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By SAMUEL CHUA
About
5,000 undergraduates attended the carnival at Yale campus.
FOR all
the top-notch institutions and varied experiences that the United States has to
offer, the key feature of an American education is still the open, broad-based
nature of the system.
Students
are given the opportunity to take courses in various fields. One can take
courses as diverse as French literature, Japanese history and advanced calculus
all in the same term.
Students
have the freedom to refrain from declaring a major for their first two years of
study, which allows them to explore their interests and ultimately producing
well-rounded graduates. This can be engineers well-versed in early European art
or businessmen educated in philosophy.
The
system is especially appealing to students who have a wide spectrum of
interests and believe that a good university education should not tie them down
to just one or two.
Students
also get exposure to people of various cultural, national and social
backgrounds, opportunities to intern with global organisations such as the
United Nations and benefit from the abundance of academic, technological and
financial resources.
Financial
resources
Many
leading colleges offer need-based financial assistance to most qualified
students. If a student gets admitted, the university will help to pay whatever
the family cannot afford.
At Yale
University, for example, undergraduates with an annual family income of less
than USD45,000 (RM166,500) need not pay anything. The course fee is about
USD40,000 (RM148,000) a year.
The Yale
library is well-equipped for research.
Many
other top colleges in the US offer financial aid to varying extents – but generally,
if a college finds a student deserving of admission, they are usually willing
to extend some form of financial assistance.
This is
in stark contrast to the situation often faced by Malaysian students where a
university or college accepts them, but the cost is prohibitive.
At
leading US colleges, where talent and character matter more than dollars and
cents, the struggle is not to make ends meet after gaining admission; the
struggle is gaining admission – competition for places in these universities is
intense, all the more so among international students.
But it is
a competition that well-prepared Malaysians are certainly capable of
weathering, as the presence of Malaysian students in these colleges shows.
The
process
Students
applying to four-year colleges (bachelors’ degree) will generally need a
pre-university qualification (STPM, ADP, A-Levels, IB). Most universities do
not consider the SPM sufficient preparation for college admission, although if
a student is particularly outstanding, they will not say no.
Generally,
however, one’s chances are significantly better with a pre-university
qualification. Naturally, excellent scores would help, although the University
of Maryland is unlikely to be as particular about your STPM grades as
Universiti Malaya.
Wong
(second from left) with her Yale friends having fun at the Spring Fling
carnival.
Standardised
tests
These are
the standardised tests required for everyone applying to US colleges,
regardless of country or education system.
The SAT I
includes a math (about SPM level) section and a verbal (English reading and
writing) section, which most international students, Malaysians included, would
find challenging.
Yale
tower is an important landmark at the campus.
Students serious
about the SAT would be well-advised to prepare well in advance by reading
widely, honing their comprehension skills and continually expanding their
vocabulary.
The SAT
II, on the other hand focuses on specific subjects (eg Biology, Mathematics) and
are similar in content to most pre-university courses (SAT II Physics would
draw a lot from STPM Physics).
Note that
not all US colleges require the SAT II, but it is advisable to take it
nonetheless, since it is usually considerably easier than the STPM/A-Levels and
helps to give the college an idea of your preparation in the respective
subjects.
The TOEFL
is required if English is not your mother tongue, although students confident
about their English can probably choose to omit this if they wish. MACEE
(www.macee.org.my) is responsible for administering the SATs and TOEFL in
Malaysia, and also offers a wide range of SAT/TOEFL-related resources.
College
application
This may
seem obvious, but it is listed here for a reason – many college application
forms are comprehensive to the point that filling one out can feel like taking
an exam, especially when it comes to the application essays.
Most
applicants to US colleges apply to multiple universities and the amount of
essay-writing becomes all the more daunting – definitely not something you
would want to do overnight. Most application essays come out best with a bit of
thought, planning and inspiration, so students would be well-advised to look up
the questions well in advance.
Additionally,
almost all college applications require recommendation letters from teachers
and school transcripts, so students should look up the requirements early.
In
addition to the technical details, students should know their strengths and
weaknesses, their aspirations and goals, their passion and principles.
This will
help students adapt to the challenges of life abroad. Colleges like Yale are
not just looking to play Santa Claus in extending financial aid to
students.
Students
who are only looking out for themselves are of little value to a university –
it is the students who ask “What do I have to offer and how can I serve those
around me?” who, ultimately, make these universities’ financial investments
worth every penny.
That,
perhaps, is the best thing about an education of this sort – while the student
may obtain his education for “free”, the fact is that it was someone’s gracious
donation in the first place which made that education possible, and as every
well-educated person knows, education is never just about getting but also, far
more significantly, about giving.
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