Stage of Preparation:

• Prepare your supporting documents
• Invite your lecturers to be your referee
• Draft an impressive personal statement

Stage of Application:

• Pay attention to the application deadline for each university programme and submit it by the end of the deadline.
• Submit all supporting documents required by individual programmes.
• Settle the application fee through specified payment methods of each university

Stage of Interview:

• Check your email frequently and pick up any phone calls to miss no interview opportunity.
• Get yourself well prepared before the interview.
• Research into programmes that you have applied. 

Stage of Result Acceptance: 

• Check your personal account in the online portal of university regularly.
• Accept the conditional offer by settling the reservation fee.
• Complete all registration procedures before the deadline. Otherwise, your place will be given to those students on the waiting list.

1. Visit the official website of favourite universities and programme
   Those websites help you to access the latest admission requirement and to understand the learning outcomes of particular programmes. They will be very important to the preparation of your personal statement and interview.
   
   
2. Visit the Centre for Further Studies at sub-degree institutions
   The graduate articulation database is generally available at the Centre for Further Studies at sub-degree institutions. Years of articulation records accumulated in the database will be a useful reference for your decision making. You may also join the interview workshops organized by the Centre to make yourself shine at the short interview.
   
   
3. Visit the University Information Day
   Even if the university information day primarily targets senior secondary students, it is still a good opportunity to learn the teaching style and curriculum feature of your desired programme. You may also consult professors and student helpers there to receive the most comprehensive admission information during your visit.
   
   
4. Participate in the admission talk organized at sub-degree institutions
   Some university programmes may arrange admission talks at sub-degree institutions. So why don’t join those talks if they are so convenient to you?
   
   
5. Consult your lecturers and senior peers
   Experiences and opinions from senior peers and lecturers are sometimes more valuable than the official information announced on websites. The impersonal information has its limitation of not giving you the best advice. Just take their sharing as the reference and you will learn something.
   
   
6. Write an impressive personal statement
   To briefly understand individual applicants’ academic backgrounds and learning activities, universities normally require each applicant to submit a personal statement as a part of the admission procedure. Imagine how many articles the responsible professor will read. Then, you will know how an impressive personal statement makes you stand out from hundreds of “competitors”.
   
   
7. Visit online forums
   Fellow sub-degree students with the same goal will discuss and even encourage each other anonymously in online forums. You may get some important information such as the time of releasing enrolment offer and take their experience as your reference there too.

1^st Semester

The significant difference between the timetabling and teaching style between secondary school and sub-degree institution may make you feel strange and unfamiliar in the new environment. Therefore, adaptation to the new learning style and exploration of campus will be your primary objectives in the first semester at community college. Set yourself reachable targets at the beginning of the journey also help you to achieve higher at graduation.

2^nd Semester

Study Hard! The first year’s GPA will be an important indicator when you apply for senior year admission. Besides, you may also consider taking IELTS or other language proficiency examinations to satisfy the admission requirement of particular universities or programmes. Examinations also show your motivation to professors in charge of senior year admission.

3^rd Semester

Strive hard for your university dream in the third semester too! Don’t forget to submit your application to your desired programmes at the e-admission system of various universities online before the deadline. Get the application prepared well such as inviting your lecturer to write a recommendation letter with university programme information earlier.

4^th Semester

Make sure that you meet the conditional offer set by the receiving programme. Remind yourself to be thankful to the lecturers who gave you a recommendation.

• Adaptable Teaching and Learning Style

Academically and pedagogically experienced teachers at sub-degree institutions encourage students to explore the knowledge under their comprehensive guidance for better preparation for further study.

• Sufficient Support on Further Study

The centre for career and further study at various sub-degree institutions accumulate years of experience of assisting students’ articulation to universities. They also provide useful resources such as interview workshop or articulation database to facilitate your decision making and to achieve your goals.

• Buddies with the same goal

Friends you meet at the sub-degree institutions commonly deem university offer as the ultimate target during their sub-degree study. The synergy among students with the same goal maximizes your learning effectiveness to strive hard for success.

• Alternative Pathway for UGC-funded Degree Programmes

Sub-degree programmes are believed to be an option for those who fall short of their expectation of HKDSE result though this public examination determines the study pathway of senior secondary graduates. It can be regarded as the steppingstone to articulate to your favourable degree programme.

• Seamless Transition to Degree Programmes

Sub-degree institutions’ curriculum, especially for the community colleges affiliated to UGC-funded universities, are designed based on the university curriculum. Senior year admitted students from those institutions may pick up the university study smoothly due to the similarity between curricula.

Both Higher Diploma (HD) and Associate Degree (AD) are classified as sub-degree credentials. Higher Diploma (HD) programme put the curriculum emphasis on practical skills and vocation training which approximately 60% of the curriculum has been taken up. Associate Degree (AD) programme covers more general education and theoretical training, which occupy approximately 60% of the AD curriculum, to cultivate academic competence for further study. Both credentials are categorized in level 4 of Hong Kong Qualifications Framework (HKQF). Please visit the "Institution List" of Concourse to learn more about sub-degree programmes offered by inddividual instituions.

After completing either sub-degree programme, three articulation pathways to degree programmes at HKQF level 5 are available to graduates. Senior Year Admission places offered by UGC-funded programmes admit 5000 sub-degree graduates every academic year. It is considered the most popular option due to its higher local reputation. Local self-financed degree programmes or overseas universities are also possible options for graduate's further study.   

Source: Information Portal for Accredited Post-secondary Programmes

The Cross-Institutional Credit-transfer Information System (CICIS) mainly provides information on the 5000 senior year student intake of UGC-funded programmes. This platform is expected to facilitate the smooth adaptation into the new environment of SYA students and to facilitate the academic planning of sub-degree and senior secondary students with transparent credit transfer data.

coming soon!

After the first-year at community college, you may consider getting a bachelor's degree through senior year admissions (SYA) for various reasons. But, students may get easily confused when they are preparing their applications. The tips and resources here will give you an overview of what should be noticed before, during and after the university application.

	Tips for Preparaion
	Common Application Flow
	Useful Resources

Studying sub-degree may not be the best pathway among all possible choices but some unknown advantages are accompanied by this special journey. Let's learn more about sub-degrees before making any judgement!

	Sub-degree Qualifications
	Reasons for Sub-degree
	Suggested Timeline for Sub-degree Study

Sub-degree freshmen and final-year students may struggle to achieve outstanding academic results and to get themselves ready for university application. This page summarizes the learning experience of sub-degree graduates successfully articulated to the universities at sub-degree institutions. Even though your journey may be quite different from theirs, it can be valuable references for your careful planning. 

The information on this page is for reference only as each individual student has a different story. 

	Studying Sub-degrees
	Preparation of Articulation to University
	Students' Sharing