College 101: Future Study Planning Checklist
11:00 PM
Studying is undoubtedly a big thing and sometimes, as normal individuals, we all need some guidance or tips to help us get things done in an orderly fashion. Therefore, I decided to start a new series titled College 101 in my blog to share some of the things that I know with everyone, who might be seeking the same kind of information as I was before.
So, here goes the first post of the series!
- Planning -
1. Choosing A Major
A MAJOR is an area of your concentration of study. Most of the courses that you’ll take will be related to your major. You’ll be graduating with either Bachelor of Arts (B.As) or Bachelor of Sciences (B.Sc) with your chosen major. For example, student A majoring in Biology would be graduating with B.A/ B.Sc in Biology.
In order to declare that you are a major in a certain field, you will have to complete a certain set of courses that satisfies the requirements set-up by the department. To graduate, you basically have yo fulfill your core and major requirements, and accumulate the minimum amount of credits. You can think of courses in university as ‘subjects’ that you have in school, but with different approach and new materials of course.
Extra note: You can also take elective courses that can be ranging from anything that doesn’t have to do with your major. A student majoring in Biology can also take courses such as Dancing or even Psychology!
Now, how to really decide what your major should be? Well, there are several ways to do that, and it is also advisable to consider some factors such as passion, financial conditions, and so on. But, here is one of the methods that you can use to roughly identify your possible majors.
Table 1: Subject-Based Decision Matrix
%
|
BM
|
BI
|
PAI
|
SEJ
|
MM
|
AM
|
PHY
|
CHE
|
BIO
|
etc.
| |
Enjoy the study
|
40
|
7
| |||||||||
Life career
|
35
|
3
| |||||||||
Well-scored
|
25
|
8
| |||||||||
Total
|
100
|
18
|
Note: Example is in red. Complete above table with score range from 1-10 or 1-5.
Subject/Interests/Passions
|
Possible Majors/Concentration of Study
|
Language (Malay, English, French, Deutsche, Japanese, etc)
|
Language, Foreign studies, Creative Writing, Chinese, Communication, Comparative Literature, Linguistics etc.
|
Biology
|
Biology, Biological Sciences, Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Biochemistry, Marine Biology, Kinesiology, Psychology, Animal Science, Biotechnology, Community Health etc.
|
Chemistry
|
Chemistry, Organic chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, etc.
|
Physics
|
Physics, Astronomy, Astrophysics, etc.
|
History
|
Law (there is no undergraduate Law in the US), World History, History and Political Science, etc.
|
Mathematics (Math Mod & Add Math)
|
Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Actuarial Science, Accountancy, Finance, Statistics, etc
|
Islamic Studies/Religion
|
Syaria’, Fiqh, Arabic Language, Religion
|
Arts & Music
|
Dance, Architecture, Industrial design, Music, Visual Arts, Photography, Painting, Environmental Planning and Design, Landscape Architecture, etc.
|
Misc
|
Philosophy, Advertising, Journalism, Anthropology, Geology etc.
|
Management and Public
|
Planning and Public Policy, Business, Management, Pre-business, Health Administration, Public Health, Public Policy, Business Administration, etc.
|
Note:
- Some subjects may overlap one another. So, find yourself a course that overlap the subjects too, if possible. E.g. Biology and chemistry → Biochemistry.
- The major is not limited to the ones listed above. Explore, guys :3
- Most of the times, there are specializations in the courses. Always be sure to check the specific department of the university to get more information. E.g. Biology → Specializations in Molecular Biology, Genetics or Ecology. Note that there are more out there, these are just several simple examples.
2. Scholarship
In Malaysia, there are a lot of opportunities for students to get sponsorship or scholarships to support their studies. And you can too! Here are some of the things that you should take note of when applying for scholarships:
- Types of programs offered including type (pre-university, undergrad, post-grad, PhD), placement, duration, and of course, the majors offered.
- Minimum requirements needed in order to apply. Even if you don't meet the requirements, or you almost do, most people say that it is still advisable for you to try.
- Term of contracts or bonds associated with the programs offered.
You can look out for the varieties of scholarships offered at afterschool.my and List by EllieT
Note: Take note of the opening and closing dates for applications. Jot them down on your calendars or set a reminder using your phone
3. Choosing a University
Speaking about choosing a university to apply to, there can be a lot of options as well as factors that people usually consider such as location (some prefer to be close to home, some otherwise), setting (urban, sub-urban, etc), so on and so forth. Putting those all aside for a while, here are several things that usually top the list when choosing a university:
- Whether the university offer the major or specific program of your choice. Obviously, this should be the first priority. Next, if it does, look up universities with a good rating or ranking for the department of your choice.
- Check (especially for overseas' universities) whether the programs offered are approved and acknowledged by the Ministry of Education.
- The university environment including study, social, professional, connection, and so on.
- Getting Ready -
- Test(s)
- English Proficiency Test : TOEFL/ IELTS / MUET
- Entrance Examination : SAT I / SAT Subject Tests/ AP
- Start building your own CV and Resume
- Talk to your academic counselor about details on resume such as formatting and so on
- Be active and participate in conventions, competitions, tournaments, community services and excel in your studies to boost up your resume
- Also provided here are some CVs for reference.
- Plan your pathway - Make a timeline of when are you going to start your application and allocate a reasonable amount of time and effort for it.
- Take some time to do well in applications especially in Personal Statement or Essays section. This is where universities will evaluate your personality and self. Personal statements are very important as they are the main evaluation items of your application.
- Having work or any other extra experience might make your application more impressive.
- Do it as soon as possible. (and I mean as soon as you can manage)
- Some payments: - SEVIS Fee* - VISA Fee* *Keep a copy of the receipt; both softcopy and hardcopy.
- For UK bound students, you would have to apply for a Student Visa. If you are underage, you have to apply for Tier 4 Child Student Visa.
- Make sure you have all documents needed before the visa interview - Valid passport - I-20 / CAS - Appointment confirmation - Financial Affidavit/ bank statement - DS-160
- When being interviewed by the immigration officers, keep calm and cooperate with them.
- Prior to Flight -
*For overseas-bound students
1. University
2. Documents- Housing
- Placement Tests
- Class Schedule
Placement testing can usually be completed either remotely at home country or at the university during the orientation period.
- I-20* / Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)
- For UK-bound students, do bring your TB clearance document.
- Passport with VISA
- Flight itinerary/ticket
- High School Diploma & Transcripts*
- Offer letter from university*
- Financial Affidavit from sponsor/ Bank Statement*
*Hold the original and keep a copy in check in luggage. It’s better to keep both, softcopy and hardcopy.
3. Connect with other Malaysians whom you know
- Try asking around your family members, peers, and friends who might know anyone who are currently studying at the same university
- Tips : Try to find your prospective university’s Malaysian Students Association Page in Facebook or just Google it. Contact them through the page. They’ll be happy to welcome you on board!
So, that's it for the first installment of the College 101 series! If you think that was useful, please share it with your family, friends, juniors, schoolmates or anyone that might be able to learn something useful from it too.
Other than that, subscribe and stay-tuned for more updates! Wishing you the best of health and success in everything that you do :)
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Special Thanks to All Editors and Contributors:
Muhammad Hisyam Saiful Hakimi
(Arizona State University, USA - Class of 2018)
Nuraini Aguse
(University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA - Class of 2018)
Khairul Ain Kamarudin
(Bellerbys College Cambridge, UK - A Levels Program)
Adreina Shamelia Shamsul Anuar
(Pennsylvania State University, USA - Class of 2018)
Pang Zheng Bin
(Rutgers University, USA - Class of 2017)
1 comments
Hey Bakhtiar. Little update on this document we've made, I've created an excel for the subject-based decision matrix enabling viewer to actually fill them up and get their value. I've update and insert it in the original doc. You might as well want to update it here too..
ReplyDeleteHere's the link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1B9Gtk7UJ959GmQOx5_eccc8JZcNaBBce_wNidwrYyNs/edit?usp=sharing
Your comment reflects yourself .
So, do leave a comment in a good way :)
Thank you :D