My Piece of Advice to the JPA applicants

[Hamster]

A piece of advise to all potential JPA scholarship holders, be very careful when you fill up your application forms, do your best during the interview, be presentable. You need not have to go in latest fashion or branded attire. Be neat and tidy, bring along the required documents and most of all your CONFIDENCE.

[Miracle_seed]

Originally Posted by matchgirl

ok, i get 14 A1s an a B3, so do i stands a great or moderate or none-at-all chance?

I would say, great chance, if only results is considered. I don't know about others.....

[elizabeth]

Originally Posted by davidchak

I know it is not easy to get JPA.
But before applying for whatever course you want to, ask yourself the following questions:

1)Are you sure you want to become a doctor or engineer or whichever you apply to?
Doctor and Engineer, these names may sounds glamour. But in reality, did you know that a doctor have to be on call 24/7 and an engineer may have to spent his or her days with machine? Be sure of your interests, dont go with the flow or for the name. Go for your heart, be what your heart wanted to be. Remember, not everyone is tailored for these jobs. No job is bad job. As the chinese proverb, 行行出状元, "all job is good job." goes, it is not the title that is important but your interests.

2)Are you good enough for JPA?
You might think that your 10As results "should be" good enough for JPA. But think it another way, your results are good but JPA wants the BEST. 10As is nothing compared to 10A1s and 10A1s is nothing compared to 14A1s.
If you get JPA medicine with 10As result, I would say its a miracle. Your chances of securing these scholarship with "good" results is, unfortunately, very slim. If your results are "good", why not try other alternative like Biotech, Liberal Arts or even Social Science?

3)Do you have what it takes to secure the scholarship?
Many sought to become engineer and doctor. However, do you have what it takes to get there? Getting JPA doesnt means a ticket to go oversea. You still have to pass your Pre-U studies. I know, you might argue "hey, i got 10As for my SPM" but you must also know that SPM and Pre-U, theres a huge gap in between. Getting good in SPM does not guarantee a high score in your pre-U studies. If you flunk your pre-U ie. not meeting JPA's target, then you gotta kiss good-bye to your scholarship.

Pardon me for any grammatical errors, was too lazy to go over it again. Just my 2cents...

1) I agree with you, though admittedly many are still unsure about their options. Just listen to your heart, think about what you might like, weigh your strengths and weaknesses, and decide! let not your parents decide for you!

2) That hurts, David. Are you implying that people like me can only apply for Biotech and such? (I got Biotech US btw- and I got 10 1As -proud of the small town gal's achievements-)
medic is demanding, but who is to say 10 1As is not enough? As are not good indicators of success! (my fav refutation) Many great men didn't even completed high school (read: Thomas Edison) and yet they performed greatly in life, science included... Shame on you to patronize this way!
And whoever said that Biotech and Liberal Arts are inferior? (you certainly do imply it!) Do you know that some of the best universities in the US place emphasis on the integration of sciences (or any major, as a matter of fact) WITH liberal arts? The universities actually take pride in creating holistic individuals- hence note the importance of liberal arts! Biotech is tough too, just ask any ADFP student in INTEC, they will tell you that the course is demanding and difficult! For this semester, those most deprived of sleep to study is Biotech+Calculus students- Engineering students have more free time! (sorry I can only relate a lot to ADFP- since I am in that program) It might not be as thorough as Medic when it comes to the study of the physiology and anatomy, but the subject is excellent in its own standards- like the detailed aspect of studies of the genome and proteins.

and I would like to emphasize again, many 1As are not indications of success. for me, taking 10 subjects was due to practicality. Sure, I could have taken Accounts and Art and Bible Study or Buddhism and get 13 1As instead. But what's the point? If I want to be a research scientist in a Bio lab, what am I to do with Art? Be a better artist in sketching cells? To shade them? To use an array of color in painting the cells? How about accounts? to calculate the net profit of amoebas? ANd unless I am very passionate about my religion to devote many many many hours studying the intricacies of the religion without the aid of a teacher (and risk a C in my paper- I'd say), why must I take it?

Geez, I just wish you would have phrased it better! Currently, my impression of you is a 14 1As student who got medic and is damn egoistic about it!

3) Some people are late bloomers, dear. If I am so gullible as to take your words verbatim, I will just say that I got 10 As out of luck, not capability (since I thought I flunked my Bio), and that a small town gal like me should just go get married and forsake all dreams of going abroad, coz' hey, what chance will I get? MERELY 10 1As, mediocre co-curriculum, and so 'bagan' from 'small town no one knows, how to fight with the KLites?'...

But I chose to chase my dreams. I am now heading for US, and I am proud to say that I had gotten decent marks in SAT and TOEFL and INTEC exams- this small town gal did well enough to be in the list of the nine people who passed the three prerequisites of JPA to apply to Ivy League and Ivy League Standard.

*I am not trying to brag, but I just want to prove that even if others think you are not good enough- trusting in yourself is imperative in life- you can prove them wrong and succeed! Take their criticism and skepticism as a challenge to improve yourself and annihilate their stand*

David might mean well, but to all of you out there, do not EVER doubt yourself. Do not allow others to pressure you into doubting yourself~! Each of us is unique; there is something worth pursuing in there. If you think you are good enough for it, go for it! My friend with 9 1As and 1 3B managed to secure JPA scholarship to Korea for Engineering!

Just believe and try. You lose nothing by trying your best, and everything to gain! Have faith!

"The brave might not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all". Don't go for your interview with no confidence in yourself. Just try your best no matter what- you do not want to regret it too late down the pathway of life.

[davidchak]

Geez, I feel tempted to quote you but the page will be dragged down for sure.



2) I do not mean that liberal arts and others are inferior to others.
Just that instead of going into main stream, why not consider other alternatives? Alternatives doesnt necessary means inferior.

Yes, I know A1s are not indicator of cleverness but it does when it comes to JPA judgment. Look, 10A1s are excellent in my opinion. But to JPA and other sponsors, you are still one class lower than those with 12A1. And 12A1 are still in lower class than 14A1s. As for Medic, you do know that Medic is hot cake to all SPM grad. Obviously, the standard will be raised when there were too many good students applying for the scholarship. And in that case, your chances will be slimmer if your results are just "good".

3)Both of our statements are mere asusmption. There are people who do bad in their SPM but excels in their Pre-U and there were people who did excellent in SPM but terribly in Pre-U. The main point here is that SPM do not indicate good result in Pre-U.

I do not wish to diminish or make others doubt of their ability. What i meant here is that, do not chase blindly to the major course. Take a deep breath, rethink what you really want. Thats all.

I am sorry if you feel that way.

Btw, I do know about US education and I think their system is great. If I am not mistaken, during the first two year, you ought to take the courses from all 4 disciplines. In the third year only you will be taking courses related to your major.

P/S: I am no medic scholar nor i did get 14A1s. Heck, I didnt even get 10A1s! lol

[vseehua]

Well, the number of A1s doesn't really determine whether the student gets the course of their dreams or not. Just look around you guys, i'd bet there are students that only have 6As and still managed to get into the medical programme

[Al-Bert]

Originally Posted by elizabeth

2) That hurts, David. Are you implying that people like me can only apply for Biotech and such? (I got Biotech US btw- and I got 10 1As -proud of the small town gal's achievements-)
medic is demanding, but who is to say 10 1As is not enough? As are not good indicators of success! (my fav refutation) Many great men didn't even completed high school (read: Thomas Edison) and yet they performed greatly in life, science included... Shame on you to patronize this way!
And whoever said that Biotech and Liberal Arts are inferior? (you certainly do imply it!) .

Dear Elizabeth, please reread Davidchak's first post again... You didn't really get his point...

The amount of A is really the indicators of success in securing the JPA scholarship... He never mentioned As are the indicators of success in future...

Davidchak never implied anything that Biotech or Liberal Arts are inferior.. He promoted the equal in nobility of all kind of jobs - He wrote 行行出状元, "all jobs is good jobs"!

[sNaiL0810]

i am sure david are not making an insulting point here
calm down everyone

[elizabeth]

Rereading it, I find that his (davidchak's) words are not insulting by themselves, that I have to admit.

But reading them under the heading "Are you good enough for JPA?" made me raise my eyebrows. Coz' when I connect the statements to the heading, I read nuances... and his usage of ( "good" ) made me think he's implying 10 1As is a horrible result. If I think that something is good, but not great, then I differentiate the two by saying: you need great results to secure Medic- good results might be insufficient in the eyes of JPA...
rather that "good" results... I usually use " XXX" to emphasize on sarcasm. (the quotation marks is used to indicate sarcasm- geez I am wording this badly)

Perhaps I am just oversensitive- overanalyzing and thinking too much- making deductions out of nothing of substance. *bow head* I apologize. Gomen!

Oh. David. I agree about the JPA and SPM student perception on 12 1As and Medic. It shows the mentality... Sadness in mentality. Where has true passion gone? A good number of those who are studying medic (source from a JPA medic scholar in Manipal) take it merely because it has good prospects. good money etc.

I'm not entirely sure I want someone so nonchalant about the profession treating me! Think properly before you decide- I have had establish doctors in my local hospital advising me against taking medicine. (hence I have never even entertained thoughts of taking up medic)

Don't jump on the bandwagon. Look beyond what's popular to what you're truly passionate about.

oh. and you did get the gist of US education. That's why I love it so much. =D I can study close to anything I want if I have the time and if the university offers it

[vseehua]

Originally Posted by elizabeth

Oh. David. I agree about the JPA and SPM student perception on 12 1As and Medic. It shows the mentality... Sadness in mentality. Where has true passion gone? A good number of those who are studying medic (source from a JPA medic scholar in Manipal) take it merely because it has good prospects. good money etc.

I'm not entirely sure I want someone so nonchalant about the profession treating me! Think properly before you decide- I have had establish doctors in my local hospital advising me against taking medicine. (hence I have never even entertained thoughts of taking up medic)

Don't jump on the bandwagon. Look beyond what's popular to what you're truly passionate about.

Well, a lot of people did ask me about why i didn't take up medicine, and intead took up engineering instead. My reply to them? I do what i like to do...

[capablanca]

Hehe, same here. Though I can't be sure whether I am passionate about my current course but one thing is for sure, it beats medicine hands down.