Hong Kong still popular with mainland students

"I can speak Cantonese, which greatly reduces the gap between me and the local students. ... Though their (native Hong Kong university students') thoughts on some topics differed from ours, it's OK to stay away from the sensitive topics," he said.

The recent protests are unlikely to affect mainland students' admissions in Hong Kong.

The leaders of several Hong Kong universities said at a Shanghai news conference that the "Occupy Central" movement has not affected mainland students' lives or studies, China News Service reported in December.

The 2015 enrollment plan will be the same as that of the previous year, including mainland student enrollment numbers, tuition fees and scholarships.

Last year, eight government-funded Hong Kong universities admitted 1,588 undergraduate students from the mainland, almost the same number as in 2013.

Hao Lirong, a senior consultant at overseas study consultancy Chivast Education International who specializes in Hong Kong, estimated that Hong Kong universities admit about 6,000 mainland students each year.

"About half were undergraduates after 2012," Hao said. "Before, mainland graduate students outnumbered the undergraduates."

Some students asked whether the recent movement would affect their admission, but she does not see any interference.

"Academia is academia and politics are politics," Hao said.

He Chugang, southern China region general manager at Amber Education, a Hong Kong-based education counseling firm, had a similar view.

He expected the admission plans of Hong Kong universities to remain the same.

"There will be no discrimination against students from the mainland during admission," he said.