Wednesday 27 April 2016

Maybank Scholarship Award: Online Assessment

About two weeks ago I received an email(albeit riddled with grammatical mistakes) telling me that I was shortlisted for the Maybank Scholarship Award and that I had to take an online assessment(Stage 1). It is the first of three assessments that potential candidates will have to pass through to obtain the coveted Maybank Scholarship Award.


Please use your spell checker Maybank.

After an hour of completely freaking out, I spent about an hour googling "Maybank online assessment", "Maybank scholarship online test" and the like. I stumbled across a few blogs but they usually gave very minimal explanation as to how the test would actually be like. then, I kinda gave up and just went "Eh, fuck it." and dived into the test. I passed this stage(somehow).  So, while the test is still (kind of) fresh in my mind, I'm gonna tell all you future Maybank scholarship applicants about what the test was like and my tips for the test.

Deciding Your Stream

Deciding on which stream to go into is hard because frankly speaking most of us don't know jack about any of the streams when we're Form 4.  Malaysians' general perception of the streams can be summarised pretty easily:
  • Science- Geniuses
  • Arts & Sains Sukan & all vocational streams- Academically weak
  • Accounts- Future accountants
  • Other- Got some more meh?
Well, if that's what you thought please throw it out the window.
Why? Because it's complete bull and it'll cause you more harm than good.
You're doing it wrong Squidward. 
To find out what stream you're suited for, you've gotta ask yourself a few important questions.



1. What course/major do you wanna take in university?
  • Pure Science stream
    Medicine, Engineering, Pure Sciences, etc etc. Though to be really honest, if you take the science stream you can practically enter any course or stream(if you go Form 6) later on which is why most people recommend taking it.
  • Arts stream
    Law, Economics, Psychology, etc etc.
  • Accounts stream(sometimes paired with science stream)
    Accountancy
  • Sports Science/Sains Sukan stream
    Kinesiology
  • Engineering Blueprint Drawing/Lukisan Kejuruteraan
    Architecture
  • Food Science
    Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management, Event Management
  • Information and Communication Technologies stream(ICT)
    Information Technology, Computer Science, Software Engineering
If you're unsure of what course you wanna take in university then start thinking about it now because it's always better to start planning earlier.

***Obviously, there are more course options for each stream but I only listed the ones with direct correlation to the stream. Also, there are actually more streams(e.g: vocational and technical school stream) than what I have listed here but I cannot possibly list them all as I do not have enough info on them. If there are more that you know of, please tell me in the comments with a short description if possible. ***


2. What's your ambition?  How sure are you that that's what you want to do?
There are two types of people and you have to know which group/category you fall into BEFORE you decide on your stream.

GROUP 1: 
You're one of those people who've known what they want to do with their life since they were in their mother's womb. Okay, that's an exaggeration but you know what I mean. 

Advice
Take the stream that best suits your ambition/passion. 
You're sure of what you want to do so don't let the naysayers bring you down.

GROUP 2: 
You're like me and you have absolutely no idea what you want to do OR you have an idea of what you want to do but you're really sure about yet.

Advice
Take the the Pure Science stream if you think you can handle it and by handle it I mean that you think you can at least pass all the subjects. If you don't think you'll be able to cope with the science stream then take the Arts stream. 


3. How did you do in PMR/PT3?
You have to be realistic in picking your stream. What do I mean by that? For example, if you failed Science and Maths I don't think you should be entering the Pure Science stream. 
If you can't handle Science as a single subject then taking three separate science subjects will kill you. 
That is unless you are willing to put in the effort to do well. You will have to work harder than everyone else because your foundation/basics are weaker. If you really want to then by all means enter the science stream but remember to work hard and smart. If you ever need any help/advice feel free to comment or contact me using the contact box.



No matter what stream you choose I wish you the best of luck!


Monday 18 April 2016

Maybank Scholarship Award: Overview


The Maybank Scholarship is awarded to 50 students every year which mean that it's a very very competitive scholarship. Don't let this discourage you though because there's no harm in trying. I was pretty shocked myself when I received the email to take their online assessment(more on that in my next post). For now, here are the summarised details of both the bonded and non-bonded scholarship from the Maybank's scholarship page.

Friday 1 April 2016

Fun Facts

The longest word in the English Language is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis and it is an artificial long word said to mean a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust.

If you put headphones into your nostrils and open your mouth, it forms instant speakers

To play “Happy Birthday” on your phone dial 112163 112196 11#9632 969363

The University of Victoria offers a course in “The Science of Batman”

It is impossible to say “Good Eye Might” without sounding Australian

7% of all Facebook accounts belong to dogs and 4% of all accounts belong to cats

Shark foetuses fight and eat each other while still in the womb. The one that is left alive is the only one that is born.

Frozen lobsters sometimes come back to life when thawed.

The continents can be rearranged to form a chicken.

After an hour of swimming in the pool, you would have ingested 1/12 of a litre of urine.

Annually, you swallow 12 pubic hairs from fast food.

Annually, you swallow 5 insects while sleeping.