After 15 months establishing, growing and managing www.collegelah.com, we are proud (and a bit emotional) to announce that we have appointed a new team, who will be leading this initiative.

Led by Suah Jing Lian, a 1st Year Economics student in LSE, the team consists of:
► Ahmad Farhan Yosman, Economics & Asian Studies Major, Sophomore, Cornell University
► Kirsteen Ng, Mathematics and Computer Science, 3rd Year, HKUST
► Lim Yan Yin, Economics, 1st Year, LSE
► Melanie Hew, Biomedicine, 1st Year, University of Melbourne
► Ng Chun Hau, BA Law , 1st Year, University of Cambridge

***
Working on CollegeLAH has been an inspiring journey, nothing less. We have worked with some of the best students with incredible achievements. But what sets them apart is their humility and willingness to help and share. They contributed articles, spent their free time providing comments to personal statements and answered education related questions. We will forever be grateful for your belief in us and your tremendous support. CollegeLAH is not just a website full of information, but a community of student leaders who empowers other young Malaysian students to dream big and reach their full potential.

To my team- Wen Wen, Wern Yeen, Alicia, Ryan, we were in 4 different regions, with 4 time zones but I’m so glad we stuck together and persisted. Thanks for your friendship, your trust, your ideas, your time, your effort and just letting me be me.

We have full confidence that CollegeLAH is in good hands. Moving forward, with Suah’s solid plans and his capable team, we are certain that they will be giving you their best to further develop this humble little social project. Get excited for the coming year!

Signing off,
Kai Song
On behalf of CollegeLAH Team

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So you wanna make it to Cambridge? Well listen up, fellow knowledge-seeker, for this path is not for the faint-hearted. The journey to Cambridge is difficult and for the most part a lot of luck. I will recount to you my experience being interviewed in Churchill College, University of Cambridge. Do not however, expect a guarantee that you will get into Cambridge. I only seek to explain to you my own understanding of what Cambridge wants from a prospective student, and this will differ between courses and colleges. For the most part though, please enjoy my story. Oh and honestly, I don’t fully recall the questions or my answers but I hope this article helps you in whatever way possible.

Now, some background is probably necessary. I was studying A-Levels at KYUEM, taking the accelerated course (1 and a half years). I took Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics. In my COPA and UCAS application, I wrote my predicted grades were 4A*s. So, in my opinion, your grades are super duper important. They won’t even offer you an interview without substantial grades.

Furthermore, another important facet about my interview is that I wasn’t offered an interview in Malaysia. Honestly, it felt like a slap in the face. At first. But, beggars can’t be choosers and I’m very grateful I was offered a place to study there. It’s also very likely that my interview differs greatly from those interviewed in Malaysia. With this article, I hope to help all those students given the “honour” (how you interpret this is up to you) to be interviewed in Cambridge.

On another note, something I feel is quite important is the pattern of questioning. For the most part, each question started off with the interviewer checking how well we grasp a certain topic. They do this by asking easy questions then hard questions about the topic. Then, the really important part comes. They’ll ask something related to the topic but out of the syllabus. Some advanced reading beforehand may be helpful but it is unnecessary. In fact, you can get by with just your syllabus knowledge. If you get stuck, then you can just say you’re not sure. The interviewer will give tips to guide you to the answer. What they really want to see is your critical thinking skills; how well you use the info given and what you’ve learnt before to find a possible solution to their question.

The First Interview

I arrived at Churchill College at around 8am (even though my interview was at 9, you know nerves and all) on the day of the interview. I met many other candidates there, all nervous wrecks like me. Some stayed at the college for the night before while others just made it this morning. Some of them even had to take some tests along with their interviews (Math people watch out, this means you). I was brought to my Interview Room by a first-year Churchill student, where I waited outside for a very long 15 minutes before my interview started.

At 9.00am, I knocked on the door and meekly stepped into the room, greeting my assessors. There were two of them inside. I saw straight through their friendly smiles. What I really saw was a determination to gauge my level of understanding and critical thinking (more like “Let’s see what this bub is made of”). Hands shaking, I nervously shook their hands and asked if I could have a seat. They complied and I felt my bum shaking the chair itself (I have a rather big bum unfortunately).

The first thing they mentioned after all that was, “This interview is going to be an academic one. We will ask you questions based on the A-Level syllabus you’ve already covered. If you haven’t learned a topic yet, please tell us. Also, if you are unsure about our questions, you may ask us to repeat ourselves. Is that clear?” I nodded and mumbled a rather silent “yes”. And so, it begins!

For the first question, my interviewer asked me to write down what compounds does hydrogen form with all the elements in Period 2. Relatively easy, as we’ve already learnt about the compounds formed by hydrogen with Period 3 elements. These were LiH, BeH2, BH3 or B2H6, CH4, NH3, H20 and HF. I might have mumbled quite a bit (the interviewer kept asking me to repeat myself) but at least I made logical arguments (which is important).

Second, what were the difference in electronegativities between the 2 elements of these hydrogen compounds? I just remembered how the Period 3 hydrogen compounds worked and found myself facing this question rather comfortably.

Next, they asked me to explain which of these compounds were covalent and which were ionic. This was simply an extension of the previous question. As you should know, the difference in electronegativities play an important role in determining the covalent and ionic characteristics. Also, the relative polarities and polarising power of the elements had to be considered.

For my next question, they asked me to compare and discuss the boiling points of CH4, NH3, H20 and HF. They wanted me to explain why H20’s boiling point is the highest among these compounds. I kind of flapped at this question because I forgot to mention the key point they were looking for. That made me worried.

For the next question, they asked me about benzene. I talked about its delocalized system of electrons and the bond lengths of C-C, comparing those in benzene with C-C single and double bonds. Man, was I thankful this came out in class before.

And then comes the tough one. By relating the knowledge of benzene’s structure and the properties of boron and nitrogen, I was asked to predict the characteristics of a boron nitride compound which had the same shape as benzene. They asked me to compare this compound to that of benzene; such as its relative electronegativity and bond length. I think I managed to answer this one, but with quite a lot of help from the interviewers.

Figure 1: Boron Nitride (same shape as benzene)

My interview ended at 9.30 and what a relief that was. I felt I could’ve done better, could’ve been more logical, and could’ve been more confident in answering my questions. But what’s done is done so I said thank you to the interviewers and quickly stepped out of the room.

The Second Interview

After that gruelling first session, I made my way back to the main hall. There, I was once again escorted to my second interview room at 9.45 am. After the terror and anxiety of my first interview, I felt more relaxed and confident for my second. I thought to myself, “Meh, there’s nothing to lose. So I’ll just be less reserved and more outspoken!” With this renewed sense of self-belief, I entered the room at 10.00am and greeted my interviewers with a big smile.

Their first question was about NMR spectroscopy. I told them that I hadn’t learned about it yet, so they gave me some basic information about reading NMR graphs. Personally, I think I did really well in this section of my interview because I thought it would’ve been difficult due to my lack of prior knowledge. I was given some 3D models of organic structures (which were isotopes of each other) and some NMR graphs. They then asked me to match the models to the graphs. I managed to do this successfully, getting all of them correct.

Then, I was asked to suggest a chemical formula for the structures and figure out the structural isomers. Then they asked me to predict the composition of an unknown substance based on those isomers and the NMR graph provided. It wasn’t too hard as I saw the pattern to reading these graphs after the earlier introduction they gave me.

For the last section of this interview, I was asked about Mathematics. They wanted me to determine the distance of a line/magnitude of a vector. They asked for the formula and I provided it. Then, I was asked to determine the shape I would obtain if I plotted in an x-y graph, all points that corresponded to magnitude = 1. This was the formula (which isn’t really necessary):

Figure 2: Formula for Magnitude in 2D

I concluded that the shape had to be a square and the interviewers told me I was right.

Next, they asked me to determine what shape I would obtain if I did the same thing but in a 3D graph. This was slightly tricky, but I managed to figure it out when I patiently thought about it. This formula was also provided:

Figure 3: Formula for Magnitude in 3D

I can’t quite remember it now, but I think I answered a sphere, which was wrong. Then, they asked me to rethink and I think I managed to draw out the right shape, but I forgot what it was called. So, the interviewer told me what shape it was and I was like “Ohhhh, right right. It was on the tip of my tongue. Thank you!” Then he concluded our interview and I was thanking them and walked out the room satisfied.

Conclusion

Overall, I think I did rather well, at least for my second interview. The first one was an amalgamation of nerves and mumbles hahahaha. One thing I do suggest for all hopeful applicants is to always be inquisitive. Start early with out of syllabus reading and research. Always maintain a curiosity to learn new things and attempt creative problems. These will definitely help you in facing interviews like these. So good luck to all you aspiring to go to Cambridge and remember, don’t let failure keep you down. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal” – Winston Churchill

Amzar Muzani is aspiring to be a scientist. Studying Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge under Yayasan Khazanah Scholarship, he hopes to bring to life the love for science in the nation’s youth. He is often found to be quiet but really enjoys spending time with his close friends.

Aerial View of Centre for Mathematical Sciences

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My interview session was held in Taylor’s College (where I did A-level), and was one- on-one. I forgot who my interviewer was, but I remember he was a math professor at Cambridge and had Erdos number 4 (whoa). The interview was scheduled for half an hour, and he pretty much cut me off at the mark. He started out asking me some questions about my family background, e.g. siblings, parents’ occupation, probably as ice-breaker.

Then we moved on to the fun part. He scanned my personal statement and realized I’ve done a lot of Olympiad math and chose a problem he thought was appropriately challenging for me. I don’t remember exactly what the problem was, but I remember it was something like proving that for any real polynomial, there is a root that has a certain property. The problem statement called for familiarity with polynomials and complex numbers, and the proof required some ‘well-known’ fact about real polynomials. Don’t fret if you are not too comfortable with those yet, as the interviewer should ask if you are familiar with them.

Solving the problem wasn’t straightforward, as it very well shouldn’t have been. The interviewer first asked if I preferred for him to give hints and guidance along the way or keep silent. I opted for silence. I started out working with a few test polynomials, e.g. X^2 + 1, just to poke around and see what I might find. The interviewer offered to give hints (perhaps I was slow), but I declined again. I looked at what was to be proved: some condition on some root… I tried to visualize the locus of complex numbers satisfying that condition, and of course drew it out so the interviewer can see my thought process.

After about ten minutes, clearly behind time, I asked for one of the two hints. The first hint was a fact I had no trouble proving, but didn’t really see where it fit into my progress so far. Then after a little while longer, I asked for the second hint. It was the ‘well-known’ fact that every real polynomial can be written as the product of real polynomials of degree at most two. I knew this fact, but didn’t think to use it until then. But once he said it I basically saw the rest of the proof and just blurted it out.

I asked the interviewer what was the shortest time someone took to solve it. He said five minutes.

My initial approaches were pretty much useless in solving the problem, way off mark from the intended solution, but maybe the interviewer saw something in my method that was intriguing. So write down and draw out and say everything you are thinking. And don’t be embarrassed to ask for hints. If the interviewer thinks the problem is challenging for you, then you should expect to need help.

Towards the end, the interviewer rushed through some questions not related to math and then basically shooed me out the door (because we were running a little late, me being quite slow on the problem).

Erdos number: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ErdosNumber.html

Ying Hong Tham is pursuing a Computer Science degree at Stanford University under Astro scholarship. You can find him sneaking into lecture halls at night to use the chalkboards for math scratch work and random doodling.

Suah Jing Lian is currently reading BSc in Economics at The London School of Economics and Political Science (2015-2018). This personal statement was part of his successful application to The LSE, University College London, University of Warwick and Bristol University.

My interest in economics stems from growing up in Malaysia. Living in Kuala Lumpur, the financial capital, it surprised me that the most expensive real estate is mostly inhabited by the Chinese while the Indians and Malays dominate the less developed suburbs. I wondered how such racially polarised, economic disparity exists in my country, even with affirmative action such as low-interest business loans and race-specific quotas for shareholding in place to correct it. I believe that economics holds the key to unraveling developmental questions for countries like mine. With a scholarship from the Central Bank of Malaysia, I hope that studying economics at a UK university will give me a broader, better-informed, understanding.

I was interested by Partha Dasgupta’s “Economics: A Very Short Introduction”, which offered a more detailed perspective on situations like that of Malaysia. Dasgupta illustrates multifaceted economic problems such as differing market opportunities for individuals due to their socio-economic status. For instance, underdeveloped healthcare, low literacy and high fertility rate make it difficult for individuals from poorer countries to progress out of communal or subsistence economies, trapping them in a vicious cycle of poverty. This made me think that it might be more effective if humanitarian or developmental aid were targeted at improving healthcare and education infrastructure in less developed countries, instead of targeting individuals alone.

This interest in the differing developmental levels and market opportunities of communities within nations led me to read Acemoglu and Robinson’s “Why Nations Fail”, which places the dichotomy of extractive and inclusive economic institutions at the heart of phenomena such as growth and developmental disparity in populations. This seems very similar to slow developing, impoverished present day nations such as Togo and Laos, whose economic institutions are extractive. This raised a key question for me regarding Malaysia: can economic institutions be extractive or inclusive exclusively to different social groups within the same country?

While studying for my A levels, I took up competitive British Parliamentary Debating, which offered a platform both to learn and apply economic issues and concepts. Competing frequently against university debaters, I was a 5-time national open quarterfinalist as well as the president of my school’s debating union. Topics ranging from the relevance of trade unions in developing nations, to more contemporary ones such as the 2008 Eurozone Sovereign Debt Crisis, further emphasised the depth and breadth of economics as a subject. For one, I proposed that while trade unions may hinder crucial growth for developing nations, they protect the welfare and security of wage earners, leading to a more inclusive and sustainable growth rather than one that reflects vast wealth disparity.

Studying in the sixth form showed me that mathematics is used frequently when learning economics, such as in modelling consumer behaviour and the effects of monetary policies. I am convinced that my strong mathematical background will be useful at university. Studying the Game Theory in Further Maths showed me the applicability of mathematics to the social sciences, highlighting its versatility in economics. In addition to completing A-level Maths in my first year of study, I was also a silver medalist in the UKMT Senior Maths Challenge.

I am a member of Mensa and also a school prefect, responsible for encouraging good behaviour amongst students, organising school campaigns and contributing to school policies such as pre-examination regulations, which I succeeded in amending. I was also, at my previous school, part of the Board of Directors, where I learned how to run and manage societies.

I am very much looking forward to studying Economics at a UK university, where I hope to find diverse culture and broader, more global perspectives.

DISCLAIMER: The personal statements on this site are strictly meant as a starting point to give an idea of how successful personal statements look like. There is no surefire formula to writing good personal statements. COLLEGELAH IS STRICTLY AGAINST PLAGIARISM OF ANY KIND. UCAS employs a plagiarism check system that checks applicants’ work against other published writing so please DO NOT PLAGIARISE.

Applying to Oxford for Physics (Not my Dad’s)

If you’re reading this, you just might possibly be considering the thought of maybe perhaps APPLYING FOR PHYSICS at Oxford.

Do it.

My dad (whose physics application advice is also on this website) and I are the only Malaysian physicists here and we’d love for you all to join the *cough* fun.

Brian’s Journey to Oxford (Part 1)

Brian’s Journey to Oxford (Part 2)

No. He’s not my real dad.

I’ll have more information concerning my interview than anything else, because that’s the most memorable part, and dad’s article sums up all the good tips for everything else already.

Here we go!

FIRSTLY, THE PAT

I honestly cannot remember much from my sitting of the PAT.  Nevertheless, my checklist for preparing for it was along the lines of:

[] Read through the PAT Syllabus ( https://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduates/applications/physics-aptitude-test-pat/pat-syllabus ) and note down any topics which your Sixth Form course has not covered

[] Read through AS-level and IGCSE physics

[] Brief research of eclipses and astronomy (which my A-level studies did not cover)

[] ALL the past year PAT papers from http://www.physicsandmathstutor.com/pat/ . This here website is your new best friend. Don’t forget to check with its model answers

[] A few servings BPho (British Physics Olympiad, not the Vietnamese noodle soup) from http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/olympiad/PastPapers.html#BPhOP1 . Again, these have marking schemes and, as dad said, they do in fact resemble the PAT questions

When it gets to the PAT, keep calm and just show them what you know! Very few people can complete every single question with confidence. I remember blanking out for a few math concepts I had not used for months but give everything a good shot and cross your fingers for…

THE INTERVIEW

Hehe. I remember getting my interview email in the middle of Lumut’s jungles covered in soil and sweat on my teacher’s iPad. I was in the middle of KTJ’s Outward Bound School trip for Sixth-Form students and frustrated that books were forbidden during the course. Good times…

I had two interviews over Skype: the first with Oriel and the second with Pembroke (obviously, the Pembrokian tutors who interviewed me and are now tutoring me are nicer :) )

The link to the interview questions and solutions are at the end of this paragraph. I urge you to not look at the answers and instead give the questions a worthy go before checking your attempt with my answers.

JX Physics Interview and Solutions

Preparing for the interview

1. Do lots of Fermi Problems
2. Do lots of Puzzles
3. Chill
4. Drink coffee
5. Read and practice from the following list

Book recommendations: These are just some books that I read or read excerpts from that were very interesting or helpful to the interview.

Jearl Walker – The Flying Circus of Physics

This book, although incredibly elusive, is a treasure trove of physics brainteasers with awesome explanations.

Conservation of Momentum blog

https://conversationofmomentum.wordpress.com/

Lots of physics interview questions and puzzles.

Richard Feynman – QED ; 6 easy pieces ; Tips on Physics ; Surely You’re Joking Mr Feynman

Great look at an unconventional perspective of physics. The last book isn’t really about physics but it’s the only biography I have ever enjoyed reading.

George Gamow – Mr Tompkins in Paperback

A pretty fun exploration of physics you should be interested in. You can find these (legally) free online.

Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality – Manjit Kumar

A nice historical overview of modern physics.

All in all, I hope you have a great time applying for and studying Physics (if you’re here not for the physics, good luck with whatever you’re doing anyway!). I hope the advice here helps. I know it’s short, but it’s so that you have more time to practice which is what will really matter.

All the best! Hi Mum and dad (Oxford and in real life)!

Jiaxen Lau, full time physicist, coffee connoisseur, photographer, videographer, fashionista, poet, cryptoanalyst, is currently reading Physics in Pembroke College, Oxford University. Indeed, he may have forgotten lunch but he will never forget about coffee. Make no mistake, this man is not a Victorian dandy but, with certainty, a Victorian gentleman who, as rumour has it, seems to have a girlfriend. Shame on him if that’s true, he’s supposed to love physics and coffee and only physics and coffee.

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In a Q&A session, CollegeLAH asked Matthew about his journey to the University College Utrecht (UCU) in the Netherlands.

Tell us a little bit about yourself Matthew.

I’m a proud Penangite! However, 2 years ago, I decided to take a leap of faith and ventured to Saint Joseph’s Institution International in Singapore for my sixth form studies. Academically, my next port of call will be University College Utrecht in the Netherlands where I’ll be pursuing a Liberal Arts and Sciences course.

That’s a pretty unorthodox route you’ve elected to take. What made you choose to study in the Netherlands and more particularly at University College Utrecht (UCU)?

Choosing UCU was a pretty easy choice. I felt that the course suited my learning style with its small class sizes promoting in-depth discussions while allowing students to read broadly across a wide range of subjects of their choice. For a person who hasn’t exactly found his passion yet, I figured that this would be a great opportunity seeing as instead of “closing doors”, I‘d actively be exploring avenues where my potential passions in life lie.

Additionally, UCU is the honours college of the University of Utrecht – the largest university in the Netherlands. As a result, UCU has a diverse mix of students from different backgrounds, nationalities and interests. The ability to live on campus and be part of such a driven yet diverse community was something that really appealed to me.   

Finally the generous scholarship the university awarded me was certainly an affirmation of my decision.

As to why the Netherlands, I guess that had something to do with my curiosity for adventure! However on a more practical level, many Dutch institutions are very well regarded internationally,  a plethora of courses there are conducted in English, the fees are competitively priced, it’s culturally liberal and situated in the heart of Europe… I could go on all day!

That was a pretty detailed account. What was the application process to your university like and when were the deadlines?

It was pretty straightforward. There’s a process somewhat similar to UCAS called Studielink. However I recommend contacting the university’s admissions office directly as each institution might differ slightly in their admissions process or criteria.

That being said, it is highly recommended to go to an institution’s website and read carefully. Especially, look out for what they expect of a potential candidate as well as the values that they treasure and will ultimately judge you by. This applies generally irrespective of where you’re applying to or what you’re applying for.

With regards to deadlines, a safe target to aim for would be to have everything ready and submitted by the first week of January if you’re planning to enter in Fall of that year. This chiefly includes, transcripts, letters of recommendation, essays etc. It can get pretty intense as this period is when most universities have their deadlines for international students; again this might differ based on program and institution.

Was there an interview process?

Interviews actually are the exception in the Netherlands, only the more selective courses, such as the Liberal Arts and Sciences and other numerus clauses courses, tend to interview candidates. Mine was done over Skype but otherwise admission to most programmes are usually judged based on academic merit.

How did you prepare for the interview and was there anything that stood out?

It might seem counterintuitive but a handy tip would be to ready a set of well thought out questions to ask the interviewer. The questions you ask not only reflect where your interests lie but also shows that you’ve taken the initiative to research and are genuinely curious about the subject/institution.

Apart from that I think it’s good to keep in mind that this is as much a chance for you to shine as it is for them to gauge whether you’re the right fit for their institution instead of some interrogation session. I was pleasantly surprised by how casual it all seemed especially despite our obvious differences in background we were able to converse frankly and freely on intellectually stimulating topics. Perhaps I was lucky that I got a nice interviewer, who knows?

What did you include in your personal statement/essay(s)? Maybe you could also elaborate on how you wrote the essay?

Funny you should mention it, I actually wrote my essay while on holiday somewhere in Vietnam very close to the deadline. Although the limited internet connectivity probably did help sustain my focus while writing, nonetheless I would not advise anyone to repeat that. So if you can, do start writing early!

What to include is pretty subjective, it really depends on the essay questioned posed. From my experience they tend to be short, roughly 500 words, and directed; bear in mind that this is a chance for the admissions team to get to know how you think and who you are as person. So make the best use of your words to express your ideas, it might take a couple drafts and time to proof, but that’s just part of the process.

What do you think contributed to your success of your application? What were some of the past experiences/ ECA/ work attachment/ academic achievements that you included in your essay?

Honestly, I can’t say for certain. Nonetheless, in answering the latter question, I tried to incorporate past experiences that highlighted the values that I genuinely share with the institution.

It’s not enough to say that I’ve been the president of XYZ society, or I raised XXX amount of money for charity. Personally, I think what differentiates a good candidate is how they explicitly relate their circumstance and subtly weave it into the narrative of the case that they are trying to make. In my situation, I wrote about how I adapted to leaving home for a new place to study and more specifically what I took away from the experience that might aid me in future.

One big lesson I learnt, “how you present something is often of equal importance as to what you’re presenting”.

What advice would you give to future applicants?  What are some of the useful resources you used?

Sounds like a dating website but bachelorsportal.eu is a very good way of narrowing things down if you’re interested in studying in Europe. Scholars4dev.com is also another worthwhile site to visit if you’re looking for scholarships.

As for advice, following the theme of previous CollegeLAH contributors, START PLANNING EARLY! It’s OK to not know what you want, that’s NORMAL. As a French philosopher so aptly phrased it “I know well what I am fleeing from but not what I am in search of”.

Insofar as your search continues, speak to people, dream and make a plan with realistic goals toward the direction of your choosing. At the same time be open to new possibilities which might alter those dreams; when the opportunity arises dare to sometimes take the road less travelled, life might just surprise you!

A believer in “passing it forward”, Matthew Tan Kiak Hin encourages more to share their university application experiences with others especially on sites like CollegeLAH.  He is currently pursuing a Liberal Arts and Sciences course in University College Utrecht in the Netherlands.

Creating your CommonApp account

• Go to apply.commonapp.org and click on “Create An Account”
• Fill in your email address and create a password. Note that the password must be between 8-16 characters, containing at least an upper case alphabetic letter, one numeric character, and a symbol (!@#$%^&*).

• Fill in your details and click on I am a(n): “Applicant planning to enroll within the next 12 months”.
• Tick both boxes and click on “Create” to create your brand new CommonApp account.

• Once you are logged in, you are able to view your Dashboard and your full CommonApp Account.

Your CommonApp Account

• Your CommonApp Account is separated into four main functions: Dashboard, My Colleges, Common App, and College Search.
• Dashboard: The Dashboard is the central monitor to your applications. Once you have added colleges to your applications, you will be able to view them on the dashboard, showing you the deadlines, requirements and your progress.
• My Colleges: The My Colleges tab shows the colleges that you have added into your account. You will complete your work for each college here. Some colleges will require extra essays or questionnaires answered. As these might vary depending on the different faculties/schools within the college that you are applying to, they will appear only appear after you have completed the “Questions” section.
• Common App: Your Common application. Here, you will fill up relevant details for your application, from your profile, educational background, SAT/TOEFL/ACT test results to your dreaded Common App Essay.
• College Search: College Search allows you to search for colleges/universities by different criteria, i.e. by name, country, state, term, applicant type or deadline. You may also perform multiple searches by separating terms with a comma, i.e. Boston, New York, etc.

The Common Application

Profile

This is the part where you fill in everything about yourself – name, address, contact details, demographics, geography, languages, citizenship, scholarship information, and common app fee waiver. It provides the most basic understanding of who you are to the admission officers. Most of this section is very straightforward but we will clarify the bits that might not be.

Scholarship information – This is a new feature that allows you to apply to scholarships that use the Scholar Snapp platform. Basically, it’s a “Common App” for scholarships. These can be scholarships offered by external organisations.

Read more about Scholar Snapp here: https://www.commonapp.org/whats-appening/college-counseling/5-things-counselors-should-know-about-scholar-snapp

Common App Fee Waiver – Nothing is this world is free. Likewise, applying via Common App costs money as well. However, if you think that you face sufficient financial difficulties such that you might be unable to afford the application fees, then you can apply for the fee waiver. Your counsellor will be contacted to provide evidence of financial difficulties so don’t try to cheat.

Family

This is a relatively straightforward section, where you are required to fill in information about your family background. It is divided into 4 subsections: Household, Parent 1, Parent 2, and Sibling. You will need their basic information such as name, age, occupation, country of birth, education level etc.

Education

This is where things get gradually less straightforward. You will provide your educational information here, from secondary school to your Pre-U studies. Here’s a clarification that will be useful for most readers here, especially if you’re from Malaysia. Even if you are enrolled in, for instance, Taylor’s College, KDU, Taylor’s University (ADTP), INTI University, you are indeed still in school. Likewise, the terms “college” and “university” are interchangeable in the USA i.e. Taylor’s College is not a college but a school while Bates College is a university and/or a college.

Current or Most Recent School: Unless you’re studying at a school in the USA or US Territories, your school might not be listed here. Search for your school’s name and if it does not appear, select “I don’t see my high school on this list”. Likewise, if you are homeschooled, select the “I am/was homeschooled” option. If you’re studying in an American-styled school, you should have a designated school counsellor. Otherwise, this can be any teacher or academic staff member who has good knowledge and understanding of the non-academic aspects of you. Therefore, it is entirely up to you whether you want a teacher from your secondary school or one from your pre-U school to be your counsellor. Common App references are significantly different from what usual Malaysian references would be, so be sure that your counsellor knows about the writing style.

Other School: If you are doing your Pre-University education in a different institution as compared to your secondary school, you will need to fill up this subsection. Just do exactly the same as the previous step for each High School you have attended. That said, please do not key in your primary school and kindergarten. Likewise, given that High School means the schools where you did SPM/IGCSE till IBDP/A-level/STPM/Matrikulasi/AP, please do not include your PMR school if it was different than the one you did your SPM/IGCSE at. Otherwise, please do.

Community-Based Organization: If any of these organisations helped you with your Common App application, then do declare them. These are generally non-profit organisations that are representative of particular civil societies e.g. Black communities, underprivileged suburban children.

Education Interruption: If you are finishing your Pre-University studies later than scheduled, please declare it in this subsection. Otherwise, tick “I have no interruption to report.”

College & Universities: If you have completed a university level course, be it online or through a physical college, fill up this subsection. For the occasional Singaporeans who might be reading this, declare your H3 Subjects here. Likewise, if you have completed an actual uni/college level course, declare here. Please keep in mind that your Pre-University education (A-level, IBDP, STPM, Matrikulasi, AP) does not count here.

Grades: There are 4 options under the class rank reporting, mainly

1) Exact: For instance, 53 out of 187 (187 will be filled in under “class size”)
2) Decile: Top 10%, 20%, 30% …  
3) Quintile: Top 20%, 40% .., 80%
4) Quartile: Top 25%, 50% … and so on.

If you are on a Pre-U programme that does not use GPA/CGPAs (A-level, IBDP), leave the relevant sections blank. Likewise, if you’re doing Matrikulasi or STPM, declare your CGPA as well as the GPA scale (‘4’ for STPM, Matrikulasi etc.) Whether or not your GPA is weighted depends on this question – do all contributing subjects/modules/aspects have the same individual contribution to your GPA? If your answer is no, then your GPA is probably weighted.

Current or Most Recent Year Courses: This is where you declare your Pre-University subjects as well as your Year 11 subjects (SPM, IGCSE etc). In other words, A-level History counts as one course, STPM Ekonomi counts as one course.

Honors: If you have won awards, competitions or scholarships, declare them here. Important point to note here is the grading system, Grade 9 refers to Form 4 and equivalent, Grade 10 being SPM/IGCSE while Grade 11 refers to your AS-level. Intuitively, Grade 12 is your A-level/IBDP/STPM. The exception here then is that if your pre-U course lasts only a year e.g. Australian year 12, SAM, Matrikulasi. In that case, Grade 12 refers to that and Grade 11 refers to IGCSE etc. Basically, it all depends on the number of academic years your Pre-U studies contribute to. PG generally applies to those who undertook gap years.

Future Plans: Write about your future career plans and highest degree you intend to earn here.

Testing

Test Taken: Check ‘yes’ to self-report your SAT, SAT II, IELTS, TOEFL, IB, A-levels scores. You should list all tests that you expect to take and have already taken.

If you have taken courses such as SPM, STPM, IGCSE, IB Middle or IBDP, elect ‘yes’ for the last column with the prompt: “Is promotion within your education system based upon standard leaving examinations by a state or national leaving examinations board?” Do note that if you took AP, you do not have to check this box.

Senior Secondary Leaving Examinations: If you check ‘yes’, a new section indicating “Senior Secondary Leaving Examinations” comes up. For each test chosen, another column will appear; this is where you should fill in the specifics of each test. This means that if you have already sat for your A-level, IBDP, STPM, then tick “yes” and fill up accordingly. For most, who are still studying for the actual examinations, tick “no”.

Activities

After indicating ‘yes’, you have a maximum of 10 columns for you to fill in all activities. You’re given a maximum of 50 characters to state the name of the activity, and another 150 characters to describe the activity. Once again, an important note on the grade level system, intuitively, Grade 12 refers to A-level/IBDP/STPM. If you are taking a gap year after your Pre-University studies, any activities done after graduation comes under “Post-Graduate”. For sports specifically, if you are in your school/state/national team, then you are involved in Varsity/JV sports. If you are not in the main team i.e. reserve, secondary or development team, then you are in JV.

For example:

Music Club – Founding President

Spearheaded 2 national music concerts; raised $10,000+ for the Malaysian Elderly Association. Honed leadership skills working with 60 members.  (142 characters)

Keep your description concise to minimize character count and convey your message clearly.

Do note that the activities included here are assumed to be the most important and relevant since Year 9. It is important to arrange the activities in order of relative importance to you and your application. Feel free to include any previous or current jobs.

You might want to consider carefully which activities to include as this section is vital in portraying who you are both as a student and as a person. It is highly recommended that you state activities that you are interested in continuing in university. You may include hobbies only if these are relevant and if you feel that you have gained a lot from these activities.

Writing

Personal Essay

You have a choice of 5 questions to choose from. Choose one from the list below:

Our advice would be to briefly write down the main outline of your response to each question. With this in mind, you can roughly compare the quality of your responses across all questions. Try not to overthink the process; choose the essay that gives you the right platform to best express yourself.

That being said, essays about everyday activities and/or volunteering work might be deemed mundane by the admission officers, unless you’re able to write creatively about the topic, or if you feel that your application will be incomplete without that particular story to reflect who you are. Ultimately, this is where you have the opportunity to showcase your unique identity and personality.

Here’s a link to another article on CollegeLAH about writing US essays.

http://collegelah.com/2014/08/07/how-to-write-successful-us-college-application-essays/

Disciplinary History

Honesty is the best policy! Do not be afraid if you have a tainted disciplinary record. This does not mean that you will be rejected solely based on this.

Additional Information

It is not necessarily the case that your application would be in any way disadvantaged if this section is left unfilled. If there is nothing else to add, there is no need to include unnecessary details.

However, if you do wish to include additional information, here are examples of what could be added:

1) Description of the 11th extremely important activity (because you can only write about 10 activities in the previous section)

2) Clarification of extenuating circumstances –
“Took a gap year after Year 11 because …”
“SAT scores were unusually poor because…”
“Discontinued a music syllabus after Year 10 because…”

3) Information regarding yourself that you think the application will not be complete without

However, please do not continue your unfinished essay here.

Congratulations on completing this CommonApp section!

College Essays

Hurray! Don’t be too happy yet, this is not the end of your application to the States. Colleges/Universities have more questionnaires for you to answer. Most will also have extra essays, known as supplementary essays. That means more essays to write! Fret not, CollegeLAH essays editing services are here to help you!

Recommenders

In every tab for the colleges that you are applying to, there is a subsection called “Recommendations and FERPA”. This is where you invite your preferred teachers to be your counsellor and recommenders. A counsellor cannot be a recommender and vice versa. You can invite as many recommenders as you want. Ultimately, you will be the one deciding whose references to put in. Likewise, you can have non-academic referees e.g. sports coach, music tutor (more relevant for those applying for sports/music scholarships). Waiving your FERPA rights means that you agree legally not to have access to your references or transcripts and have your counsellor send them on your behalf. Please note that once your recommender is invited into your application for a particular university, his/her reference can also be used for other universities.

Written by: The CollegeLAH Team

Cedric Teoh is currently a first year undergraduate reading BSc in Actuarial Science at The London School of Economics and Political Science. This personal statement was part of his successful application to The LSE (Actuarial Science), City University London (Actuarial Science), Imperial College London (Maths & Stats) and the University of Warwick (MORSE).

I enjoy analytical subjects that require me to think creatively. I like how Mathematics involves logical chains of thought and I find it exciting to use fundamental skills to solve complex questions. Applying mathematical rules, while pushing for a creative outcome, is a challenge I relish.  I enjoy finding alternative routes to a solution and solving more challenging questions, such as those in the STEP papers. My enthusiasm for the subject stems from its wide range of applications, giving me the option to apply my knowledge in a myriad of fields. Statistics is the field of mathematics for which I have the greatest affinity.

My early encounters with statistics came from watching football. Sports analysts use statistics to reduce the occurrence of injuries and to transforms players’ traits into data, allowing comparisons to be made. Bookmakers also rely on statistical methods to set their odds. After reading Goldman Sachs’ paper on the recent FIFA World Cup, I found it interesting that through regression analysis they could convert many variables, such as home advantage, into statistical parameters. These were then used to carry out Monte-Carlo simulations to predict the outcome of matches. Their model predicting Brazil would win the trophy turned out to be wrong. I think they overplayed the advantage of being the hosts, as statistically host nations had more than a 50% win rate in the past, provided they were a top football nation. However, we can observe that host nations have not won the World Cup since 1998 and 3 of the last 4 winners were not even from the home continent.The applicability of confidence intervals appeals to me as they are widely used in various industries, accounting for natural variations in research. Actuarial science, a field I wish to explore further, uses it extensively in risk analysis. As actuarial scientists estimate the potential losses of company investments, confidence intervals are used to render the value at risk with greater certainty. This helps prevent crises, such as banks failing during the Great Depression, from happening. I am amused by how simple topics we learnt can greatly impact the financial sector.

‘The Great Mathematical Problems’ by I. Stewart introduced me to many theorems and conjectures.  When reading about Goldbach’s Conjectures and Euclid’s propositions on prime numbers it seemed that this was a very theoretical area which lacked applications. So I was amazed when I discovered their significance in public-key cryptography, which is widely used in internet security. Mathematicians essentially exploited the lack of an effective algorithm in finding the prime factors of composite numbers to create a trapdoor function for cryptography. Discovering applications of theoretical mathematics makes it practical and interesting.

Mathematics competitions help stimulate my creative thinking. I won a Gold certificate in the UKMT Mathematics Challenge, ranking 2nd amongst my peers. At a local university’s Engineering Competition, the team that I was leading finished 2nd. Despite early disappointments we persisted in making a model car of the desired quality. I honed my problem solving skills as we managed to develop a way to improve the explosiveness of the nozzle which allowed our model car to move much further.

As Vice President of the Mathematics Club, I help to prepare my juniors for competitions and to develop more interesting quizzes. I have volunteered to be a personal tutor, developing my ability to communicate and to simplify technical problems. As a prefect I built my leadership skills and learnt to be dedicated, spending time mentoring my juniors. Working as a sales assistant at Apple’s premium retailer had improved my interpersonal skills greatly.  I also represented my boarding house in basketball competitions.

I am excited about seizing the opportunities the Central Bank of Malaysia scholarship has given me and about learning in a stimulating environment in the UK.

DISCLAIMER: The personal statements on this site are strictly meant as a starting point to give an idea of how successful personal statements look like. There is no surefire formula to writing good personal statements. COLLEGELAH IS STRICTLY AGAINST PLAGIARISM OF ANY KIND. UCAS employs a plagiarism check system that checks applicants’ work against other published writing so please DO NOT PLAGIARISE.

This Personal Statement is part of this student’s successful admission to study Law in the University of Cambridge, University of Warwick and University of Manchester.

My interest to read Law was sparked by my involvement in debate competitions. I revel in the logical reasoning and critical thinking needed during the preparation. I realised that there are endless possibilities on how to examine an issue. Besides, I relish the moment when I have to respond instantly with a coherent argument to defend my standpoint. In fact, I was named as best debater several times and won the National Level Chinese Parliamentary Debate Competition in 2011. These enjoyable experiences, both during preparation and discourse, made me consider pursuing a Law degree.

Subsequently, I did some reading to discover more about Law. ‘Learning the Law’ and ‘What about Law? Studying Law at University’ were particularly enlightening. I ascertained that Law is constantly dealing with abstract issues, which requires students to think critically and logically. Law also fascinates me as I learned that its impact on society can be stupendous. My attention was caught by Public Law, which has far-reaching implications to society. Thus, besides the seven core subjects needed for legal practice, I would like to explore other Public Law related subjects in order to elucidate the relationship between Law and the development of society.

Aspiring to build a better foundation for the study of Law, I switched to an English-medium pre-university course and focused on social science subjects which I hardly came across previously. I wish to improve my English as well as explore the social sciences which are highly associated with Law. The transition was indeed a big challenge. However, I am glad that I made this decision because it prompted me to move beyond my limitations and expand my academic boundaries.

I also did an attachment in a law firm in pursuance of gaining practical experience in the legal world. On the first day, I was asked to draft a written submission. I was surprised at first as I had no prior legal knowledge. Nevertheless, I regarded this as an opportunity to perceive the reality of legal practice. I endeavoured to understand the overall picture of the case besides paying attention to details. I applied my analytical skills and logical thinking to distinguish the facts cautiously when researching for authorities to support my argument. Eventually, I was able to submit it and received favourable comments. I realised that I should never underestimate my potential or be deterred by the hurdles in front of me. Having vision and action will push me to the furthest that I can go.

As the President of Law Society at my college, I have initiated and organised a moot competition. This experience enabled me to embrace the legal domain from a different perspective. Preparing the moot problem and selecting cases for participants were a unique experience. Lots of research was needed beforehand in order to come up with an unbiased moot problem. During the preparation, I realised that Law is constantly changing and varies between countries. Furthermore, my position as the editor of the global section in my college newspaper requires me to be acquainted with current issues.

I envisage myself continuing to read Law after completing my degree. I would like to become an academic and contribute to the legal domain. It seems to me that being a legal practitioner is more about applying the Law, but being an academic will enable me to influence and shape the future development of Law, not only through research, but through educating the future generations as well.

DISCLAIMER: The personal statements on this site are strictly meant as a starting point to give an idea of how successful personal statements look like. There is no surefire formula to writing good personal statements. COLLEGELAH IS STRICTLY AGAINST PLAGIARISM OF ANY KIND. UCAS employs a plagiarism check system that checks applicants’ work against other published writing so please DO NOT PLAGIARISE.

Nur Izzat Aiman is currently a first year undergraduate reading BSc in Accounting and Finance at the London School of Economics and Political Science. This personal statement is part of his successful application to the LSE, City University London, University of Bath, University of Warwick and University of Liverpool for Accounting and Finance.

Would you fix a leaking faucet? One might look at it and see just water. But if this hypothetical tap were a company, then water would be a resource, and the leak a loss in revenue. Would you fix it now? I see life as a business and all our actions as investments, with the sole purpose of maximising utility. If the world were a skyscraper, finance would be its foundation and accounting would be the blueprint to its inner workings. This mindset, coupled with my love for mathematics and the desire to further understand this ever-evolving field is why I choose to pursue a degree in Accounting and Finance.

Being a practical individual, I am captivated by the dynamic world of accounting and finance, especially in the field of managerial accounting. One managerial concept that fascinates me is the Six Sigma, a set of techniques that teaches that effectiveness does not rely on the extent of our resources, but how we utilise them to improve efficiency. This philosophy has assisted me in allocating time for my academic and extracurricular life. I had the privilege of participating in a case study competition on banking and finance judged by a partner from Ernst and Young. By applying knowledge from A-Levels Accounting and Economics, I used concepts like ratio comparisons to engage in a healthy discussion with my teammates on mergers and acquisitions to prepare for our presentation. When we were announced champions, I knew where my passion lay, catalysing my pursuit of a career as a professional accountant.

In the past, I kept up-to-date with global financial and economic news to engage my father during our Sunday golf trips. While initially more interested in the golf than the discussion, it was the issue of Ukraine’s accession into the European Union that turned this weekly chore into a steady passion. In my opinion, the decision to allow Ukraine into the EU is comparable to making an investment. The policymakers in this situation play the role of the stakeholders, speculating whether this investment will pay itself back in the long run, all while factoring in the risk of being sanctioned by Russia. I am enthralled by how financiers place a value on an investment and how they tell wise and foolish investments apart. My pursuit of this knowledge has led me to read financial publications such as The Economist, online articles, and books written by the likes of Graham and Malkiel. However, I find that the more I learn, the more I realise that there is an abundance of knowledge of which I have yet to acquire.

On an extracurricular level, I have participated in a variety of clubs, particularly the Young Enterprise Programme where I was elected to serve as the Managing Director. Here, I learned valuable lessons in the running of a successful enterprise and had the opportunity to broaden the extent of my knowledge of the business world. As part of the English Debate Team, I played the role of the third speaker, or ‘whip’. Though it required that I pay extra attention to the opponent to form a strong rebuttal, our efforts nevertheless propelled us to the runner-up position of the state finals. Debate has ultimately strengthened my communication skills, my critical thinking skills and my rhetoric which I believe are essential to a student of Accounting and Finance. Above all, I believe my experiences as a head prefect and the elected president of my college’s Model United Nations Club were the most valuable, as both have prepared me with the necessary management skills needed for this course.

Not many are passionate or even interested to learn the language of business, but I am here to master it, to equip myself with the education that this university has to offer and to turn my lifelong passion into a core aspect of my being. I am eager to prove myself worthy of the knowledge that your university provides her students with to face the real world.

DISCLAIMER: The personal statements on this site are strictly meant as a starting point to give an idea of how successful personal statements look like. There is no surefire formula to writing good personal statements. COLLEGELAH IS STRICTLY AGAINST PLAGIARISM OF ANY KIND. UCAS employs a plagiarism check system that checks applicants’ work against other published writing so please DO NOT PLAGIARISE.

Tiong Suet Wei is currently a first year undergraduate reading BA in History in the London School of Economics and Political Science. This personal statement was part of her successful application to the LSE, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Durham University and University of Warwick for History.

“Why study History?” This is a question that I am often faced with. I start my answer by stating the importance of understanding heritage. English wouldn’t be my first language if it weren’t for the British colonisation of Malaysia and construction of English schools. Whereas my grandparents’ generation had condemned imperialism and fought for Malaysian independence, contemporary opinions suggest that British colonisation was necessary to develop Malaysia as a country.  I never thought of the latter, for Malaysian textbooks taught me that British imperial rule was ruthless. As I have read more, I began to form an understanding of the lasting benefits that British rule brought to Malaysia, but also its shortcomings. With this exposure to opposing opinions and having an international background, I have developed a particular cultural awareness as I have realised that each individual has their personal interpretation of events depending on how they have been affected by them. This awareness is vital, as I am now able to think critically about opinions before jumping to conclusions. Studying History at university would deepen my knowledge on how to analyse sources effectively and to judge the strength of an argument by the evidence it has to substantiate it. In the modern world we live in, in which most people are subjected to myriad sources of news and information with little idea of what to believe, I’m convinced that these skills could not be more useful to me. 

Studying the French Revolution at A2, I have taken an interest in the debate between Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine. If the debate is merely viewed as a critique of the revolution by detached observers, it is of little value as it is easy to see that Paine’s stance was proved wrong with the rise of Napoleon. However, if it is viewed as part of the revolution, it is of enormous value to historians as it becomes a piece of evidence to understand the construction of contemporary views. This debate that shaped modern politics is one clear proof that History is not merely a collection of past events that is too distant for us. The impact of past events still resonate today, thus making History intriguing to me as I am aware of its relevance to us, as we are unravelling the stories behind the formation of the present social structure and the way we live now.

Outside of school, I have read Paul French’s “North Korea, State of Paranoia” which enhanced my understanding of how North Korea is able to maintain its totalitarian regime. Tracing similarities and differences between North and South Korea today, as well as West and East Germany before 1989, has led me to ponder on whether the German reunification could provide clues to political leaders today on how to approach North Korea to give up its regime and failing Juche system. Studying History interests me as it allows me to consider such thought-provoking questions while being mindful of not taking events out of context.

I have picked up important skills from participating in business competitions that would be favourable when pursuing a History degree: presentations have empowered me with confidence when speaking publicly and I have learnt to pick key points from complex case studies to justify arguments. My communication, leadership and time management skills were developed during my service as a prefect, vice-captain of a sports house and student council. Volunteering regularly at church gave me the opportunity to listen to first-hand accounts of war when I served and joined a group of elders for lunch. Listening to how wars were so real to them hit me with a realisation that studying history isn’t only about mastering an impressive amount of information, but also having the stories of the past become alive and vivid to us.

Engaging with the complex past is a challenge I would be delighted to take on – to try to make sense of conflicting perspectives, rather than be spoon fed the easy simplifications of History, as the richness of the past cannot be undervalued.

DISCLAIMER: The personal statements on this site are strictly meant as a starting point to give an idea of how successful personal statements look like. There is no surefire formula to writing good personal statements. COLLEGELAH IS STRICTLY AGAINST PLAGIARISM OF ANY KIND. UCAS employs a plagiarism check system that checks applicants’ work against other published writing so please DO NOT PLAGIARISE.

This personal statement is part of this student’s successful admission to study Psychology in the University College London (UCL), King’s College London (KCL), University of Warwick, University of Edinburgh and University of Manchester.

A friend of mine who at the age of 15 could not do basic reading or writing although receiving similar education as others of his age was deemed dumb and branded hopeless by his teachers. They believed he would never amount to much in life. Assimilating their beliefs, he became withdrawn as he felt left out and ashamed of himself. He was later on diagnosed with dyslexia. Upon learning of his condition, his family was forced to migrate to another country to cater for his educational needs. After receiving a suitable educational approach, he defied expectations and is now an engineer.

This dawned upon me how the needs of individuals like him tend to get neglected and how intervention could help provide them with a better quality of life. It saddens me to know how individuals with learning disabilities are more often than not misconstrued as black sheep. I believe it is unfair to rob them of their self-esteem just because their learning is impaired. Further reading on dyslexia gained me the insight that people with dyslexia have a larger right-hemisphere in their brains as shown by anatomical and brain imagery studies and that may be the reason they have significant strengths in areas controlled by the right-side of the brain. This insight made me realise that limitation in literacy does not necessarily reflect cognitive limitation. With proper support, I believe they can be capable. Moreover, the lack of educational support, albeit growing, for individuals in need of special aid here in my home country spurred me to pursue Psychology to help fill in the void and to help special needs individuals realise their true potential and subsequently lead fulfilling lives.

My desire to learn more about special education compelled me to arrange for a job shadow in Early Autism Project Malaysia (EAP), an initiative providing individualized intervention treatment programmes for children on the autism spectrum. My time spent in EAP not only opened my eyes to the different needs of children with autism but also taught me patience and helped strengthen my understanding about autism and psychological theories by observing its application in the field setting. For instance, giving praise for appropriate behaviours in attempts to reduce inappropriate ones sees the application of the operant conditioning theory by B.F Skinner. On top of that, I learnt to be more perceptive, especially so to individuals with difficulty communicating their thoughts and needs.

Having been privileged to be part of a student exchange programme to Thailand during high school showed me the influence of culture on one’s thinking and its effect on personality makeup. It additionally taught me effective communication skills, despite language not being a common ground. My communication skills were further enhanced when I was elected as the Assistant Head Prefect where I had to deal and work with a myriad of people. Apart from that, I have learnt invaluable leadership skills and teamwork, grasping the importance of working as a cohesive team rather than pursuing individual goals. Representing my state in bowling has taught me the essence of discipline and grit, including the very skill of adapting to various situations especially in a match. I also learnt to handle stress when I was expected to perform under pressure during matches and to juggle long hours of training with studies. I enjoy music and arts. Despite not receiving formal music lessons, my interest drove me to self-teach guitar and my efforts granted me a position to serve in my church’s music ministry.

Given the chance, I aim to equip myself with the essential knowledge and skills in hopes of turning my passion for educational psychology into action. Having been sponsored by the Public Services Department of Malaysia, I am already halfway through achieving my goal as I would have access into the education system upon completing my higher education.

DISCLAIMER: The personal statements on this site are strictly meant as a starting point to give an idea of what successful personal statements look like. There is no surefire formula to writing good personal statements. COLLEGELAH IS STRICTLY AGAINST PLAGIARISM OF ANY KIND. UCAS employs a plagiarism check system that checks applicants’ work against other published writing so please DO NOT PLAGIARISE.

This personal statement is part of this student’s successful admission to study Biotechnology at the Imperial College London, University College London (UCL), King’s College London (KCL) and University of Edinburgh.

When I was seven, I started reading Chinese martial arts novel, which was how I started to develop an interest in biology. i know it might sound strange on how those two could relate, but allow me to explain. These characters in the novels seemed able to manipulate certain aspects of their body, such as blood flow and the flow of an internal energy, simply known as “chi” to hasten the recovery of an injury site or to expel poison of sorts. This got me thinking of ways on how humans could possibly achieve such incredible feats. Were there nerves connected to the valves in their blood vessels so that they can close and open them voluntarily? These questions were frivolous but they lead me down a never-ending tunnel of scientific wonder and hunger.

Besides satisfying my curiosity about circumambience, I indulge in science studies to fulfill my desire of winning, in a marathon of education. Student stress can be overwhelming at times. Thus I took up jogging to help to revive my weary soul. However, my stamina has always been remarkably low despite my best efforts to enhance them. Thus, I secretly wished to overcome my limitations through scientific research and breakthrough, much like Dr. Abraham Erskine had done to Steve Rogers, in the movie Captain America. At first he was a frail and sick man but after being treated with the Super-Soldier Serum, the metabolism in his body has been enhanced to the zenith of human potential. The human body is truly a scientific marvel with no boundaries.

Jogging is a part of my evening routine, but I still remember there was once I could not jog due to bad haze conditions. The smoke haze from the fires in Indonesia has been brought over by monsoonal wind and enveloped our country, Malaysia. Ever since I was illuminated of the various health problems posed to us by the haze, I had become concerned about environmental issues such as global warming and had hoped to involve myself in aiding the grand cause of restoring our environment.

I was the president of the robotics club back in secondary school. In 2011, our team decided to build an environmentally concerned robot which was able to detect and collect waste along the street. It was powered by solar energy and with its internal claw and various sensors, wastes were sorted accordingly for recycling. This Fully Automated Waste Disposal Robot won us the state champion and the excellence award in national level. To reduce carbon dioxide emission and save the earth, solar car is one of the most efficient solutions. I was given a chance to represent my school in a solar car competition.  During the duration of the competition, my team members and I solved the overweight problem of our car by using polystyrene casing instead of wood. Our car performance had also been improved by utilizing some gear ratio and circuit theories. As a result, we won as the first runner-up in state level.

Biology fascinates me in the way that it explains all minor yet crucial processes take place in living organisms. Like a watch made up of tiny cogs and screws, every single living cell that looks rather alike is able to work together and perform a specific function. It showcases the importance of compartmentalization and gives me an insight into the necessity to maintain individuality. Nevertheless, I never neglect chemistry, physics and mathematics throughout my education because all of them are interrelated and to master biology, they are of equal importance.

I am currently doing my A levels on pure science and like the knights-errant who never hesitate to help the less fortunate in martial arts novels I used to read, I hope I am able to use my scientific knowledge to make a meaningful difference to the world. To achieve that, I wish to pursue further studies at your university and gain precious knowledge that will surely be of upmost importance for me to pursue my dreams of introducing a better life to humanity as a whole.

DISCLAIMER: The personal statements on this site are strictly meant as a starting point to give an idea of what successful personal statements look like. There is no surefire formula to writing good personal statements. COLLEGELAH IS STRICTLY AGAINST PLAGIARISM OF ANY KIND. UCAS employs a plagiarism check system that checks applicants’ work against other published writing so please DO NOT PLAGIARISE.

Shaun Kua read Law (Jurisprudence) and graduated from the University of Oxford. This personal statement was part of his successful admission to the University of Oxford, University College London (UCL), King’s College London (KCL), and University of Exeter. He also claims that in hindsight, if he was given a chance to reapply for universities, he will not take the same unorthodox approach in writing his personal statement.

A disclaimer: I am not one of those whose legal ambitions coalesced in the early days of his childhood.

I confess, I only ever wanted to do Law, since the good fortune (or misfortune) of being elected President of the Students’ Council in my secondary school. If I had to describe my presidency, being the “bridge between the students and the School was like tiptoeing on a tightrope. Between two skyscrapers. During a hurricane. My rock was the students’ insistence on changes to school policy, my hard place – the persistence of the School Management with the lack thereof. Did I consider resignation? Of course. Did I resign? No. Why? Because I had the rare honour of reaching out to and sharing in the ideas of the foremost, most eminent ne’er-do-wells, rebels-without-cause and all-round no-good troublemakers of my alma mater. Undoubtedly, some of their opinions, more often than not, differed greatly from my own, much less the ideals held by the Management. But, when some of our initiatives ran into crippling opposition from the Management, their wholly unexpected enthusiasm reminded us to push on. It sparked the realization that championing this alternative perspective is where the Council had to make a difference, igniting my desire to continue giving such views a fair hearing as an adult.Yet to be fair, formulating school rules and regulations is never easy. School rules are the product of an explosively violent laboratory reaction between theory and practice. They essentially prescribe the School’s ideals, and yet paradoxically must take into account purely descriptive realities, say, practicalities of student life, so as to remain reasonable and thus valid. At this juncture, I must also give due credit to Mr. Hobbes, Mr. Locke, Mr. Kant and Mr. Bentham for influencing my views, individuals I became acquainted with over the course of three years in Lincoln-Douglas debate (though there were times when Kant was simply befuddling) They were of great assistance to me in Model United Nations (MUN), when I had to formulate practical solutions to complex real-world situations (they just had to assign me the United States, on Afghanistan and Iraq). Let’s hope the debaters and MUN delegates I coached in my school and college years felt the same way.

Returning to Law, I maintain that school policy and the law are similar, if not the same, in essence. They are the imposition of the ideals of a higher authority to human behaviour. Very interesting. Of course, I run the risk of presuming too much about the nature of the law. Perhaps for that reason, I am not too insane to spend three weeks of my glorious summer attaching at two reputable (read: exhausting) law firms in Kuala Lumpur. An example of a naive assumption of mine being shattered by the realities of the office would be that lawyers had shorter working hours than doctors (law firms are just better than hospitals at putting fine print into human resource advertising). Indeed, this profession is one of pure passion, a notion I try to drill into the malleable minds of my juniors in the Law Society of my college, slightly disappointing perhaps, but at least one unclouded by “The Practice” and “Boston Legal”. In conclusion, I find the study of law to be in a comfortable position of praxis, as compared to philosophy (too wishful) and political science (too apathetic). If I found such fascinating complexity in the omnipresence (not necessarily good) and omnipotence (assumed) of school policy, I believe I will find the same or even more in the law. Of course, similarly, I hope to gain the same emotional fulfilment of advocating for the silent in court or in the boardroom.

About the Author: He enjoys reading richly-written novels, devising contrived birthday present schemes, getting lost in Wikipedia and jogging, in his free time.

DISCLAIMER: The personal statements on this site are strictly meant as a starting point to give an idea of how successful personal statements look like. There is no surefire formula to writing good personal statements. COLLEGELAH IS STRICTLY AGAINST PLAGIARISM OF ANY KIND. UCAS employs a plagiarism check system that checks applicants’ work against other published writing so please DO NOT PLAGIARISE.

This personal statement is part of this student’s successful admission to the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), University of Bath, University of Warwick, University of Lancaster and University of Leeds.

It was thanks to a history documentary which sparked my interest in accounting and finance. Watching the Great Depression intrigued and encouraged me to explore the workings of the financial world especially the regulation aspects. It genuinely fascinated me as to how a simple act of buying on the margin could have the potential to plunge some of the world’s leading economies into deep recession culminating in the rise of political extremists such as Adolf Hitler. My marvel at the significance of financial malpractices inspired me to pursue a career in accounting and finance specialised in banking. I wish to participate in the development of an effective surveillance framework to ensure the safety and soundness of financial institutions. Hence, I decided to apply for my country’s central bank scholarship which I believe is the stepping stone in realising my dream. To prepare myself better, I chose to study a Business elective in high school and deepened my research on the roles of central banks. I also sharpened my knowledge and soft skills by entering debating competitions. All my efforts paid off as I was successful in my endeavour. Now, I am halfway towards achieving my aspiration.

To improve my understanding further, I read “The Alchemists”. This highlighted cheap and easily accessible credits as the culprit of most banking failures and economic recessions. Cheap credits provided by Stockholms Banco created the first recession in history and this was repeated in 2007 when subprime mortgages led to the credit crunch. These financial malpractices necessitate and justify the roles of central banks, not only as a regulatory body, but also as a lender of last resort. The fact that the latter was a role which was already conceived by Bagehot in the nineteenth century known as “Bagehot’s Dictum”, only emphasises the importance of a central bank in maintaining the stability and sustainability of a country’s economy. This interests me greatly. The book showed me that the financial world is a dynamic and constantly evolving entity and in order to reinforce my understanding of it, a degree in accounting and finance is essential.

Taking up Accounting and Economics in A-level helped to widen and deepen my knowledge in the subject area which I gained during high school. For example, Accounting exposed me to how a company can improve its performance through capital reconstruction, even in the event of making continuous losses. Learning the theory of the firm helped make sense of economic crises whereby financial institutions resort to providing substandard loans in order to gain supernormal profits. Mathematics also benefitted my studies by improving my accuracy and in interpreting graphs through statistics. Being my school’s MENSA treasurer also gave me the opportunity to apply some basic accounting principles into managing the club’s funds. I hope that the knowledge I gained will better equip me for my university education.

My determination to become an accountant spurred me to cultivate important traits associated with it. My involvement in the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Medal Award helped to mould me into a holistic individual and provided me with the opportunity to serve the community. The most memorable experience throughout this programme was my involvement in an English Proficiency Camp whereby I had the chance to teach rural school children English through a variety of interesting modules prepared by students from my high school. Interacting with the participants of the Camp was both an eye-opening and humbling experience as I witnessed their eagerness to learn, their enthusiasm to contribute in team activities and their willingness to make mistakes. Their desire for knowledge fuelled my determination to learn more about my field of choice.

I would very much appreciate the opportunity of reading Accounting and Finance at university in order to contribute better as an aspiring accountant in my country’s central bank.

DISCLAIMER: The personal statements on this site are strictly meant as a starting point to give an idea of how successful personal statements look like. There is no surefire formula to writing good personal statements. COLLEGELAH IS STRICTLY AGAINST PLAGIARISM OF ANY KIND. UCAS employs a plagiarism check system that checks applicants’ work against other published writing so please DO NOT PLAGIARISE.

This personal statement is part of this student’s successful admission to the University of Cambridge for Chemical Engineering. Due to anonymity reasons, he/she does not wish to have his other offers revealed.

They say it’s the small things in life that we must treasure and that indeed is the case with Chemistry. Every single nano-scale particle matters. Such is the beauty of Chemistry, and by extension its industrial application, Chemical Engineering. I am keen to study Chemical Engineering because I believe its work has a widespread impact on global society and the environment, with the field of renewable and green energy playing an ever more important role.

In lower sixth I wrote a research paper on hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen vehicles, where I examined the chemical workings of hydrogen cells and their green emissions – water only. I have also looked for ways to manufacture the hydrogen needed for these fuel cells in a clean way, finding artificial photosynthesis and electrolysis with photovoltaic cells attractive solutions. I made a presentation for Cypark Resources Berhad while studying in high school, where I was able to learn about their solar plants and crystalline photovoltaic cells. I obtained a distinction in an Organic Photovoltaic Cells course by the Technical University of Denmark, where I explored their cheap costs, flexibility, and easy deployment.

Coming from a state that relies heavily on oil and its by-products, I believe Malaysia’s dependence on non-renewables can be reduced with photovoltaic cells, and in turn with hydrogen manufacture. With abundant sunshine, the efficiency of photovoltaic cells deployed here will be far more consistent than in seasonal countries. Besides that, having a booming oil and gas industry also helps the hydrogen economy and our fossil fuels provide a valuable alternative to producing hydrogen. We can use our fossil fuels for steam reformation processes, converting our rich natural reserves into hydrogen fuel and taking us one step closer to the hydrogen future. The convenient installation of organic solar cells will also bring down the industrial costs, paving the way for widespread hydrogen infrastructure. In future, perhaps nuclear fusion will provide green energy as per Michio Kaku’s “Physics of the Future”.

In secondary school, the simple explosive mixture of hydrogen and oxygen, when lit with a burning splinter, ignited my interest in the subject. I find interactions between various chemicals absorbing, especially when such reactions have a large impact on how we live our daily lives. Propene, for example, is dangerous and flammable but when polymerised, becomes the lid of Tic-Tac boxes. A-Levels have taught me how the steam reformation of methane in Chemistry, which produces hydrogen for the Haber Process can be applied to Malaysia’s fossil fuels to generate hydrogen. Physics, on the other hand, has exposed me to semiconductors and their photoelectric properties, and how this is applied in photovoltaic cells. The theory of electron-hole pairs and photo-excitation of electrons is applicable even to organic photovoltaic cells. Mathematics complements this by rounding out my knowledge with the crucial skills synonymous with an engineer’s work.

Outside the classroom, I am President of my college’s Debate Union, and represented my college at an International Debating Championship in 2014. I was also selected for the State Debate Team in 2012 and was Head Prefect of my high school, where I introduced a Regulations booklet, endorsed by the headmistress during my tenure. I speak English, Chinese and Malay, and feel that the leadership, soft skills and languages I learned will complement my skills as an engineer, especially in a global working environment where interaction and communication are increasingly important. I am a Grade 7 classical guitarist and have composed two original piano pieces, one of which I have performed at a college concert.

I believe my academic track record, research, and co-curricular activities have prepared me to pursue a Chemical Engineering degree at a prestigious UK university, to bring the future closer to us; and make it happen.

DISCLAIMER: The personal statements on this site are strictly meant as a starting point to give an idea of how successful personal statements look like. There is no surefire formula to writing good personal statements. COLLEGELAH IS STRICTLY AGAINST PLAGIARISM OF ANY KIND. UCAS employs a plagiarism check system that checks applicants’ work against other published writing so please DO NOT PLAGIARISE.

Chin Hua Jun is currently a first year undergraduate pursuing BSc in Statistics with Finance at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). This personal statement was part of his successful admission to the LSE for Statistics with Finance, Imperial College London for Mathematics with Statistics for Finance, King’s College London (KCL) for Mathematics with Management and Finance, University College London (UCL) for Statistics, Economics and Finance, and University of Warwick for Mathematics, Operational Research, Statistics and Economics.

The financial aspect of football such as transfer fees and player wages has always intrigued me as a fan. Browsing through the financial reports of clubs, I gained a greater understanding of how they operate especially with record earnings from broadcast and sponsorship deals. It was surprising to find out that player wages take up to 70% of revenue; I feel this model is unsustainable in the long run. Through my personal research, I learnt how inflation in football differs from actual inflation and how transfer fees have grown at a faster rate compared to the price rise of general goods. My interest was piqued by UEFA’s introduction of Financial Fair Play Regulations to improve the financial health of European club football. Reading into these regulations, I identified several flaws in the system such as tying expenditure to revenue which creates a widening wealth gap between smaller and globally established clubs. The techniques utilised by football clubs to adhere to these rules such as amortisation of transfer fees has also impressed me. The complex financial background of football has compelled me to gain a deeper understanding of the theoretical and practical aspects of finance.

My love for statistics started by reading about counter-intuitive probability puzzles such as the Monty Hall and Birthday Problems and stories like Galton’s usage of a bean machine to show the normal distribution. This was further developed by my interest in sports where the usage of statistics is essential to modern analysis. I am enthralled by the skillful manipulation of simple data to form meaningful statistics. These data are used by a wide range of people, regardless of statistical knowledge, which showed me how simple yet versatile statistics can be. The documentary “The Joy of Stats” enlightened me about its history, application, and role in various fields ranging from astronomy to health. The use of probability theory in finance and economics has drawn my interest as it is integral in intricate processes like calculating risk or cost-benefit analysis. Quantitative representations of abstract ideas appeals to me as it provides a clear and objective view. I hope to expand my ability and interest in statistics to effectively and precisely apply it in the field of finance.

As a child, I attended Olympiad Mathematics classes weekly which sparked my interest in Mathematics from young. I furthered this interest by independently solving mathematical puzzles through creative methods; this taught me to combine logical reasoning and analytical skills to solve problems. In Economics, I enjoy studying about foreign exchange and inflation as they are seen on a global level. The interconnectivity of all the topics has trained me to think on a larger scale by considering their relationships. Physics has helped me master applying learned concepts to solve problems. In these subjects, I constantly use graphs and quantitative methods to prove my findings. Hence, I developed a curious and inquisitive mind that emphasizes understanding ideas and causes before proceeding.

As a member of St John Ambulance Malaysia, I was involved in their fundraising events for multiple years; this educated me on the finances behind NGOs and the struggles they face. Leading my division to collecting the second highest amount of funds despite having less members shows my ability to work with limited resources. In total, I have amassed around 150 hours of public duty service in which I voluntarily rendered first aid assistance at events where I had to think on my feet to treat casualties. As Vice President of my division and a qualified first aider, I devoted time to teaching my juniors first aid which has fostered my leadership and patience. Being a member of this global organisation has helped me mature into a more selfless person.

The world of finance is an exciting field of boundless possibilities and I hope to start off my journey with an education from a top university.

DISCLAIMER: The personal statements on this site are strictly meant as a starting point to give an idea of how successful personal statements look like. There is no surefire formula to writing good personal statements. COLLEGELAH IS STRICTLY AGAINST PLAGIARISM OF ANY KIND. UCAS employs a plagiarism check system that checks applicants’ work against other published writing so please DO NOT PLAGIARISE.

Earlier this year, the Russell Group published their 2015/16 “Informed Choice” pamphlet, accompanied by a video, explaining the value and importance of taking facilitating subjects as a dominant part of a student’s Pre-U subject choices. These facilitating subjects, e.g. the sciences, history, maths, further maths, languages, English Literature and geography, as the lobbying group for the 24 research-intensive universities characterised, open up a wide range of options for university entries and career choices you will enjoy and. Just choose the traditional subjects that are related to the course that you want to further your studies i. Indeed, across the Russell Group universities and more specifically the top echelon of this group e.g. Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, facilitating subjects go far more than mere “opening up wide options”. Their “preferred subjects” reflect their umbrella group’s facilitating subjects, albeit with more restrictions and are seen as subjects to rigorously formulate the skills necessary for different courses at their universities. LSE and certain colleges of Oxford and Cambridge openly publish a list of preferred and non-preferred subjects. Generally, non-traditional ones such as accounting, business studies, sociology fall into the latter group. Indeed, reading the Russell Group’s “Informed Choice” pamphlet and watching their videos will immediately kick this question into your mind – “Why does this seem so aloof of the Malaysian context?” Very clearly, “Informed Choice” is meant for the British audience. Malaysian schools/colleges are shaped very differently, likewise the subjects they offer and the normative biases that parents, peers and teachers tend to have.

Where should I start?

Generally, you will have to consider three things – the prerequisite subjects that your preferred courses have, the preferences your universities/courses have and whether or not you will be able immerse yourself into the joyous journey of learning the subject. While the first two are technically important criteria that you should never forsake, the last one tend to be underrated. I cannot stress how important that is, given that you will be spending more than a year studying that subject, dedicating your soul to the devil just to go to university. You might as well just murder yourself over a subject that you will enjoy.

Let’s deal with the bits where you’re faced with a Hobson’s choice i.e. the first two criteria are relatively simple to fulfil. Go on to the websites of the courses that you are applying to and take note of the required and suggested subjects. For instance, Physics at Oxford requires applicants to have studied Maths and Physics at Pre-University level and likewise, Medicine at Edinburgh will require Chemistry and Biology. In the “Informed Choice” pamphlet, though insufficient and inadequate, there is a generalised list of prerequisites for commonly applied courses. These are essential subjects that you must take to be considered by your prospective universities.

Figuring out which subjects are not preferred by your course also follows a similar approach. Though most universities will not make it explicitly clear that they don’t prefer certain subjects, Cambridge and LSE definitely publishes their own non-exhaustive list. Nonetheless, their list generally applies to the other Russell Group universities, having all collectively expressed that they prefer at least 2 facilitative subjects before releasing their first series of “Informed Choice” guidelines. There are, however, caveats regarding this. The most competitive courses and universities tend to prefer applicants not to have any “soft” subjects e.g. media studies, accounting (even for accounting applicants), law (yes, for law applicants as well) at all. Keep in mind that while not all non-facilitative subjects are soft subjects, all soft subjects are non-facilitative. Indeed, there is hardly any strict definitions of what soft and hard subjects are but the generic implication is that hard subjects formulate the core skills that are useful in undergraduate study rather than specific skills that soft subjects tend to train. Another generalisation that you can take note of is that traditional subjects such as economics, the hard sciences, maths and the ones in the list of facilitative subjects are also considered to be hard subjects. Moreover, there are some statistical backing to this preference. In 2008, Durham University ran a study on the relative difficulty of different A-level subjects and there was an obvious trend that across all 5 statistical models used, “traditional” and facilitative subjects tend to be harder than otherwise. Though more than half a decade ago, deviations hardly were significant across years.

The last bit is fairly straightforward at face value, choose the subjects that you will actually enjoy. Of course, if you’re eyeing on the more competitive universities e.g. Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial, look only at the traditional/hard subjects. However, considering the different circumstances UK-bound Malaysians can be in – being enrolled in a college/school with limited, bundled subject choices, restricted by IBDP requirements or simply limited by the choices available via STPM/Matrikulasi, this is a tricky question to answer.

In the foreseeable future, accessible Malaysian schools/colleges are probably not going to teach subjects like Latin, politics, geography, history and classical studies. And you have just told me that I shouldn’t take accounting, business studies, law and a whole lot of subjects that are bundled together. Just what subjects should I take?

Indeed, unless you have the luck and privilege of being admitted to the more resourceful schools such as KTJ, KYUEM or ISKL, your choices of subjects will be restricted. For one, elite schools like these offer almost every traditional subjects there is, including A-level Geography, Music, History and IB French, German etc. If you are in schools of this sort, you don’t have any problems. Just choose the traditional subjects that you will enjoy and are related to the course that you want to further your studies in. Elsewhere across the board, the hard sciences and maths are often bundled together in for A-level, Matrikulasi colleges and STPM schools. The problem begins for students who wish to take on the social sciences/humanities in competitive universities. Often, traditional humanities/social sciences are bundled together with non-traditional ones e.g. “English Literature, Sociology, Law”, “Economics, Maths, Accounting, Business Studies” for A level, “General Studies, Accounting, Economics and Maths” for STPM.

Under these restrictions, it is important to recall that the social sciences and humanities often don’t require a stringent traditional social sciences/humanities subject combination at pre-university. History degrees don’t even need history as a prerequisite and would see English Literature as an indication of having the sufficient skills to cope with such a reading and writing-heavy subject. Likewise, economics only required maths. Given that, it is perfectly fine filling up the rest of your subject spots with the sciences or any other available traditional subject. Keep in mind that if you are not eyeing at the most difficult universities, it is alright to take the bare minimum of 2 traditional and/or facilitative subjects that the Russell Group universities collectively prefer. Given that, a subject combination such as “Economics, Maths, Further Math, Physics” will work for economics, accounting and similar subjects while “Maths, Chemistry, Biology, English Literature” seems adequate for law, history and accounting.  It is unlikely for IB students to face this problem, making it almost uniquely one for A-level, Matrikulasi and STPM students.

For the latter, where schools tend to be inflexible and under-resourced in terms of subject choices, it is perfectly fine writing to the universities themselves when applying, explaining the restrictive circumstances you are in. Of course, it is unreasonable to make someone who wants to apply for a history course to take a full “Sejarah, English Literature, Ekonomi” combination where that combination is unlikely to exist except in the more resourced urban schools. Likewise, expecting a Matrikulasi student to take that subject combination is also unreasonable given that it doesn’t exist. On top of explaining about the circumstances you are in to the universities, your UCAS personal statement should then be able to immensely display your academic potential in the course that you are applying. In that case, just take whatever that’s available to you e.g. “Science Stream” or “Accounting Stream”; it’s another Hobson’s choice.

Wait, just to be clear, you’re saying that even if I want to be a lawyer, accountant or business manager, I shouldn’t be taking law, accounting and/or business studies if possible? What about taking economics and business studies together?

The short and perhaps, grim, answers are yes and no respectively.

As explained earlier, the three subjects listed in the first question i.e. law, accounting and business studies are soft subjects. They should only be taken, at best, an additional subject. For applicants to the most competitive universities, just avoid them. Lawyers don’t need to do law at A-level (I doubt this subject is an option for other examinations). In fact, building the core analytical and writing skills via a mixture of essay subjects e.g. Literature, History, the social sciences and/or the hard sciences tend to be more preferable at university. Likewise, building up the quantitative, analytical and thinking skills via a mixture of traditional social sciences, mathematics and hard sciences would be more preferable and helpful.

For the second question, economics and business studies are considered to be overlapping subjects. However, economics is a traditional subject while business studies isn’t. Given that, you should either take economics and ditch business studies or take business studies as an additional subject and ditch economics. Generally, however, where economics is available as an option at your school/college, taking business studies isn’t a wise option. For instance, LSE explicitly has this preference.

Just what if I have no idea what do I want to study at university?

That then depends on the extent of uncertainty that you have. We will use a scale with 3 spectrums here – “I can’t decide between studying course A and B”, “I know that I want to study something in, per se, the humanities but I have yet to settle on a particular course” and “I have absolutely no idea”. Notice that this is a more in depth dilemma for A-level students given the immense options that they have. For IBDP, STPM and Matrikulasi students, choosing your subjects along these principles will do.

For the first one on the scale – “I can’t decide between studying course A and B”, it shouldn’t be highly difficult to take up subjects that fulfil the needs of both courses. Of course, this is under the assumption that there are some significant differences between them e.g. PPE and Medicine. Notice that these two are rather extreme but it is not impossible to take up, for instance, Biology, Chemistry, Maths and also History; of course, taking physics as well would be good and it is unlikely that your uncertainty will persist for more than 3 months, whereby thereafter you can drop the more unrelated subject. For more similar choices such as PPE and Economics or Chemical Engineering and Physics, incorporating the needs of both subjects won’t be difficult e.g. English Lit/History, Economics, Maths and Further Maths fulfil the former while a standard Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths combination works for the latter.

Moving up the scale and we find ourselves in a situation where a student only managed to narrow down to one particular field. The key idea then is to take up traditional and facilitating subjects within that particular field. It is perfectly fine going cross-disciplinary e.g. a mixture of social science, humanities and sciences as long as the field that you wish to be in is reflected in your subject choices. Applicants who might be set on the social sciences but unsure of which particular course to further their studies in might be interested in taking a quantitatively analytical subject e.g. maths and economics, coupled with another more qualitative one e.g. geography to cater for the less quantitative-centric social science courses. On the contrary, while it is generally normal alright to apply for the more maths intensive science subjects e.g. Physics, Engineering with a full natural science with maths combination, that is hardly optimal. The best solution is to decide as soon as possible, preferably within a 3-month period.

Lastly, for the “I have absolute no idea what I want to further my studies in” students who will have a seriously difficult time figuring out which subject combination will be best. The issue with most standardised qualifications is that your options are generally restricted. As per mentioned earlier, you should be deciding as soon as possible before finalising your subject choices, optimally within a 3-month period of starting your course, so that you will be able to catch up with the work done by your possibly new classmates. Generally, in terms of subjects, the idea is to have a mixture of subjects from different fields. Although conventional wisdom is that taking a pure natural science plus maths combination opens up all doors, that isn’t necessarily the case. Most of the humanities and some social science courses will want to see indication of academic writing and reading capability, from which subjects like English Literature, History and the Languages can indicate. Given that, start off with a mixture and then narrow down your course choices and Pre-U subject choices as soon as possible.

So is this the holy book that I must follow?

No, this article is entirely advisory and based on the team’s research, experience and access to various sources of information.

Written by: The CollegeLAH Team

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Ever thought of acquiring a scholarship from the Central Bank of Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia (henceforth referred to as BNM), that not only covers pre-university education but extends to degree level as well?

Traditionally, BNM’s application only opens after the announcement of SPM results in the beginning of March. So it was as unexpected to me as to everyone else when we were informed that Bank Negara was offering the scholarship before SPM had even commenced. The selection process involved going through an interview process in December after our SPM ended in November with only our trial results.

As far as I know, this application could only be done through the school, and students who applied were mostly nominated by their teachers. Together with my other three peers, I applied for the scholarship using trial results and a compilation of certificates.

If you are aiming for the scholarships after SPM or other relevant qualifications, a piece of advice is to be actively involved in co-curricular activities that you enjoy and would potentially benefit you, alongside a good academic performance throughout your secondary education. Taking part in competitions, events, and sport tournaments, especially in your final years of secondary school, can set you apart from other applicants with your own unique talents and ‘flavour’.                                      

The notice that I was shortlisted for the interview came in early December, not long after SPM ended. Before the interview, we were required to do an online IQ assessment which consisted of these few sections:

1) Dimensions (Personality)

This assessment measures your behavioural preferences at work. It explores how you prefer to manage your relationships with others, your approach to tasks, and your sources of energy and motivation.

2) Elements (Verbal)

This assessment measures your analytical reasoning skills in relation to interpreting written information and reports.

3) Elements (Numerical)

This assessment measures your analytical reasoning skills in relation to using figures, data and statistics.

4) Elements (Logical)

This assessment measures your reasoning skills in relation to understanding and manipulating abstract or logical symbols.

In mid-December, I attended the interview along with two peers who were shortlisted. The interview process was largely similar to the usual interview process that commences every year in April-June after SPM results are released. We were provided accommodation in Lanai Kijang, BNM’s effectively private 5-star hotel, for three days and two nights (the duration of the interviews).

1st Day:

My first task was a half-hour essay which asked me about my thoughts and passion towards the course I chose, Law, and essentially, how I would contribute to the bank through my expertise in it. From my inference, this stage evaluates your thought process in structuring your essay and giving reasons that support your claim about your passion towards the course. Your aims in contributing to the bank should illustrate how you plan to apply and practise what you have gained from your degree in fulfilling the bank’s policies and aims when you serve your bond in the bank. My suggestion is to be realistic but optimistic when stating your views/ideas; don’t worry about using bombastic language that might sound overly flowery which you might use incorrectly in the end.

2nd Day:

The second stage was carried out in Sasana Kijang, BNM’s learning/research centre. We were divided into groups of 7 in which we worked throughout the day. The first few rounds were judged by three ‘facilitators’ who were also the assessors. The first round was an ice-breaking session that allowed me to know my teammates better, including their origin, course of choice etc. Speaking from experience, do grab the chance of this session to establish good rapport among yourselves and leave the assessors with a good first impression of yourself, especially when you work your way through dismantling the barriers among peers.

The following few rounds involved working as a team. One of them was a role play session when each of us was assigned a role in a company, whereby we were supposed to perform our respective expertise by drafting policies that were aimed to gain high profits for the company, and at the same time, increase welfare of the citizens. After completing the task within the stipulated time, I was bombarded with questions from the assessors who role-played as the board of directors about the drawbacks of the policies we had just drafted as a team. In the midst of convincing the BOD of your policies and defending your ideas, it is imperative that you are able to think critically while remaining calm and composed. Do bear in mind to show humility and respect to your teammates and assessors when expressing your views as the attitude you adopt in problem-solving and teamwork could be a deciding factor. Also make sure that you give adequate speaking opportunities to your teammates and always understand that your efforts should be collective and invariably for the greater good of the team as a whole. Remember that dominance does not equate to leadership.

The subsequent rounds comprised of competitions with other groups, judged by a larger number of assessors. Our first project was to design a theme park that could generate the highest revenue possible. If memory serves, one of the other winning criteria was best design. Like all the other rounds, it is important to choose a leader among yourselves who can lead the team to ensure efficiency and unity. As a leader, it is important that you embrace the opinions of your teammates before coming to a decision quickly. Go ahead and assume this responsibility if you are elected by your teammates who think that you possess these qualities. And if you are not the leader, fret not because it would not affect your chances of showcasing your abilities by contributing to the group as part of the team.

The next challenge was to build a boat that could support the most number of marbles without sinking into the water. The challenge in this project was not just deciding on the design of the body of the boat but also carefully planning our expenditure on the materials that could be optimally utilised to keep the boat afloat as we had to build the boat with minimal cost. We then made a presentation of our model by explaining the features of our boat and analysing on how well it worked.

3rd Day:

We had to do an individual presentation of a topic assigned to us. My topic was regarding how we can encourage children in Malaysia to think about personal finance and managing their money wisely. Firstly, we were given some time to illustrate and write the content of our presentation on a few pieces of mahjong paper. We then had to present it to a new set of assessors individually. Likewise, the assessors questioned us thoroughly about the content we were presenting about and expected to see a positive and spontaneous response. STAY CALM because candidates usually panic when they face the assessors alone. Ideally, by the third day you should be rather “experienced” in performing under pressure without being hindered by anxiety. Give it your best shot!

Through this stage, the interviewers generally want to know about what you have gained from previous stages, the reason of you choosing the course, and how suited are you for the scholarship and working in the bank. They expect honest and well-explained answers from you, so just be yourself when doing that.

The entire interview experience was enriching and definitely something worth a try. This exposure to an intensive interview process enabled me to pick up essential interview skills and know what qualities are expected of me in interviews. Making preparations before the interview is advisable, in the sense that you read up on the philosophy of their function as the Central Bank and also think of the reasons why you have chosen the course. This does not mean that you memorise scripts before the interview because this tactic would not work most of the time. It may cause you to be too rigid in making spontaneous response when you are being interviewed.   

After being awarded the scholarship, I joined the January intake at Kolej Tuanku Jaafar, doing an 18-month A-levels course. It is a great college to be in and I am extremely grateful to the bank for granting me this opportunity. Although being a January intake student for A-levels is a challenging task, it is a fun experience and I am enjoying the time I am having now. As there are expectations to be met as a Bank scholar, my advice is to appreciate your time when doing your A-levels and this effort will definitely pay off and bear fruits of success. As a matter of fact, Bank scholars are required to gain entry into the top-notch universities Bank Negara lists out. Hence, be wise when selecting your priorities and do not waver in your determination of achieving what you have set out for. Make the journey worth it at the end of the day as you have attained what could be a dream every student would have – a free education in a prestigious university abroad.

I hope this article is useful in giving you inspirations and insights into attending a scholarship interview be it in Bank Negara or other scholarship avenues. “STUDY SMART and PLAY HARD”- a meaningful catch phrase from high school.

ALL THE BEST!!!

Si Qi Chung is currently doing A-Levels in Kolej Tuanku Ja’afar as a January intake and will hopefully read Law in the United Kingdom. She is a curious and eager learner and will pursue what she finds interesting. This aspiring lawyer is also a great watercolour painter who has won numerous awards.

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South Australian Matriculation (SAM) or presently known as SACE International is an Australian-based pre university program that heavily involves the combination of coursework and final examination, which ultimately leads you to earning an Australian Year 12 qualification. As for myself, I did SAM back in 2013, in which I joined during the July intake at Taylor’s College Subang Jaya (TCSJ) and graduated at the end of 2014. Being somewhat clueless on the things to be done and the course to pursue after getting my SPM results, I definitely had to take my own initiatives to get more insights on all the choices available, which led to countless ‘new tabs’ on my web browser and various perspectives obtained from those who were undertaking different pre-university programs. In the end, the Australian matriculation or specifically, the SAM program won me over, primarily due to the weightage of its internal assessments; SAM students are assessed based on 70% college-based assessment (coursework) and only 30% final examination, which I believe is a huge advantage for myself. For most colleges that do offer the SAM program, the entry requirements generally demand students to get a minimum of 5 credits (subject pre-requisites do apply).

After deciding the program that I was most interested in while still keeping my options open for the rest, the next step was to look out for any forms of financial aid that could help me reach my desired higher education. I was very lucky to be in the position where my results gave me the eligibility to apply to various scholarships that were provided both by the government and NGOs. Most of these sponsors require applicants to achieve straight As for their SPM examination but there are definitely other options to consider such as government loans, university scholarships and bursaries depending on your results. The application process for me involves a great deal of anxiety with tons of patience and persistence; receiving declines after declines can definitely took a toll on you but with great perseverance, I received a full scholarship offer from MARA to pursue my studies to my preferred university in Australia, where I would first have to undertake SAM program in TCSJ and pass the ATAR requirement fixed by the sponsor, which was a minimum score of 85 at that time. Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is the primary criterion for entry into most undergraduate-entry university programs in Australia. During my MARA application, students were given a choice to pick two from the numerous options available, varying to the courses and countries that it is offered in. The Australian program offered was without a doubt my very first option and I was very fortunate to be one of the few selected for the program. For MARA scholars, students were selected based on their performances during the psychometric test and the interview conducted.

In SAM, it is expected for one to be relentlessly on the go and working consistently on the assignments at hand. There is going to be a time where you might be having multiple tests for different units on the same day of your assignment’s submission, which can be pretty challenging to get used to. It took me a while to get adjusted to the fast-paced study routine and I was very lucky to have a steadfast support system around me with thoughtful peers and selfless lecturers that always kept me on my toes. Personally, I believe that good time management, continuous effort and perseverance are the three prominent traits that needs to be grasped in order for one to excel in SAM. It is important to realize that everything requires effort and perseverance, that executing actions is equally as important as believing and dreaming big. Always get a head start on the work assigned by doing prior research and discuss it with your lecturers to get constructive feedback; it will help you to improve your work further and thus enhancing the final piece. Don’t be embarrassed or anxious to consult the lecturers for any difficulties faced throughout the course, they are more than willing to guide you and improving your overall experience in SAM. Discussion among peers can be very helpful in completing your assignment, as you’ll realize that more in depth knowledge on the subject matter can be attained with all the different ideas shared. Being consistent with your internal assessments grades throughout the program can definitely help you to improve your final results, as it holds a considerably higher weightage than the external component and it also allows you to have more control on your intended outcome.

SAM arranges various motivational talks from university representatives and experienced alumni around the world, where they share valuable insights that can help you further in deciding the right course to pursue. Being rather new on the procedures in applying to different universities in Australia, Taylor’s University Placement Services were my literal backbone throughout my university application process. They were always very supportive and willing to dedicate their time to help the students in getting the intended university. Their years of experiences definitely gives an advantage to the students; they have recognized what these universities are looking for in potential students and they always made sure all the forms were filled with relevant details before any submission, leading to an excellent service in entirety.

SAM also offers various opportunities for students to discover their hidden passions and interests apart from education with a variety of clubs and societies to choose from, ranging from sports, arts and affiliations. Through SAM, I have found one of the most moving forms of excitement I could ever accomplish, which is the opportunity to inspire another person and thus making a difference in their life, no matter how small it could be. One of my most valuable SAM experiences was the chance to get involved with the MADU (Made a Difference United) society, which is a special community-based program held only under SAM in TCSJ. In MADU, we had different groups of students doing weekly visits to shelter homes around Subang and Petaling Jaya areas, where we provide mentoring sessions for the students there through our ‘Buddy System’. Basic tutoring as well as engaging and developing long-term relationship with the students to discuss their future endeavors 
were our primary roles as mentors. Our objectives are to inspire and reinvigorate the significance of school education for these students and emphasizing the importance of skill integration in real life. From MADU, I realised that when you have the chance to inspire someone, that person may then inspire others and as this chain reaction grows, an entire generation could be inspired and lives would definitely be changed.

Throughout my one and a half years in Taylor’s, Both SAM and MADU have played a huge role in shaping the person that I am today. It has taught me the need of inculcating wisdom in education to develop a more confident, successful generation. It has equipped me with the much-needed soft skills and life skills that are stressed upon throughout the course particularly with all the assignments and tasks given. I’ve also learned how to manage a team efficiently, adapt quickly to any sudden and unexpected changes and socialize well with people from different background. Another life lesson that I’ve gotten and persistently remind my mentees and myself with is that we are our own limits; nothing could stop us from achieving our goals other than ourselves. It is essential for us to believe in ourselves when nobody else would and our beliefs will then determine our actions and that actions will evidently determine our results. If we have the passion and desire to reach for our own ambition, with hard work, constant dedication and much needed self-confidence, that could be achieved effortlessly.

Razana is going into her second year of university, where she is undertaking an engineering degree in Monash University, Australia under Majilis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) Scholarship. She is a music enthusiast with a profound passion for photography and suffers severe ornithophobia.