Now, before you get confused about the education system, I'll clarify about it. I studied in the Malaysian education system from Standard 1 (Year 1) until Form 5 (Year 11). This trend ended straight after you finish the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) (Malaysia's national high school examination). I used to think that Form 5 is the final year of high school. You can imagine how shocked I was to learn that it is not recognized by other countries around the world.
So what should you do after Form 5?
Simple: Sijil Pendidikan Tinggi Malaysia (SPM), foundation, diploma, A-Levels, International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP) or American Degree Transfer Programs (with various names but you get the point), matriculation and other that I might not even know.
Okay, so I didn't really graduate from high school (although I've received a high school leaving certificate) and needed to study for another one/two years to finish high school?!
Yes, but the good news is, to make you feel that you are going through a new level of education, we call it PRE-UNIVERSITY STUDIES. Brilliant. And you get to go to COLLEGES, instead of universities. Sounds like a good deal right?
For your information, colleges in Malaysia cannot hand out Bachelor's degree (and anything above), only universities (which needs to receive approval from the Ministry of Education) can offer you Bachelor's, Master's and PhDs.
Great, that sounds...ugh....interesting! So, now what?
You choose. As I was under the National Bursary Program that allows us to continue our studies overseas in the Times Higher Education top 20 universities if we meet the requirement (which will then be withdrawn due to the national economy in January 2016), I can only narrow down my options to Cambridge A-Levels (CAL) & IBDP.
To be frank, it was a hard choice to make. I wanted to go for a broader curriculum that challenges me intellectually (go, IBDP!), but I wanted to study a subject thoroughly in a 100% examination method I was used to (okay, CAL then). IBDP encourages a lot of writing and extra-curricular activities, but hey, I could do that myself if I take CAL too. Eventually, I decided CAL over IBDP because of the location of the college. As I was deciding between Taylor's College Subang Jaya (has CAL only) versus Taylor's College Sri Hartamas (has CAL and IBDP), it is evident to me (considering that I am not planning to drive) that Subang Jaya's connectivity is way better than Sri Hartamas.
What does connectivity get to do with choosing a college?
It really depends on what you want in your college life. I was never the type of student that only focuses on academics. I look forward to going to different events around the cities and meet different people. SO, it is only normal for me to decide on going to Taylor's College Subang Jaya. And since TCSJ only offers CAL, I ended up with CAL.
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| With the iconic letters. |
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| Mon école et moi. |
Disclaimer: It's been a while since I blogged. This would be a very late retrospective post so my memory might not serve me well.
