Multi-country and multi-region joint applications, and joint applications for Hong Kong, Macao and UK master's programs, successful case sharing

Accepted Master's Degree from University of Glasgow, one of the top 100 QS schools in the UK and the Education University of Hong Kong, one of the top 20 education programs in the world.

In the past two years, under the influence of multiple factors such as changes in society and international relations, the continuous rise of overseas study fever, and the increase of university admission requirements, multi-country and multi-region joint application has become a hot choice for many international students.

Joint application refers to the application strategy of applying to two or more countries/regions in the same application cycle.

Advantages of joint application:

1. Wide choice of application programs to improve the offer acquisition rate;

2. Reduce the possibility of being affected by the country's geographical policy and improve the success rate of further study.

Today we share a recent successful case of joint application from Hong Kong, Macau and the UK, and sort out with you the considerations of multi-country and multi-region joint application.

Successful case shared by Sky Global Education:

Y is an art management graduate from a non-985, non-211 music college in China. The advantage of this student is that she has excellent grades in her four years of college, with an average score of 89, and she has won the first-class scholarship awarded by the school several times. Meanwhile, this student actively participated in various club activities during her school years, and took advantage of the summer and winter vacations to work as a teaching assistant in three local educational institutions and primary and secondary schools as an internship.

This student has a clear goal to work in education in the future, and her goal is to improve her academic background and overseas experience by studying a postgraduate degree in an education-related field overseas, so that she can improve her hard power for employment in her home country in the future. Therefore, she prepared herself for the IELTS training and test while she was studying at university. At the same time, half a year before the start of the application season, we were commissioned to start the preparation work for the selection of schools and the production of various documents, in order to ensure that in the first time of the opening of the application season, she can submit her application to the overseas institutions, and maximize the possibility of getting the best chances of acceptance.

Difficulties analyzed:

1. The student's priority study destination is Hong Kong and Macau, China. However, the number of universities and colleges in Hong Kong and Macau is very small, but the number of applicants is particularly huge. In recent years, more and more students want to study in Hong Kong, resulting in fierce competition. Many colleges and universities only give preference to undergraduates from 985/211 universities in China or the top 100 universities in the world in terms of QS.

2. Not every university or college in Hong Kong and Macau offers education-related programs, which leads to a narrow range of schools to choose from. Only a limited number of colleges and universities and a limited number of majors can be selected for application. At the same time, the student's undergraduate degree is not majoring in education, which leads to a further narrowing of choices. Some graduate schools require applicants to have graduated from education-related majors in their undergraduate programs, so there is no way to apply to these schools.

Solution:

The United Kingdom has a long history of higher education, a large number of institutions, just the public comprehensive university up to more than 100, most of the institutions have opened education majors, many institutions of the education professional curriculum is extensive and in-depth, there are a variety of education-related professional subdivisions to choose from. At the same time, UK universities are highly recognized globally, with 17 of the top 100 universities in the 2024 QS ranking.

After comprehensive analysis and evaluation, we recommended that the student adopt the Hong Kong-Macao-Britain joint application program, in order to satisfy the student's wish to prioritize graduate studies in Hong Kong, applying to four universities in Hong Kong: the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, the Education University of Hong Kong, Lingnan University, and at the same time, applying to the University of Macao as well as the United Kingdom's different levels of the characteristics of each of the seven institutions.

Desired Outcome:

Starting from September 2023, the UK, Hong Kong and Macau opened the application channels for the fall 2024 intake one after another. We submitted applications to Y's major universities in the first instance. Currently, the student has received acceptance letters from six institutions in the UK, including the University of Glasgow, which is ranked 78th in the Global Universities QS for 2024, and the Education University of Hong Kong, which is ranked 17th in the world for education.

Notes on joint application:

1. Screening and positioning in advance

It is not easy to apply to multiple institutions in multiple countries within the same application season. Many students do not know how to start in the face of a large number of institutions and a huge number of choices of majors. Therefore, students who want to apply jointly should make a reasonable positioning for themselves so that they can find the institutions and majors suitable for them and develop a good program.

2. Pay attention to the application process and time

Different countries and regions have different application processes, and even different majors in different institutions in the same region will have differences in the application process, such as the online application process, the order of submission of materials.

In addition, the program application opening/deadline time may be early or late. So before you start applying, you need to understand the specific process of each school's application, prepare the appropriate application materials in advance, and plan the corresponding application nodes.

Generally speaking, the application opening and closing time of American universities will be more regular, and generally open for application around September. There are also many schools that have adjusted their tuition fees and requirements to attract more international students.

British schools generally open their applications in September-October, but of course the early ones have already started. Top-ranked UK schools like IC, UCL, etc. apply a bit later, in mid-October - early-mid November.

Australian universities generally have S1 (January/February) and S2 (July/August) two enrollment periods each year, depending on personal and professional circumstances, it is recommended that you generally apply six months in advance. For example, the University of Sydney, 2024 S1 application deadline: January 15, 2024; 2024 S2 application deadline: June 25, 2024.

The online application for Canadian universities starts from September to December. Within a week of submitting the online application, you will usually receive a material submission instruction email from the university. If not received within 2 weeks, students will have to reach out to the university. The submission period is from January to March. You must submit the relevant materials to the school within the deadline according to the requirements of each university.

Most schools in the Hong Kong region, such as HKU, HKUST, CUHK‌ generally open applications in September-October, with most programs with interviews starting to issue interview notices in October, and announcing the first round of admission results around December. Some business majors tend to open their applications earlier, so students who intend to apply for business majors need to pay special attention to the specific opening time of the program they are applying for.

3. IELTS and TOEFL

Some countries or schools prefer to accept IELTS, some prefer to accept TOEFL, but the time is limited, many times can not be both exams, so, according to their own situation to choose a can be generalized.

Generally speaking, TOEFL is preferred in the United States because not all schools in the United States recognize IELTS; IELTS and TOEFL are available in the United Kingdom and Australia, and IELTS/TOEFL are available in Hong Kong and Singapore.