Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
The College Application Process (FULL VERSION)
As a comrade on the quest to find the perfect university, I understand how most of you struggle to answer the million dollar question; “How do I even begin?” Just like the poster hanging from my room wall left by my sister says, “Decide: You can do anything after that”, the first step to university application is the hardest. There’s so much to do that I don’t know how, where or what to start on. I am fortunate enough to have a sister that took the ADP and is now in the States. Now I shall pass on what I’ve learned from my sister and my own personal experiences to you.
As a member of the Do Everything at the Last Minute Club, the biggest hindrance during my university application is the race against time. I took things for granted and thought that if I could do it later, why do it now, right? WRONG! Anything can and will happen at the worst time possible. Mails not delivered, application fee not processed and e-mails left unanswered are just a few very common examples. I started doing my research on universities about 10 months before my transfer and I regretted not starting earlier. Don’t be fooled, you may be transferring in August but most universities’ application deadlines end in February and some even in December. It’s never too early to start planning. I would suggest starting at least a year before your transfer date.
When searching for universities, know what the most important factor in a university is for you. I’ve been on at least 100 websites of universities and there are four things that I always take note of; cost of attendance, financial aid, application requirements and application deadline. Clearly, the cost decides whether I consider the university or not. What do you look for in a university? Does the athletics and location matter to you than the academics? You have to find answers like these. You should also learn basic terms when applying like what is Early Decision, Regular Decision, rolling admission, grant and scholarship? Don’t be lazy…go Google them.
Basically, there are three main types of educational institution in the United States-the universities, the liberal arts colleges and the community colleges. Colleges in the US do not mean that the faculties comprise mostly of teaching assistants. The main difference between colleges and universities is that postgraduate programs are usually offered in universities-therefore, they have bigger campuses and better funding from the government. Certain colleges do offer postgraduate studies but they mostly focus on undergraduate programs. So, when referring to graduate studies, Americans usually use the word university. Community colleges are two-year colleges that offer Associate’s Degrees (Diplomas). It’s pretty common for students after high school to apply to community colleges before transferring to four-year colleges to get their Bachelor’s Degrees. Do not immediately discard the idea of community colleges because they are a great way to save money and they’re also relatively easier to get into than traditional four-year colleges.
Now, what are liberal arts colleges? They are mostly run by private nonprofit organizations and because of this, they do not receive as much funding from the government as public universities. Although, they do receive donations from the public, their cost of attendance are generally more expensive than public colleges. However, they offer more financial aid than most public colleges. For instance, Middlebury College’s tuition costs $43,870 but their average financial aid offered was $37,432 each to 177 students in 2010. That means students that received aid only had to pay $6,438 for tuition. Comparing with a common public university like SUNY Binghamton (ranked #1 Best Value in the nation by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance in 2011) which does not offer any scholarships to international students, Middlebury costs about $8,343 cheaper. This is especially important because international transfer students like us stand little to no chance on receiving any form of financial assistance in American public universities.
Liberal arts colleges offer another form of good education with affordable cost. Middlebury ranks #4 on US News and is simultaneously called Little Ivies whereas Binghamton is at #86 on US News. Do not settle for okay universities because of your financial need when you know you can do much better. Another bonus in liberal arts colleges is the relatively smaller student population. This may not be a plus point for students looking for large campus life but for nerds like me that only care for the academics, it’s good to know that I can get more attention in class. The faculty to student ratio in a typical liberal arts college is around 12 to 1. This means that for 12 students in a class, a faculty member is there to provide academic assistance. In such a small college, everyone basically knows everyone else which provides relationships that can last well over your graduation.
Other than researching on university websites, there are a lot of websites out there that offer unbiased student reviews that I personally think are more informative. One of my favorite websites is www.collegeprowler.com. From top 10 worst things to the hot-or-not scale of the guys and girls, you get to know the dirt on colleges that only students of that college know. You would want to know things like Professor X of Y University is a racist and has never given a proper grade to a student of color.
Once you’re all done with research, it’s time to make a list. List down all your potential colleges and compare them. A lot of people around me are surprised when I tell them that I applied to five colleges. There’s no limit to the number of colleges you can apply to, go crazy with the choices! If you’ve always dreamed of going to Harvard, go ahead and apply because frankly, Harvard students are humans too. However, remember to reserve at least one spot on your list for a college that you know you can get into. Colleges that are affiliated to your current university usually fill the spot because there’s at least a 70% chance of them accepting students.
The real work comes after you’ve decided on your colleges. Make another list, this one for all the documents and tests that you have to take, and the list is long. Get some help from your advisor or a friend to gather the documents. If you have questions, e-mail the admission counselor of the university you’re applying to, but do not e-mail during the holidays because they’re never going to get back to you. If they don’t reply by two weeks, they could be facing some ‘technical difficulties’. If so, you can try looking up the college on Facebook. They would usually have a discussion group there. Keep annoying them with questions until they have no choice but to answer. Don’t feel bad about loading them with questions because that’s their job.
If there are necessary tests that you have to take (and there usually is), take them in advance. I took TOEFL and SAT a month before the deadlines of the colleges I applied to. Fortunately, I did not do badly in both tests but I could’ve done better. If I could meet me that was fresh out of secondary school now, I would force the younger me to take the SAT test right after SPM. First off, I would do better in the Math section because as painful as Add Math was, I learned more math in those two years of Form 4 and 5 than I ever will. Secondly, even if I didn’t do as good as I wanted to, I can reseat for the test again. Who knows? If I did reseat for the test and got a better score, I could be in Stanford University now-taking a class taught by Albert Bandura or talking about the Stanford prison study with Philip Zimbardo over tea.
Written by See Tho Wai Siong
~American Flyer - Spring 2011 Edition~
Head-of-Department, Mr. David Evans Gets Personal with AF (FULL VERSION)
People always call you Sir David. Are you knighted?
(Laughs) No, I don’t know why people do that. It’s sort of a British thing.
Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from?
I’m from Florida, USA. It’s very hot, almost like KL.
What are you into?
I’m into outdoor things, like mountain climbing, surfing. Yes I do surf! But no in Malaysia! There are no waves. I like that kind of stuff. I like a lot of water sports. I like scuba diving. I’m going to have a scuba diving class for us here in ADP if you guys want to do that!
Any experiences in life you would like to share?
There are so many! You couldn’t put them all on a paper.
What about the most unique experience?
Let’s see, I have two daughters, and both of them have finished their degrees. One is a nurse and the other is in elementary school teaching. One of them got married last May, so I thought that was pretty cool.
What do you do during the weekends?
Of course in KL we go shopping! And go looking for hawker food.
Why did you choose this career?
I can really make a contribution to people with American Degree, because I have two American degrees. I have been through this system; I had my kids get through this system. American education is something I know a lot about. In Malaysia there are not many people who recognize how good it is to go over there in the States and get a degree, and how successful you can be once you get it. So I’m over here helping you guys to get it together so that you can make the transition from a Malaysian high school and into American colleges.
If you were to live your life over again, is there anything that you would change about it?
You know what? I eat lunch with the librarian. I do. He’s my friend even though he’s much older than me, and I see how good this guy has it. And I think if I was going to do it over again, I would have majored in Library Science, because a Librarian does perpetual research. He has an intellectual life, he thinks about something, he explores that and he helps people do the research.
What is the one thing you must do before you die?
The one thing we should do before we die, is to climb the highest mountain you could possibly climb. In Malaysia we have Mount Kinabalu but in other countries they have other mountains. I think we should travel around the world, and I think you should learn the language that you thought you would never learn.
Malaysia. What is the good side of it and what is the bad side of it?
The good side of Malaysia is the Diversity here. The food is diverse, the people are diverse, the language is diverse and even the land, you know there’s the beach, there’s the mountains, and there’s the lakes. The worst side of Malaysia is the Government. I can’t tell the reasons because I would wind up in the ISA!
What is your idea of a perfect day?
A perfect day is when I sleep until about 9 o’clock. I usually get up at 6. So I would wake up at 9, put on some nice shorts and a comfortable T-Shirt, maybe go jogging or walking around the neighbourhood. And later I would go for some hawker food for lunch, and then have some activities with some friends in the afternoon. Maybe bowling, maybe snooker, or maybe golf. And then a nice evening with some fresh fruit and maybe wine. That is a perfect day.
Would you rather go bald or grow a wizard beard?
Go bald? I think I would go better with the wizard beard. If you ask Bill you might get a different answer!
What is your favourite food and why?
Malaysian food. As far as prepared food, I really like rendang. I really like rendang, especially if the coconut flavour is really strong, and the meat is tender and soft. My mouth is hungry now! For naturally occurring food, I love durian. I can eat a whole durian right by myself. I like the little kampong durians. I even like durians so well that if you put it in the back of the car, and the car smells like durian, it is okay for me! It’s like air freshener.
Who is your favourite President of America and why?
My favourite President of America is John F Kennedy, because he was president when I was born. I think if John F Kennedy had been president longer, he could have made such a difference for America. For example, I don’t think there would have been Vietnam if John F Kennedy had not lived. I think it would have been a much better country today if John F Kennedy had been president not only for the full term, but then elected for the second term. He was so popular it was such a tragedy when he passed away.
Do you have any advice for ADP students?
My advice to you guys is making your degree a priority. Don’t worry about what your family are doing. Don’t miss your classes just because somebody you know are getting married, you can see them on the weekend. Don’t let other things get in your way of getting your degree. Right now the most important thing in your life is getting your degree. So focus on that, and do it. Get your GPAs high if you can. Once you’ve gotten your degree and beginning your career, which is the time you can live your life the way you want. Boyfriends, girlfriends, cars and other things can come later once you have completed your degree. As for now, let your degree be your number one priority.
Interview by Alicia Kang & Marilyn Chee
~American Flyer - Spring 2011 edition~
Klang's Way of HELP: The Undiscovered Campus (FULL VERSION)
There was a sense of dread when I found out that my only option was to transfer to ‘the other HELP campus’ in Klang. For one, Klang is extremely far away. In fact, it still is. For another, I had no idea what I would be in for.
The first time I arrived at HICT, I thought “Dude, it’s in a shopping mall?”, and I had the hardest time finding the entrance to the college. I kept ending up in the parking lot. Of course, that is mostly because I have a bad sense of direction and I couldn’t seem to understand what people were trying to tell me. When I finally entered the building, I was genuinely afraid.
I had previously spoken to the Head of Department, and he had been very helpful with the things I needed for my transfer, and so, that was exactly what I did. I transferred.
I did not expect that the first day of classes would have me mostly getting lost, going around in circles and having to double back to ask a random stranger to lead me to the ADP office. However, the 3 students sitting by the marketing office were very helpful. I found my way and now I can say I know the place like the back of my hand.
Fun fact: HELP International College of Technology (HICT) will no longer be known as such. It is now going to be known as HELP College of Arts and Technology (HELP CAT).
The campus is located on the 5th floor of the Klang Parade; a shopping mall on Jalan Meru. It is home to a few departments who cater to students that do not plan on transferring overseas but still want to get a degree from a recognized university from a different country. The ADP department in HELP CAT, Klang, is in collaboration with Southern New Hampshire University in the USA. The program allows students to do a 4+0 in BSc (Business) offering majors such as International Business, Business Administration and Marketing. However, students are still free to transfer to SNHU in their final year or do their final 2 years in other US/Canadian Universities if they decide to.
My initial observation of the Klang campus was “Whoa, they have a pretty cool library”, and it became my favourite place to hang out. Their library has 2 levels, many tables, and the sunlight shines through the ceiling. From the library, you can see students playing table tennis to pass the time. Despite that, the place always looks a little empty to me. It is quiet and one can barely see students roaming the hallways.
The college is going to relocate to a new campus in Fraser’s Business Park, Sungai Besi in April 2011. Due to that, in-college activities have been minimal, but as soon as the new campus opens up and everyone settles in, there will be many activities all you people out there should gear up for. Things are being planned even as you read this.
HELP CAT has a system where the ADP Student Council works under an entity known as US Mart. The US Mart plans activities for the students. Elections were recently held and Tan I Ning, also a transfer from HELP University College was made president! Yay us!
The lecturers in HELP CAT are very hardworking and very good at their field of expertise. Although every lecturer has their own personal quirk and like things done a certain way, they always try to adjust their teaching styles to the students needs.
For more info, visit www.helpcat.edu.my or look up the HELP CAT Facebook page and click ‘Like’.
Written by Trisha Teo
~American Flyer - Spring 2011 Edition~
Cooking Tips for a College Student From a College Student (FULL VERSION)
The time spent while trying to obtain a higher education can be a very liberating one. During this formative period of your life, you will be faced with many new experiences and challenges, none of which will be as informative or as enriching as that of living alone for the first time and discovering that eventually you will have to rely on yourself if you want to have any chance of surviving the coming years.
The first lesson you will learn is this: You need to eat. If you do not eat, you will get hungry and you will die. It’s a sad but true fact, and one that many students tend to forget about while studying and preparing for numerous assignments and tests. If you’re one of the lucky ones, you will either have access to cooking facilities or enough money and options to eat out three times a day, every day. If you’re like me, however, you’ll find yourself in a tiny little space with little resources and even less skills to whip up something delicious and nutritious for a reasonable price (come now, let’s be honest: mamak food is great, as are other fast-food options, but the thought of eating it for every meal makes my stomach recoil in horror).
While staring at the boxes and Styrofoam cups lining my desk, I remembered a trick my mother used: by adding mushroom soup to pasta, covering it with cheese and baking it in the oven for a bit, she managed to create a quick and simple meal that was both healthy and delicious. Widening my eyes at this revelation, I quickly tore open a pack of instant noodles and threw away the tiny package of MSG-laden goodness that it came with and used a packet of powdered soup. The resulting mix after I added hot water was both good and entirely different from what I had been eating for the past year that I rejoiced at the opportunities that I had uncovered before smacking myself in the head for not thinking of it sooner.
If you’ve been reading this far, you might start to wonder what else I was able to ‘cook’ in my room without the use of a stove or refrigerator, and surprisingly enough, quite a bit. When trying to cook in a dorm, you need three things:
· Imagination
· Patience
· An electric kettle
It can be incredibly easy to create a meal with just a few ingredients. For instance, pasta can indeed be cooked using a kettle: all you have to do is add boiling water to the pasta, cover it and wait for about fifteen minutes. The sauce is even simpler: just open a jar and add as much as you need. They keep amazingly well, and a single jar can go a long way (the price may seem a bit steep, but it’s actually just as cheap when you consider how many meals you can make out of it).
Another option that I found fascinating was quail eggs. A carton of them is amazingly cheap, and as long as you eat them all in a couple of days you don’t have to worry about using a fridge to keep them cold (don’t worry, at least three of them are equivalent to one average chicken egg). Cooking them is also simple, yet requires a lot of patience. One method would be to slow-cook them by placing them in a thermos filled with hot water and letting them sit there for a while (this, unfortunately, takes a long time and possibly changing the water at least once. I wouldn’t recommend relying on them for a quick meal). If you decide to open up a packet of noodles, you can crack a couple of eggs open and let them poach in the same hot water the noodles are in.
Like I said, you need an incredible amount of patience and imagination when trying new ideas out. The same might be said about many aspects of life, too, but I digress. As of writing this article, I could barely find websites covering the fine art of cooking without a kitchen, so most of what I could think of was born of hunger and not enough energy to leave my room. In all honesty, living in a dorm room severely limits your food options, and ‘cooking’ with only an electric kettle and some imagination can only take you so far. But when your only options are eating out or relying on the limited variety of instant foods available in the market, you start to get a little creative and more willing to experiment.
Written by Michelle Augustine Barbour
~American Flyer - Spring 2011 edition~
Brickfields; the Food Hideout of KL (FULL VERSION)
At the mere mention of the word Brickfields, a lot of things may go through people’s minds, some good but I can assume mostly not so good, another thing that may come to mind is the food, yes I’m sure you are thinking about thosai , roti canai and banana leaf rice and all the regular Indian staples. But hidden away from sight, behind the glitz, glamour and colourful facade of “Little India”, you can and most definitely will find some pretty good Chinese food.
In a small Hawker centre tucked away silently about 400 metres away from KL Sentral is, in my opinion, one of the best pork noodle stalls in the Klang Valley: Peter’s Pork Noodles. It is located behind Wisma MAB. It is a bit tricky to find but if you ask around for the Mayflower Restaurant, it’s easy. As far as pork noodles go, Peter is the Gordon Ramsay of Pork noodles, the servings are generous and you could get a big bowl with everything in it for under RM 5. In that same hawker centre there is also chicken rice, curry laksa and also one of the best banana leaf rice stalls in Brickfields. So don’t be surprised if you happen to see people eating fried fish to accompany their bowl of pork noodles, but rest assured that it is a winning combination.
Another hidden gem in Brickfields is located opposite the YMCA building in Brickfields, just off the T- junction on the pavement is a stall that has goreng pisang (banana fritters) as it is affectionately known as by Malaysians. It is about a three minute walk from KL Sentral and is impossible to miss because of the hoards of people that line up to get their fix. This stall does not skimp on quality or quantity either, the batter is light and fluffy much like tempura batter and they sell whole bananas unlike typical banana fritter stalls that only give you half or a quarter of the banana. But if you are not there on time or if you go a little after tea time, chances are that they might run out. 
If you ever find yourself having the munchies after a hard day’s night (no pun intended) of partying like a rock star and not knowing what to eat or if anything is open other than Ronald McDonald and his pals, have no fear. At the same spot in which the goreng pisang man works his magic during the day is one of the only chee cheong fun hawkers that I know that plies his trade throughout the night and into the wee hours of the morning (approximately about 5 am). He sets up his modest stall on his motorbike and uses the traditional charcoal stove which gives extra flavour to his chee cheong fun which is a throwback to the old days or so I’m told by the enthusiastic and passionate Mr. Lim who has been doing this for almost 30 years. So you know it has got to be good. For those who are dining in, be warned that the settings are al fresco in every sense of the word i.e. A few stools strewn out on the pavement and no tables in sight but all this adds to the experience of it all and most importantly the taste.
It wouldn’t do justice if I wrote an article about food in Brickfields and snobbishly ignored the Indian side of it, I mean, after all it is the new “Little India”. It would be like a 16 year old girl not finding Justin Bieber to be a musical genius and hot at the same time! If you take a walk around Little India, Indian eateries are a dime in a dozen and they all have the same typical fare. Not to take anything away from the glitz of it all, but it’s pretty much the same thing and it can get a tad bit monotonous from time to time so if you’re looking for a spin on authentic Indian cuisine look no further than Annalakshmi Indian Restaurant. It is located behind the Maha Vihara Buddhist Temple and shares a building with the Temple of Fine Arts therein. This restaurant is run by the volunteers of the aforementioned Temple of fine Arts and payment for the meal is by donation only. This means that you eat what you like and then decide what amount you think is fair to pay. This might not work in a restaurant of lesser quality but after you’re done eating here; you will feel compelled to pay an appropriate amount.
The concept is that of a buffet style where there is an array of dishes to choose from. It’s like the greatest hits of Indian cuisine and everything in between. Like most Indian food, the food here is mildly spicy but so very good. There is a slight catch for all the carnivorous people out there about the restaurant, because it is a part of the temple everything is 100% vegetarian but that does not make a difference because you hardly feel that you are missing any meat in your meal as the dishes prepared are filling in themselves. Another catch is that it is a fine dining restaurant so the dressing has to be smart casual i.e. No shorts and slippers allowed other than that this place is a must try for all those “curry fiends” out there. The restaurant is run with the central theme Athithi Devo Bhava which, in English, means, ‘The guest is God’. With a cool motto like that how can you not want to check this place out?’Written by Timothy Achariam
~American Flyer - Spring 2011 Edition~
~American Flyer - Spring 2011 Edition~
University of Waterloo from An Insider: AF Speaks to Waterloo Student, Gan Hoi Yee. (FULL VERSION)
1. How did you narrow down your choices of university to this one?
ADP promotes Drake and Waterloo for Actuarial Science students. University of Waterloo is world-renowned for their Actuarial Science programme. As a bonus, the fees here are also affordable (looking at the ranking).
2. What are your expenses like? (Accommodation, meals, transport, facilities, miscellaneous)
It depends on your lifestyle. Expect to spend around $700-800 per month (everything included). For University of Waterloo students, we have free access to public transportation (bus). But we must carry our student cards at all times for identification. Every meal costs around $5 - $10. The rent for rooms ranges from $400 - $700. Cooking your own food can reduce your monthly expenses significantly, so please learn to cook before you come here. I spend around $500 every month.
3. How did you adapt your surroundings? (Culture, people, weather)
It was instantaneous. People in Canada are very nice and friendly. It's not hard to adapt to the culture here as Canada is multinational. People from different races and backgrounds can be seen everywhere, just like at KL, so you should get used to it easily. About the weather, even though it might be dry and cold when you first reach here, but believe me, you will get used to it really soon. I honestly love the cold weather here very much. Just get yourself a winter jacket and you’re good to go.
4. Did you experience culture shock? If so, how did you deal with it?
No culture shock. Everything was the way I expected it to be.
5. If you were to pick up a language in Canada, what would it be? Would you recommend newcomers to pick it up too? If so, why? If not, why not?
Personally, I prefer Japanese as I watch anime a lot. So, if I were to pick up a language here, it would be Japanese. French is the national language here aside from English, but people at Waterloo seldom speak French. We communicate mostly in English, Cantonese and Mandarin. So, if newcomers want to pick up another language here, I would recommend them to take whatever that they find interesting so that they will enjoy the process of learning.
6. How's life off-campus?
You have a lot of freedom to do whatever you please, whenever you please. Try to find good landlords; they will help you a lot. In fact, my landlord brought me to Niagara Falls when I first arrived and they always invite me over for meals. The public transport here is very convenient. There are bus stops almost everywhere and the buses come on time. Besides, the university provides an off-campus shuttle bus to take students home at night after evening classes. The driver will drop us off right in front of our house. It’s fantastic here!
7. Any advice for students going through college application? How about advise about life in the US? Or perhaps anything you'd like to say (warn) ADP-ians about?
About application, following the instructions would suffice, as well as the procedures for VISA application. When the semester is in session here in UW, it gets boring as there really isn’t much to do except study. So when you’re on break, go on a holiday to de-stress. Overall, it is certainly a life-impacting experience, if you meet the right people to help you succeed.
Interview by Mayuri Mei Lin
Interview by Mayuri Mei Lin
~American Flyer - Spring 2011 Edition~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)