UPenn Interview in Malaysia

Helping Christine from UPenn to post this. Do email me and I'll link you to her.

-----
Dear all,
The Alumni Secondary School Committee is running admissions interviews for freshmen applicants to the University of Pennsylvania and I would appreciate if you could forward this email to anyone you know who applied this year from Malaysia and cc me. We have not received the final list from Penn and want to be sure no one is left out.

The interviews will be held at the following dates and times:

Dates: Saturday, January 26 and Sunday, February 10
Time: 2pm or 3.30pm
Venue: Business Centre, Equatorial Hotel Kuala Lumpur
Dress code: Smart casual

Information required:

First Name, Last Name as per Penn application:
Birthdate:
Current school (or as per Penn aplication):
Cellphone no:
Available dates and times (indicate preference):

The format will be similar to last year's:

1. You will be scheduled for a time slot at either 2pm or 3.30pm depending on available slots and your availability.
2. We will begin interviewing people in each time slot in the order of sign-in at the business centre and we'll try to match applicants to alumni by school so that we can be more helpful.
3. Each interview should take about 20-30 minutes so the longest you should have to wait is an hour.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Christine Lim
CAS/WH'97
-----

Stanford rejects about 2,000 4.0 and above in Early Decision

Saw this from Ern Sheong's Blog .

Stanford University received 4,600 applicants for Early Decision and of which, they only admit 750 of them. Stanford University also disclosed that they had 2,700 candidates in Early Decision who had CGPA of 4.0 or above (this means that 60% of Early Decision applicants do get 4.0 or above!) and Stanford rejected at least about 2,000 of them, since they only accepted 750 of total Early Decision applicants. And I am sure among those accepted, there are some who didn't get 4.0 CGPA.

Quoting this from Ern Sheong's Blog on Stanford University Q&A

----

What criteria do you use when making decisions? Why wasn’t I admitted if I was academically qualified for admission?

We have tremendous respect for the students who apply for undergraduate admission to Stanford. All applicants are carefully evaluated based on the same set of materials. We seek to know each applicant individually and to develop an understanding of the applicant within the context of the resources and opportunities available to that student. Applicants convey their strengths through their academic record, personal essays, recommendations, activities, and by the fluency of their writing.

The two most important criteria for admission to Stanford are distinguished academic achievement in high school and significant potential to achieve at a high level during the undergraduate years. Another criterion for admission is involvement outside the classroom, where we seek evidence of sustained commitment and leadership in school and community activities. We look for students who will make a strong contribution to the Stanford community by demonstrating intellectual vitality and academic leadership, qualities not entirely captured by grade point averages and test scores. Unfortunately, because there are so many exceptional students who apply to Stanford, there are many top students for whom we simply don’t have room. For example, with more than 2,700 early applicants reporting a 4.0 or higher GPA, we were unable to offer admission to all those who presented such outstanding credentials. Ultimately, we are only able
to offer admission to just 10% of the approximately 25,000 students expected to apply.

Sometimes a candidate is denied admission, while someone he or she knows, whose rank in class and/or test scores are lower, is admitted. This occurs both because we value hard-to-quantify personal qualities and achievements, and because schools, programs and individuals vary so widely. While you might know another applicant’s rank in class, GPA and test scores, only admission officers see the entire application, including the student’s writing and teacher and counselor recommendations. Each applicant presents a unique combination of achievement, potential and intellectual vitality, as well as their personal qualities and story. It is the composite of these factors that ultimately influences our decisions.

Job Market in U.S.

Got this article from Chia Yee. This is an article in CNN (Original Article by Fortune) on the expectations and changes on job market in U.S. While Asia Pacific might be a separate case from U.S., with current globalization, the trend/method would spread out.

It seems interesting that an online image is now getting more and more important. You'll find that out in the article. So, should all of us start to put a better image of ourselves in facebook? on anything searchable within google?

The full article reproduced is as follow:-

----
Don't expect a bigger raise this year
According to our crystal ball, your salary increase will be just so-so this year. You're also more likely to catch a cold in the office. Here's what to expect at work in 2008.
By Anne Fisher, Fortune senior writer

(Fortune) -- It's a presidential election year, of course. It's also the first year in which the leading edge of the humongous Baby Boom generation (those born in 1946) will be eligible to start collecting partial Social Security benefits, at age 62. But 2008 will differ from 2007 in some other ways as well, not all of them good.

Consider, for instance, a poll last month by ComPsych (www.compsych.com), a major provider of employee assistance programs and other outsourced human-resources services. The firm surveyed 1,000 employees of its client companies nationwide and found that 83% plan to come to work even if they are sick, up from 77% the last time ComPsych asked this question two years ago.

More than one in three (37%, up from 34% in the earlier poll)) said their workload is just too heavy to allow for time off, and 21% (up from 17% in 2005) said they plan to save up their own sick time for when their children are ill.

"Employees are pushing the limits of their health and showing up to work at all costs," notes Dr. Richard Chaifetz, ComPsych's CEO. He says the trend is driven in large part by "economic uncertainty and the significant debt loads taken on by consumers in the past two years."

That means you're more likely to be working alongside a contagious colleague (ah-choo!) - just one more reason to telecommute, if you can.

Don't expect a big raise to make up for the extra germs. Sibson Consulting's (www.sibson.com) annual study of salary-increase budgets across 11 U.S. industries reveals that pay hikes for salaried employees and managers this year will be exactly the same as in 2007, averaging a ho-hum 3.9%. Hourly workers will make out a tiny bit worse, with increases of 3.7%.

You could probably boost your pay by changing jobs, but it may not be quite as easy as last year. In 2007, the economy produced 1.3 million new jobs. At this time last year, according to an annual survey by Harris Interactive and CareerBuilders (www.careerbuilders.com), 40% of American employers expected to add full-time, permanent jobs in the 12 months ahead. Now, that has dropped to 32%.

"There will be continued job creation, but plans for hiring are tracking below last year's projections," says Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. "Hiring will be steady, but slower."

It matters what industry you're in. For example, 45% of companies in professional services and information-technology plan to step up hiring, as do 37% of employers in transportation and utilities, 34% in financial services, and 28% in health care and retailing. It might help to live in the South or the West, where hiring is expected to increase by 36% and 34% respectively, versus 31% in the Northeast and 28% in Midwestern states.

One bright spot in the Harris/CareerBuilders survey: Lots of employers are planning to offer more flexible work arrangements in 2008. Almost 80% said they'll introduce or expand alternative work schedules, for instance, allowing employees to come in early and leave early or come in late and work late; 38% plan to allow compressed workweeks, in which people work the same hours but in fewer days; and 33% expect to encourage an increase in telecommuting.

If one of your New Year's resolutions is to find a new job, now is the time to buff up your online image. A new poll of hiring managers and recruiters, by executive career network ExecuNet (www.execunet.com), says that job seekers' "online image management will make or break more job searches" in 2008 than ever.

Right now, 83% of hiring managers and headhunters say they use search engines to check out a candidate before contacting him or her. Here's the ominous part: 43% have eliminated a job prospect based on something that popped up online - up from just 26% who had done so in 2005.

"Digital dirt will derail an even greater number of job searches in 2008," ExecuNet predicts.

How can you make sure your online reputation is everything you want it to be? The ExecuNet study offers three tips. First, be alert: Enter your name into several search engines each month to keep track of exactly what's out there.

Then, be proactive. The survey recommends "purchasing a domain name to display your resume, any press mentions, and professional accomplishments," including trade-journal articles, speeches, and information about volunteer work or other noteworthy deeds.

And third, be prepared. If an online search turns up anything that might be problematic - a lawsuit against a former employer, for instance - the study suggests that you "expect it will be uncovered before the interview process begins" and come up with a succinct, positive way to tell your side of the story.

Happy New Year, everybody!

Do you expect to get a big raise this year? Made any career-related New Year's resolutions?
-----

Save Money for US Unis Applications

Andrew Loh from Swarthmore wrote about For the Kiamsap: How to Save Money In US College Applications in Tin Kosong.

Do read it up! It could be useful to you too, and help save a few penny.

UPenn joins Need Blind Universities

After Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, Williams, Middlebury being need-blind universities, University of Pennsylvania joined the chorus. UPenn would initiate with an initial phase of need-blind for admission of Fall 2008 and will become full need blind institution from Fall 2009.

Thanks to Xiang Li for blogging on it, and from there, I manage to google and find Official Info from UPenn on this matter.

This would be great news for everyone who intend to apply to UPenn!

Full write-up copy from the link of UPenn above.

-----
December 17, 2007

Penn Expands Financial Aid Program to Eliminate Loans

PHILADELPHIA -- The University of Pennsylvania today announced a far-reaching new financial aid initiative that will eliminate loans for financially eligible undergraduate students regardless of family income, making it possible for students from a broad range of economic backgrounds to graduate debt-free.

The new program is the latest step in Penn’s effort to widen access for students from all economic backgrounds, expanding its no loan program beyond low and lower-middle income families to include middle and upper-middle income families. Currently, one-half of the approximately 4,000 Penn undergraduates who receive aid have a loan as part of their need-based financial aid package. The new initiative will substitute grants for loans for all Penn undergraduate students who are eligible for financial aid.

“This is a transformative moment for higher education and for Penn,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann. “Making a Penn education accessible to exceptionally talented students from the broadest array of economic backgrounds possible is fundamental to our mission. No longer will students need to think twice about applying to Penn for fear that they will emerge with overwhelming debt. This represents a tremendous commitment—and enormous investment—on Penn’s part to increasing access for thousands of students. Talented, hardworking young people should not be deterred from pursuing their dreams for fear of being a financial burden to their families.”

The new Penn program will be phased in beginning September 2008, and will include all eligible undergraduates, not just entering freshmen. Effective that year, students with calculated family incomes under $100,000 will receive loan-free aid packages, while families above that level will receive a 10 percent reduction in need-based loans.

By fall 2009, all undergraduate students eligible for financial aid will receive loan-free aid packages, regardless of family income level.

“We have previously addressed the needs of low income and lower middle income families, but now must respond to the needs of our middle and upper middle income families, who are facing the highest levels of debt,” Gutmann said. “We want to send a clear message to them that Penn is committed to supporting them as they seek to provide the best educational opportunities for their children.”

Gutmann said the new initiative will be financed in large part from funds raised by Making History, The Campaign for Penn, the University’s five-year, $3.5 billion fundraising campaign, which includes a $350 million goal for undergraduate financial aid endowment.

Penn currently spends more than $90 million per year of its resources for grant aid to undergraduate students. When the new initiative is fully implemented, that figure will increase more than 20 percent, to more than $110 million.

“For many years, the Trustees have made the affordability of a Penn education a high institutional priority. The total elimination of student loans as part of our aid package is a critical next step in that process. We are pleased to join President Gutmann in supporting this important new program,” said James Riepe, chairman of Penn’s Board of Trustees. “The Trustees are committed to the funding of this initiative and are excited about the impact it will have on thousands of our students. This is a proud moment in our institution’s 267-year history.”

Of the handful of other colleges and universities that have adopted no-loan policies in their financial aid packages, Penn has the largest undergraduate enrollment (10,160).

Since 2003, Penn’s undergraduate financial aid endowment has more than doubled. Endowment income, however, can fund only 17 percent of the cost of the current aid program. The balance of financial aid funding comes from the University’s unrestricted operating budget. Both undergraduate and graduate financial aid are priorities for the University’s Making History capital campaign.

The new initiative expands Penn’s long-standing commitment to its need-blind admissions policy, which means students are accepted based on academic achievement, regardless of their ability to pay. Penn guarantees that any accepted student who matriculates with demonstrated financial need will receive a financial-aid package that meets the full extent of the student’s need for a full four years. Fewer than 50 private institutions across the nation have need-blind admissions policies and even fewer have financial aid based exclusively on need. Penn does not offer athletic or merit scholarships. Forty percent of Penn’s undergraduate students receive need-based financial aid from the University.

Penn also has recently launched a new outreach program targeting hundreds of schools and thousands of students from low and middle-income families -- who might never have considered applying to Penn -- to let them know that if they are accepted to Penn, they will receive a financial aid package with no loans. Penn is already seeing success in its efforts to improve access for lower income families, with a doubling of admitted students with family incomes under $60,000 in the last year.

----

Early Decision/Early Action

With many interests on the statistics of Early Decision/Early Action, let me try my best to compile on this statistic as best I can.

Admission rate:-
Stanford University - 738/4551 (16.22%)
Yale University - 885/4888 (18.11%)
Columbia College - 455/2162 (21.05%)
Brown University - (22.6%)
Columbia School of Engineering & Applied Science - 142/420 (33.81%)
Williams College - 223/600 (37.17%)
Duke University - 472/1247 (37.85%)

Haven't managed to find the admission rate for other universities. If anyone has any stat, do let me know.

Other Stats:-
William College - average critical reading 711 and average math 706. 29 applicants with SAT1 critical reading full score and 14 with SAT1 math full score. 50 with SAT2 Math full score, whereas 19 with SAT2 Writing full score.

Ivy League Admission Rate

For those of you who wanted to know more about Ivy League admission rate, at least for those who entered last year, I find that Hernandez College Consulting has a very good database record. You could refer to the stats here .

This would allow you to have a high level understanding on the level of difficulty of entering the universities of your dream. It focuses mainly on the Ivies (Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Cornell, Columbia, Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Brown), MIT, Stanford etc. So, for those of you who have aspirations for those universities, it would be something for you to read through. They have some statistics on Early Decision too (although I haven't found the statistics for this year).

Interestingly, they also have something called Academic Index Calculator. This would give you a rough understanding on whether your SAT and your high school results are sufficient for applications of these universities. The full score of these are 240, with average Ivy League admits are 211, and average Ivy League applicants are 200. This could be used as rough guide. For international students, I would hope that you would aim to be much higher than the average 211 as well. To access it, go to here

Application to U.S. Universities

Yes, the season is ending. 2007 is almost over, and yes, recently I have been saddled by tons of application essays, from many fellow Malaysians, who are giving their best shot, to earn themselves a ticket to study at their dream universities, be it the ivy-coated institutions or any other top notch institutions in U.S.

I have been reading thousands of application essays over the past 7 years or so, and that has definitely given me a peek into the life of many Malaysians. Many of them have gone through tons of experience and they are just 17,18,19 or 20 years old. I really don't imagine myself having those abilities during those days. It is good to see many of them have a heart for community, have a heart for the unpriviledged ones, have a heart for the environment etc. At least, they state so in their essays and I hope they would keep their words.

Reading those essays, I would say that I have definitely noticed a significant improvement in the quality of essays over the years. Gone were the days, when the essay is more plain, and merely follow a story line. If I were to have a copy of my own application essay, I would say that mine would be no where near many of those which I have read.

Among those students who have approached me to read through their essays, I would say that generally most of them are appreciative of what is a volunteer work on my part, in the middle of night, be it I am healthy, sick, busy or free. It is the joy when many of them got their admission offer and share the news with me, that have kept me going.

I would share their joy, as well as sadness. It is my pleasure to do so. Thanks for allowing me to be empathy with many of you. I wish I have tons more of time to do this, as this is definitely my passion, but I have to say that with so many essays up for me to read through, typically my feedback would be just a paragraph or so of comments for each essay. This is quite a bit of stuff already, since most people give me quite a few essays, and I have read through many drafts of their essays.

Would like to really comment on those who really put in efforts to improve their essays. I know that quite a number of them are upset over their SAT score. I can understand your scenario. Do try your best to improve it in January SAT. I know it is past deadline, but if you never take it, you would not improve it. If you take it and do well, there is chance that you still have time to send it to the universities and bring upon their attention.

All these are subjective ones, so your significant efforts would be reflected in your applications. Your hard work of applying, with your dedication to make your applications complete would be worth it. Even if you do not manage to get into your dream university, I would say that the process of application is a lesson by itself. You struggle through many of the late nights trying to think through on how to improve your essay. It is not easy.

And getting into university is just the first step. I often like to tell those who shared me the good news, that getting in is the first step. What is crucial is how they make full use of the opportunities. Irrespective of the universities one gets in, one would still have tons of opportunities out there, as a lot of those opportunities do not care where one studies.

Good Luck to everyone~! Hope to see more good news this year~!

And for those whose essays have been read through by me, and I gave you my comments, I hope that you would take it positively. It is just a feedback from a fellow Malaysian who has gone through the process. Nothing more than that. Do seek others' feedback too. And I am a very direct person, so if you have been getting negative comments on your essay, I am sincerely doing that, hoping that you could improve and enhance your chance.

Malaysia ranks 21st among students in US

Malaysia ranks number 21st among countries which send students to U.S. This is not a ranking of the quality of students, but rather the quantity. It points out number of Malaysians who have gone to U.S. to study for tertiary education. Among the Malaysians there, 24% did post-graduate degree.

To read in full, I would strongly recommend that you go to Education Malaysia to read the comments from Kian Ming.

There is also a report by The US based Institute of International Education (IIE) which recently published a report on foreign students in the US. To read it, click here

It highlighted that University of Southern California accepted the most international students at a total of 7,115. Columbia was second at 5,937. This is followed by New York University (5,827), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (5,685), Purdue University (5,581), University of Michigan - Ann Arbor (5,429), University of Texas at Austin (5,303), UCLA (4,704), Harvard (4,514), Boston University (4,484), and University of Pennsylvania (4,484).

Cornell Early Decision for Class of 2012

Congratulations to Fu Ken Hui and Tan Sheng Hong for both being obtained admission for Cornell University College of Engineering Class of 2012.

Welcome to the Big Red! This is a great breakthrough for Malaysians, when we are having 2 fellow Malaysians who are able to successfully get into Cornell University through the Early Decision! Syabas!

To all applicants for Regular Decision, good luck!

Ken Hui and Sheng Hong, hope that both of you would make full use of your Cornell experience! Getting admission is definitely just the first step, and I am sure both of you would be able to make full use of the opportuities there.

To all who fail to get admission, I am sorry about it, but life goes on. Irrespective of which university you get in, do make full use of the opportunities there! It is not just about getting admission, but making full use of the admission!

Good Luck!

Early Decision for U.S. Universities

Following my earlier blog on Early Decision Increase in Number of Applicants .

The D-Day of 15th December has arrived, and we have heard responses from students of various universities on admission.

For my alma mater, Cornell, it would only release the Early Decision Admission Decision on 19th December 2007 5pm Eastern Time.

Columbia is one of those early ones which has reports on their Early Decision. It is here at Columbia Spectator . A summary of it, shows that Early Decision admit rate drops from 24% to 23%, due to the 5% increase in number of applicants. That shows the number of Class of 2012 that Columbia takes in is stable and hence increase in number of applicants means decrease in admit rate.

Columbia College takes in 455 out of 2,162 applicants (6% increase applicants from last year) to make it an admit rate of 21%, whereas School of Engineering and Applied Science takes in 142 out of 420 applicants (1% increase applicants from last year) to make the admit rate of 33%.

US Visa Price goes up!

Inflation has been happening everywhere, and the latest spate.

US Visa for tourist, business and students visa has been increased from USD100 to USD131, to accommodate for the increased processing costs.

For immigrant visa, the price has increased by 6% from USD335 to USD355 as well.

All these increase would take effect from 1st January 2008.

Early Decision Number Grows Significantly

Highlighted to me by some of the Early Decision Applicants, I decide to google around and see whether it is true that total applicants for Early Decision for most universities have increased.

Harvard, Princeton and Virginia have decided to stop their Early Decision/Early Actioin/Early Admission practice. Guess, I am going to call all these ED, to make things simple.

From various articles, I have gotten such stats:-
Chicago, up by 42% from 3,031 to 4,329
Yale, up by 36% to 4,820
Georgetown, up by 31% from 4,562 to 5,980
Notre Dame, up by 18%, to 4,290
Northwestern, up by 17% to 1,520
MIT, up by ~10% from 3,493 to ~3,800
Brown, up by 6%
Dartmouth, Columbia --> modest increase
Stanford, about unchanged at ~4,570

My stats above are from:-
a) Choate.edu
b) New York Times
c) Chicago Tribune

Other articles on U.S. Universities:-
a) Harvard News
b) Wall Street Journal
c) Cornell Daily Sun on Transfer Students vs Regular Students

Some excerpts of statistics for Cornell Regular vs Transfer Students:-
Agriculture and Life Sciences
Regular Admit Rate: 22.52%
Transfer Admit Rate: 51.47%

Architecture, Art and Planning
Regular Admit Rate: 17.05%
Transfer Admit Rate: 18.89%

Arts and Sciences
Regular Admit Rate: 17.96%
Transfer Admit Rate: 13.78%

Engineering
Regular Admit Rate: 30.89%
Transfer Admit Rate: 18.51%

School of Hotel Administration
Regular Admit Rate: 20.66%
Transfer Admit Rate: 52.27%

Human Ecology
Regular Admit Rate: 35.31%
Transfer Admit Rate: 29.02%

Industrial and Labor Relations
Regular Admit Rate: 27.85%
Transfer Admit Rate: 59.64%

Total University
Regular Admit Rate: 21.40%
Transfer Admit Rate: 29.36%

Good Luck for those who are applying!

Harvard Trims Tuition Bills for Families

Wall Street Journal's report an article on Harvard reducing the amount of contribution by parents who earn below USD180,000 a year. This effectively means that this would make Harvard much more affordable to students. Would this trigger other universities to do so as well?

For me, this is a very important initiative, where we are making quality higher education affordable, especially those high end higher education.

For the link of the article, go to Wall Street Journal

The article reproduced in full.

----


Harvard Trims Tuition Bills for Families
Initiative Provides
Lower Costs
Keyed to Income
By JOHN HECHINGER
December 11, 2007; Page B17

Harvard University sweetened financial aid for middle- and upper-middle-class families at a time when elite colleges are increasingly under assault for pricing themselves out of reach for all but the wealthiest Americans.

Under its new program, to take effect next fall, the Cambridge, Mass., school said undergraduates whose families earn up to $180,000 a year would be asked to pay 10% or less of their incomes annually for the cost of Harvard, which now totals $45,620.

The university said that for about half of its undergraduates, the initiative would reduce the cost of attending the college by one-third to one-half, making the price comparable with in-state tuition and fees at top public universities.

Harvard has been criticized for its swelling endowment, which stands at $35 billion, the highest of any university in the country. The school said the initiative would increase its annual financial aid spending by $22 million to $120 million. Last year, its endowment jumped by $5.7 billion because of strong investment returns and donations.

Yesterday, Harvard President Drew Faust said Harvard wanted to attract students scared off by the hefty price tag and fear of debt. Officials said the Ivy League school also would eliminate loans from all aid packages and no longer consider home equity in calculating eligibility.

Harvard's move is likely to put pressure on other wealthy, selective colleges to increase financial aid to attract top students. In recent years, a number of other marquee institutions -- including Amherst, Columbia, Princeton, Stanford and Yale -- have taken similar steps, such as increasing aid and scrapping student loans. Harvard was among the earliest in the effort. In 2004, Harvard drew attention for eliminating tuition for families earning $40,000 annually or less, and later expanded that figure to $60,000. Other schools followed. With yesterday's announcement, Harvard is reaching higher up the income spectrum to attract upper-middle-class families.

Critics -- and college officials themselves -- have long worried about the disproportionate number of wealthy students at universities like Harvard.

At the 146 most selective colleges in the U.S., just 3% of the students came from families that ranked in the bottom 25% in income, while 74% came from the top 25%, according to a 2004 study by the Century Foundation, a New York-based research group.

Harvard says that 3,340 students out of roughly 6,600 undergraduates currently receive financial-aid grants. About a third of those receiving aid come from families earning $60,000 a year or less, with most of the rest earning between $60,000 to $180,000.

Yesterday's announcement comes as lawmakers have been lashing out at colleges that raise tuition while stockpiling money. They have discussed requiring universities to spend a minimum amount of their endowments each year. Yesterday, Sen. Charles Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, who has championed the idea, said he hoped Harvard "would inspire other expensive colleges to make tuition more affordable."

Lynne Munson, adjunct research fellow at the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, a Washington nonprofit, says some other schools will feel compelled to match Harvard. But Ms. Munson, who testified recently before the Senate Finance Committee, said Harvard could well afford to freeze tuition and eliminate it completely, "not just for poor families but for middle class families."

William Fitzsimmons, Harvard's dean of admissions, says the college believes tuition should be "a shared responsibility" for families who can afford to pay.

Under the new policy, families making $120,000 to $180,000 will be asked to pay 10% of their incomes. A family earning $120,000 would pay about $12,000, compared with more than $19,000 under current student-aid policies. Families earning below $120,000 would pay a declining percentage of their incomes, down to zero at $60,000 and below.

Write to John Hechinger at john.hechinger@wsj.com

MIT Open Courseware for High School

Got this link from a friend, who is also a fellow ReCom member. He has always been resourceful and able to find many interesting resources, but always would like to stay anonymous.

MIT has prepared Open Courseware for High School students and it is also very useful for those who want to use it to prepare for AP exam.

Do make full use of it MIT Open Courseware for High School

Mensa Penang Scholarships Talk

Mensa Penang will be organizing a Scholarship to Study in U.S. talk on 1st December, Saturday, 2:30pm to 4:30pm at Caring Society Complex in Penang. I will be helping to share my experience for that seminar. If any of you are in Penang and are interested to attend, do hope to see you there!

Among the aspects that I will be speaking on would include:-
a) Life in U.S.
b) Scholarships available from Malaysia/Singapore to study in U.S. Universities
c) Scholarships/Financial aids from U.S. to study in U.S. Universities
d) Application tips for applying to study in U.S. Universities

For some of the scholarships information, you can visit:-
ReCom.org (The Worldwide Malaysian Students Network
Tinkosong.com
Malaysia-Scholarship.com

Good Luck!

Congrats for getting into Undergraduate Management Association

Congrats to a friend of mine, whom I believe do read my blog as well for getting into her university's business school's Undergraduate Management Association. Congratulations!

Am very happy for you, although I do not write your name here (not sure whether you would want me to write, so to be safe, better do it this way). You should know who you are.

Congrats! It is always my pleasure to see my juniors being able to do well and above and beyond what I could imagine myself could do.

Congrats!

American Universities Alumni Malaysia 30th Anniversary

As a follow up to my earlier post at here on American Universities Alumni Malaysia looking for prominent U.S. Universities Alumni, right now, the event planning is quite on track already.

The 30th Anniversary of American Universities Alumni Malaysia (AUAM) would be on 16th December 2007 (Sunday) 7:30pm at Crowne Plaza Mutiara Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

The guest of honor would be Perak Crown Prince, Raja Dr. Nazrin Shah ibni Sultan Azlan Shah. It would be a fantastic occasion to listen to Raja Nazrin again, after his speech during Malaysian Student Leaders Summit!

The ticket is currently selling at RM120 per piece. If anyone is interested, do let me know. Corporate table is available at RM1,500 as well.

Hope to see many people present to listen to this fantastic speech.

Would Raja Nazrin make further statement on his call for all Malaysians to go back to Constitution?

U.S. Universities Interview Tips

Got an email from a friend, fellow ReCom member , who chose to be anonymous. He sent me links to MIT Educational Counselors' Interview Briefing, which would be very useful to those who want to apply to top U.S. Universities. Check it out here .

Would also share what is available from Cornell. Check it out here

Do definitely browse the following link for more articles.

MIT Articles

Good luck for all of you who are preparing for your applications!

U.S. Universities Prominent Alumni

Hi all, American Universities Alumni Malaysia (AUAM) will be celebrating its 30th anniversary on 16th December 2007.

AUAM would like to honour prominent U.S. Universities Alumni and if anyone knows of any prominent names, please kindly share with me.

Am looking at those who are holding the level of CEOs of major companies or its equivalent.