LOL.. I find the loose thing can actually be even out in the end. Just keep trying to fit them on, and eventually you get a perfect orientation.

Try to be careful of the gap between the door and the floor (get something to stuck it, like some unwanted cloth or what). For cockroaches, it's unlikely they come in from the window, and be sure to keep your place clean so they won't be interested to visit you.

Personal experience, and I believe I got more cockroaches for living in the ground floor last time!

It's not ban, just tighten the rules, and I am unsure if it's still in discussion or already enforced.
Nonetheless, whether it's like that or not, getting a job in UK (even before the economic crisis few years ago) would prove to be extremely difficult, and engineering is not an exception for that.

I would say that, don't plan a career in UK. You could still enrol and go for UK last 2 years, enjoy the life there, the awesome facilities they have etc. but don't expect yourself to really land a job there. If you can, then it's the best and remember to buy yourself lottery also, but if you don't, it's perfectly normal and it should really happen that way.

Always prepare for the worst case in planning your studies.

My lecturers say it's probably next week, but could essentially be as early as tomorrow. This time, it will be sent out by a software, automated. Not sure if that applies across the faculty. I am from Mechanical.

Please check out the website. You will find more info you want to know.

Indeed, that is the way. If you meet the requirement they wrote on your conditional offer letter, then you will be getting a place automatically. Note that, some of the offer letters (not sure if Nottingham practise this or not) do mention that you must inform them your result latest by some date, or you may risk your place being taken.

I think I can't help you on this. I am on the older course structure and I don't recall doing any test on any modules. (My friends who took MM3MMM, an optional Material modules do have tests though)

Nope. There are always Materials module in Year 1 (also Year long), and you are the 2nd batch (you are in Year 1 right?) to follow the new course structure which has 4 bloody year-long modules. (I had 2, DM1 and MMF only)

I think what Dr Lim meant about case study is.. simply case study. You are given a situation where materials fail in the application. You need to diagnose the reasons of the materials failing. You may be asked on choosing a material for a certain application and you have to justify your reasoning for choosing that.

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Added on February 15, 2011, 11:40 pmCheck out some of the newer past year papers. Check their question 1, usually it's a 'case study' type.

This post has been edited by tanjinjack: Feb 15 2011, 11:40 PM

The course is new, that's why you may not be able to find much info outside of the website. Just ask again about the PTPTN, highlighting that such information is crucial for you to decide. They probably overlook your email. Alternatively, an inquiry to PTPTN office may be beneficial as well.
2 weeks of application does not sound too long for me, although now is not the peak season. Be aware that the application process is rather different from other IPTS (you know that yourself, who else ask for personal statement and sealed reference), and thus they really consider a lot of things before giving out offers.

It's rather tranquil and remote, considering the no-night-life Semenyih town is still a 4km away. There are certainly activities around held by the numerous clubs in the university and that depends if you want to involve in those or not.

I have not attended Taylor's before, but I would say the mechanical engineering here is very good. The course structure is identical to the UK counterpart and the course is accredited by the UK Institution of Mechanical Engineers as well. Research activity is rather active as well, with a dedicated building to conduct researches, shared within the departments of Engineering. Teaching is okay, most lecturers can teach, but every university will surely has lecturers bad in teaching.

It's going to be at least 100 per cohort now I believe. My batch (Year 3) is the least, around 70 only, while the current Year 2 has about 130. Not sure about current Year 1 (should be very high as well) and the usually small Jan intake for the Year 1 peaks at 10+ this time (was only ~5 last time). I would say, we are quickly gaining attention in Malaysia and thus the increase of numbers.

Sad thing though, you are stuck with these 100 people until the end of Year 2 as the first two years are all compulsory modules. You don't get to mix and match the modules you are about to take.

A wide variety in the Business School and other non-engineering departments, near to zero for Mechanical.

The UK campus actually uses that system as well. The top 10 or 10% (not sure about the actual cut-off) will get a bursary for their next academic year.

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Added on March 2, 2011, 10:10 pmBack when my day, there's only 6 people in my class. It's January intake.

This post has been edited by tanjinjack: Mar 2 2011, 10:10 PM

Not again. Never mind, I am here to explain. (Hopefully V4 is coming soon, and please, get this question to the first page!)

BEng and MEng are both undergraduate degree, meaning your first degree after your Pre-U.
The difference between BEng and MEng, other than the year it spends, is the possibility of getting accredited.
Today, to become a professional engineer (bearing the title Ir. or CEng or PEng depending on where you get accredited), you must study for 4 years during your tertiary studies. If you do not possess a 4-year degree, you will have to continue further study, or sit for their exams, so that you are qualified to work towards of becoming a professional engineer.

A little bit of history. BEng is always a 3-year course in UK education, as compared to 4 years in other countries. This is because UK education is rather concentrated, studying the core elements and do not waste time on the unrelated contents. Due to this nature, they are able to concentrate the course into 3 years. But the problem comes when everyone else in the world says, they will only accredit those degrees which are only of 4 years in length. To counter that, UK decides to come up with a 4-year MEng, instead of elongating their BEng into 4 years. The extra year, essentially teaches you more stuff, and also prepares you better to join the industry.

You may now wonder then, is our MEng the same as those Aus BEng? The answer is, NO, except when it comes to getting accreditation. A quick proof would be comparing the course structure side by side. You will find that, while Aus students still study Physics and Chemistry in their first semester/year, UK is already delivering the core contents of the respective course. For instance, for Mechanical, instead of just studying Physics, you already start off with Thermofluids and Solid Mechanics. Why? Because A-Level delivers more contents than SAM/AUSMAT/HSC, so they can just start with more advanced topics already.

Regarding further study, you may be surprised that, even a 3-year BEng could earn you a PhD seat in a UK university. This holds true within UK but not so true to the rest of world. Often the time, a lot of universities will clarify that a 4-year degree is required before one can start his/her Master/PhD, so a mere 3-year BEng will simply be insufficient to apply successfully. Harvard, for instance, actually states that one needs to do 6 years before they can start a PhD there. The specification of 6-years, means that even if you are a Master, you do not yet have the qualification to do it.

As for why you need accreditation, it really depends. If you are from Civil, go and get your MEng and practise in getting the Ir. title. It's vital for the Civil sector. As for the other main streams (Mech, Chem, EE), it is not that important in Malaysia. This is because, Boards of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) has yet to be so strict on the accreditation stuff that only accredited engineers can do the jobs. Intel hires BEng, for example. And with such phenomena happening, it makes the BEng a great course to sell, as it still promises jobs (as long as you get a good class) while it comes cheaper and faster than others. The drawback is the not-so-important (for now) accreditation thingy in Malaysia. Oh, one more thing, it is not uncommon to do the route of BEng, followed by a more specialised MSc (Master of Science, a postgraduate degree in UK). For instance, a BEng in Mechanical Engineering and later a MSc in Aerodynamics.

Of course, I may be biased, although I try to be as neutral as possible by supplying evidence for my claim.

Pin this. If we can't pin it into the V3 one, do it on the V4!!

In our context, 1 credit hour equates roughly to 10 hours of commitment. Most modules are 10 credits, meaning that you are expected to devote 100 hours of commitment to that particular modules. Commitment comes in the form of lectures, tutorials, exercises, assignments, labs and of course, self studies!

We can't know from the credits each module bears. I have modules with 10 credits ranging from 2 hours of lectures to 5 hours of lecturers+tutorials. It differs. Generally, one module has 2 hours of lectures, and also 1 hour of tutorials. With 60 credits to be taken in one sem, 20 hours per week is a good guess, when you factor in the occasional lab and workshop (if mechanical) sessions.

In registering module, we submit a yellow form called Module Entry Form (MEF). You will be registered to exam based on what you tick in that form. If you are doing a compulsory module, the module itself will already be ticked (you don't want tick also cannot). For electives, you just pick the one you want lo, as long as you get enough credits. You will have 2 weeks before you need to decide which electives you want to take.
A further step from the MEF is to register yourself on WebCT (Nottingham's online space for course materials) so that you can have access to the course materials of the modules. For compulsory modules, it's done automatic. For electives, you can add yourself or wait until everything settles (week 4?) then they will be added.

No problem in asking. That's the reason why this thread exists here.
What course are you entering?

If you want to cut out some hassle, you may consider use IELTS to fulfill the English requirement instead. The English course, most likely (not so sure la), it will be held in evening as they have to cater for a wide range of students. And you will hate it so much if your class end at 2pm yet you need to wait until 6pm before the English course starts. I am not sure if you may be unlucky to have classes in Saturday instead.
Maybe someone else here with more info can tell you about that.

Regarding accommodation, for first year, I think stick to on-campus is better. Wait until you are more familiar with the environment, and also by then you will have friends to rent a house together the next year.

Define Master standard.
Please be clear that, what I mention just now above applies to the academics world only - requirement of how many years before you can start a study.
In industry, what they look up the most is not your score, but your attitude and potential. The former can be reflected in your interview or your style of CV and the latter is reflected by your result/class.
Of course, after you have a few years of working experience, that will become the most vital component for your next job, and who cares if you come from Nottingham or Nottingham Trent?

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Added on March 3, 2011, 10:02 pmOh, so your English course starts before your real semester. Then you may consider doing that, although that time, the university is actually like dead because most students (except for research students) will be on holidays.

Just go on-campus. They are just bloody, but the convenience offered is hard to resist for newcomers.

So far, in my department (mechanical), I have yet to purchase a book. The course notes given are very sufficient for your studies and lecturers hardly question stuff out of the scope. The system is inherited from the UK side so everything is systematic.
I think the Business students do need to buy textbooks though, as we will often receive classifieds about them selling books, LOL!

This post has been edited by tanjinjack: Mar 3 2011, 10:02 PM

There isn't many, if not none at all, jobs out there that specifically state that they want Master's to apply, and a big NO for Bachelor.
Master's is just a postgraduate degree, that tells the employers that you study more stuff, and undergo certain research projects.

Again, the most important factor, apart from your result/class, is your attitude and potential (as a fresh graduate), unless you are applying for a research position, which a MSc will put you into a big disadvantage as MEng gears you towards becoming an engineer in the industry.

Unless you are going to the UK for your final two years, or else you will hardly learn anything too related to aero-engineering in Malaysia. So far, there are only two directly related elective modules, namely Aircraft Propulsion Systems and Aerodynamics. That doesn't prepare you well for any aero-engineering jobs. Of course, as time goes, we will have more modules, but how much will the aero stream expands, nobody would know. Think twice to join Nottingham if your ultimate goal is aero.