Key highights of this year’s graduates

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Elite Education Group and HD Ningbo School. Since the first graduating class from HD Ningbo School in 2018, the five HD and HT schools under Elite Education Group have sent off a total of 515 graduates and received a total of 2,175 admissions offers from top universities around the world.

Key Highlights of this year’s graduates:

• Consecutive offers from Oxford and Cambridge University

Since a HD graduate received the first offer from Oxford University in 2021, HD and HT graduates have consistently received offers from Oxford and Cambridge University over the past four years. This year, a graduate from HTNIA has been admited to Oxford University for Engineering Science major.

• An increasing number of offers from other top universities in UK

Collectively, the five HD and HT Schools have received a total of 75 offers from the Russel Group (Oxford University, Cambridge University, Imperial College London, University College London, and London School of Economics), with many students receiving multiple offers from Russel Group. Furthermore, there were significant number of admissions from King’s College London, University of Manchester, University of Edinburgh, and University of Warwick, with 25 offers from King’s College London alone for from HD Shanghai School, and 45 offers from University of Manchester from Ningbo.

• A  total of 91 offers from various leading American Universities

Over 70 of these were from top 50 comprehensive universities in the US, including many ranked on the top 30, such as the University of California, Berkeley, University of Notre Dame, University of California, Davis, University of California, San Diego, and the University of Florida. Traditional prestigious schools such as New York University, Purdue University, and Ohio State University, as well as globally renowned liberal arts colleges like Whitman College, DePauw University, and Bard College, were also among the acceptances.

• A steady increase of offeres from Canada, Australia

Admissions to Canadian and Australian universities have shown a steady increase, with the University of Toronto, University of Melbourne, and University of Sydney continuing to lead in these regions. Additionally, this year, HD students successfully applied to top institutions in countries such as Switzerland and the Netherlands, showcasing their exceptional performance and remarkable achievements on the international competition stage.

• High Admissions to Hong Kong Universities

The high admissions to Hong Kong for 2024 have also become a highlight for this year’s graduates at HD and HT schools. Offers from prestigious universities such as the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Chinese University of Hong Kong have seen a big rise, with the University of Hong Kong leading the way. HD Ningbo School and HD Shanghai School received a total of 33 offers from HKU.

• Pursuits for More Diversified Majors  

In terms of the major choices, this year, HD and HT Schools displayed a more diversified trend. Compared to previous years’ concentrated selections in popular fields like mathematics, business, and engineering, this year saw breakthroughs in areas such as law, clinical medicine, biomedical sciences, philosophy, and drama performance. Humanities and social sciences, natural sciences, arts and design, business, and engineering emerged as the Top 5 professional directions this year (with each major category covering at least 30 to nearly 90 sub-specialties), fully demonstrating the students’ more diversified direction about their future development, their willingness to explore widely, and their courage to seek and pursue their passions.

• Art School Application Breakthroughs

In the applications to art schools, both HD and HT schools have made significant breakthroughs this year. The University of the Arts London, which previously only offered conditional offers, granted several direct undergraduate admission offers to our graduates this year, covering various fields of study. Meanwhile, top global art schools, such as the Rhode Island School of Design(RISD), California College of the Arts, New York School of Visual Arts, and Goldsmiths, University of London, have also extended invitations to HD and HT graduates. This not only recognizes the artistic talents of Hede/Hexian students but also affirms their outstanding performance in academics and creativity.

The meaning of education reflected in the lives of our graduates

Over the past eight years, the alumni community of HD and HT has been continuously growing and developing. Most of the first and second cohort graduates from HD Ningbo School have now completed their undergraduate and graduate studies and embarked on their careers around the world.

Education is a lifelong process. Compared to the shining moments of graduation for our graduates, as school teachers and administrators, what we really hope to see is the deeper meaning of education reflected in their lives, both now and in the future. Specifically, we want to observe how the high-quality education provided by HD and HT schools leaves a mark on their growth many years later, influencing their current and future perspectives on themselves, on others, and towards the world, as well as how will it shape their underlying values as a human being.

We believe each vibrant and thriving life tells a unique story, yet all share a common memory of HD and HT schools. Each of them has different views and reflections on life, but they all point, to varying degrees, to the worldview, values, and precious character formed during their time at primary and secondary schools. For example, they are inspired by HD and HT’s mission of “cultivating globalized Chinese individuals” when reflecting on their own value and mission; they consider their choice of career such as “Why do I study literature” within a larger historical context, pondering how to preserve and interpret their cultural roots as Chinese individuals; they contemplate how to maintain curiosity about the world and persist in their passions in this era of constant changes; they embrace and accept diverse cultures better during their college years due to their experience in HD and HT’s international education; and they deeply appreciate the significance of HD’s rigorous academic atmosphere, which has taught them how to manage time and how to be self-disciplined, so as to help them handle the busy academic life at university with greater ease.

Compared to the ideals and visions advocated by every school, these stories from each student at HD and HT school make the concept of “what makes good education” more concrete. Although it is still too early to evaluate a school’s success with only ten years of history, these young people reinforce our belief that the educational exploration that HD and HT have been pursuing is correct and worthwhile.

As Zhou Ziyun, a 2023 graduate of HD Ningbo School and now a student at Cambridge University, mentioned in a letter to his juniors, “Do not forget that what defines our personal value is not just everything we achieve in the ivory tower. Life is a wilderness, not a track. I hope everyone can keep their heads down when moving forward, treat their work with respect, understand themselves, and their path will become clear.”

May every student who leaves HD and HT carry love and care for the world as they stride toward a broader life and an infinite future, and finally become an even better version of themselves.