for u guys and girls out there i seriously and urgently need all of ur precious comments,advices and helps to solve my daily problem.
i have been thinking almost everyday about this problem.

here how it goes:

1) how hard actually is a level if i go for physics,chemistry and maths? constant revising is required?

2) where can i go upon completion of this pre-u program with this 3 subjects?( some of the counsellor said that i can have a various of choice after this while some others said if i chosen this 3 subjects means my only options will be either medicine,pharmacy,dentistry,engineering and actuarial science. 1 of the reason why i choose a level for my pre-u study is because i thought it has more option for my future career and it gives me some time to think about what is really my interest is. i might interested in business next time or mass comm or maybe finance . so can i still go for these fields although my chosen subjects doesnt have any relationship?

3) do i really need to add extra subject in order for me to have more options for my future career?

i hereby sincerely thank you and appreciate if u all out there give me some help over here .

1st thing 1st : how good you think you are ?

firstly, if possible, do the LXL A-Levels.. I did cambridge and was my A's were considered equivalent to those who got A's for LXL, but LXL is WAYYYY easier.

1) Depends how good you are, I started studying ~3 weeks before the exams. some people started 3 months before and couldn't get straight A's

2)just download the entrance requirements from any university. some courses will specify specific subjects, others will just specify a number of A's.

3) only cambridge (as far as I know) requires more than 3 subjects to get in. The most important thing to do is pick which three subjects to take. Oh, avoid further maths. Not many people get A's

1) How hard it is would depend on each person, every person sees the difficulty differently but generally are you the type that study,practice,understand the theory behind it and all then unload it in exams namely AS and A2, then A-Levels is your type of pre-u.

2) You can go anywhere that accepts A-Levels, basically that's almost everywhere except IPTAs for Malaysians and you can go into any field as long as you satisfy course pre-requisites and achieve the required grades. So by doing those subjects you options are still open to a lot of choices and since courses like business,mass comm,hospitality etc usually have no pre-requisite or even if they have usually it's math so you can go into those courses with that combination as long as you get the required grades.

3) Well if you want more options probably Biology or Futher Maths would open your choices of courses at more universities =)

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Added on May 5, 2010, 12:49 amLXL A-Levels.Where is that offered? LXL is which body? never heard of them before ^^"

This post has been edited by Hikari0307: May 5 2010, 12:49 AM

My classmate was a A-levels dropout. And he did quite well in SPM, but that's expected cause A-levels is like totally in a different league. What I'm trying to say is..if you are a below-average student, you better not take CAL.

wat i can said abt A-level is... it's not as hard as form6..=)

if you're a memorizing type learner, better not take.

after all, it depends on yourself no matter how hard it is.

So hard untill you dont even have time to go to toilet.

1) Comparatively, it's easier than semester based university subject and taking 10+ bloody subjects for SPM. If you find it very hard, it probably means you never took SPM seriously.

2) You should qualify for almost all degree programs if you're doing a science combination, but well you don't seem to be doing much research on your own, so essential we can't help you with this question.

3)If you're talking about career, no. For university placement then yes.

a-levels requires u to think..not just plain memorising...3 subjects is more than enough if you wish to further ur degree in malaysia...

for overseas universities..some might one 4A's..especially medical course...

or if u reli wan to secure a jpa scholarship..then u must take 4 subjects...

and regarding ur first question...

i go cc and play pool regularly during my alevels bt still got 3A's..XD...of course mine's edexcel board one la..got option to retake...

JPA requires you to take 4 subjects?

easier than stpm?

easier than stpm coz its follow semester by semester.....
stpm...the whole 2 year study come out on final paper just imagine

i think it is hard to achieve it since A level in cambridge.. I guess must be someone who potential or talent in education. study smart and hard

indirectly yes..because the syllabus of stpm is very very very wide...unlike a-levels..u study 10 chapters..all 10 will be asked..

for stpm..u study 100 chapters..10 chapters will be asked...something like that..

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Added on May 6, 2010, 9:52 amfor some yes....but currently those PIDN doing just 3 subjects..i dunno about others..but for those sent to my uni yes...

4 subjects is when...you aim to go to some top uni in overseas...then u wan to try apply JPA or other scholarships for that matter(shell..etc..)..they want to see 4A's...

This post has been edited by zstan: May 6 2010, 09:52 AM

You sure? The syllabus is pretty much the same for both STPM and A-Level. I'm pretty sure since I wanted to take both exams a few years back.

Btw, STPM is going to be modular, just like Matriks starting from this year right?

A-Levels is actually modular, they have a total of 6 modules for each subject

Cambridge A-Level is still going to be split between AS and A2 only. Besides you'll still require the foundation from the topics already tested in AS for the topics to be tested in A2, not that big of a difference compared with the current(or should I say old) STPM. So that makes it 3 modules per assessment.

Edexcel A-level if I'm not mistaken you sit for one exam for each module. Correct me if I'm wrong.

not really the same....i dunno about cambridge..but for edexcel(modular)..what we studied in organice chemistry is maybe just 60% of what my friends in stpm are studying..

for biology its even much more wider...for example the taxonomy..for stpm..they need study one example from each kingdom,phylum, order..genus.. species...etc...for a levels you just need to know what those terms meant...indirectly saying more memory work is required for stpm...

stpm is going to be modular..but not this year la...maybe 11/12?

This post has been edited by zstan: May 6 2010, 12:36 PM

english is needed in A-level ? should we take ?

English is needed in A-Level, as a instructing medium. All stuff you study is in English (except for any Language subjects (like French, Chinese etc.), but don't worry, I don't think any institutions in Malaysia offer them).
Upon entering your university, you may be prompted on your English proficiency, which you could prove using your 1119 of your SPM, or some would prefer to see another subject you took on AS level, which is Critical Thinking/General Paper (depending on which institution you go). CT and GP are sort of compulsory but the grades you take don't really matter much in university admission other than for language proficiency proof.

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Added on May 6, 2010, 2:11 pm1) Hard of not, it depends on your own mindset. Different people give different thoughts on something so subjective like difficulty. Luckily, there's some indicator that could give you some hints out here. If you are the kinds that study ONLY before exam time, then among the paid Pre-U, A-Level is certainly the best choice.

2)With such combination, it's favoured by most UK universities, because your subjects are the "traditional" one. And one good thing, if you opt for health science course in the end (i.e. medicine, pharmacy etc.), you still can get into a lot of universities around the world. If you intend to do your degree locally, basically, as long as your grades are decent, there will be no problem for IPTS. Bare in mind that, if you want the inexpensive IPTA, you must do either STPM or matriculation.
It's also to be noted that if you intend to go US, A-Level is the wrong bet. You need SAT ultimately in the end. But you could argue that A-Level would prepare you better for SAT.

3)The subjects serve you fine. It could get you to most of the places with less hassles. However, without Biology, you will not be able to go Russia or India for Medicine or related subjects. And, getting yourself equipped with the formidable Further Maths will definitely smooth out a lot of difficulties that you may face in your earlier year of studies in Engineering, Actuarial Science etc. shall you to choose them in the end.

This post has been edited by tanjinjack: May 6 2010, 02:11 PM

A level is easier than stpm...getting 4As in A lvl does not mean that u can get 4.0 in stpm. And that is if you're the type tat is willing to sacrifice your sleeping time to get everything imprinted in your mind and diligent enough to finish all the past year papers as well as try your best to understand everything that seems incomprehensible to you. Its really not that hard...its all about the efforts that u put. Taking 3 subjects will make life easier for sure~ and its sufficient to enter uni with js 3 subjects. However taking 4 will give you higher chance to secure a place in highly prestigious universities like ANU, melbourne, sydney, UCL, NTU...the list goes on (also depending on what course u're applying larh).

STPM compare with A level , of course A level will be more easier for u , becoz STPM is very very hard, honestly speaking.. Becoz STPM is the 2nd hardest exam among the world.. This what been told by my teacher b4..

its hard if u always play dota everynite
im a person who fail to further my study at UK becoz dota
hahaha nway A-level is notin for me
were tryin and we'll never know wat will happen in the future
just work hard n work smart

LXL = edexcel. sorry, my friends who took it call it LXL. dunno why I took OCR, so I got annoyed when I saw their syllabus. Most of my first year uni maths course was covered in OCR but not in edexcel

i play almost every night..still get good results but didn't go to uk wor...

thanks u guys and girls out there that have give ample comments and advices for me....i now have a clear view of what i am going for.

cambrige A-level also is follow semester by semester ??

good luck and all the best. tell us your success stories when ever u can!

I doubt that, strictly.
There are many pre-u programmes around the globe harder than ours.

can name 1 example?

Hong Kong Form 6 (A-levels), Singapore A-level, IB..

This one seems hard XD
Cambridge Pre-U Diploma
http://www.cie.org.uk/qualifications/academic/uppersec/preu

They have one grade that is said higher than CAL's new A* grade XD
UCAS tariff
The top grade, Distinction 1, reports achievement above the new A Level A* grade; Distinction 2 is aligned to the A* at A Level, and Distinction 3 is aligned to the current Grade A. The lowest pass grade, Pass 3, is aligned to the border between E and U at A Level.

Do I get more university credit if I do the whole Diploma?
UCAS will not decide the tariff points for the Cambridge Pre-U Diploma until the syllabus is finalised. However, universities have indicated that it would be more impressive if a student applied to them with the Diploma.

This post has been edited by Hikari0307: May 11 2010, 08:22 PM

Hehe, good luck, to get into prestigeous Uni most of them requieres A* now .

How to study for a level in science??
I just went for the subject briefing and found that a level is wayyyyyyy a lot harder and Im worried that I can't manage to study well as I know my own level from SPM.

stpm...... i dont know what it is but if you have latest processor in your head with high ram also hdd is large then it is okay

What is hard or not hard is subjective. For example, for a person with high "logical intelligence", academic examination may be a piece of cake but try test him on "Interpersonal intelligence"and he could be a total failure.

Likewise, a person could have high "interpersonal intelligence" and easy at leading a team of workers but could fail miserably at "Musical Intelligence".

What I meant to say is, if you are low in "logical intelligence" aka academic intelligence but high "interpersonal intelligence", may be you should have a look at those Pre-U program from Australia instead where there is a lot more emphasis on group project and presentation instead of pure exams.

My 2 sen.

This post has been edited by Optiplex330: May 16 2010, 08:27 PM

101% agree with u.

i did my alevel too,
what i can say is that the most important thing is no dota.

and pay attention to ur lecturer,understand all the topics,do past years,revise and revise...

straight A's in CAL is not impossible.

NOTE: there's A*s NOW hahaha!

get 4A*s in science maths, and you'll be on a plane to cambridge/oxford/imperial xD

ahaha don't really need all A* XD got to perform in other stuff like BMAT for stuff like medicine,interviews and need a great personal statement as well ^^ I got a friend who has a conditional offer to Cambridge for Medicine now.Need one A* and three As.

it's an encouraging statement

just asking i only got 4 As for IGCSE u think i can do a levels? isit really hard?
I heard people all A* also cannot cope .