SUTD and the Imperial interview

The view outside my hostel!

The story of SUTD

How did I stumble upon SUTD was a funny story, it all began with Collegeboard, the SAT administrator. Back when I registered for the SAT, I clicked on a feature to let colleges and universities mail me with any offers and advertisement they had, and SUTD had sent me a mail with a big hook - apply for free!

I know that this wasn't a great factor but it did interested me. After paying fees to apply to 12 universities worldwide, it was refreshing to see a university that didn't ask you to pay something to attempt to enter. Although I haven't heard of this university before but there was nothing to lose in applying to SUTD. In fact, it was great practice in case I need to apply to other universities as well. With that thinking in mind, I completed the application and awaited the other offers.

Around March, SUTD gave me an interview invitation. I remember being interviewed by Prof. Ate and Prof. Jer Ming. They asked me everything that I wrote in the essay, including my chess club leadership, my Leo Club leadership and what I did in my brief stint in robotics club. They seemed to emphasize the last point because SUTD was after all, a tech school. I thought the interview went pretty well as compared to my Cambridge interview. I remember not rehearsing anything for the interview and just being myself. I didn't think much of SUTD then.

Imperial College Interview

In February, I received an interview invitation from Imperial College London (IC). It was to be my first Skype interview but not my last one. I was interviewed by Dr. Connor Myant for IC's newly minted design engineering program. At that time, the Public Service (JPA) department's scholarship was converted into a local scholarship and I was very demotivated. At that point I was thinking what was the point to take the interview anyway. Even if I get accepted, I may not get enough finances to go. I was pretty cynical at that time.

Even with that frame in mind, I still prepared for my interview. I asked for time off from my manager Arun (I was working in Singapore) and prepared my calculator and writing tools. The interview however was not what I expected (I had Cambridge style interview in my mind). Being an interviewer for the design course, Dr. Myant instead asked me to talk about my favourite gadgets and their intelligent design. Then he asked me to design a chair. This was totally different than the Cambridge interview as I felt like I was having a nice long chat with the professor about the products that I liked and their features. There were some mathematical questions of course, but they were not as intense as the Cambridge questions. At the end of it, I even managed to ask Dr. Myant about the possibilities of a scholarship. He said a bit embarrassingly that chances were low.

The Offers

In March/April the results were out. I got offers from both Imperial and SUTD but SUTD offered me much more. They offered me a scholarship together with an exchange program to UCB. I was as elated as I was worried. If I have never heard of SUTD before, chances are will employers out there would never heard of it as well. Will the course even be rigorous? I have been dreaming to study abroad for so long, but I was longing more for countries across oceans, not just across the Causeway. Will SUTD be a good fit? Is it well recognised?

I realized that my problems were SUTD is due to the lack of information on my part. Just looking at the online brochures does not teach me much about SUTD so I visited the campus. After all, I was working in Singapore. I also contacted a Malaysian senior who is studying there and had a nice long chat with him. Through him and my own eyes, I found SUTD to be a very nice place. In place of the traditional science labs, SUTD has fabrication labs for you to manufacture your own products. The library lets you use Kindle to access e-books and the whole campus gives you a modern vibe. The industry has recognized SUTD well as its first batch of graduates (in 2015) were reported to have the highest starting salary. The partnership with MIT ensures that the coursework would be interesting and tough. And as a plus it has the course that I wanted - product design.

Most importantly, if I accepted SUTD's offer, I would have something which is much more valuable - a peace of mind. After applying to 14 universities and not finding a viable path, I was getting exhausted and frustrated. I felt that my life was just a never ending application to colleges. With little support from my parents (in terms of application advice) and mentors, I had been doing this ala lone ranger mode and it was tiring me out. Accepting the offer would mean that I will finally end this uncertainty once and for all and I will have the peace of mind that has enticed me for so long.

There were a few things that I need to consider before saying yes, and that were the possibilities of better options. With SUTD's offer deadline in May, I need to accept it before I even knew the results of my NUS/NTU offers or the replies from the various corporations which I have asked for scholarship. After carefully analyzing the situation and doing some deep soul searching, I reasoned that no offer would be better than this - even scholarship offers to good universities overseas would bond me to their company for long periods. As a result, I have come to the conclusion that SUTD would be the best choice after all.

About my reluctance in accepting the offer, realisation struck that I have not diminished my dream but rather I have attained it. Given the circumstances, it was one of the best outcome that I could have instead of languishing in some place I don't like. It was kind of like "reach for the stars, if you can't do it, you can at least grab the moon" concept. And as young kid from Raub to have achieved this stage of life all by himself, all I can say is that the kid is somehow proud of himself.

At the end of the day, don't give up on your dreams. You might find it to be very hard, but the struggles will eventually make you a better person. Who knows? You might even find yourself amongst the stars some day

"reach for the stars, if you can't do it, you can at least grab the moon."

University of California

Hello everyone, today I'm going to talk about the University of California (UC) application system.

As you all might know, the UCs uses a different system than Commonapp, that is their own UC application system. There are nine UCs in total, but only one UC portal to rule them all (reminiscent of LOTR ehh?).

 The University of California application system is definitely more "mafan"(troublesome) than the Commonapp system, although there are considerable overlaps in filling up the forms. Firstly, you would have to state your family's income to an approximation. Secondly, you also have to fill in your grades from Grade 7 (Form 1) up to Grade 12 (A-Levels) of all the subjects you took. That's right, they do not only need your SPM and A-Levels results, but all the other subjects you took in school such as civic studies, P.E etc. You would also need to explain the grading system in your school which varies from school to school even here in Malaysia.

And there's where the problem lies. As Malaysians we certainly do not study the same topics as the Californians yet we were asked to fill in our subjects in the Californian system. For example, in California the students have to study Maths as separate subjects of Trigonometry, Geometry and Pre-calculus whereas we don't. So how does one rightly interprets the subject in the UC education system. One rule of thumb is to indicate as accurately as possible based on your own interpretations.

Luckily for my year there was a senior who painstakingly compiled all the application info and submitted it to Sunway's International Office of University Placement (IOUP). So those who are studying in Sunway are lucky to have the guide on filling up the UC system there. Anyways if you don;t have it, don't fret. Just translate to the best of your knowledge. There is no definitive right or wrong.

I advise people who wants to apply to the UCs hurry, for application usually closes at 31 November each year. They don't ask for recommendations (except for UC Bekerley which you may submit one)
but you would still have to answer their prompts - yes, I've let the cat out of the bag - more essays!

UC Essays

Prompt 1: Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.
Prompt 2: Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?

The two essays for Freshman are compulsory to be written, and must be within 1000 words for both combined. At first glance, the two seems similar but one is actually more on you while the other is about the world around you.

These topics are good for they are wide enough for people to talk about whatever you feel like while not too wide for you to don't know what to write. And this is the time when I introduced my special companion for writing essay - Essayhell! I stumbled across this essay coaching website while writing my UC essay and it definitely helped a lot.

Ok, that was my take on the UC Application system. For myself, I applied to two UCs, namely UCLA and UCB and got accepted by UCLA while rejected by the other. Although in the end I chose SUTD, it was still nice to know that I was selected out of the largest application pool there - or more than 97,000 people. I have a fascinating story on the essay that I chose to wrote, which you can see here.

Acceptance letter by the Bruins

However, next year I have an exchange program to UCB which means that I have a chance to go one of the UCs at last! And I'll celebrate that with a homemade meme.

That's all folks

Project Insights initiated!

Hello dear readers, today I have decided to start a new project titled "Project Insight" - where I ask my peers to write articles on their thoughts and experiences in the college application process. All the while my blog deals with the nitty-gritty bits, the nuts and bolts, the "how" of the application process, Project Insight will be giving you some tips on answering the "why"s. Hopefully you will see their experience as being meaningful and embark on an educational journey of your own.

Many is better than one

Jon Elster (philosopher) once said that desires can be shaped by opportunities and vice versa. I guess my own desires were shaped by the opportunities opened to me when I was studying A-Levels. The sensation of coming from a small town and upgrading my ideals when I enter Sunway and meeting the geniuses was really an "eye-popper". That was my story, but have you heard about theirs? What inspired them to have such goals? I hope that blog will let you see education abroad as a feasible opportunity and therefore spark your desire for it.

Coincidentally the first person who volunteered an article also likes "Pi", he is non other than the genius Anzo Teh (One of the great people I met in Sunway). Receiving offers from MIT, Cambridge and Princeton, he instead chose to forgo all of them in lieu of University of Waterloo.

This is his story

Decisions, decisions, decisions

By Anzo Teh. Reposted with permission

The commitment date to US institutions hovers near, but I made a firm decision a month ago after receiving all decisions from the 15 universities that I’ve applied to (11 acceptances, 4 rejections).

I’m committing to the University of Waterloo.

Below is an excerpt of the whole process, tinged with the substantial pressure before happiness sank in much later.

1. The application process

Back in the good old days where we were ‘promised’ PSD scholarships by securing admissions into top 20 universities in my field, I joined my A-level comrades to strive hard in every aspect of application evaluation, and to decide between focusing on just a few top picks and trying our luck to more institutions in different corners of the world. My choosing of the latter added to me the toil of facing extra exams (like SAT) and admissions essays, the nervous feelings while sprinting against different sets of deadlines, and the fear upon shortcomings on every single application component and every single exam.

Come semester 3, the workload intensified until it culminated in October: early action for US apps, A2 exams, and Cambridge admission tests and interview. Cramming economics notes and handouts, battling with the clock while writing econs essays, frantically trying to complete my physics past years, chasing myself to fine-tune my college essays, and preparing for the interview at the same time was just too awful to describe here. I vivid remember how I increased my coffee dosage just to cope with all these and how I spent my final October weekend with my mentor to finalize my apps.
This application work subsided shortly then. Remarkably, PSD announced scholarship suspension (then restriction) in January. This prompted me to expedite my scholarship and admission applications to Waterloo. Thankfully, it finally ended on 9th February 2016 when I could officially sit back and wait for decisions.

2. College decisions

The first decision came earlier than expected: a rejection. I spent a few hours in paranoia, thinking of how one possible choice just vanished into thin air and worse still, worrying (mistakenly, though) that it may portend badly about my further applications. Luckily it didn’t last long when some good news appeared in my UCAS Track and in my email, and a month later I secured my first spot on PSD’s top 20 list. Well...gone were the PSD’s scholarships in January, but in February itself the full scholarships from Waterloo and HKUST assured me that everything would be okay.

Back in December, an email from Princeton extricated me from the anxiety of waiting as it instructed me to check my decisions in 5 days time. I woke up at 4am with my parents on the 17th after hours of insomnia, with eyes bleary and mind blurry. I then slumped into disbelief for a whole good week as an orange tiger with “CONGRATULATIONS” appeared on the computer screen, and couldn’t resist myself from sharing this news to my close friends who were with me when I suffered from mind-wreck during the application period. A similar decision got back to me as I accessed decisions.mit.edu on Pi Day 2016, where I suddenly felt the earth moving under my feet and my mind got ecstatic.

My decisions period ended with a few rejections, but I’m thankful for what I had.

3. Making up my mind

Admission talks attended in 2015 helped me to identify several top picks, which are further winnowed by the mixed admission decisions and scholarship packages. Come mid-March, only three are left in my hand:all are attractive in their own ways.

I consequently devoted the final days in March just to evaluate these three universities, weighing not only on what each could offer me, but also on whether the difference in cost of attendance would tip the balance. While I had a preliminary decisions, new opinions everywhere made to re-evaluate my thoughts as the balance went shaky: did I miss out something?

The deadline of reply to Waterloo’s scholarship drew near, and I forced myself to be resolute, being as rational as possible in my evaluation. That’s when the decision on Waterloo was made clear of itself: a not-so-orthodox decision given what I had. Reluctant to say goodbye to the other two, but I felt relieved from this dilemma when I accepted my offer two days before the deadline.

4. Thoughts

The journey of settling myself into a university has been long and tumultuous, and without the people around me I wouldn’t be at where I am right now. Holding acceptances and scholarship letters with me has been a fantasy for me; it’s real now.
I shall therefore express my gratitude to them, including but not limited to: my family members (especially my parents), mentor, teachers, coaches, comrades and friends for their advice, help, recommendations, support and care.

As I kept saying that I’m extremely lucky upon these acceptances, it’s because I’m really lucky to have you all to lend a hand when I need you the most.

On a side note, I understand that my decision on Waterloo may be surprising, but let me assure you that this has been done after conducting thorough analyses. If this sounds surprising (or even disappointing) to you, then I can only promise that I will stay well and thrive there, just like how I should be if I were to accept other offers.

Time to move on, and I’m looking forward to the new journey ahead!


P/s: Anzo blogs too. Follow him if you think he is awesome!

This is the new direction my blog will be taking, a tag team combo of my own technical know how with the stories from my peers. I guess if Anzo could come to such a great decision, none of us can complain if we were not given the best slice of the pie. If you have any suggestions for improvement, please comment below. And if you like this story, please spread the word!