<p>So I’ve heard a lot of stuff about how if you don’t know cantonese, it can be difficult to adjust. Is there any truth in that?
And also, what exactly is the difference between halls and residence colleges?
How selective is HKU, and how difficult is it to get in? I tried searching for the acceptance rate but didn’t find it. Does anyone have these figures?</p>
<p>Hmm I don’t think there are any figures in HKU about the acceptance rate, however if you are an international student, the acceptance rate is generally higher than if you are a local student, unless you are a Mainland Chinese national.
There is quite a lot of truth in being hard to adjust when not knowing any Cantonese. Most club activities are held in Cantonese, with the exception of a small few, in spite of the fact that HKU markets itself as an international university.
Halls are where readmission the following year is dependent on your performance in hall activities. So, things like hall meetings, floor meetings, orientation, floor activities, hall competitions, sports teams, etc. The meetings generally go on for 4~6 hours starting late at night (I went to one that lasted until 2am), and are held in Cantonese, though some floors exempt international students, for some places it is mandatory. In addition, readmission is quite biased against international students. In my year, my hall only readmitted half of the international students, yet all the locals were readmitted. Residential colleges are supposed to be not like halls since, due to the complaints of international students, their aim is to provide non-condition dependent housing, but that is changing fast, and now they also have a similar readmission process to halls. </p>