If you missed the DECC info session on top US institutions this past Saturday, Yeoh Chen Chow (Cornell '05) is organising a three-day workshop to walk students through the exact process of applying to the best schools in the US.
All eight Ivy Leagues will be represented by alumni or current students at the workshop -- I'll be there for Dartmouth -- in addition to 11 other prestigious institutions (if you haven't heard of schools like Brandeis or Mt. Holyoke, look them up on Wikipedia). Interviewers for Harvard, UPenn, MIT, and Cornell will be there as well. This Saturday a lot of us were talking about how we wished this sort of resource had been available when we applied, so if you're thinking about the US for your undergraduate studies, we really hope you'll attend this workshop.
Details:
Date:- 1st Aug 2009 (Sat), 2nd Aug 2009 (Sun), 15th August 2009 (Sat).
Time:- 10am to around 5pm/6pm for each day.
Venue:- Taylor's University College, Subang Jaya
Cost:- RM25 for all 3 days (Payable by cash on registration in Day 1)
The fee will be waived or reduced if you have financial difficulties. To sign up for the workshop and for more information, visit http://usapps2009.blogspot.com/.
Showing posts with label United States. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United States. Show all posts
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Introducing Top US Universities & Colleges
Descartes Education Counselling Centre (DECC), a non-profit organisation will be organising a talk by former and current students from some of the top universities in the United States on getting into these schools.
The panelists will comprise alumni and students from Ivy League universities such as Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale and Cornell, as well as other top liberal arts colleges such as Swarthmore, Middlebury, Bates and Colby.
Therefore all students interested in top universities and colleges in the US for undergraduate study or those who are still figuring out what to do for their tertiary studies, come join us for the talk at:
Students will also learn about the unusual perks and opportunities offered under the US education system (foreign study programmes, self-designed curriculums, freedom to explore personal academic interests, etc.), aspects of a vastly different culture, and student life. To top it off, we have an interactive session, where you can mingle around and talk with the students and alumni yourself personally.
All are welcome and attendance is free.
For more information, please contact Ms Teh Joo Shin @ jshin48 (at) gmail (DOT) com.
The panelists will comprise alumni and students from Ivy League universities such as Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale and Cornell, as well as other top liberal arts colleges such as Swarthmore, Middlebury, Bates and Colby.
Therefore all students interested in top universities and colleges in the US for undergraduate study or those who are still figuring out what to do for their tertiary studies, come join us for the talk at:
Introducing Top US Universities & Colleges
Date : 25th July 2009 (Saturday)Confirmed panelists include:
Time : 11am-4pm
Venue : Auditorium, Sunway University College
- Nathaniel Tan, Harvard University ‘03
- Yeoh Chen Chow, Cornell University ‘05
- Hwa Yang Jerng, Bates College ‘03
- Emily Chan, Colby College ‘11
- Ng Eng Han, Dartmouth College ‘10
- John Lee, Dartmouth College ‘11
- Andrew Loh, Swarthmore College '10
- Anand Pillai, Northwestern University '04
- Joan Low, Middlebury College '12
- Lim Su Ann, Columbia University '12
- Philip Loh, Olin College '13
Students will also learn about the unusual perks and opportunities offered under the US education system (foreign study programmes, self-designed curriculums, freedom to explore personal academic interests, etc.), aspects of a vastly different culture, and student life. To top it off, we have an interactive session, where you can mingle around and talk with the students and alumni yourself personally.
All are welcome and attendance is free.
For more information, please contact Ms Teh Joo Shin @ jshin48 (at) gmail (DOT) com.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Malaysian Students in the US
The US based Institute of International Education (IIE) recently published a report on foreign students in the US. I thought that a few of the findings from that report is worth noting, some of which are relevant to Malaysia.
The top 25 'sending' countries, from the IIE website, is as follows:
Rank Country Total Under Graduate
1 India 83,833 15% 71%
2 China 67,723 15% 71%
3 Korea 62,392 45% 38%
4 Japan 35,282 63% 20%
5 Taiwan 29,094 26% 58%
6 Canada 28,280 48% 44%
7 Mexico 13,826 58% 31%
8 Turkey 11,506 29% 57%
9 Thailand 8,886 26% 58%
10 Germany 8,656 37% 43%
11 United Kingdom 8,438 52% 31%
12 Saudi Arabia 7,886 43% 16%
13 Nepal 7,754 67% 26%
14 Hong Kong 7,722 67% 21%
15 Indonesia 7,338 63% 23%
16 Brazil 7,126 49% 37%
17 Colombia 6,750 45% 41%
18 France 6,704 33% 43%
19 Kenya 6,349 64% 27%
20 Vietnam 6,036 68% 22%
21 Malaysia 5,281 63% 24%
22 Nigeria 5,943 60% 31%
23 Pakistan 5,401 52% 37%
24 Russia 4,751 40% 49%
25 Venezuela 4,523 60% 26%
Some observations:
(i) Firstly, it is not surprising that the largest number of students come from India and China. What is not shown here is that the number of students from Indian have almost tripled and those from China have almost doubled since 1995. There was a small drop in the number of China students post 9-11 but have already exceeded the pre-9-11 levels in the last couple of years.
(ii) Secondly, there is no strict correlation between the level of development of a country and the breakdown between undergrads and postgrads from that country. For example, Japan sends more undergrads than grads to the US as does the UK as well as Turkey and Thailand. India and China sends a lot of grad students than undergrads even though they are developing countries but many other developing countries send more undergrads than grads, Malaysia being one of them.
(iii) Thirdly, not shown here, is the fact that the number of students from South East Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand) have decreased drastically since the Asian currently crisis. The number of students from these countries have roughly halved since the Asian crisis as students have presumably flocked to less expensive options like going to Australia and for many Malaysians, choosing to to 2+1 or 3+0 programs (many of which send students to the UK and Australia). There is one exception which is Vietnam where the number of students going to the US has more than tripled since 1998/1999.
What we can glean from this information which might be useful for Malaysian policymakers?
(i) Firstly, I can't help but notice, especially after my time here in the US, that the many graduate students from China and India will form the backbone of research efforts only only here in the US but also in their respective countries as these researchers return home or form collaborations which researchers in their respective home countries. Malaysia cannot compete in absolute terms but what it can try to do is to target some of the researchers who might not be able to find attractive enough jobs in the US to do research or to teach in Malaysia. Now, I know that many of you are going to say that we end up recruiting 'rejects' but I would probably prefer to hire a so called 'reject' with a US based PhD compared to someone who doesn't have a PhD, as is the case with many of the lecturers in Malaysia. You can be sure that Singapore, either NUS or NTU or SMU or some of the biotech firms, are reaching out to many of the researchers, who might for whatever reason, not want to remain in the US after they complete their PhDs. (Fulbrighters like myself for example who have to leave the US after we obtain our degrees)
(ii) Secondly, the statistics show that there are approximately 1300 Malaysians who are doing some sort of graduate degree here in the US. Many of these are doing their MBAs and other Masters programs but there is also a significant number who are doing their PhDs. Why not try to recruit some of these students to go back home to Malaysia? As I understand, there is some effort being undertaken by the MOHE to interview Malaysian graduate students, mostly in the West Coast. I think this is a good start but I think the the universities should be given more autonomy and incentives to have recruiting efforts themselves. It would be difficult for a MOHE bureaucrat to recruit a biochemistry PhD especially if the PhD holder is interested in the research environment of the specific field in specific Malaysian universities.
Recently, I discovered that many Taiwanese academics who studied in the US (for their PhDs) actually returned to Taiwan to teach in the public universities. As a result, many Taiwan universities have excellent political science departments (my field) with many academics who publish prolifically. I would not be surprised if such is the case for many other departments in Taiwanese universities as well. If Taiwan seem to be able to attract back many of its native sons and daughters, perhaps Malaysia can learn from their example.
(iii)Lastly, I don't think we should be too concerned that the number of Malaysian students going to the US is decreasing (from a high over well over 10,000 students to just over 5,000 not. At one point in time, Malaysia was probably a top 5 'sending' country to the US, especially in the mid 1990s when the economy was booming and the exchange rate was 2.5RM to 1USD). I've said this before and I'll say this again - that it's probably more economical for the Malaysian government to send sponsored students to Australia and perhaps the UK compared to the US where it's more expensive and where it takes a longer time to finish a PhD.
I also don't think that it's a problem if more Malaysian students are choosing 2+1 programs which let them go to the UK or Australia since many of the 2+1 programs do not involve the top tier universities. In other words, it doesn't really matter whether you go to the University of Queensland (Australia), Sheffied University (UK) or the University of Western Michigan (US). It's probably more important, through initiatives like the US education fair, to emphasize quality over quantity i.e. getting into good liberal arts programs which have good financial aid policies.
Don't get me wrong, the US is still a great place to study. But I think where the US education system has an edge is in the liberal arts colleges (no other equivalent in the UK or Australia) and in the top tier colleges (both state and private). And if you can get into a sponsored PhD program here in the US, I would also encourage you to come here. All or any of the top 100 research universities (state or private) in the US are great research institutes. The challenge is to get into such a program.
The top 25 'sending' countries, from the IIE website, is as follows:
Rank Country Total Under Graduate
1 India 83,833 15% 71%
2 China 67,723 15% 71%
3 Korea 62,392 45% 38%
4 Japan 35,282 63% 20%
5 Taiwan 29,094 26% 58%
6 Canada 28,280 48% 44%
7 Mexico 13,826 58% 31%
8 Turkey 11,506 29% 57%
9 Thailand 8,886 26% 58%
10 Germany 8,656 37% 43%
11 United Kingdom 8,438 52% 31%
12 Saudi Arabia 7,886 43% 16%
13 Nepal 7,754 67% 26%
14 Hong Kong 7,722 67% 21%
15 Indonesia 7,338 63% 23%
16 Brazil 7,126 49% 37%
17 Colombia 6,750 45% 41%
18 France 6,704 33% 43%
19 Kenya 6,349 64% 27%
20 Vietnam 6,036 68% 22%
21 Malaysia 5,281 63% 24%
22 Nigeria 5,943 60% 31%
23 Pakistan 5,401 52% 37%
24 Russia 4,751 40% 49%
25 Venezuela 4,523 60% 26%
Some observations:
(i) Firstly, it is not surprising that the largest number of students come from India and China. What is not shown here is that the number of students from Indian have almost tripled and those from China have almost doubled since 1995. There was a small drop in the number of China students post 9-11 but have already exceeded the pre-9-11 levels in the last couple of years.
(ii) Secondly, there is no strict correlation between the level of development of a country and the breakdown between undergrads and postgrads from that country. For example, Japan sends more undergrads than grads to the US as does the UK as well as Turkey and Thailand. India and China sends a lot of grad students than undergrads even though they are developing countries but many other developing countries send more undergrads than grads, Malaysia being one of them.
(iii) Thirdly, not shown here, is the fact that the number of students from South East Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand) have decreased drastically since the Asian currently crisis. The number of students from these countries have roughly halved since the Asian crisis as students have presumably flocked to less expensive options like going to Australia and for many Malaysians, choosing to to 2+1 or 3+0 programs (many of which send students to the UK and Australia). There is one exception which is Vietnam where the number of students going to the US has more than tripled since 1998/1999.
What we can glean from this information which might be useful for Malaysian policymakers?
(i) Firstly, I can't help but notice, especially after my time here in the US, that the many graduate students from China and India will form the backbone of research efforts only only here in the US but also in their respective countries as these researchers return home or form collaborations which researchers in their respective home countries. Malaysia cannot compete in absolute terms but what it can try to do is to target some of the researchers who might not be able to find attractive enough jobs in the US to do research or to teach in Malaysia. Now, I know that many of you are going to say that we end up recruiting 'rejects' but I would probably prefer to hire a so called 'reject' with a US based PhD compared to someone who doesn't have a PhD, as is the case with many of the lecturers in Malaysia. You can be sure that Singapore, either NUS or NTU or SMU or some of the biotech firms, are reaching out to many of the researchers, who might for whatever reason, not want to remain in the US after they complete their PhDs. (Fulbrighters like myself for example who have to leave the US after we obtain our degrees)
(ii) Secondly, the statistics show that there are approximately 1300 Malaysians who are doing some sort of graduate degree here in the US. Many of these are doing their MBAs and other Masters programs but there is also a significant number who are doing their PhDs. Why not try to recruit some of these students to go back home to Malaysia? As I understand, there is some effort being undertaken by the MOHE to interview Malaysian graduate students, mostly in the West Coast. I think this is a good start but I think the the universities should be given more autonomy and incentives to have recruiting efforts themselves. It would be difficult for a MOHE bureaucrat to recruit a biochemistry PhD especially if the PhD holder is interested in the research environment of the specific field in specific Malaysian universities.
Recently, I discovered that many Taiwanese academics who studied in the US (for their PhDs) actually returned to Taiwan to teach in the public universities. As a result, many Taiwan universities have excellent political science departments (my field) with many academics who publish prolifically. I would not be surprised if such is the case for many other departments in Taiwanese universities as well. If Taiwan seem to be able to attract back many of its native sons and daughters, perhaps Malaysia can learn from their example.
(iii)Lastly, I don't think we should be too concerned that the number of Malaysian students going to the US is decreasing (from a high over well over 10,000 students to just over 5,000 not. At one point in time, Malaysia was probably a top 5 'sending' country to the US, especially in the mid 1990s when the economy was booming and the exchange rate was 2.5RM to 1USD). I've said this before and I'll say this again - that it's probably more economical for the Malaysian government to send sponsored students to Australia and perhaps the UK compared to the US where it's more expensive and where it takes a longer time to finish a PhD.
I also don't think that it's a problem if more Malaysian students are choosing 2+1 programs which let them go to the UK or Australia since many of the 2+1 programs do not involve the top tier universities. In other words, it doesn't really matter whether you go to the University of Queensland (Australia), Sheffied University (UK) or the University of Western Michigan (US). It's probably more important, through initiatives like the US education fair, to emphasize quality over quantity i.e. getting into good liberal arts programs which have good financial aid policies.
Don't get me wrong, the US is still a great place to study. But I think where the US education system has an edge is in the liberal arts colleges (no other equivalent in the UK or Australia) and in the top tier colleges (both state and private). And if you can get into a sponsored PhD program here in the US, I would also encourage you to come here. All or any of the top 100 research universities (state or private) in the US are great research institutes. The challenge is to get into such a program.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Mock Interviews
How many times have you mumbled , shook your legs, and chewed bubble gum while talking to others, without realizing it?
In a university interview, communicating effectively can be your ticket to see the world, learn under world-renowned faculties, and get a prestigious degree. Descartes Education and Counseling Center will be conducting a one-on-one mock interview with you, then take a video of your progress, and finally replay it to help you rectify any problems during your mock interview, for FREE.
Interviewers representing world-renowned universities will give you insight to what a good interview entails, and will advise you against more than just mumbling, shaking your legs, or chewing your favorite bubble gum during interviews!
On the same day, Descartes Education and Counseling Center (DECC) will be having an official launching. Be sure to learn more about DECC and don't forget to check out the future plans/events of the center.
Details:
Who?
In a university interview, communicating effectively can be your ticket to see the world, learn under world-renowned faculties, and get a prestigious degree. Descartes Education and Counseling Center will be conducting a one-on-one mock interview with you, then take a video of your progress, and finally replay it to help you rectify any problems during your mock interview, for FREE.
Interviewers representing world-renowned universities will give you insight to what a good interview entails, and will advise you against more than just mumbling, shaking your legs, or chewing your favorite bubble gum during interviews!
On the same day, Descartes Education and Counseling Center (DECC) will be having an official launching. Be sure to learn more about DECC and don't forget to check out the future plans/events of the center.
Details:
Who?
- Ms. Chook Yuh Yng
Yuh Yng holds a Masters in Engineering from Trinity Hall, Cambridge. She currently heads the Sales Department of Jobstreet.com, the very successful online recruitment website. - Dr. Ong Shien Jin – Interviewer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Shien Jin graduated from MIT with a degree in Mathematics and went on to complete a PhD in Computer Science in Harvard University. As an educational counselor for MIT, he conducts interviews for MIT applicants in Malaysia - Mr. Bakthiar Talhah – Interviewer, Princeton University
As Regional Director for PFC Energy and Director of the Asian Downstream Practice, Mr. Talhah has vast experience in the field of global energy and investment opportunities. Mr. Talhah holds an Engineering degree from Princeton University.
Sunday 9th of September 2007Where?
Time: 1 pm to 4 pm
Descartes Education and Counseling CenterThose interested in registering for the mock interviews can send an e-mail to descartes.ecc(at)gmail.com with a brief description of their own background and the DECC team will get back to you as soon as possible.
55-1 Jalan SS21/1A,
Damansara Utama,
47400 Petaling Jaya.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
An Introduction to the Residential Liberal Arts College
The following article was written by Yap Yaowen, currently a sophmore at Kenyon College. You can access his personal blog here. Frankly, I think that more Malaysians should apply to and study in liberal arts colleges. It's a great place to find a great education and to expand your horizons.
An Introduction to the Residential Liberal Arts College
I dread it whenever someone asks me where I am studying in.
“Kenyon College? Why do you want to go to a college instead of a university?” people usually give me that concerned look, as if I am wasting four years of my time in a college. Many Malaysians fail to understand that the word “college” is used very much interchangeably with the word “university” in the United States, so much so that you can be in Princeton and still be going to a “college”.
In the US education system, colleges are broadly classified into two categories: a two-year college, or what normally known as a community college and a four-year college. Both big, research universities (i.e. Princeton, MIT and Stanford) and liberal arts colleges belong to the category of a four-year college. In this article, I will seek to explain what a liberal arts college is, what makes a liberal arts college distinctive and how to finance a liberal arts education.
A liberal arts college is primarily a college that focuses entirely (usually) on an undergraduate education. Most of them provide a high quality undergraduate experience. You may or may not hear of colleges like Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore and Wellesley. But you might want to know that these liberal arts colleges ranked side-by-side with top research universities like Yale, Princeton and MIT.
Distinctiveness of a liberal arts college
A difference between a liberal arts college and a research university is its size. A typical liberal arts college is small, with a school population ranging from 850 (Wabash) to 2700 (Wesleyan). This also translates into small classes. The average class size at Kenyon for instance is 14 and the faculty to student ratio is 9:1.
Another difference of a liberal arts college, as mentioned before, is the fact that the school devotes entirely of its resources on its undergraduates. You will be taught solely by professors, people who have earned a PhD and people who can probably inspire you and make you want to be like them. Teaching is central at liberal arts colleges and professors are rewarded based on their teaching ability as opposed to the number of research publications they churn out. They are also highly accessible and diligently keep to their office hours.
Liberal arts colleges also tend to be fully residential. Everyone lives on campus and eat at the dining hall. You will form close relationships with your friends as you meet them everyday in residential halls, classrooms, athletic center, dining hall, parties, at a lecture or a play etc. Being fully residential also means that learning can take place beyond the allocated classroom time. At Kenyon for instance, there are German, French, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese and Italian tables at the dining hall each week, giving students an opportunity to practice their newly acquired language skills.
The foremost distinction of a liberal arts college however, is the majors they offer. According to the American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, liberal arts is defined as “The areas of learning that cultivate general intellectual ability rather than technical or professional skills. The term liberal arts is often used as a synonym for humanities, although the liberal arts also include the sciences. The word liberal comes from the Latin liberalis, meaning suitable for a free man, as opposed to a slave”. You probably wouldn’t find business or engineering in most liberal arts colleges (Note: there are always exceptions though. Smith and Swarthmore do offer engineering!). A liberal arts education does not equip you with vocational skills, but rather life, analytical and critical thinking skills. Simply put, a liberal arts education teaches you how to live your life to the fullest.
Financing a liberal arts education
Let’s face it, a liberal arts education isn’t going to be cheap with all the small classes, close faculty interaction and superb facilities one enjoys. The 2006-2007 cost of attendance (inclusive of tuition, room and board) at Kenyon amounts to USD 44390. But fortunately, liberal arts colleges also tend to be well endowed (i.e. RICH)! Most international students at Kenyon are on some sort of need-based financial aid which can go up to full cost of attendance. Many of the top liberal arts colleges are committed to the principle of diversity and ensuring that qualified students are granted access regardless of one’s financial circumstances.
Discover US Education Fair ‘07
At this upcoming Discover US education fair, a total of nine liberal arts colleges will be represented. Some are all male while some are all female. Some are located next to cornfields while some are closer to civilization. They are: Bates, Kenyon, Mount Holyoke, Oberlin, Smith, Swarthmore, Wabash, Wesleyan and Wellesley. So be sure to check us out!
Yaowen is a rising sophomore at Kenyon College, a four-year private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. He loves the school and the cornfields surrounding it.
An Introduction to the Residential Liberal Arts College
I dread it whenever someone asks me where I am studying in.
“Kenyon College? Why do you want to go to a college instead of a university?” people usually give me that concerned look, as if I am wasting four years of my time in a college. Many Malaysians fail to understand that the word “college” is used very much interchangeably with the word “university” in the United States, so much so that you can be in Princeton and still be going to a “college”.
In the US education system, colleges are broadly classified into two categories: a two-year college, or what normally known as a community college and a four-year college. Both big, research universities (i.e. Princeton, MIT and Stanford) and liberal arts colleges belong to the category of a four-year college. In this article, I will seek to explain what a liberal arts college is, what makes a liberal arts college distinctive and how to finance a liberal arts education.
A liberal arts college is primarily a college that focuses entirely (usually) on an undergraduate education. Most of them provide a high quality undergraduate experience. You may or may not hear of colleges like Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore and Wellesley. But you might want to know that these liberal arts colleges ranked side-by-side with top research universities like Yale, Princeton and MIT.
Distinctiveness of a liberal arts college
A difference between a liberal arts college and a research university is its size. A typical liberal arts college is small, with a school population ranging from 850 (Wabash) to 2700 (Wesleyan). This also translates into small classes. The average class size at Kenyon for instance is 14 and the faculty to student ratio is 9:1.
Another difference of a liberal arts college, as mentioned before, is the fact that the school devotes entirely of its resources on its undergraduates. You will be taught solely by professors, people who have earned a PhD and people who can probably inspire you and make you want to be like them. Teaching is central at liberal arts colleges and professors are rewarded based on their teaching ability as opposed to the number of research publications they churn out. They are also highly accessible and diligently keep to their office hours.
Liberal arts colleges also tend to be fully residential. Everyone lives on campus and eat at the dining hall. You will form close relationships with your friends as you meet them everyday in residential halls, classrooms, athletic center, dining hall, parties, at a lecture or a play etc. Being fully residential also means that learning can take place beyond the allocated classroom time. At Kenyon for instance, there are German, French, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese and Italian tables at the dining hall each week, giving students an opportunity to practice their newly acquired language skills.
The foremost distinction of a liberal arts college however, is the majors they offer. According to the American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, liberal arts is defined as “The areas of learning that cultivate general intellectual ability rather than technical or professional skills. The term liberal arts is often used as a synonym for humanities, although the liberal arts also include the sciences. The word liberal comes from the Latin liberalis, meaning suitable for a free man, as opposed to a slave”. You probably wouldn’t find business or engineering in most liberal arts colleges (Note: there are always exceptions though. Smith and Swarthmore do offer engineering!). A liberal arts education does not equip you with vocational skills, but rather life, analytical and critical thinking skills. Simply put, a liberal arts education teaches you how to live your life to the fullest.
Financing a liberal arts education
Let’s face it, a liberal arts education isn’t going to be cheap with all the small classes, close faculty interaction and superb facilities one enjoys. The 2006-2007 cost of attendance (inclusive of tuition, room and board) at Kenyon amounts to USD 44390. But fortunately, liberal arts colleges also tend to be well endowed (i.e. RICH)! Most international students at Kenyon are on some sort of need-based financial aid which can go up to full cost of attendance. Many of the top liberal arts colleges are committed to the principle of diversity and ensuring that qualified students are granted access regardless of one’s financial circumstances.
Discover US Education Fair ‘07
At this upcoming Discover US education fair, a total of nine liberal arts colleges will be represented. Some are all male while some are all female. Some are located next to cornfields while some are closer to civilization. They are: Bates, Kenyon, Mount Holyoke, Oberlin, Smith, Swarthmore, Wabash, Wesleyan and Wellesley. So be sure to check us out!
Yaowen is a rising sophomore at Kenyon College, a four-year private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. He loves the school and the cornfields surrounding it.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Liberal Arts Colleges
Descartes Higher Education Counselling Centre (DECC) is pleased to be holding the following seminar on the Top American Liberal Arts Colleges. The details for the seminar are as follows:
Parents of students, and students in pre-university or high school are most welcome to attend the session. Please spread the message to those interested parties ;)
For more information, feel free to contact me @ tonypua(at)yahoo.com ;)
Date: 23rd June 2007 (Sat)The panelists of the seminar comprises of Malaysian students at the top universities in the United States. They include:
Time: 2.00pm – 5.00pm
Venue: DECC, 55-1 Jalan SS21/1A, Damansara Utama, 47400 Petaling Jaya
- Eng Han Ng, Dartmouth '10
- Andrew Loh, Swarthmore '10
- Zhou Hau Liew, Princeton '10
- Nicholas Khaw, Harvard '09
- Hui Hsing Su, Smith '10
- Sabrina Chan, Tufts '10
- Yang Jerng Hwa, Bates '05
- Joyce Tagal, Yale '09
Parents of students, and students in pre-university or high school are most welcome to attend the session. Please spread the message to those interested parties ;)
For more information, feel free to contact me @ tonypua(at)yahoo.com ;)
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
MIT Admission Talk
Kian Ming wrote on the record number of Malaysians gaining entry into Massachusetts Institute of Technology a few weeks ago. For those who are interested in following their footsteps, the MIT club of Malaysia will be holding a talk to interested students this Saturday.
Date: 14th April 2007 (Saturday)
Time: 1030hrs
Venue: Royal Selangor Golf Club (off Jalan Tun Razak), Kuala Lumpur
You can visit the MIT website for more information, or alternatively, send your queries to htewe(at)alum.mit.edu or premraj(at)jaalaa.com.
Date: 14th April 2007 (Saturday)
Time: 1030hrs
Venue: Royal Selangor Golf Club (off Jalan Tun Razak), Kuala Lumpur
You can visit the MIT website for more information, or alternatively, send your queries to htewe(at)alum.mit.edu or premraj(at)jaalaa.com.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
UK vs US: A Different Perspective
I wrote a while back on the general perception of United Kingdom vs United States universities. It attracted a fair bit of interest and a lot of comments. Tilia Wong, who's studying at San Jose State University, with a prior stint at a Australian university, wrote in to express her differing views from my post(s). She has kindly permitted me to reproduce her letter here, and share her views with our readers. ;)
"I was reading your blog titled United Kingdom vs. United States dated the 24th of April 2006 and I feel rather compelled to write to you about it. I started looking for blog posts on this topic after my father had a conversation with some of his friends where they passed some rather derogatory remarks concerning the American education system. At this point, I should state that I am a junior at San Jose State University studying civil engineering.
In your blog post, you wrote that you thought a UK degree was more specialised and a US one is more generalised. Well, I have not studied in the UK, but I did do one year of civil engineering in Australia whose system, I understand, is very similar to the British one. I studied in Australia for year and then I found that I did not enjoy life there and decided to transfer to the United States. I redid many of the same courses and therefore I think that I am fully equipped to make a comparison of the two.
The subjects taken during the course of the degree are highly similar. However, when you compare the content of the subject, the American degree is actually more in depth than the Australian one. I will compare the first year subjects since I did them in both countries and therefore can make a fairer assesment. In Australia, I did two semesters of math which was a mix of calculus, matrices and so on. In America, I did 3 semesters of calculus, one of differential equations and another of linear algebra. In Australia, I did one semester of Engineering Mechanics which consisted of statics and dynamics. In America, the subjects were split up with one semester dedicated to each. The American semester is about 16 weeks long and the Australian semester has about 13 weeks worth of lecture. Please feel free to draw your own conclusions from these figures.
Your blog post also stated that one does not have to decide which specialisation until the second year in America. Basically, the system does not FORCE you to declare a major until you feel like it. However, if you do not have a clear major in mind from the very beginning and follow a strict program, you will not graduate in four years. It is no different from going to the UK, declaring one major and then switching to another. In the US, you just call the first major undeclared and you are free to take a myriad of subjects to figure out what you want to do. However, if you do so, most of the courses will not go towards your degree and some people take seven years to graduate. Its not as if you are free to bum around, take 2 years of art history courses and then decide to major in accounting later. You will pay the price if you do that.
You stated that your friend Kian Ming "did it right" by doing undergrad in UK and postgrad in the US. I do not think there is any "right" way of doing it. Some people have very good memories and can cram for final exams that are worth 70% of your grade. Others, prefer doing research, working on projects, and accumulating knowledge slowly over the semester. Both systems have their merits and to say that doing undergrad in UK is the right way is somewhat derogatory.
Personally, I felt stifled and cooped up in Australia. Coming to America has exposes you to new technology, a level of diversity that is incomparable, and an opportunity to learn things you would normally never even dream of reading about. I am a civil engineer but the American general education system has taught me political science, public speaking techniques, writing techniques, art history, yoga, salsa, and kinesiology to name a few. On top of that, I do believe that I have a strong grounding in civil engineering.
If American universities provided such a poor and shallow education on the specific major since it is not as in depth, then how does America beat so many nations on every level? Because of America's good postgraduate programs? The majority does not do postgraduate studies.
Now that I have spoken my piece on American universities, I would like to comment on university rankings.
I do have to make the observation that you tend to focus on and place great weight on top ranking universities. I do agree that attending a top ranking university carries with it great prestige and an enhanced university experience. However, your blog is probably read by a lot of people and statistically speaking, most of them should be average both in academic results and financial might. If your aim is to advise people on the best course to take, a lot of the paths you have suggested are out of the question for 95% of the population.
I realise that you have placed a note at the bottom of most of your posts that you realise that national rankings may be inaccurate. However, I would like to cite you an example using my university demonstrating exactly how irrelevant university rankings can be. San Jose State University is not highly ranked on the overall national scale. However, it is ranked 10th in the nation for undergraduate engineering and 5th for industrial and computer engineering. It is only ranked 41st of the universities in the West for the overall ranking. It is not fair to judge a university graduate's degree based on the national overall ranking alone. Perhaps it would be more beneficial to the public if you would educate them by pointing out the potential for large disparities between the national ranking and the specific course ranking.
Another example of national overall university rankings having very little to do with the calibre of the student (at least in the United States) is this. San Jose State University is surrounded by high ranking, ivy league powerhouses. Stanford, and Santa Clara Unversity are less than twenty minutes drive away. In a 5 hour driving radius, you can find USC, UCLA, and UC Berkeley just to name a few. All of these are higher ranked than San Jose State University. However, San Jose State supplies the highest number of graduates in the world to Silicon Valley with companies like Intel, Yahoo, Google, Ebay, Cisco and so on. Why are these companies choosing lower ranked university graduates over the ivy league ones if national ranking really tells a person so much about how good their graduate is? It cannot be from the lack of applications from other unversity graduates. A recent survey stated that Silicon Valley pays out the highest median income in the United States. Yet a university ranked 41st in the West is trouncing other universities in terms of employment in Silicon Valley.
Well, these are my opinions on the American education system and university rankings. I hope that you will give them some thought."
"I was reading your blog titled United Kingdom vs. United States dated the 24th of April 2006 and I feel rather compelled to write to you about it. I started looking for blog posts on this topic after my father had a conversation with some of his friends where they passed some rather derogatory remarks concerning the American education system. At this point, I should state that I am a junior at San Jose State University studying civil engineering.
In your blog post, you wrote that you thought a UK degree was more specialised and a US one is more generalised. Well, I have not studied in the UK, but I did do one year of civil engineering in Australia whose system, I understand, is very similar to the British one. I studied in Australia for year and then I found that I did not enjoy life there and decided to transfer to the United States. I redid many of the same courses and therefore I think that I am fully equipped to make a comparison of the two.
The subjects taken during the course of the degree are highly similar. However, when you compare the content of the subject, the American degree is actually more in depth than the Australian one. I will compare the first year subjects since I did them in both countries and therefore can make a fairer assesment. In Australia, I did two semesters of math which was a mix of calculus, matrices and so on. In America, I did 3 semesters of calculus, one of differential equations and another of linear algebra. In Australia, I did one semester of Engineering Mechanics which consisted of statics and dynamics. In America, the subjects were split up with one semester dedicated to each. The American semester is about 16 weeks long and the Australian semester has about 13 weeks worth of lecture. Please feel free to draw your own conclusions from these figures.
Your blog post also stated that one does not have to decide which specialisation until the second year in America. Basically, the system does not FORCE you to declare a major until you feel like it. However, if you do not have a clear major in mind from the very beginning and follow a strict program, you will not graduate in four years. It is no different from going to the UK, declaring one major and then switching to another. In the US, you just call the first major undeclared and you are free to take a myriad of subjects to figure out what you want to do. However, if you do so, most of the courses will not go towards your degree and some people take seven years to graduate. Its not as if you are free to bum around, take 2 years of art history courses and then decide to major in accounting later. You will pay the price if you do that.
You stated that your friend Kian Ming "did it right" by doing undergrad in UK and postgrad in the US. I do not think there is any "right" way of doing it. Some people have very good memories and can cram for final exams that are worth 70% of your grade. Others, prefer doing research, working on projects, and accumulating knowledge slowly over the semester. Both systems have their merits and to say that doing undergrad in UK is the right way is somewhat derogatory.
Personally, I felt stifled and cooped up in Australia. Coming to America has exposes you to new technology, a level of diversity that is incomparable, and an opportunity to learn things you would normally never even dream of reading about. I am a civil engineer but the American general education system has taught me political science, public speaking techniques, writing techniques, art history, yoga, salsa, and kinesiology to name a few. On top of that, I do believe that I have a strong grounding in civil engineering.
If American universities provided such a poor and shallow education on the specific major since it is not as in depth, then how does America beat so many nations on every level? Because of America's good postgraduate programs? The majority does not do postgraduate studies.
Now that I have spoken my piece on American universities, I would like to comment on university rankings.
I do have to make the observation that you tend to focus on and place great weight on top ranking universities. I do agree that attending a top ranking university carries with it great prestige and an enhanced university experience. However, your blog is probably read by a lot of people and statistically speaking, most of them should be average both in academic results and financial might. If your aim is to advise people on the best course to take, a lot of the paths you have suggested are out of the question for 95% of the population.
I realise that you have placed a note at the bottom of most of your posts that you realise that national rankings may be inaccurate. However, I would like to cite you an example using my university demonstrating exactly how irrelevant university rankings can be. San Jose State University is not highly ranked on the overall national scale. However, it is ranked 10th in the nation for undergraduate engineering and 5th for industrial and computer engineering. It is only ranked 41st of the universities in the West for the overall ranking. It is not fair to judge a university graduate's degree based on the national overall ranking alone. Perhaps it would be more beneficial to the public if you would educate them by pointing out the potential for large disparities between the national ranking and the specific course ranking.
Another example of national overall university rankings having very little to do with the calibre of the student (at least in the United States) is this. San Jose State University is surrounded by high ranking, ivy league powerhouses. Stanford, and Santa Clara Unversity are less than twenty minutes drive away. In a 5 hour driving radius, you can find USC, UCLA, and UC Berkeley just to name a few. All of these are higher ranked than San Jose State University. However, San Jose State supplies the highest number of graduates in the world to Silicon Valley with companies like Intel, Yahoo, Google, Ebay, Cisco and so on. Why are these companies choosing lower ranked university graduates over the ivy league ones if national ranking really tells a person so much about how good their graduate is? It cannot be from the lack of applications from other unversity graduates. A recent survey stated that Silicon Valley pays out the highest median income in the United States. Yet a university ranked 41st in the West is trouncing other universities in terms of employment in Silicon Valley.
Well, these are my opinions on the American education system and university rankings. I hope that you will give them some thought."
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