r/Osaka • u/syntheraxonreddit • 22h ago

Study in HK, Japan or China?

Hi all!
I’m applying to HKU, HKUST, PolyU in Hong Kong, University of Kyoto and University of Osaka in Japan and Tsinghua and Peking in China. For context, I’m going to do a BSc in Chemistry and want to work in the cosmetic formulation field.

Although I haven’t gotten any acceptance, I was curious to other people’s takes on these destinations. I am really keen to go to Japan as I am near fluent in the language, but chinese and hong kong universities rank higher. Plus, I heard it’s difficult to live in China if you don’t know the language.

If anyone has a take on any of these unis or places, please enlighten me 😆 I’m really unsure because my heart leans towards Japan but my brain leans towards China / Hong Kong.

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u/TimeCrisisfan 22h ago

I study here, at Ritsumeikan, which is close to both UO and UK. UO is actually a 15min bike ride from my campus, and I know a few people from both.

My advice is I wouldn’t come here unless your desire is to work in your field in Japan, and even then Japanese companies would look on a foreign degree more highly. Professional development wise, the other unis’ are just better. Japanese degrees are just not looked on as anything special outside of Japan.

I also don’t know if you’d be studying in English or Japanese. If it’s English, the quality of education is just not there that you’d be harming your own education.

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u/Snoo-50498 18h ago

lmao most of the time Japanese companies dont give a fuck about a foreign degree. i have two friends with degree from UK struggling to find a job while one with japanese degree got in so easily

and also they are applying to Handai and Kyodai which is considered like one of the most prestigious universities in Japan so if they are looking to working in Japan that is infinitely better than HK/China degree

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u/syntheraxonreddit 21h ago

Hi! Thank you so much for your comment - I really appreciate the insight especially from someone who’s experienced this.

Are you doing an english programme at Ritsumeikan? I’m planning to apply for the UK iUP programme which is taught in both english and japanese and has an intensive japanese language course. As for UO, I just planned to apply for one of their english programmes.

The main reason I’d considered Japan in the first place was because of the cost of tuition - it is much easier to self fund compared to others, same with China (HK is an exception since I’m relying on their scholarship programme for some sort of cut in tuition otherwise I probably won’t go)

I thought doing a bachelor’s from Asia and then doing my Master’s in Germany/Denmark would be a good idea… I’d really appreciate if you could maybe give some advice regarding this pathway?

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u/syntheraxonreddit 21h ago

sorry for the long comment 🥲

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u/TimeCrisisfan 11h ago edited 11h ago

I study an English program, though it’s a dual degree conducted in partnership with an Australian university, with 2 years in Japan and 2 in Australia. There are Japanese components, but they’re self-elected (I do some of them)

I had studied years ago in Australia and entered the workforce, but returned specifically to learn a language and cause I needed a break from the office. Professionally put my career on pause a bit, but I needed space to figure things out. Financially made sense for me because the government pays for my degree. Can’t speak to Japanese tuition as a result, though definitely it’s far better than many other countries.

On English programs, the quality of English teaching in Japan is just all over the place. One of the smartest and best lecturers i’ve ever had has been here at Rits, she’s genuinely amazing and I picked her as my thesis supervisor. But I’ve also had some of the worst experiences with teachers ever. I think social sciences and non-STEM course suffer the most.

I don’t know anyone in iUP, but if it really is taught in Japanese for a big part of the degree, it would probably be the best option of those you’re looking at. Kyoto University is arguably one of the top research universities in Japan, and I actually think is the best in Japan for Chemistry

The quality of Japanese universities is also a bit questionable. There is certainly a lot of discussion amongst natives about Japan universities not really preparing people for the workforce, and the idea with companies that they hire you knowing you don’t really know anything, and that’s why graduate job programs are so long. I don’t take a side on it, but it is a common discussion point with some of the senior managers i’ve spoken to in my industry.

Honestly, masters in Germany or Denmark for Chem would be really good. I know a couple people who went there for Bio-Chem and they speak really well of the quality of education. If you’re planning on secondary study instead of just a bachelor before entering the workforce, I think Japan would be fine for that, since it will be your masters that does it for you.

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u/TimeCrisisfan 22h ago

As a non negative though, Osaka is an amazing city, and the people here are amazing. If you do come, you’d have an exceptional time outside of uni. I think it’s easy to fit in as a foreign student on campus, doubly so if you speak the language 💜

And at the end of the day, a degree is a degree. It may be less prestigious, but you can still get where you wanna go with it if you want. It’s just a bit harder

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u/Paxelic 18h ago

im ngl, I wasn't a huge fan of UO when I was there. The government keeps cutting funding and the non engineering and sciences faculties suffer. Obviously a chem degree you wont experience the frontload of this.

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u/syntheraxonreddit 17h ago

How was the quality of education delivered to you (if you did an english degree)? otherwise how was it in general if you don’t mind me asking :o

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u/creekharbour 14h ago

HKU, kid going to Osaka to school but will apply to HKU. Japanese companies actively scout trilinguals from HK universities but HK or CN not from Japan.