Hello there!

Just stepped out of your high school life?

Can't wait to leave high school and looking to start your whole new life before you?

You've come to the right place!

Being a scholarship recipient myself, I've always wanted to pass on my knowledge to scholarship finders out there and behold! looking for the right scholarship for you is important as it involves 3 long and lonely years of your life

Just kidding! It'll be the prime of your life

If you're taking your SPM this year, good for you!

It's always better to do research first and be ready

First of all, you will want to ask, 

bitch, before you talk and babble on,

Where to find Scholarships??

1. The Star Scholarship

One of my favorite place to look for as it has hundreds of scholarships with various courses in one stop- The Star Newspaper (DUH)

Almost all reputable universities will sponsor a scholarship with The Star

2. Respective Universities

Go to their websites and always do your research and find out if they provide 100% tuition waiver

If you're good enough, do not stop at 50% tuition waiver or even 20%

3. JPA 

That is, assuming you have 10A's and is willing to fight the war of race-favoritism 

4. Doctorjob.com.my

A list of scholarships is inside and also various tips on which course you should take

My advise? subscribe to them right after you had your SPM/A LEVELS

It'll help to to know what you are interested in and which area you should study

1. Is the scholarship for the course you want?

This is very important as you want to get help in your choice of study, not study just for the sake of getting a degree

If you like to observe people's behavior, there's no point going into finance just because the scholarship is on it

I almost fall into the trap when Taylor's offered me a scholarship on Event Management (Don't judge) but in the end go for a marketing course as I love ideas and creativity

Also, find out if they have twinning program (local degree and overseas degree) as you will have the winning power in job interviews when you say things like "Oh, I have a degree from Oxfords" 

See what I mean?

2. The environment of the university

Talking about Taylor's, do know that they have a facility fee of MYR4000 to pay for every semester

And this is before accommodation and living expenses

If your family cannot afford it, leave it

You got this scholarship, who says there isn't another one?

Also, if the university is in the city, your expenses is bound to be higher so weigh your financial situation and make the decision wisely

3. Facilities

You may not think much of this but the facilities of the university is very important

How can you study if their university's library is not fully equipped?

How can you study if their canteen only has malay food and you are starving for three years?

How can you study if the hostel is packed and dirty?

Get my point?

4. The "terms and conditions"

This is the tricky part, try to ask around those who you know is a scholarship recipient of the university that you are interested in

Some universities say that you need to maintain a certain CGPA but is not strict on that criteria

However, some universities DO mean it and you will have to say bye bye to your scholarship even though the difference is 0.001 

Also, if you are taking A Levels, find out if the university will continue funding you when you go on to your degree or they are just funding your A Levels and you need to go through the whole process again

5. Know what you want

The twinning program I was talking about?

It may sound all glorious and looks like a degree on a golden platter

Do know that you will need to work extra hard to maintain your grades as their marking standard is higher

If you just want to get your fist class honors degree without working on it, go for those local ones as their standard is lower

However, if you want that overseas degree, the "Oh, my degree is from Oxfords" pride, work hard!

So what if you are eating plain Gardenia for the two years? The one year in UK or US or Australia will be worth it. frankly speaking, it is one of the things I regret most, not getting a 2+1 degree

xx,

Charis