just wanna know. hows the student life in us? racism? discrimination? lol

I'm stateside. Actuarial Science at Drake University, Iowa. About to complete 1 year. Another 2 to go!

no it's not necessary. I know some Malaysians who are here at my uni straight out of Form 5. Go to their websites and look up what they want, my goodness lah I hate it when people expect us to do the research for them!

None of that at all. My group of friends is almost entirely white and they love me, I love them
If anything, it's the international students who are racist and only stick to their own groups that speak their own language and pretty much leave everybody else out of it

I guess theres a huge tendency for asian-transfer students to just click among themselves not willing to mix around with the local peeps. i hope i won't be one though.

you'll disgust me if you do. you pay thousands, millions of ringgit to fly overseas to hang out with malaysians. you wanna do that you stay in malaysia... wasting money.

Nope, no such thing. Unless you're unfortunate enough to encounter such an individual. Racism is stronger in Malaysia than in the entire of United States.

Cool! Another LYN member in America.

Yeah. I'm rather glad that the university I'm applying to (AAU) does not have any Malaysians at all. I'm still waiting for my acceptance letter into San Diego State University (SDSU) and I expect that there'll be a few Malaysians there, as it's a state school. But I won't be clinging to them like barnacles.

AAU has tons of different dorms, including the International House which like the name suggests, is for international students, but not limited to them. Americans can stay there too. But I'm not really an "Asian" (I'm Malay and I can't speak any major Asian language such as Chinese or Japanese) so I doubt I'll be clicking with their same-race same-language groups LOL.

True that. I know many Malaysians who are in the States but don't have many American friends (or any, for that matter) just because they've been sucking up to their Malaysian Students Association. It's good that they're there to celebrate each other's culture when Raya or CNY or Deepavali comes up but seriously man, they might as well go to UiTM or MMU Cyberjaya if they wanna hang out around Malaysians 24/7.

chill berry, chill. I prob won't no worries kay

@latias93 , i have to agree those people involved in the malaysian students association will eventually stick with malaysians themselves. sad phenomena.
btw, are fret houses still practice razing? I might be interested in an engineering fret but I wouldn't join it if they still practice razing.

Frat houses? I think you mean hazing, not razing. Razing means to destroy buildings. xD

Some frats actually do practice hazing for freshies. It really depends on the frat house itself. Usually only the first day, week or month of their newcomer selections are subject to hazing and doing menial jobs for the higher-ups. But once you're in, everythings all smooth. I suggest you watch this TV series called Greek, it's an almost-accurate representation of fraternities and sororities in American colleges (verified by my family members who are currently frat members/last time used to be frat members).

oops yeah. my bad. i meant hazing yeah. oh.
alrite , thanks for da info mang

I know here at my uni hazing is not allowed and any frat found to be hazing their new initiates is suspended lol

to the point of disgust? oh mai... are u white washed?

i dont see anything wrong hanging out with msians in a foreign country... but of course not 'just' hanging out with own countrymen... even if you spent just a little of your time with others, it is good enough for me... these people with other cultural values sometimes dont click, so just learn n understand them only.. thats good enough, if the person shares the same interest and values... then friends maybe

you dont need to have them inside you or you inside them to feel and know them...

eh, i thought msians like to use ragging

I'll be heading to the states next year, hopefully if i pass my pointer i will

I don't think its fair to look down on those who stick to their own race, although it's not the best of what's overseas experience supposed to be, but not everyone is able to mingle around easily. language barriers, cultural barriers, many factors. What should be done is to help them out maybe? Instead of scorning them, which would make it worse.

Anyway, im hoping to apply to University of Washington. very keeeen on it

why does feeling disgust for such people mean I'm white-washed? As it is, a lot of Malaysians like to say they studied overseas ... but all their friends are Malaysian. Why did you go overseas then? Where are your multi-cultural, multi-racial friends that aren't Malaysian? Making excuses about "cultures not clicking", that is YOUR face problem because you're not accepting of others and expecting them to accept you.

in the US? Language barrier is not an excuse at all, because all Malaysians speak some competent level of English (I hope). Cultural barriers how? It's not like they're forcing theirs on you nor should you be forcing yours on them. So many excuses as to why Malaysians stick to Malaysians overseas ... I think the one I would accept is "I'm afraid of white people", but then that begs the question:

Why are you going to the West for studies if you're afraid of white people?

Anyone know which celebrity or any famous figures who study at US top notch university besides Mark Zukermberg, the FB founder.

Cultureshock is a very real and alive phenomenon, even if in malaysia you speak a competent level of english, it doesn't mean you can click culturally, most malaysians don't have that strong command of english to the point of confidence. Why is it that you say that they aren't accepting of others? Could it be that they just don't know HOW to interact? and so they keep quiet and just do what they know they can do? Isn't it a defense mechanism? to be with the familiar? Like i said, of course it'd be great to get out of your comfort zone, especially in the US. But for those who do have a problem, looking down on them and shunning them is only gonna make it worse. As to studying overseas, some people value the education as it is, an education, just a degree. So they don't feel the need to have all the social interaction for them to feel that it's worthwhile eventhough i disagree with that.

Anyway, back on topic. I know that TOEFL is the main english proficiency test for the US, could IELTS serve as a substitute? my sponsors are only willing to pay for IELTS unfortunately.

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Added on April 10, 2011, 10:15 amNatalie Portman went to Yale, Emma Watson went to Brown. dunno who else lol

This post has been edited by defectivelasagna: Apr 10 2011, 10:15 AM

Eee, while I'm not disgusted at Malaysian who just stick to Malaysian, I know for sure that the bolded part is a very lame excuse. It's in fact an excuse born when politicians, psychological and sociological on the 20th century try to give a scientific sounding terms or explanation for every small problem.

In reality, while cultural and language barriers do exist, I do not think it's anything like a 'barrier'. It's at the most a short period of uneasiness, unless you set it as a barrier in your mind. In Malaysia, there is a huge cultural difference between many races and in many areas, Indians and Chinese do not speak the same kind of Malay that Malays use to speak among themselves. I mean the slang words and such. While we may not be very integrated, I don't think anyone see it as a big problem to make friends with or talk to members or other races, or feel particularly uncomfortable if one is invited to a cultural festival or another race. So really it isn't much harder to mix with whites or blacks.

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Added on April 10, 2011, 10:40 amHonestly I haven't really met anyone who has been culture-"shocked". And you don't need to speak English competently to be able to communicate with them. Sometimes I don't get half the things a black person is speaking is they use ebonics to the full. There are alot of people who are very poor at English and mingle around very well. There are alot alot of people who speak good English by have an accent. Alot of white have a hard time understanding what I say if I talk too fast cause my accent sounds weird to them.

And erm, some colleges do accept IELTS, most don't. Of course you should email your college. And I don't think it's too hard to persuade your sponsor to pay for your TOEFL.

This post has been edited by mumeichan: Apr 10 2011, 10:40 AM

Well, what do you suggest is the reason malaysians stick together? They simply don't want to?

hmm it seems that practically all unis that i want to apply to do accept IELTS, thanks though

Then take IELTS lor... As long as the school accepts it and you're above the cut off point, I don't think it makes a difference which you take.

IELTS and TOEFL are both accepted

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Added on April 10, 2011, 11:28 amwhat mumei said.

Lame. Ass. Excuses.

This post has been edited by spunkberry: Apr 10 2011, 11:28 AM

True, true.

There are no real "cultural barriers" in the US. The only culture is the one we're bringing in. Correct me if I am wrong, but as far as I am concerned the Americans have no real culture that is so hard to adjust to. It's not like we are in Cambodia where we might be made to eat some fried insects or have some weird ceremony in the jungle that might conflict with your beliefs.

Malaysians relatively stick to themselves as they find it much more comfortable and easy to click.. c'mon, all you have to say to make friends is, "Which part of Malaysia are you from?" and BAM! new friends made. It's not at all different in making friends with Americans. They're just not making the effort.


Malaysians are too comfortable speaking Manglish. Not that it's bad, but I know some of them are very afraid and try very hard to keep a 'normal' English sentence while talking to foreigners instead of speaking rojak as one would do to other Malaysians. Those in the US actually have competent level of English. Being in Malaysia, sometimes seeing a mat salleh is such a big deal to us (especially when we're younger). Perhaps it's this? Something we carry forward till adulthood?