She believes the commerce degree programme offered by the university is more in touch with new industrial developments compared with other reputable institutions in Sydney. 'It is more adaptable to new technology,' Ms Fong said.

Interactive classroom learning was an interesting and effective way to discuss legal concepts because they were sometimes open to different interpretations, she said. 'One of the highlights of the law school was a two-week Beijing study trip called the 'Chinese Legal System'.'

Ms Fong also participated in extra-curricular activities, such as debating at law school, contributed articles to the Commerce Society and joined a PricewaterhouseCoopers management competition. 'It enriched my university experience and helped me develop leadership skills,' she said.

There are about 350 first-year Hong Kong students at the university each year. The annual total enrolment of Hong Kong students is 1,100, with an additional 300 in pre-university foundation and language studies programmes, according to Aleksandr Voninski, the university's associate director of international and global networks at the office of the pro-vice-chancellor (international).

Hong Kong students were represented across every faculty at the university, Mr Voninski said. The most popular undergraduate programmes included the bachelor of commerce, particularly in accounting and finance; the bachelor of engineering, particularly in electrical engineering and civil engineering; the bachelor of law; and the bachelor of surgery, he said.

The university had one of the largest on-campus enrolments of international students of any university in the world, Mr Voninski said. 'More than 125 nationalities are represented on campus, creating a vibrant, multicultural environment.'

The university was also the first in Australia to establish an international student services unit. Full-time counsellors and staff were on hand to assist students with problems regarding visas, academic issues, housing and homesickness, Mr Voninski said.

International students form a strong community within the university. '[The university] is multicultural and seems more in tune with the new Australia,' Ms Fong said. 'I made many good friends from different backgrounds. I learned a lot from the international community at [the university].'

As for postgraduate programmes, Mr Voninski said the master of finance and master of marketing offered by the Australian School of Business were sought after by Hong Kong students. The master's programme can be studied in Hong Kong and Sydney.

The university's Australian School of Business offers its AGSM MBA programme in Hong Kong through its local office. 'We manage, staff and operate our MBA programme through an education centre in Central,' Mr Voninski said. 'It also provides full support to our alumni in Hong Kong.'

The reputation of the AGSM MBA programme offered in Hong Kong appealed to Alex Jones, global director for business information at Australia's biggest beer and wine company, Foster's Group. 'It was also because the course structure was compatible with my needs,' he said.

'The programme surpassed my expectations. The [university's] Hong Kong office staff were helpful and supportive throughout the programme, especially near the end when I had to complete the programme remotely and enrolled in several external courses.'

Although the university accepts A-level graduates, each of its faculties has different entry requirements. The fine arts, humanities, science and engineering faculties had more flexible entry requirements while commerce, law and medicine were more competitive, Mr Voninski said.

'Students who do not meet the A-level cut-off requirements can study at our campus foundation programmes varying from three to nine months to have a second chance to enter the university,' he said.

Students with English results below the IELTS 6.5 entry standard can study intensive English language preparatory courses on campus before they begin their university studies. These courses start every month and each course is five weeks.

Students can enter the language school with an IELTS or TOEFL score, or the university can test them on arrival and determine the length of their English language programme.

Being a comprehensive research-intensive institute, the university has the largest engineering school and school of finance in Australia. Its school of accounting has recently been ranked No1 for accounting research in the world by the Journal of Accounting and Finance in the United States.

Its MBA programme has been consistently ranked No1 in Australia by Forbes magazine and the Financial Times, according to Mr Voninski.

Also, the university has received the highest amount of five-star ratings of any Australian university in the Good Universities Guide 2009 published by Hobsons in Australia.