A Hong Kong student who studied at a Canadian high school has gone viral after saying her family had "burned money" on overseas education, only for her to return home and fail to secure offers from the city's top universities.
The student shared her story on social media, saying she moved to Canada in Secondary Four and is now in Grade 12. With an average score of 83 to 85 percent, she believed she stood a good chance of getting into university and applied for journalism and communication programs at Hong Kong Baptist University and City University, as well as social work at the Chinese University of Hong Kong through the Non-JUPAS route.
But instead of receiving offers from the three universities, she said only an associate degree program had accepted her.
"I feel so useless. I've wasted all my mum's money," she wrote.
Her post quickly drew hundreds of comments, with many netizens saying the grades were far from competitive for overseas applicants.
Some claimed that students returning from Canada generally need averages above 90 percent to stand a realistic chance of entering Hong Kong's top universities, while others pointed to increasingly fierce competition from mainland Chinese and other international applicants.
Asked why she did not continue her studies in Canada, the student said her family could no longer afford the tuition fees and that she was not eligible for local student loans because she is not a Canadian citizen.
The case also sparked debate over whether an associate’s degree is a viable alternative.
While some encouraged her to take the route and transfer to a publicly funded university later, others warned that competition for articulation places is equally intense.
Many netizens, however, sought to comfort the student, saying the experience of studying abroad had given her a broader perspective and that the money spent was not entirely wasted.
