Help: Obtaining Unconditional offers and Financial Afrom Top Foreign Universities

[chankitwck]

As an SPM Leaver can i apply to top Ivy-league universities in the UK and US so that i am eligible for the JPA Ivy league universities in 2012??
If so how? Do i need to write an essay?

Also i heard from a friend that if you write a letter of appeal to the universities that u intend on studying in the future (Say oxford), i heard that they even consider giving you a financial aid if you meet their criteria and impressed them. Is that true?
thx

[wannie]

Originally Posted by chankitwck

As an SPM Leaver can i apply to top Ivy-league universities in the UK and US so that i am eligible for the JPA Ivy league universities in 2012??
If so how? Do i need to write an essay?

Also i heard from a friend that if you write a letter of appeal to the universities that u intend on studying in the future (Say oxford), i heard that they even consider giving you a financial aid if you meet their criteria and impressed them. Is that true?
thx

Actually, I'm not very sure about this new JPA policy. Besides, if you can get into top US universities (only four actually), you will automatically receive a scholarship without bonds from them under the need-based policy, so no point to ask for JPA scholarship. For UK, yes you can receive a PARTIAL scholarship which is worth about 6000-7000 pounds per year only. They normally don't fund for international students and even if they do, it's only by that amount.

I told you about the Ivy Leagues already. for US and UK top universities, you have to take a Pre U course first. Essay? Loads. Loads and loads of them for the US.. I think you're only eligible for the JPA scholarship once you receive the offer from the university (but now I'm also hearing things like you have to be a second year undergrad student before being eligible to apply). The new JPA scholarship is quite a put off, that's my personal opinion.

[chankitwck]

Wannie , this scholarship from us universities, does it cover 100% the tuition fees?

[frostbyte13]

Originally Posted by chankitwck

As an SPM Leaver can i apply to top Ivy-league universities in the UK and US so that i am eligible for the JPA Ivy league universities in 2012??
If so how? Do i need to write an essay?

Also i heard from a friend that if you write a letter of appeal to the universities that u intend on studying in the future (Say oxford), i heard that they even consider giving you a financial aid if you meet their criteria and impressed them. Is that true?
thx

Going for US and UK 2012 without any other qualification than SPM? Sorry, never heard of such a thing. Their system differs completely from us. Most if not all the people I've met all go through some kind of pre-university or diploma before they apply for US. Besides, with only SPM there's only so much for them to even consider you eligible to be with the top among the top. and wow, chill bro. Don't be getting over your head. Looks like your not even familiar with what systems we use to apply into the US and UK. They are both very different. An essay is hardly the only thing you'll be needing especially if we are talking about US.

Your friend is obviously of the same age as you and did not give you correct information, sorry to say This information MIGHT apply to US universities where they have a huge range of bursaries and awards for financially challenged students. Don't be counting on UK universities to give such wonderful help without going through the trouble of applying for a scholarship, JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE. UK universities also do not issue out full financial aid, it's usually only a small fraction but of the actual tuition fees. US too, only some of the universities there are more willing to sponsor you over a larger quantum. If you do manage to enter the Ivies and you can seriously impress them (yeah, impressing them is NOTHING BUT EASY) perhaps you have a chance at scholarships. Do keep in mind the admission percentage of Malaysians who finally get to enter these Ivies are very few. They are not top-notch for nothing.

Does that answer your question?

[wannie]

It is need-based. You will have to fill in forms to apply and they will assess your individual needs accordingly. Most of the time, I'm thinking about 10% of your parents' income as the cost for tuition fee? 100% if you're really really poor. But one thing is for sure, they will make sure that you can afford to go there if you receive their offer. Then again, receiving offers from Yale, Princeton, Harvard, or MIT is better then receiving a scholarship Some universities offer scholarships for intls too (stanford, upenn) but they'll place you in an extremely competitive pool of applicants. THAT, is merit-based and this is going to affect your place in the uni. My advice for you now is to take a pre U course (a levels, IB, or stpm etc) and then apply to universities. Note that obtaining places from top universities will not exactly increase your chances for scholarships because i got into cambridge and got rejected by plenty of organisations as well. just try your luck and do not be afraid to fall

Have you tried applying for scholarships as a post SPM student? I know bnm and sime darby has that. Btw, you need to know the exact "fit" they're looking when making your applications, that's a trick I've learnt.

[frostbyte13]

Originally Posted by chankitwck

Wannie , this scholarship from us universities, does it cover 100% the tuition fees?

Like I mentioned, 100% is only very likely if you have secured not only a place for the Ivies but you have also impressed their scholarship board.

[plawks]

Without a pre-u qualification (only SPM) you won't be able to apply to top universities. Period.

[capablanca]

Sorry to burst some of your bubbles here. It is possible to go to US Ivy league with only SPM. I know one who went to an Ivy league after Form 5, but he did took SAT during that time. So, acceptance is more about the whole package than qualifications. Such cases are rare but if you got the right stuff, you can still put in the effort.

However, you're now putting the question as an SPM leaver. The deadline for Ivy league unis are by the end of December. So, if you want to enter those uni this year, you should have applied last year.

As for this scholarship, there's really not much news about it since last year. So, don't put all your eggs in a basket. Go explore other options.

[plawks]

This is eye opening! Cuz iirc at last year's usapp workshop one of the speakers actually said that it is usually a prerequisite for applicants to have completed at least 12 years of education. A typical SPM leaver would have only gone through 11 years of education. Don't really know how does this work out but it is definitely a no for UK universities applications.

[wannie]

Originally Posted by plawks

This is eye opening! Cuz iirc at last year's usapp workshop one of the speakers actually said that it is usually a prerequisite for applicants to have completed at least 12 years of education. A typical SPM leaver would have only gone through 11 years of education. Don't really know how does this work out but it is definitely a no for UK universities applications.

The probability of getting in with such requirements should be the same as getting a SAT score of 1400 and still obtain a place in the Ivy League It does/might happen but almost nil. This only happens if you have something else to offer to the community.