago, I chose IBGM as my first choice because I always wanted a business programme that provided me with global exposure. In the end, IBGM promised me a lot more opportunities than I expected. Before I got into the Y-VISP, I had already been to Japan, Shanghai, Spain and Taiwan through different programs offered by both the Faculty and the University. I am currently on a six-week internship in Shanghai from where I can gain deeper understanding of Chinese business culture. Apart from working on weekdays, I take part in corporate visits and CEO networking sessions at weekends. I was able to go to so many countries because the Faculty gives students a good amount of advices and financial support to achieve our goals. The Y-VISP, together with other international exposure I have gained from these two years, proved that I made the right decision joining HKU IBGM.”

Samuel Li, BBA(IBGM), Year 2, added that, “IBGM has provided me with a great platform to start my university study. IBGM is not only about career prospect but the flexibility and diversity for students to acquire comprehensive knowledge in various disciplines in addition to business-related subjects. A step forward, I cannot wait to gaining insights from the well-respected scholars and meeting people with similar vision in Yale. Apart from academic development, the practice for the Y-VISP to assign students in one of the residential colleges will be another effective channel for me to interact with the fellow Yale students. I do believe the opportunity to exchange ideas with people from top education institutions can inspire me and significantly help me achieve my life goal. I have set two main objectives for my university life in Hong Kong and the upcoming year in Yale: to learn about the world from different perspectives and to develop a model to tackle social problems.”

For media enquiries, please contact:

Helen Wong
Assistant Communications Director
Faculty of Business and Economics
The University of Hong Kong
Tel: +852 6199 6988 / +852 3917 4311
Email: hgewong@hku.hk

About Yale Visiting International Student Program: http://www.yale.edu/yvisp/

About the Faculty of Business and Economics
The Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) strives to nurture first-class business leaders and foster academic and relevant research to serve the needs of Hong Kong, China and the rest of the world in the new Asia-led economy.

As Asia’s premier international business school, FBE engages leading scholars from all corners of the globe and they instil in the students global knowledge with an Asian perspective. The Faculty attracts top students from Hong Kong and beyond. It admits the highest proportion of non-local undergraduate students amongst all Faculties at HKU. Three of its undergraduate programmes are ranked among the University’s top 10 programmes.

The Faculty’s full-time MBA programme, offered in partnerships with Columbia Business School (CBS) and London Business School (LBS), has a strong Asia and China focus and was ranked Asia’s no. 1 in the World MBA Rankings released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

The Faculty also offers an elite EMBA Global Asia programme, jointly with CBS and LBS, for globally-focused senior executives and professionals. Its International MBA Programme, delivered in Shanghai in collaboration with Fudan University, was the first of its kind when it was launched in 1998.

FBE is fully accredited by the European Quality Improvement Systems (EQUIS). Its accounting and business programmes are also accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).