Academic Journey 4: Applying for MARA Education Financing

Bismillah...

The current MCO 3.0 has been extended to 28th June and here I am at home, trying to figure out what else to do to make the most of my free time. In the previous lockdowns I was busied with my study and scholarship applications. When I wanted a short break from all that, I obsessively purge and reorganize every nook and cranny of my space at home. By early of this year, I have nothing much left to sort out. I was just done with my 45 minutes stretching and full body work out. While waiting for my Nasi Lemak to arrive, I think I could start with a few lines on this post.

Practiced my Kanji and did jigsaw puzzle yesterday~

As of today, I still haven't got any email from MARA. However, I manage to contact the person in charge last Friday. I was very lucky to get through on my first attempt, Alhamdulillah. Well, there is nothing much to do other than wait, actually. I explained to her my situation in which  I need the offer letter for study leave application 3 months before the university admission date. She was kind enough to reassure me that she will try her best to speed up the process. 

Well, what makes the whole process very complicated is that the requirements and timeline for MARA, UCL and KKM study leave does not align with one another, you know.

For MARA the sequence is like this,

Application → Issuance of Financial Affidavit (FA) to be submitted to the university to get Confirmation of Acceptance (COA) → Issuance of offer letter, financial statement and agreement

For UCL,

Application → Result →  Issuance of CAS (The COA) 3-4 months before admission. FA or deposit is not required

For KKM study leave application, the scholarship offer letter is a prerequisite. So there is no way I could submit my study leave application 3 months before the admission because UCL has fixed the CAS release to be 3 months before admission. You see, there is nothing much I could do in my position other than be patient and pray for the best hahaha 

Now lets proceed to how to apply for MARA...

For the one that I applied in March, there has been major changes in the application process from the previous ones. Here are the infographic and full pdf guidelines. Well, it was written there that the application was for those who are currently studying and for those who will start in May but I submitted mine anyway. I wasn't being adamant or whatsoever. It was just that I only knew that September intake is suppose to apply in June somewhere in May when I discovered the GREP MARA FB Page. I was worried that my application would be rejected after I found out about it but Alhamdulillah, it was accepted for consideration.

I was actually surprised to see the online form because it was the simplest of all the applications that I had undergone. Besides my personal details which includes my income tax number, it also asked for my parents details, my dependents, my SPM results, the course that I'm applying and in which university. The following are the documents that need to be uploaded as a zipped folder. When I went back to the portal to upload my IELTS result, there was a new instruction to name the folder with your full name and IC number.

As you can see, for IELTS it was mentioned there that it should be emailed to MARA. I emailed it immediately upon receiving the hard copy result. Well, I did check the portal every now and then but after not seeing any changes since I submitted my application, I stopped doing so. I thought the sole purpose of the portal was only for application and all updates will be conveyed via email. AND I WAS WRONG! Luckily after about 2 weeks or was it 3 weeks of no response to my email, I decided to check the portal again. And there it was, a change in my application status and an instruction to upload my IELTS result into the portal! I think this might be one of the factor that caused the current delay. The ones whom I knew have received their FA have completed all the required documents when they submitted. 

That's about it! My batch of applicants don't have to go through any psychometric or personality test, no medical check up is requested so far but maybe later it will be and we haven't received any instruction for guarantors too. But ya, we have to bear with this long wait in uncertainty although many steps are omitted. 

In previous years, MARA did allow course and university change but from what I saw in the Telegram chat group, those who have received FA will have to reapply in the next round if they opt to defer or change the course or university. So, I guess you will have to firmly decide to which course and university before applying with the current system. 

That's all for the application process. Again, please pray for me! I will share what are the subsequent tasks after I get through this stage, inshaAllah...