UK unis help!

[fire-ablazed]

Hey! Can I ask for some help? My friend wants to do medicine in Cambridge, but we are not sure which college is a better one, or more suitable, for medicine course. HELP! thanks a lot! =)

And I want to ask, is it easy to get study loan once you are accepted by any of the UK unis? If not I will have to reject the offers IF I get any. =(

[bush]

Hey! Can I ask for some help? My friend wants to do medicine in Cambridge, but we are not sure which college is a better one, or more suitable, for medicine course. HELP! thanks a lot! =)

And I want to ask, is it easy to get study loan once you are accepted by any of the UK unis? If not I will have to reject the offers IF I get any. =(

Check out some previous threads on medince in the UK/Cambridge.

Don't worry, unless you are doing medical sciences or applying to either Cambridge or Oxford, you will definitely get offers from British universities.

If you are planning to take up a loan, then it is best to not go to the UK to study. A conservative estimate of 12k pounds a year for tuition fee will make it 48k pounds or 36k pounds for the entire duration. That is RM340k. Let us not forget that this does not include other expenses. WIth that money, one can buy a 3 series.

Trivial comparisons aside, you'll won't be able to get a house loan or a car loan and the sad thing is, you proabbly need at least 20 years or so to pay off your debt. In short you'll forever be in financial bondage.

[caramel_nut]

Hey! Can I ask for some help? My friend wants to do medicine in Cambridge, but we are not sure which college is a better one, or more suitable, for medicine course. HELP! thanks a lot! =)

And I want to ask, is it easy to get study loan once you are accepted by any of the UK unis? If not I will have to reject the offers IF I get any. =(It doesn't really matter which college you're in. All the courses and academics in Cambridge are supervised by a central board. Thus, regardless of your college, everyone goes for the same lectures together, learn the same thing, sit for the same exam, etc. The only thing that differs is the tutorial (I forgot what they call it in Cambridge) where you'll have masters students from your colleges giving you small-group tutorials.

[bush]

Hey! Can I ask for some help? My friend wants to do medicine in Cambridge, but we are not sure which college is a better one, or more suitable, for medicine course. HELP! thanks a lot! =)

And I want to ask, is it easy to get study loan once you are accepted by any of the UK unis? If not I will have to reject the offers IF I get any. =(It doesn't really matter which college you're in. All the courses and academics in Cambridge are supervised by a central board. Thus, regardless of your college, everyone goes for the same lectures together, learn the same thing, sit for the same exam, etc. The only thing that differs is the tutorial (I forgot what they call it in Cambridge) where you'll have masters students from your colleges giving you small-group tutorials.

I don't think postgrad students give tutorials. In the UK, it's usually the professors.

[JetLee0510]

Hey! Can I ask for some help? My friend wants to do medicine in Cambridge, but we are not sure which college is a better one, or more suitable, for medicine course. HELP! thanks a lot! =)

And I want to ask, is it easy to get study loan once you are accepted by any of the UK unis? If not I will have to reject the offers IF I get any. =( A loan? yea it will be easier if u already got accepted. . but yeat it isnt something for sure.. but to get a study loan is much easier in Malaysian than anywhere(somewhere) else..

[caramel_nut]

Hey! Can I ask for some help? My friend wants to do medicine in Cambridge, but we are not sure which college is a better one, or more suitable, for medicine course. HELP! thanks a lot! =)

And I want to ask, is it easy to get study loan once you are accepted by any of the UK unis? If not I will have to reject the offers IF I get any. =(It doesn't really matter which college you're in. All the courses and academics in Cambridge are supervised by a central board. Thus, regardless of your college, everyone goes for the same lectures together, learn the same thing, sit for the same exam, etc. The only thing that differs is the tutorial (I forgot what they call it in Cambridge) where you'll have masters students from your colleges giving you small-group tutorials.

I don't think postgrad students give tutorials. In the UK, it's usually the professors.Hmmm.... can't remember where I heard it, but someone told me supervisions in Cambridge colleges are conducted by masters/phd students. Will need to verify it though with a friend. Anyway, check this out regarding Cambridge's teaching forms.

http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/life/teaching.html

[caramel_nut]

Hey! Can I ask for some help? My friend wants to do medicine in Cambridge, but we are not sure which college is a better one, or more suitable, for medicine course. HELP! thanks a lot! =)

And I want to ask, is it easy to get study loan once you are accepted by any of the UK unis? If not I will have to reject the offers IF I get any. =( A loan? yea it will be easier if u already got accepted. . but yeat it isnt something for sure.. but to get a study loan is much easier in Malaysian than anywhere(somewhere) else..I believe it'd be better if you research first before passing some misleading remarks, not just here but also in other threads.

Anyway, to reply to fire-ablazed, I don't suppose an offer makes it a lot easier or harder to get a loan. The most important thing is still how you convince them you can pay back the loan, which is where your collateral comes in.

I echo bush's views on the debt and financial bondage that you'll forever be in if you ever take up a student loan for study in UK. I contemplated taking a loan before when I first got my conditional offer from Cambridge since I couldn't get any financial support from any government organization, but seriously if you do some careful calculations, it's never worth it unless if you stay back in UK after you graduate and earn UK pounds to pay back your loan (I heard getting a working visa is very hard now...). Paying your loan with Malaysian Dollars is just... hopeless...

[fire-ablazed]

Reply to everyone:

Well thanks a lot! So I guess studying in UK becomes a no for me, because it's pretty hard to get financial support. =( And no scholarships or whatsoever. I'll read up more on the stuff on UK then, see if there's any hope. Is it possible to apply for any more scholarships if I'm doing A Levels now?

[bush]

Reply to everyone:

Well thanks a lot! So I guess studying in UK becomes a no for me, because it's pretty hard to get financial support. =( And no scholarships or whatsoever. I'll read up more on the stuff on UK then, see if there's any hope. Is it possible to apply for any more scholarships if I'm doing A Levels now?

Your best bet would be corporate scholarships.

UK shouldn't be your only choice. The US has lots of opportunities if you take the effort to search for them.

[fire-ablazed]

Isn't US expensive too? And US needs SATs..I am not planning to take them. O.o There isn't time to revise for SAT with the exams coming up. Or rather, i'm too lazy. haha. It's all the money factor.

[bush]

Isn't US expensive too? And US needs SATs..I am not planning to take them. O.o There isn't time to revise for SAT with the exams coming up. Or rather, i'm too lazy. haha. It's all the money factor.

Yes, studying in the US is also costly, but as I said earlier, there are more opportunities, as in more handouts, grants, scholarships when compared to the UK.

Desperate people do not give excuses, you do not give the impression that you are desperate.

[fire-ablazed]

No I am not at all desperate. I have come to terms with my financial conditions, and it is just too expensive to study overseas. the whole thing is, i am extremely, extremely interested in Mathematics, but the courses offered here in Malaysia are more of the conventional ones...like business, law, engineering, medicine, accounting. My dad discourages me from take a degree in Mathematics, he said I'll end up lecturing, and if not, I will be applying for the same jobs as those who graduated with a degree in commerce and business. My chances are the same, if not less. And I guess what he said is true. But I am not that interested to take up accounting. So if I want to study locally, it doesn't leave much choice to me does it? I am not as lucky as those rich kids.

[bush]

Your father is very wrong. A mathematics degree is regarded highly. A lot of big firms in the US and UK seek out math graduates for employment. One can go into finance, stock broking, I-banking, risk management, financial planning etc. One can remain in the academic line or go commercial. Just do a rough search on the internet on employment opportunities of math graduates.

This is sadly the perception of most malaysians with regards to maths and physics degrees. That they are quite useless....................

Give US a try, you will never know what you may get.

[Sillyboy]

No I am not at all desperate. I have come to terms with my financial conditions, and it is just too expensive to study overseas. the whole thing is, i am extremely, extremely interested in Mathematics, but the courses offered here in Malaysia are more of the conventional ones...like business, law, engineering, medicine, accounting. My dad discourages me from take a degree in Mathematics, he said I'll end up lecturing, and if not, I will be applying for the same jobs as those who graduated with a degree in commerce and business. My chances are the same, if not less. And I guess what he said is true. But I am not that interested to take up accounting. So if I want to study locally, it doesn't leave much choice to me does it? I am not as lucky as those rich kids.

You love mathematics? Me too! And I was told the same thing when I expressed my wish to do a degree in Mathematics! I was told that taking up a degree in accounting would be best but like you I'm not too keen on accounting. I'm currently applying for Math and stats for finance for various unis and hopefully it won't be deemed useless by others.

[fire-ablazed]

To bush:

THat's why I'm in the process of persuading my dad. May I ask about you? You seem to be very very active in the forum...what are you working as now?

To Sillyboy:

REally? High 5! but which unis do you apply to? I am thinking of finance too, if I really can't get to do Math. =(

[Tasslehoff]

No I am not at all desperate. I have come to terms with my financial conditions, and it is just too expensive to study overseas. the whole thing is, i am extremely, extremely interested in Mathematics, but the courses offered here in Malaysia are more of the conventional ones...like business, law, engineering, medicine, accounting. My dad discourages me from take a degree in Mathematics, he said I'll end up lecturing, and if not, I will be applying for the same jobs as those who graduated with a degree in commerce and business. My chances are the same, if not less. And I guess what he said is true. But I am not that interested to take up accounting. So if I want to study locally, it doesn't leave much choice to me does it? I am not as lucky as those rich kids.

If you're really passionate about Maths, I would say apply to Cambridge in the UK and the generous schools in US (eg Harvard, MIT, Princeton..) For Cambridge, there are a few colleges which are rather 'rich' and are reputed to hand out full scholarships, eg Queens & Trinity. Even so, getting into Cambridge would open up many opportunities for corporate scholarships. I am from a low income family, so is Caramelnut. Yet, we both pursued our dreams to go abroad and this year, both of us are going on scholarships! Caramelnut has gained entry in to Cambridge last year... This year, she is going to MIT on a scholarship! I received offers from Cambridge and quite a few UK and US unis, and to be honest, it gave me the opportunity to have a fighting chance for corporate scholarships! After form 5, practically every scholarship I applied to rejected me, my grades and ECA are echoed by many many SPM leavers. But this year, all the scholarships I applied for called me in for interviews.

In short, take me and caramelnut as an example. Dont give up your dreams just because you're lacking the finances. As I said, if you're really passionate about Mathematics, it will show in your uni application.

Best of luck! :)

[Sillyboy]

To bush:

THat's why I'm in the process of persuading my dad. May I ask about you? You seem to be very very active in the forum...what are you working as now?

To Sillyboy:

REally? High 5! but which unis do you apply to? I am thinking of finance too, if I really can't get to do Math. =(

Hehe :D Im applying to oxford, LSE, Imperial and manchester. Math and stats for oxford, business math and stats for LSE, math and stats for finance for imperial and manchester.( Just try my luck in securing offers from these unis...my finances are quite tight so may not study at those places :cry: )

[bluez_aspic]

No I am not at all desperate. I have come to terms with my financial conditions, and it is just too expensive to study overseas. the whole thing is, i am extremely, extremely interested in Mathematics, but the courses offered here in Malaysia are more of the conventional ones...like business, law, engineering, medicine, accounting. My dad discourages me from take a degree in Mathematics, he said I'll end up lecturing, and if not, I will be applying for the same jobs as those who graduated with a degree in commerce and business. My chances are the same, if not less. And I guess what he said is true. But I am not that interested to take up accounting. So if I want to study locally, it doesn't leave much choice to me does it? I am not as lucky as those rich kids.
Math majors are usually employed for their ability to reason, rigour of thought, and analytical skills. Some engineering companies and banks are very fond of math/physics majors - there was a guy from my department who graduated with honours and went on to do modelling for a petroleum company; another who completed his PhD dissertation in topology joined one of the largest local fund managers as an equities analyst.

Unfortunately, those were the only two examples I could think of (I actually asked my colleages about this and they didn't fare any better). It is quite common for math students to join a consulting firm (usually after a Masters/PhD in Mathematics), or end up studying economics at graduate school too.

Career opportunities can also be dependent on the mathematical field(s) you decide to major in. Applied mathematics leads to industry, statisticians are always in high demand in our quantitative obssessed world, and operation research students usually end up assisting companies in maximizing profits (that naturally translates into high salaries).

And math graduates do not become accountants.

Your dad might find solace in a recent Australian survey which showed that math majors had the second highest starting salary (after dentistry students).

I'm not familiar with your circumstances - but Cambridge has recently begun to practise needs-blind admission (as with most premier American universities), so you might consider applying to Cambridge over Oxford. Bath and Warwick are good institutions too (the former especially renowned for applied mathematics), but personally I am more fond of the undergraduate program American universities offer.

ANU offers full-tuition-waiver scholarships for international students - and they do have a terrific math department (even though the building's exterior might not reflect it). A major plus of their undergraduate program is their mentoring scheme, whereby students would be assigned a mentor (especially crucial if you're thinking of pursuing mathematical research).

You might want to check out the National University of Singapore's mathematics program too, which has a greater industrial bent than what is traditionally offered at universities. I know of someone who completed a double major in computer science and mathematics, and he's now doing imaging/animation-related stuff at LucasFilm Singapore.

In Western society, universities are less career-orientated and are really instituions of learning - places where people are given the opportunity and freedom to explore their interests, and knowledge pursued for its own sake. Then again, their school fees are nowhere as exorbitant as what is demanded of international students - so perhaps that's a luxury to which not everyone is entitled.

I'm sorry I couldn't offer better help (my friends are interested in pursuing graduate studies at this stage, hence the indifference towards career options). Mathematics is very different from actuarial studies or economics, but the latter two have a heavy mathematical flavour as well so you could find them appealing too.

I do mathematics because it's fun :D I'm glad that my parents were very supportive of my decision to study mathematics even though I had to do my share of persuading (I actually started off with an Electrical Engineering/Science double degree; I dropped the Engineering component a year later). I did however allay their fears by making frequent appeals to the fact that Lee Hsien Loong studied mathematics too, and that jobs would naturally come if I excel in my chosen field of endeavour.

And feel free to ask anything :) Best wishes.

[bush]

I'm not familiar with your circumstances - but Cambridge has recently begun to practise needs-blind admission (as with most premier American universities), so you might consider applying to Cambridge over Oxford.Bath and Warwick are good institutions too (the former especially renowned for applied mathematics), but personally I am more fond of the undergraduate program American universities offer.

Imperial College and UCL had full-tuition-waiver scholarships for international students last I heard, and so does the Australian National University. ANU has a terrific math department (even though the building's exterior might not reflect it) - a major plus of their undergraduate program is their mentoring scheme, whereby students would be assigned a mentor (especially crucial if you're thinking of pursuing mathematical research).


Do you have an article about the admission policies of Cambridge.

IC and UCL do not offer full tuition waivers for undergraduate studies. UCL has partial foundation grants and scholarships. IC, non-existent at all.

[bluez_aspic]

Do you have an article about the admission policies of Cambridge.
This was mentioned in a newspaper article some months ago in relation to the turn-around of the universities' fortunes (haha) by the vice chancellor.

IC and UCL do not offer full tuition waivers for undergraduate studies. UCL has partial foundation grants and scholarships. IC, non-existent at all.
That was a vague recollection of a flyer I came across some 4-5 years ago, and it was in relation to London University (three were offered).

[bush]

Do you have an article about the admission policies of Cambridge.
This was mentioned in a newspaper article some months ago in relation to the turn-around of the universities' fortunes (haha) by the vice chancellor.

IC and UCL do not offer full tuition waivers for undergraduate studies. UCL has partial foundation grants and scholarships. IC, non-existent at all.
This is a vague recollection of a flyer some 3-4 years ago, but it was definitely a full tuition-waiver in relation to London University. I later tried googling it to no avail, but you might fare better.

That remains to be seen. If it is indeed true, it should be known to all.

London University....it could be UEL or some other universities in London. I am very sure that the above schools do not offer any form of helpful aid to international undergraduate students.

[Sillyboy]

Unfortunately, UK universities does not offer full tuition waivers for undergraduate studies.

[bluez_aspic]

Unfortunately, UK universities does not offer full tuition waivers for undergraduate studies.
I could be wrong then - but there's always the British Council.

And to continue with my nebulous journey of London University scholarships, the scholarship wasn't exactly offered by Imperial/UCL - it was more of a collective London University thing.

But I'll snip off the Imperial/UCL statement from the original post.

[bluez_aspic]

Do you have an article about the admission policies of Cambridge.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21535432-12332,00.html?from=public_rss

[TheArtOfMedicine]

Sillyboy..i'm really curious, have you got any offers from the universities you applied to? If you're able to secure a place in Oxford or LSE, which are considered as the elite universities, it's very unlikely that you'd be unable to accept the offers due to financial constraints.

You should try applying for scholarships AFTER you got the offer letters, as that serves the best prove that you're WORTH the scholarship.

[bush]

Sillyboy..i'm really curious, have you got any offers from the universities you applied to? If you're able to secure a place in Oxford or LSE, which are considered as the elite universities, it's very unlikely that you'd be unable to accept the offers due to financial constraints.

You should try applying for scholarships AFTER you got the offer letters, as that serves the best prove that you're WORTH the scholarship.

Oxford...likely to secure some sort of sponsorship. But then again, sponsorships for certain courses are not readily available. Malaysian firms do no see the value of sponsoring someone to read history or theology at Oxford.

LSE, not a big deal as there would be about 100 Malaysians receiving offers every year. Securing a place is not a definite proof of one's worthiness of a scholarship. That goes for Imperial and UCL too.

[TheArtOfMedicine]

An offer from oxbridge does show that you're a brilliant student and have the potential to bring some benefit to the organisation/private firm/government upon graduation. I wouldn't dare to say an offer from Imperial or UCL would secure you a scholarship, but oxbridge are certainly another story. I do agree with bush that it depends on the course that you're taking, it's hard to get a scholarship for medicine, or theology(mentioned by bush), for instance.