Thoughts on the university admissions process

A friend of mine, Rajan Rishyakaran, has written a good blog post critiquing the Malaysian university admissions process. While I don't know enough about local universities to comment on many things he raises, there are a couple of points which I think are worth emphasising: the difference between policy in theory and policy in reality, and the importance of decentralising some decisions.

There are many illustrations of the difference between something in theory and something in practice, but Rajan's example of coursework is as good as any. In principle, adding coursework to the evaluation process for university admissions would be a good thing.

After all, a major problem with our education system is that it focuses a lot on examinations which only assess students at one point in time, and often encourage rote memorisation instead of actual learning. If you fall sick during exam period, it can dramatically change your life's course, because you might not get into the university you otherwise could, or not pursue the degree you otherwise would attain. And because the format and style of exams is so predictable, all you need to do is practice with enough exam papers from previous years to be prepared -- you don't necessarily need to understand anything on the exam (I have found that understanding too much can actually be detrimental to your marks in some Malaysian exams).

If we emphasised coursework more, then one-off incidents which might negatively impact your exam performance would matter less: you have a substantial amount of time to do your coursework. Because the key element of your coursework is usually a report on something you have researched, you actually learn something useful: you learn how to write academically, and you learn some basic research or factfinding skills.

That's the theory; the practical reality is something else altogether. When I was in school, nobody took coursework seriously. Or rather, they took it the same way they took an exam: they figured out the best way to game the system, and they did it. Everyone would Google their topic, and instead of writing up a report about it, they would plagarise the most relevant websites. If they were too lazy to do this, they would plagiarise from one another very openly -- there was no stigma to copying or cheating off someone else's work.

It's not that they were lazy; it's that they knew this was the most efficient way to get things done. Teachers don't really care if the material is obviously plagiarised -- to them the coursework system is often a burdensome imposition on them because they have to read through dozens, if not hundreds of reports. Students know this, so they intentionally put a lot of work into making their reports more burdensome on teachers. One teacher's son told me that he intentionally put lots of irrelevant diagrams and photos in his coursework because this would discourage the teacher from looking too hard at his work -- she would see he had obviously worked hard on the report, and give him high marks.

The problem with coursework is that it is an arbitrary, artificial system of evaluation imposed by the central government with little thought as to what the schools and teachers can do, and little thought for what universities want to see. As Rajan notes, our university admissions process is extremely centralised -- everything is boiled down to a couple of numbers, which are then fed into the government's system. The government then tells you what university you will attend, and what degree you will pursue.

Likewise, with coursework, the government tells schools how to grade students' work, and it tells universities how these grades must translate into admissions decisions. There is no room for a teacher to assess students in his or her own way, to try something different. Neither is there room for a university to assess students in a different way, such as through tailored interviews or personal statements.

Obviously, there are pitfalls to granting educators more autonomy. But I don't think there is any question that at the moment we err far too heavily on the side of ridiculous centralisation. The government has attempted to standardise the education system to an extreme, and the result is something easily gamed by the pretence of ability, instead of actual demonstrable results. The government needs to grant universities more leeway in making their admissions decisions, and at the same time experiment with giving schools more freedom in coming up with alternative methods of assessment.

USM Autonomy

This is pretty significant news for Higher Education in Malaysia. USM will soon introduce its own entrance exams. I'll post the full article below (for posterity) and then comment on the other side.

PENANG: USM will begin direct open intake beginning May this year instead of going through the UPU (Unit Pusat Universiti).

USM vice chancellor Tan Sri Professor Dato' Dr Dzulkifli Abdul Razak said the measure would be implemented beginning the new intake for this year and next year. Students can apply through the university's website at www.usm.my.

He said so far 13,000 applications had been received while the university would take in only about 3,500 students.

Dzulkifli pointed out that USM would select only students that meet the requirements, one of which would be the "admission tests."

The direct intake policy will be a departure from the conventional UPU allocation system, and this should bring about far-fetching effects on tertiary institutions in this country.

Dzulkifli said students used to be admitted into USM through UPU allocation, but after receiving the APEX (Accelerated Programme for Excellence) status, the university had the privilege of conducting direct intake of students.

He said the university would use the admission tests to determine the allocation of courses for students, adding that the tests would be independently carried out by a professsional team with the Examinations Board, and USM would not have a hand in the tests.

He said such tests had never been carried out elsewhere in the country before, and USM would be the first to conduct the tests. The list of students failing the admission tests would be handed back to UPU for allocation to other universities.

USM's intake procedures are expected to be completed by early May.

USM would not have been able to do this without being given the status of an Apex University (the only one in Malaysia so far). It has been given a lot of autonomy by MOHE as a result. And the progressive VC at USM, Dr. Dzulkifli Abdul Razak is making full use of it to make sure that only really good students get into USM. There will also be a smaller intake commensurate with the decision to be more selective. Hopefully there will be little political fallout from this decision. (I can imagine that some quarters may be tempted to protest) I'm hoping that these people will see USM as an 'experiment' and basically leave it alone. And if USM succeeds, other universities may want to follow. Then, the protest voices may get louder.

I wish VC Dr. Dzul and his team at USM all the best. I hope that they will succeed in their endeavor to raise the bar at USM. For all our sakes.

Co-curricular Points

For Malaysian students applying for local universities entry, 10% of the consideration comes from the fairly new "co-curricular points" system. And from what I understand, the point allocation system is fairly opaque and many don't really know how it gets awarded. There is even suspicion that the marks are tweaked by the Ministry of Education to give unfair advantage to certain particular groups.

Hence I asked the following question to the Education Minister to clarify the mechanism by which these points get awarded -

(a) cara pengiraan mata aktiviti ko-kurikulum bagi pelajar-pelajar untuk tujuan permohonan universiti awan; dan

(b) siapakah yang menentukan mata aktiviti ini dan apapkah langkah yang diambil Kementerian untuk menjamin proses tersebut adil dan saksama.

The replies were as follows:

(a) Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (KPM) telah menetapkan markah yang diberikan kepada penglibatan murid sekolah dan pelajar Matrikulasi dalam kokurikulum untuk tujan permohonan ke universiti awam meliputi tiga bidang, iaitu Pasukan Badan Beruniform, Persatuan/Kelab dan Sukan/Permainan. Pemberian markah adalah berdasarkan kehadiran (50%), penglibatan (20%), pencapaian (20%) dan jawatan yang disandang (10%).

Untuk makluman Ahli Yang Berhormat, markah bonus pula diberikan bagi penglibatan murid sekolah dalam kegiatan kokurikulum yang dianjurkan oleh pihak luar sekolah. Markah bonus juga diberikan bersarkan sesuatu jawatan kepimpinan yang disandang oleh murid dan jawatan tersebut bertujuan membantu pengurusan dan pentadbiran sekolah. Jawatan tersebut merangkumi;

i. Jawatan peringkat sekolah seperti Pengawas, Pengawas Perpustakaan, Imam dan sebagainya;

ii. Jawatan peringkat rumah seperti Ketua Rumah, Ketua Bilik/Asrama dan sebagainya; dan

iii. Jawatan peringkat kelas seperty Ketua Kelas dan sebagainya.

(b) Bagi menentukan markah kokurikulum tersebut, KPM juga telah mengeluarkan Buku Panduan Penilaian Kokurikulum Sekolah Menengah pada tahun 2007. Oleh itu, pemberian markah adalah berasaskan panduan yang telah digariskan dan digunapakai di semua sekolah menengah. Panduan ini telah disediakan oleh Jawatankuasa/Panel yang dianggotai oleh pengawai-pegawai di peringkat sekolah, PPD/PPG, JPN dan KPM.

Bagi pelajar Matrikulasi pula, penentuan markah kokurikulum adalah berdasarkan aktiviti yang diceburi pelajar dengan mengemukakan sijil-sijil yang diiktiraf dan disahkan oleh pengarah Kolej Matrikulasi berkenaan. Proses ini dilaksanakan secara telus oleh Jawatankuasa Penilaian 10% Markah Kokurikulum yang dipengerusikan oleh Pengarah Kolej Matrikulasi yang berkenaan.

Well, there's slightly more clarity here with the answers, but it probably doesn't do much to help us assess if the above process is fair and transparent, as claimed.

So for those who have more information with regards to the above, feel free to update us here. In addition, I'm looking at asking an additional question for the Ministry to provide statistics on the average and median grades received via STPM vs Matriculation, and also by race.

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?

• 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.

When?

Sunday 9th of September 2007
Time: 1 pm to 4 pm

Where?

Descartes Education and Counseling Center
55-1 Jalan SS21/1A,
Damansara Utama,
47400 Petaling Jaya.

Those 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.

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.

Talk on Oxbridge

Hey guys,

The first Descartes talk was held last Sunday, with Nathaniel Tan giving us his take on his experience at Harvard University. We attracted a small crowd, with Dr Goh Cheng Teik, the interviewer in Malaysia for undergraduate admission into the college making a surprise appearance. ;)

This coming Saturday, we'll be holding a talk, this time on two universities across the Atlantic in the United Kingdom, Oxford and Cambridge. The details are as follows:

Topic: Life & Experiences @ Oxford & Cambridge Universities
Date: 31st March (Sat)
Time: 4.00 pm
Venue: DECC, 55-1 Jalan SS21/1A, Damasara Utama (Uptown), 47400 Petaling Jaya

Speakers:

Allen Ng

Allen was the president of the Cambridge University Malaysia Society in 2001. He is currently work as a practising Economist with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), having completed his degree in Economics on the BNM Scholarship. Prior to that, he completed his 'A' Levels with Taylors College.

Allen originates from Ipoh and is contemplating crossing the bridge with a MPhil degree in Economics from Oxford University.

Tony Pua (that's me)

Tony graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Philosophy, Politics & Economics in 1991 with a scholarship from MTC Foundation. Prior to that, he had his secondary education at Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College in Singapore under the ASEAN Scholarship.

He worked in a multinational consulting company for almost 2 years before venturing out to set up his own company in 1997. He listed the company in the Singapore Exchange in 2001 before divesting his stake in the company in early 2007 to focus solely on socio-political community work.

Read also my earlier write ups on application and my personal experiences at Oxford.

We hope to attract a bigger crowd to establish the Descartes series of talks. Future talks currently being planned include the ASEAN Scholarship, application to top US universities, workshop on writing university application essays, picking the right courses etc.

A token fee of RM10 is collected to help defray the cost of the running DECC.

So please help spread the message around to interested parties. You can also reach me at tonypua(at)yahoo.com. ;) See you!

First Descartes Talk

Yes, we are finally getting the Descartes Education Counselling Centre programmes underway! We are kicking off our activities with our first guest speaker, Nathaniel Tan to discuss about his life and experiences at Harvard University this coming Sunday morning.

Details are as follows:

Date: 25 March 2006 (Sun)
Time: 10.30 am
Venue: DECC, 55-1 Jalan SS21/1A, Damansara Utama, 47400 Petaling Jaya

About the speaker:

Nathaniel graduated from Harvard University in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts degree specialising in “Peace & Conflict Studies”. Prior to that he completed his education at SRK Damansara Utama, SM Sri Cempaka for SPM as well as Sunway College for his 'A' Levels.

He has since been active in various non-governmental organisations and participated in various international activities. Some of the more offbeat places he had spent time at includes Dili in East Timor, Freetown in Sierra Leone with the UN-GOSL SCSL and Banda Aceh in Indonesia with JRS Indonesia.

A token RM10 fee will be collected to defray the cost of holding the event. DECC is a not-for-profit higher education counselling centre.

For those who are in town, and are interested in helping out at DECC, please drop by as well, as we can then have a short meeting to see how we can move forward. Anybody who requires any further information, please feel free to email me @ tonypua(at)yahoo.com ;)

Elitist?

OK, I'll much rather not having to blog about this for I fear stirring more controversies. It's certainly not the first time that we have been criticised as elitist, and I'm certain it's not going to be the last. However, the latest one in Kian Ming's post also raise quite a few other issues which certainly deserved a response, for I believing it will otherwise, certainly be detrimental to those whom we seek to assist.

The anonymous commentor (assuming its a 'he') argued that if he were to "tell all Malaysian STPM holders with straight As or GPA 4.0 to apply for admission to Oxford, more than 99% will be disappointed."

He's certainly wrong in this case.

I don't have the latest statistics at hand, but I wouldn't assume the data would have changed that much. In 2004, there were 12,235 applicants to Oxford University, 25.9% was accepted. Even with popular courses with Malaysians such as Law and Economics & Management, the acceptance rate was 19.1% and 13.8%, certainly a far cry from the alleged 1%. Science courses had significantly higher acceptance rates.

Similarly, in Cambridge where 14,682 applied that year, 22.4% were accepted. For Law and Economics, the acceptance rates were 15.1% and 14.7% respectively. Why should our best STPM students fare that much worse than the 'A' Level students in the United Kingdom?

In my case, the results for my 'A' Levels was certainly far from straight As. But that did not stop me from applying and getting in. Hence, why should our top students not bother applying to the top global universities?

If you'd like to argue that I had a decent dose of luck to get in, I'll not disagree either. But that is the very reason why Malaysian students should apply. If one doesn't even bother applying, one can't even "get lucky"!

This is very misconception about the top global universities which the bloggers here have been trying to debunk. It is not to say that all top Malaysian students should go to say, Oxbridge or Ivys. If you love Accountancy for example, you might be better off in London School of Economics (LSE) (it's not offered at Oxbridge) or if you prefer Agriculture, you might want to evaluate Nottingham or Reading. But certainly, if you think you'd like to study at Oxbridge, then certainly don't let their supposed reputation deter you from applying.


With that out of the way, there's only one other point to highlight. The commentor argued that he "will not be surprised if it is true that Tony and King Ming have been harboring discrimination against universities, which are less than their norm."

First, I dare say this on behalf of Kian Ming as well, we have no such prejudice. I've personally hired graduates from ranging from Oxford and LSE to Monash and Melbourne to UM, USM, UKM, UPM, MMU and UTM, and as far as I'm concerned, I have no issues with them at all.

So, why do we tend to focus a little more on the top schools? Very simply because we have been there and we would certainly like to help more Malaysians get there. We are realistic enough to know that we cannot help every single student in Malaysia (we try through the discourse on educational policies in Malaysia). Besides us, we certainly need others (including the Government) to play their parts and roles as well.

Tiara, for example, does a good job at trying to promote alternative education. If you have something useful to add to our readers, we'll be more than happy to publish it here (as we have done before). For us, we really just want to share our knowledge and experience (for what's its worth), to others who might find them useful. ;)