University of Hong Kong is a pretty easy choice if you’re shooting for prestige—it was ranked 1^st in the Asian University Rankings of the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings in 2009. HKU features all your standard faculties: Arts, Engineering, Social Sciences, and more, with a Faculty of Dentistry thrown in for good measure. The school is also said to treat their students quite well; there are a generous amount of services dedicated solely to meeting their needs, as well as over 100 clubs and programs. While the official language of instruction at the University of Hong Kong is English, don’t count on hearing it outside of class, but do count on plenty of friendly locals to help you out if you find yourself lost or in a bind.

As for accommodation, if you’re living on-campus, expect to be placed, invariably, in one of the university’s over 15 Halls. Exchange students often choose this option in the interest of frugality (very cheap) and additionally benefit from the halls’ social aspects. However, many complain about having to share particularly cramped rooms, as well as the halls’ typical rules, which limit who students can bring in, and to what extent they’re allowed to “gather.”

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