When There Is A Will, There Is A Way

Assalamualaikum and good day brothers and sisters.

Well, obviously, it's my first ever post in this blog. I've been following this blog for months and I felt like I wanted to contribute something to help the Farisians. It's just that, I have no idea what should I contribute since I don't even have any scholarships in hand and for sure, I can't speak of any interviews tips or scholarships because I failed to get one.

Anyway, I write this post because I wanna share some of my views and experiences about choices for future education and the decision making moment. I may neither have the best one or the worst one, but I'm pretty sure of myself that I made the right decision so far. I don't have any scholarships, so my spending here is restricted and I have to be careful not to spend my parents money on unnecessary things. But, yeah, still a kid, I foolishly spent on things that I don't really need. Haha. Lesson learned, pandai-pandai lah menabung.

Back to the main topic, I still remember the moment when I finished my SPM, I was so excited of the prospect of finding a job, work, hanging out and sleep anytime I want. The only thing I forgot, is actually the most important thing ; LOOK FOR SCHOLARSHIPS.

At the end, I missed a lot of opportunities to apply for some scholarships. Until now, I regret it but at least I learned a great lesson here.

You can enjoy as much as you want but never drag yourself away from the your path, your focus and your ambition.

Which, in my case, I was having so much fun ( really!) and I totally forgot what I should actually do for my future. ( Tu yang orang kata, enjoy biar ingat Tuhan!). For juniors, especially SPM 2010 leavers, mark my words yeah! Haha

So, after I got my results, JPA, MARA, Bank Negara and few other scholarships were all available for me to apply ( I suggest you apply for more private company's scholarships, you may get better luck with it!). So, I applied for JPA, Bank Negara, UEM and few others to do accounting and probably, my choice of study is one of the contributing factors I didn't get the scholarships because basically, the government are looking for those applying for engineering and medic. But, that's what I thought because anyway, I got rejected by Bank Negara and UEM too. So, I guess Allah wanted to show me something else and I have to work for it.

I went to almost all education fairs that were held around KL and Selangor. I found this education agent company, Studylink in Subang Jaya and that's how I found out about INTO Manchester, a college in Manchester. Currently, I'm studying foundation in Business and Humanities for 3 months already and 6 months more to go. Apparently, this foundation course is like a shortcut for me to start my degree in UK as northern UK universities accepts INTO College foundation certificate and instead of doing two years of A Levels, I actually shorten my period of study ( guess what, I'm happy because I don't really like formal study, haha) to start my degree. And it's actually easy as for me, I'm studying Economics, Politics, Mathematics and of course, English. Basically, this course guarantee you a place in university here even if you get C in your subjects but what's the point studying here if you just aim for a low end right? Some students here change from Maths to Business Studies because they already learned GCSE (SPM) level Maths. As for me, I don't wanna change it so that I can score as high as I can in Maths, it is called counting the advantage or opportunity cost of it. =)

So, with my foundation course, I can choose any university I want to study at based on the requirements and the expectations I get from my teachers for my final exams result. The better the expectations from the teachers, the better choice of university I can apply for. So, I made four choices ;

1. London School of Economics - Only 7 students in my college can apply for this university because we got all A's for our exams and we are expected to score A+ in final exams and I'm proud to say, I'm one of the 7 wonders. =)
2. University of Manchester - INTO Manchester students are given the priority for offers and that's why I don't wanna miss out this chance.
3. Manchester Metropolitan University - I have to make one safe choice, which means, if I fail to meet the requirements from the top universities, at least I'm guaranteed an offer from a weaker choice, a lower-rank university and MMU is my choice.
4. University of Newcastle - I have no idea why I choose Newcastle. Haha

I felt kinda stupid about that 4th choice, but forget it, I already submit my application form ( UCAS). UCAS is the form for students to apply for universities in the UK. UCAS website...

By the way, to tell you all, not only foundation in Business and Humanities is available, foundation in Science and Engineering also is provided here. If you are studying foundation in B&H, you can apply for any business and humanities related courses for degree at your preferred university e.g Law, Accounting, Management, Business, Economics and bla bla bla...
On the other hand, if you are studying foundation in S&E, you can apply for science related course such as pharmacy, medic, engineering and architecture.

The teachers here are so professional, facilities are awesome and one reason I would recommend Manchester to everyone is because Manchester is a student city. Student discounts are everywhere here, even for a haircut. Students here are treated nicely and Manchester itself is a modern metropolitan city with great transport system (the buses and taxis) and there is a lot of international and Muslim people here from all over the world. Moreover, there's a lot of Halal food restaurant and shops and the atmosphere here is great with great football pitch and crazy football fans everywhere. But of course, it's not perfect as the city is quite boring as shops close early, sometimes the weather is too bad and drunk people are everywhere every night. Anyway, it's still one of the best place to study.


So, that's about my college and Manchester. Now, to the main part. Early before, I mention about the course I preferred and actually I applied for scholarships being the reason I didn't get it, it maybe true. But that doesn't mean you have to choose the course that you hate or your least favorite course. There's nothing wrong in choosing any course but one thing  I learn is to observe the demand. As the government demand more science course students, I suggest you apply for it. You may say, I can't stand studying what I hate. Well, to tell you, some of the world successful people outside there, they don't even have a degree and some of them also have a degree which does not relate to their field they currently working. In the working world, what holds you to your job and what actually gets you the job is your personality.

Degree is just a passport to get the interview, to get the job and stay in the job is your personality.

Some business people, successful ones I mean, they have a degree, even a Masters in science or engineering. But they become business people simply because of their interest in business. So, there's nothing wrong in choosing whatever course that give us the edge and advantage to get the scholarship, it's just that, mind the consequences. If you choose to study chemistry but you always hated chemistry, you might face some problems studying it, because remember, university's subject is totally different from the one in high school. Imagine studying the subject you hate for 4 years, and don't blame anyone if you fail the course. But, at another point of view, we actually study subjects we never like in high school and still we passed it, so it's up to you. That's why the title of my post is when there is a will, there is a way. You decide your own future, your own luck.

About studying overseas, don't get upset of not getting it early, because you can always study overseas for your Masters or whatever your decision is, it's better late than never because one great thing about studying here, you can see the color of Malaysia from outside and that will widen your view. Have a plan B, in case you didn't get what you want or expect, and always be positive. Pray to Him and may He show you the path to success.



That's all from me.

Cheers~
Izzat Bin Mohamad Salihuddin

p/s : Adik2, kawan2, time2 cuti lepas SPM nih, try practice English. Malu bila dok kat sini, Melayu cakap English, sebut Coke jadi Cock. Bukan utk kegunaan study overseas je, utk di Malaysia jgk, as what I heard, most courses skrg blaja dalam English dah. Get use to it. Good luck! ;)

Shell Scholarship

Okay, since ramai haprak yang mai tanya aku, and nak explain punya la susah and panjang berjela, eloklah, aku postkan saja ye cara-cara untuk apply shell punya scholarship. sebagai mukadimahnya, ramai gila yang macam malas nak apply shell sebab leceh macam sial. my batch only me and wan amirah balqis je yang apply, we both got the interview, but we didn't get the scholarship.

so, kenapa aku kena susahkan diri dengan benda leceh macam haram ni?

jawapannya, adik-adik sekalian.

sebab, nak dapat opportunity dapat scholarship overseas ni susah! dahla JPA dah nak tak nak bagi, so, you can only hope for corporate bodies punya scholarshipla untuk dapat overseas punya, tapi corporate bodies ni biasala, bagi sikit je scholar dia. let's say sime darby 5 orang, khazanah 5 orang, etc. etc. kalau kau apply khazanah je, your chances nak dapat sikit je kan? sebab ada 5 tempat je. kalau kau apply sime darby and khazanah at least ada 10 tempat kan? so, dah apply dua tu, tambahla shell satu lagi. alah, tak mati pun kalau bersusah sikit. memang proses penapisan scholar badan korporat ni susah gila, tapi tak mustahil and kalau dapat tu memang berbaloi la segala penat lelah sebab scholarship diorang MEWAH siot. tak macam JPA. (tapi aku dah bersyukur dah dengan JPA, alhamdulillah). and disebabkan Shell ni Al-Leceh, tak ramai yang nak apply, bila tak ramai yang nak apply, so, increase your chances nak dapat. tak gitu? satu lagi, rezeki kita ni di tangan Tuhan. janganlah bajet. "oh, aku dah rajin gila apply banyak-banyak, malasla aku nak apply shell." what happens kalau semua yang kau apply tu semua kau tak dapat? tak salah kan jadikan shell sebagai back-up plan? kita hanya mampu merancang, tapi Tuhan yang menentukan. macam aku dulu silap perhitungan. menyesal tau tak. nasib baik Tuhan Maha murah hati nak bagi jugak aku merasa scholarship, kalau tak..sia-sia je result cantik aku. takde tempat nak pergi belajar. nak kahwin, takde orang nak. nak jadi isteri pun, pergh. bangun time matahari terpacak di atas kepala. jangan mimpi la. hahhaha. selingan jap. so, janganlah rasa secure sangat ye, adik-adik. always have a back-up plan.

Okay, punya la berjela mukadimah, saja nak bagi motivasi sikit ye.

STEP ONE!

Gi kat website ni:

http://www.shell.com.my/home/content/mys/aboutshell/careers/students_and_graduates/scholarship/

Okay, seterusnya, click kat arrow merah apply now tuh. Oh ya, and you guys kena register dulu untuk apply benda alah ni. aissyy..sedap je aku ngata.

STEP TWO!

Page ni akan appear:

nampakkan yang arrow merah tu?

click on that link, then you will automatically download soft copy BORANG YANG KENA ISI, PRINT, SCAN AND UPLOAD balik masa nak submit application. kan aku dah kata leceh.

namppakan yang arrow warna hijau tu?

you click on that link, dia akan bawak you ke satu page ni:

nampak tak rectangle warna purple (okayla fuchsia tu?)

Tu kalau korang belum register, click ke situ dan ikut je arahan dia.

yang rectangle warna green tu kalau dah register ya. you click on that it will bring you to BORANG ONLINE yang you all kena isi and submit secara online. Borang dia macam tricky gila and you all kena BACA ELOK-ELOK masa isi. you all tau sebab apa? Sebab Shell ni kan, dia istimewa tau. Borang untuk mintak scholarship dia adalah borang yang SAMA untuk orang local dan international nak apply kerja dengan diorang. So, ada some of the requirements you all tak perlu isi pun. aku dah tak ingat dah amende benda pelik dalam tu specifically, tapi, korang baca elok-elokla, use your brain. tak paham istilah BI, maih, tanya aku kalau aku free. aku boleh tolong setakat mampu. hahah.

anyway, untuk guide korang isi borang online tu, diorang dah tolong sediakan dah yang ni. gua suggest lu baca dulu before isi ya.

nampak itu arrow biru?

yang tu shell punya baik hati bagi guide untuk you all isi borang online kay. baca tau.

and nampak tak yang circle warna purple (okay fuchsia tu)?

yang tu emel diorang, kalau you all tak jelas ke apa, boleh emel diorang. ini adalah salah satu sikap murni yang perlu diamalkan iaitu sentiasa bertanya. malu bertanya sesat jalan ok. ataupun, you all call je shell tu. tapi jangan kacau diorang luar office hours plak k. aku dulu punyala sakit jiwa nak isi application dia berapa kali aku call.

STEP THREE!

Okay, dah isi borang yang kena print tu kan? tandatangan leklok, and then check dia mintak dokumen apa. usually cam biasa la kan IC sijil semua tu. sekali lagi, BACA ELOK-ELOK dia nak apa.

Next step, kau fotostat semua segala sijil dokumen kau tu, then sahkan dengan pengetua skolah atau pegawai kerajaan. Ala, KJ sayang kan ada, jangan malu-malu. Jumpa dia, kirim salam I kat dia tau. eww, gediks.

Selepas certify, THIS IS the tricky bit!!

You kena scan and save dalam jpeg format. And bila scan tu kena dalam resolution PALING KECIL tau. tau sebab apa? Okay, we'll get to that, for now, do as you are told kalau nak hidup you mudah sikit nak apply benda leceh ni. muahahahha.


STEP FOUR!

oh, aku lupa mau cakap. Si Shell ini pun mintak kau orang sediakan CV. apa itu CV? aku pun tak ingat CV stands for what. Tapi CV ni basically RESUME la. RESUME ni macam summary of all our kelayakan akademik dan pencapaian ko semua tu, bagi budak lepas SPM la, kalau yang dah kerja resume tu bukan saja  state what degree you have, but also your working experience, but we'll come to that later. kalau nak contoh CV, boleh je google. kalau nak aku punya, boleh je. drop me a message on FB. oh, and make sure CV is organized and easy to read. do it in point form.

STEP FIVE!

rujuk balik borang online kau orang tu. Dia akan ada bahagian suruh upload file. Dia ada 3 file, dan setiap tiga file ni ada limit dia.

okay, file pertama you all kena upload ialah CV. pastikan dalam file microsoft word ataupun file yang kecik saiznya.

file kedua ialah borang yang you all print, isi, scan balik tu. pastikan scan dalam resolution paling rendah. and kalau dalam jpeg format, masukkan dalam word file and save. tu je cara aku tahu untuk mengecikkan file dia. or kau boleh store sebagai pdf, tapi make sure pdf tu kecik, kalau boleh compress, compress.

file ketiga ialah segala sijil yang kau orang scan tu. HA! ni masalah agungnya, semua image yang scan tu, you all kena jadikan dia word file. letakla semua susun macam gambar kat atas word file tu. and make sure yang wajib ada. kalau file masih besar. pilih-pilih sijil ko-kurikulum mana yang kau nak hantar. kalau ada testimonial, pastikan testimonial tu ada. yang lain takde pun takpe. so, save. make sure saiznya kecil.


dia tak cakap actually in which order kau orang kena upload file tu, tapi tu cara aku buat dulu la. tak tahula kalau korang kreatif lagi boleh shrink kan lagi file tuh. itu atas engkaula. but best of luck, Step 5 ni la yang paling leceh. Aku hantar benda alah ni tepat-tepat jam 12 tengah malam tarikh tutup dia. Aku nangis ingat usaha aku sia-sia upload. banyak masalah tau masa nak upload, page lambatla, page time-outla. Shell ni memang buat aku berdrama ok.

Tapi nasib baik dapat gak ah interview. Interview dia pun cam best ah. Through the phone. Tak payah berdepan pun dengan orang dia. kau nak cakap kat telefon pakai baju tidur pun boleh. haha. dalam 1 jam gitu la duration dia. and dia ada dua bahagian. tak ingatlah pasal apa tajuk dia. tapi lebih kurang macam pengetahuan am and memberi pendapat. something like that. I suggest you read pasal environment, marketing, pasal shell, economy, corporate social responsibilities. diorang akan inform melalui emel atau call selalunya dapat ke tak. kalau lulu phone interview, dia buat group interview plak. tapi aku tak sampai stage tu, jadi aku tak tahula macam mana.

Okay, selamat apply dan selamat berjaya. I wish you all the best! Hope this helps a lot, k.

wassalam.

Tips For Scholarship Hunters

You can just google for it and you'll see results from Malaysia Scholarship and such sites. And while you're browsing kan, the scholarships you can apply are those that say:

1. post-spm
2. undergraduate

programmes. post-graduate is for people yang dah ada bachelor degree nak buat masters degree or phd.

and things to look out for:

1. bila dateline dia. ini penting!
2. apa requirements dia?
3. ada kena tulis esei ke tak?

Requirements:

1. result nak minimum berapa
2. documents: contohnya dia suruh print and post borang application dia dengan fotostat sijil ke apa? r dia suruh submit online je ke?
3. bayaran. dia nak bank draft ke? nombor check ke? online transaction ke apa? bayaran ni macam processing fee la. kalau petronas punya, dia suruh isi nombor check. about RM 30 kena bayar. borang submit online, tapi kena print dua copy untuk bawak masa interview.

Types of documents dia mintak, tapi dependsla kan dia mintak apa. so, di sini pentingnya skill MEMBACA dengan teliti. see? ada guna jugak kan buat exam banyak-banyak, so you guys bukak mata luas-luas and baca soalan elok-elok.

1. salinan IC pemohon yang disahkan.
2. salinan IC mak bapak yang disahkan.
3. kadang-kadang ada yang mintak surat beranak mak bapak and surat beranak kita.
4. slip gaji mak bapak yang juga disahkan.
5. sijil-sijil ko-kurikulum yang disahkan.
6. salinan slip spm yang disahkan.
7. sijil berhenti sekolah dan testimonial yang disahkan
8. dan lain-lain.

kadang-kadang dia ada mintak gambar passport ke apa.

basically, apa-apa maklumat yang you all tulis kena ada bukti dia, yakni documents yang disertakan itu. contohnya dalam ruang pencapaian kokurikulum kau tulis wakil negeri dalam sukan golf (ecececeh), kau kena sertakan salinan sijil yang disahkan berkaitan penglibatan kau tu.

aku alhamdulillah banyak diberi peluang untuk apply scholarships, gi banyak-banyak interview, so, bolehla aku nak kongsi pengalaman dan tips, biarpun satu pun aku tak dapat, *sob, sob* tapi nasib baik JPA baik hati approve rayuan aku, syukur.

oh, a good site would be afterschool.my. they will field your questions about studies after high school.

so, good luck, guys.

Matrik, Diploma or Asasi?

Asasi = Foundation. Matrik pun samalah.

So, I bet all of you SPM leavers mesti busy dok pikir nak pilih yang mana eh?

Beza Matrik, Asasi dengan Diploma ni dari segi tempoh. Diploma can take about 2 to 3 years. Matrik and Asasi ni satu tahun je.

Nak study rilek-rilek tapi lambat habis.

Nak habis cepat, study kena pulun habis.

So, up to you guysla ya nak pilih yang mana.

For engineering, pilihan baik UTM, UiTM, UIA, apa lagi tak tahula. aku apply dua ni je sebagai my top choices.

For benda lain tak tahula, tanya orang lagi pakar.

Matrik/ Asasi ni kan belajar benda sama macam SPM je, tapi dia topup banyak lagi syllabus dia. Matrik paling susah nak kejar sebab laju and kena dapat pointer 4 flat. second most susah would be UM. Diploma tak sure system dia macam mana.

Basically these local pre-u ni they have lectures in classes sizes, some ado 40-something, 80-something, even a 100. The lecturers definitely don't know you. Studying definitely on your own, some unis ada la tutorials and stuff like that, but you don't have prep classes anymore. Quizzes are on weekly basis, tests semua tu. Exam dua kali. Midsem sekali and final sem. Then, you have your sem break. One Semester can be four months, five months or six, depending on the place you go to.

Budak-budak UTP, Trisemester. And diorang punya system lebih kurang macam Canadian punya. 60% coursework and 40% exam.

One semester probably dalam 4 or 5 subjects, depending what courses korang amik. Law probably belajar pasal federal constitution, critical thinking, lots of reading subject. Accounting, probably belajar economics, and stuff like that. Engineering or Sains Hayat, basically all your Sciencesla. Chem, Phy, Bio, Add Maths (they call it Maths). Engineering probably tak amik Bio.

So, pikirla elok-elok before you make your choice. Ada lagi info, I will add, apa-apa pertanyaan boleh kemukakan. I'll help the best way I can. Cheerios.

Tahniah PMR Faris Petra.

Top Kelantan

111 orang 8A's.

GP 1.038

Purata 79.89

Tu je yang tahu setakat ni.

i want to help as well, as far as i can :)

salam and hello to all :)

okay, it has been quite a long time since i last posted anything here. All the blogging stuff at this blog were mostly done by Kam. Thanks to her this blog is still alive and maybe it's time for all the juniors, who has finally got the tittle 'ex', to actually continue with the job to update this pretty blog of faris petra. At least do share something that we, the already an ex student dont know about what's happening in the school. Maybe about all the political issues there. okay, i'm just joking. Don't take it seriously, but i'm quite  thrilled to know what had really happened in school for this year. Well, sorry to say, except for the fact that Ustaz Ibrahim got married with Cik Zahariah is the only thing i know about what has happened there, because i did go. So juniors, help me here. You guys know more right, so please share :)

Kam had already talked about all the sponsorships, all the things that you should do during the interviews, all the quite important things i assume. So, i'm not gonna add more about that. Here i just wanna share about me. So, basically now i'm doing my A level at Kolej Yayasan UEM (KYUEM) the place which i had never known before, lol, i only knew this place right after i got my offer letter from YTN or better know as Yayasan  Tenaga Nasional. Perhaps you guys don't really get it, okay, how about TNB ? okay, literally i'm under that big utility company, the biggest in SEA :) ( i'm so proud of that ). Okay, back to the point. I just want to tell you guys, especially all my juniors who just had finished their SPM, if you want to continue your study and you guys might want to take A level as your pre-U, then Kyuem is the right place to do it. Now i sounded like one of the guy in the commercial for Kyuem.haha. I'm having a tremendous time in Ky ( we usually call Kyuem as Ky ). The life here is amazing, all the teachers, the facilities, the people and all sort of things, this place is like heaven. oo and btw, for those who are scared that the might not be having a good dish here, yeah, I know how much you guys hate the dining hall. But dont worry, food served here are as good as what you always get at home. Maybe for me, sometimes it's better here because there are days where they served western food. The dining hall is heaven here, and almost hell i guess back then in school, sorry. That's my honest opinion. No offense. Enough of that already, I dont want to tell you all the things, it might spoil everything when you come here. Life is a no fun when there's no shocking moment right ? haha. But for sure, you'll enjoy your life here as much as i enjoy mine.  It's even better than the five years in school, well in a way, school years have taught me lots of things, but here, it's the time to practice all things we learnt. Okay la, time in Faris Petra is still on top of my chart. The reminiscent are the best, the best time that i have, and the time that i will cherish, for the rest of my life.

So, for those who are interested in going to Kyuem, as Kam said in earlier post, try to apply for scholarship as Yayasan UEM, Yayasan Khazanah, PNB, Petronas, Yayasan Tenaga Nasional, Bank Negara and so on. It may be quite a while before the result is out, but it's already time for you guys to start thinking about the scholarships and all this kinda stuff. And, if any of you guys are intending to opt for scholarship from YTN, you can ask me anything about that, i'll be glad to help you guys. And i really want to see my juniors here in Ky, Farisians have name here, but we are not here. If you understand what i'm talking about. So, i'll keep you guys updated if you guys are interested. My contribution here is the least that i can offer you guys, maybe more in the future. once a farisian, always be :)

ps : if you guys need any help on YTN, Kyuem. just ask. drop by at my page, FB . and if you dont want to loose track on the scholarships thingy, go here . read more, and there's nothing that can hold you down :)

a picture when my house, the house of Rawk, Topaz, won Malam Citra Budaya, wanna know more ? come to Ky.haha

au revoir ( oh God, I miss French classes in Faris Petra ) and dont be shock, speak more english starting from today, because here, the main language is English. and you can always find a girlfriend or a boyfriend here.

Hello Farisians

Just a simple notice. In 2009 and 2008, there were a lot more updates, they were more frequent and informative. More people actually contributed to this blog then, now I don't know where they have all gone. I see a list of names, and some of them have never even contributed anything at all, I have a right mind to remove them as authors. I know I have not been updating much, people are busy with their own lives and being on Facebook. Does it hurt to take some time off and talk about more intellectual issues? Now, there's not much posting going on, so you don't really know what's happening. There were also more frequent visitors and comments previously, especially from ex-students and seniors, now there's hardly much. Any suggestion on how to popularize this blog among Farisians? We can actually make this work for the benefit of all. Ex-students, seniors, juniors, school leaver, etc. etc. Previously, I meant the blog to be the "voice" of Farisian students about the school, or for ex-students to catch up on the school updates, and slowly since I've already left the school, I don't know much about what's going on there,  and the newer generation isn't updating anything, I turned it into a more informative sharing system. To all those ex-students out there, I know you're keen to know what's up with the school, but I'd gladly appreciate it if you have the time, do drop by or drop a comment to share info for our juniors. See it as a way to "give back" to the community. Please and thanks. :)

Of Dreams And Plans

At this stage, you're probably wondering, what am I gonna do about my life? Or probably you post SPM kids just want to enjoy being bored first, well, up to you. But some of you might be thinking, what's next?

Even so, when you're filling out scholarship application forms, you still have to think about what field you're going to pursue right?

The thing when choosing your career, people will always say:

"choose something that suits your personality."

"choose something that suits your capability."

"choose something that suits your interest."



Those are all true, but the bigger factor now is:

"are there many scholarship places offered for my chosen field?"

"what are the job demands of my field of choice?"



So, it's not just about living your dream, it's about being realistic as well. What you want may not necessarily be what you get. Even people now claim that, "you may not end up doing what you wanted to do what you dreamed of in the first place" or "you can get a different job even though you pursue your degree."

So, it all comes down to job demands.

So, while trying to figure out which field you'd want to pursue, you have to take those criterias into consideration and do your research before deciding the next step.

"which universities offer this course?"

"what are the requirements?"

such and such.

Something for post-SPM kids to think about.

Overseas Pre-U Programs.

1. The most common is obviously A-Levels. There's a one-year A-Level, but most commonly, A-Levels would take up two years. A-Levels is basically SPM all over again. It is 100% based on Final Exams. You'll ahve two major exams, at the end of the first year is the AS and the second year is A2. A-Levels is based on the British system. You only need to take four or three subjects and the English subject is not compulsory. A-Levels is available in most pre-u institutions. KYUEM (Kolej Yayasan UEM, Lembah Beringin, it's a very SECLUDED but POSH place, most corporate bodies like UEM, Khazanah, PNB and TNB like to send their scholars here) is fully for A-Levels only. The danger with A-Levels is there is no margin for error on that final exam, if you screw that, then you're screwed. Oh, there are also many different types of A-Levels, should probably ask the INTEC kids about this.

2. The second most common AUSMAT (Australian Matriculation) or SAM (South Australian Matriculation) - if you're going to Taylor's College. This is 50% coursework (as in assignments, quizzes, internal exams and tests, presentations) 50% Final exam. You take up to five or six subjects and the duration is about one-and-a-half years. Ausmat is also quite common. INTEC, Taylor's College, Sunway College, INTI College.

3. IB. (International Baccalaureate). This is one of the toughest! and most expensive. It's about two years. I'm not quite sure on their subject selection, but English and Malay is compulsory. You have a lot of field work, and thesis to write. Not much info on this, it is rare that our students end up doing this, but Fatimah Zahra of 0206 did this. IB is offered in Taylor's College Sri Hartamas and Kolej Mara Banting, I don't know about other places.

4. ADP (American Degree Program). In INTEC, you have ADFP (F stands for Foundation) or ADTP (T stands for Transfer). ADFP is one year, and you enter an American university as a Freshman. ADTP is two years, and you're doing a credit transfer to a US university. ADTP is obviously more cheap, and you're already starting your degree, so, it cuts time. But you only get like two years in US or less. The US program is more coursework-based, which means less stress when Final exam finally comes, but you have to get consistent marks in your assignments and quizzes. ADP is also available at Taylor's College, UNiTEN, I don't know where else. Usually, the English Proficiency test for ADP is TOEFL. (Test (I'm not sure what O stands for) for English as a Foreign Language). And you also have to sit for SAT (I forgot what it stands for).SAT is basically an exam that tests your Maths and your English (this, I swear to God, is damn hard).

5. CPU (Canadian Pre-University). Since, it's my program, so, obviously, I'm going to be biased and say it ROCKS! CPU is 70% Coursework and 30% Final Exam. So, if you're doing well in your 70% less stress on the final exam, but some lecturers like to take your final exam mark to be your final mark. It's a very hectic program, you have lots of presentations and projects and most of them are due back to back. At first, it feels like it's killing you, but then it feels fun! Because CPU people are very crazy people. At Taylor's College (CPU is only offered at Sunway College or Taylor's College, obviously, Taylor's is the best!), the 80% of the CPU lecturers are Canadian, so, you get eye candy 0.0. The duration is a year or a year-and-a-half, if you have to repeat subjects. Usually sponsors will only allow a year. There's two semesters. Each semester is 6 months. Each semester you take 3 subjects (total of six subjects), and it's a different subject every semester. each subject will be divided into a few Units, and the number of these Units will determine how many Tests you will have throughout the semester. Quizzes, obviously every week, homework, obviously everyday. All the assignments and tests and quizzes and projects and presentations are worth different weightages. The weightage ranges from 1 to 6. 1 being the one with least marks, and 6 being the most. Tests have a weightage of 3. The Canadian program is more similar to the American program, which is an anti-thesis of the A-Levels program. The difference between the Canadian program is it is actually a high school degree. So, technically, you're not doing pre-u, you're in Canadian high school. The Canadian program also emphasises more on English proficiency. English is a compulsory subject. They have a special English test called OSSLT (I forgot what it stands for) and you have to take IELTS. The Canadian program also makes 10-hours of community service compulsory. At first, it feels like a drag, but it's actually quite fun, and 10 hours is not that long. You can do it at orphanages, refugee schools, zoos, and you learn lots of things too. For my community service, I performed in a musical for charity.


These are basically the English pre-u programs. There are also French, Russian, German, Korean, Middle-Eastern, Japanese programs, but I'm not too familiar with these programs.

All these overseas program also require you to take an English Proficiency test. The most common is IELTS. Only the American program takes TOEFL (I'll write more about these two tests in the future). I might also write about local uni life some other time.

So, this is basically an 'idea' on what's next after high school. For interview tips and how to dress during interviews, you can refer to the archives: http://thefarisiancommunity.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-be-professional.html

http://thefarisiancommunity.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-look-corporate-for-girls.html

http://thefarisiancommunity.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-look-corporate-for-guys.html


For interview processes for each corporate body (they have different interview processes. some are in stages), feel free to ask. I am more than happy to help where I can. I'll keep posting useful stuff when I can come up with it.

Title-less

SPM is finished. Hurrah for the fivers. Welcome to the club of ex-students! Enjoy your freedom. Enjoy your boredom while it lasts, before moving on to the next stage of your lives. Life after school is fun albeit more challenging.

Would love to hear more from you guys.

Anyway, in terms of scholarships, after your results are out, look out for these:

1. JPA/MARA. like, d-uh.
2. Petronas
3. PNB
4. TNB
5. Telekom
6. Khazanah
7. Sime Darby
8. Security Commission
9. The Star
10. Bank Negara