What to choose after SPM

This is the most common question that SPM-leavers will have in their mind. There are a lot of options outside there, you can either go for STPM, A-levels or just go straight for diploma courses that you are interested in. But a word of caution here, don’t go choosing a course just because your friend asked you to, believe me, you are going to regret sooner or later...Haha…

4 years back, I was one of the students who sat for SPM and had applied for polytechnics in Singapore and scholarships from Sinchew Newspaper ,The Stars Newsaper, JPA and Petronas. I considered myself quite lucky to get an offer from Singapore polytechnics and called for interview for the scholarships(Sinchew and The Stars) and got it. However, I rejected the offers as I was not sure that I was really interested in the course that I have applied for and was also quite worry I might not excel in the course.

So, I chose to go for Form 6 as it is not that costly as A-levels. I am in the Science Stream and took the following subjects (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Pengajian Am). Frankly speaking,I learnt a lot in Form 6 as the syllabus is broad and tough. You need to put a lot of effort into studying every subjects if you are aiming for a 4 FLAT to secure a place in the top universities like UKM, UPM, USM and UM in Malaysia. Well, I am not that smart and brilliant student in Form 6 so I did not pass every subjects with flying colors but luckily I still managed to get JPA scholarship to study Chemical Engineering in Curtin, Sarawak Campus.

Lastly, I gotta say that studying is just a phase of life and it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to apply what you have learnt in real life situation. So, good luck to all those SPM leavers in making a wise decision.

Below are the links to apply for polytechnics in Singapore and some scholarship links :

http://www.sp.edu.sg/wps/portal/vp-spws (Singapore Polytechnic)
http://www.nyp.edu.sg/ (Nanyang Polytechnic)
http://www.tp.edu.sg/main/default.htm (Temasek Polytechnic)
http://esila.jpa.gov.my/portaljpa.php (JPA scholarship)
http://www.petronas.com.my/internet/corp/centralrep2.nsf/frameset_edu?OpenFrameset (Petronas scholarship)