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...

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Academic Journey 3: Preparing Financially To Study in UK

Bismillah...

Here we go again with another MCO in Malaysia but this time the cases are even worst. We hit 9k cases 2 days ago, but luckily today it's down to 6824 cases. Alhamdulillah. However, a very frightening outbreak is happening in Labuan and the cases recorded have been more than 150 cases for the past 3-4 days. I'm worried for my family in Labuan; keep reminding them to stay at home and praying hard for Allah's protection from afar.

As of today, I have not received any news regarding my MARA application and still patiently waiting. The results are slowly being released via email and MARA is prioritizing those who are about to enroll in May and July. I just hope by the time the result is out, I still have ample time to prepare for my departure to UK. Alhamdulillah, I have settled all the other documents to apply for study leave but there are still two required documents that I have not obtained which are my scholarship offer and my Unconditional Offer Letter. I have written to the university and emailed them again today after about 3 weeks. The process is quite slow as universities are dealing with high volume of enquiries. I just wrote to them again to inform the urgency. I will write another post detailing how to apply for study leave, InshaAllah.

While there is not much to do at this phase, I decided to meticulously study how much money should I prepare and to my surprise, I will need to prepare more than RM 10k to be safe. Here is the rough breakdown 

Student visa: £348

Immigration Health Surcharge: £470

Accommodation deposit: £250

One-way Ticket: ~ RM1500

Student Visa and Immigration Health Surcharge

I can't detail how the process is like yet but I will update in a future post, inshaAllah. But the process will differ depending on which university you are applying to. Here's the info page in British Council Page and this one from GOV.UK.

For the TB test, only a check up from an approved clinic will be accepted. In Kota Kinabalu, the appointed center is KPJ Sabah, the fee is RM 190 and you can contact this number to make an appointment 088-322000. Here is the link to the TB testing guide. I emailed KPJ to ask whether I can bring over a chest X-Ray from another medical check up since I'm going to do one for MARA anyway. The answer is no. You will have to undergo the whole process all over again hahaha

I just learned that IDP offers free consultation services that cover almost all aspects of studying abroad. I thought they only help with IELTS application hahaha. And you might be waived from the unibersity application fee if you apply through them so I guess you should give it a shot as the services are free of charge. Well, there might be some charges for document verification, courier service etc.

Accommodation

Well, London is famous for its high rental cost but I have no idea how much is HIGH. And when I went to do my research, the rental fees are shocking! There are rooms that cost £150 per week but they are quite far from the university which means I will still have to spend a lot for transportation. Those nearby cost £250-£400 per week, undeniably comfortable too.

I finally applied for the university halls and I specified my preference for halls that house postgraduates only. I also opted for a single room; at this age I am willing to pay more for comfort hahaha But the thing is I might be taking an unpaid leave instead of Cuti Belajar Bergaji Penuh (CBBP) as this was a requirement by MARA in the past. There are rumours saying that the current scholars are taking CBBP. I really hope this is true so I have one less thing to worry hahaha

For now, I haven't paid anything since the halls allocation will be done from 1st July. But after they emailed the result, you will have to respond within 3 days and pay the £250 deposit. You will not get a refund if you decide to cancel.

Another option that I found quite affordable is actually the MARA house but an 8 weeks deposit is required and that alone is around RM9000. And the traveling time to UCL is approximately 35 minutes by bus so I rather spend a few more pounds to cut the traveling time hahaha 

Flight ticket and travel

I am not a fan of long flights thus I will definitely make a transit in the middle east. However, UK categorized countries into green, amber and red and all categories have different rules and SOP for transit and quarantine during arrival. Here is the link and it is frequently updated. I will most probably buy my flight ticket a few weeks before because it will be such a hassle if suddenly the country at which I choose to transit switch to a different category.

The GREP Telegram members are currently discussing about whether or not to apply for My Travel Pass. But when I checked just now, it seems like it is not required for those intending to study abroad. And then again, this is subject to change.

There are so many uncertainties since I haven't got any news from MARA. Whatever the result will be I will have to accept with an open heart despite all the efforts I made. That is all for now. I hope this will be helpful for others in the future. I will keep on posting on my journey, inshaAllah

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Batu Punggul, Nabawan: 12-13 Sept 2020

Bismillah...

I almost forgot to write about this trip. But this one deserves a post on its own because I think this place is awesome and it is a must go for nature lovers! The picture below is the picture that a friend of mine shared when I asked for the contact. You can try any of the number to arrange for the trip.

  

My advise is to first look for the location in Google maps so you can plan your journey because we only did so before we go! I was surprised it was actually very far from Nabawan. We would've left earlier if we knew. We had dinner in Warung Satay Lembah Brunei. I always wanted to stop here because it always seems like a full house every time I passed by. And wow! I think they have one of the best and juiciest satay in Sabah! And do try the char kuey teow too. We didn't stop to fill Baby Dragon's tank in Keningau and that proved to be a grave mistake. We were lucky enough to find a place that sells fuel at the side of the road that night!

The budget breakdown was like this:

Entrance: RM 45 per pax

Boat: RM 70 per boat (Roundtrip)

Homestay: RM 35/room

When we arrived, we were surprised by the condition of the homestay and had a big laugh hahaha The 8 of us literally shared the same space and there was no partition to separate between male and female. So kami pun redha haha it was passed midnight when we arrived, anyway. All we wanted to do was sleep and get up early for our climb the next morning

It was rainy season when our friends went to climb here so they didn't get the chance to ride this boat. It was a 10-15 minutes ride and the boat was very thin and unsteady so I guess it is not suitable when the water level is high and the current is strong. The scenery along the river was very nice! This is one of those untouched parts of Sabah thus it will surely take your breath away!

This is the starting point of the climb. Easy trail from where the boats docked to here.

The climb reminded me very much of our climb in Gunung Senyum during my undergrad. Climbing a karst has its own unique challenge and those with fear of heights and faint hearts should be mentally prepared. It took around 30-45 minutes to reach the top. The earlier the better because it gets really hot as the sun rises. In this kind of formation, there are very few vegetations for shade and the heat will be reflected by the rocks thus it gets even hotter. 

So here we are, all of us on top. We had a good weather that day. Just the right amount of clouds when we reached the peak hahaha

Alhamdulillah, syukur nikmat \\(",)

(Malaysia maju, rakyat selamat~ that song we listened as kids lol)

And before we head back, we took this picture below. This was the shallow part of the river. The boat was pulled and stalled there just for this picture lol The instagram era~

And the guy who took my pic went,

"Kak, tiada orang ambil gambar pegang botol mineral.."

"Eh dik! Pegang botol mineral la baru real. Panas pulak ni, haus!"

Hahaha that's called generation gap

One generation that takes pictures for the likes while one takes pictures for the memory hahaha

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