all M.Arch must be preceded by BSc.Arch, that's true. just that u dont have to take B.Arch in between.

printing alone can go up to RM200 per month.

other materials and equipments are usually bought in one go (drawing equipments, computing etc), once for the entire studies.

other materials like model making, painting etc can be about RM200 per semester (4 months).

books is quite... depending on what kind of designer u are. it can range between RM100 to RM1000 per month.

Trips and site visits usually something that people forgot to take into account. expect around RM500-1000 per semester.

some people go for magazines and other periodicals. they subscribe them monthly, which can cost about RM200 a month easily. some go for designer books by prominent publishers, which usually range about RM300-500 per spending (that should get u 2-3 books). others prefer to travel or look at pretty pictures online.

There's no big difference between the two. Just emphasis on learning. Qualification wise is the same. Job opportunities also the same, it depends on ur portfolio.

we are sorting the STPM intake interviews first this week. i'm not sure about the diploma intake interviews, but let me find out. it should be very, very soon. get ready to come down here by the end of the week.

just got an update. the interview will occur in 1 to 2 weeks time. call UTM on thursday. the list of candidates should be ready by then.

the 6 months requirement is compulsory. some school still takes in students even without it, but they'll have a problem registering part 2 later on.

UK have practiced this for many, many years and commonly known as "year out". over there they have to do full 1 year. i'm pretty sure australia and nz are practicing the same thing as well.

i honestly dont know and never cared (during my student life). but nowadays PAM have a lot of major scale events, and student memberships will always get discounts.

1. that is for JPA to answer. but as far as i know, u can reapply. it's not an extension of the previous scholarship due to several reasons:

a. u actually finished the part 1 degree.
b. the part 2 is a different degree or masters.
c. u need to spend a year to work before continuing ur part 2.

basically, after u finish with part 1, the scholarship ends, then u work, then go for masters and reapply a new scholarship.

2. if u can find a place in the UK or europe, why not? this requirement depends on which uni u're going after for the part 2.

3. for UCL, it's easier if u just go straight from part 1 to part 2 at the same place. u'll get the part 1 and 2 recognition together.

it's true, they usually will tell u to come back. but there's such thing as deferment, especially since u wanna continue with ur masters there. they are very aware of the 3+2 format for architecture.

Depends on when u apply and go for ur part 2 at UCL. As u might know, LAM will no longer automatically recognize any overseas schools after 2017.

1. it's a pretty straight forward process. the only issue is if LAM thinks ur work is not up to par.

u see, one of the things LAM regulates is the minimum pass for all design subjects in schools. usually the minimum pass is C (50%), complying to a list of stuffs stated by LAM in the manual. but design assessment is very subjective. a C in university A probably means a D+ in university B. so if LAM follows university B's standard, then all C and C+ students in university A are screwed.

in such case, they will assign u with an exercise for 4-5 months, like a design studio project, where u will come back and present to the panel.

2. no difference. and this is mainly due to what kinda job u can do. so if u, coming from an unaccredited school, can perform comparably with another guy from an accredited school, both of u will earn the same.

but u will have less job flexibility (harder to change places), less job security (because they can throw u away anytime in favour of properly qualified person), less opportunity to advance (because u can never get ur part 3) and so on.

hi there,

i. STPM or A-levels, basically boils down to where you want to study (where to practice doesn't matter). public unis (IPTAs) do not normally take A-levels students unless under special programmes. so if u plan to study in IPTA, STPM is ur ticket. if u're going private, then take A-levels as u please.

ii. as for subjects, most unis PREFER science based, especially those with maths and physics. but to the rest, whatever that can get u the highest score.

iii. O-levels dont have any bearing over practice. just it will affect the path (choices) that u make. so far in malaysia, SPM and STPM offer the widest variety of choices.

IPTAs now take 50% from matrics and 50% from STPM. in UTM we've stopped racial quota for architecture in the early 2000s. most architecture schools no longer abide to the quota either and have opted on matrics-stpm intake instead.

about 2000 applicants per year competing for 40 places.

why dont just ask here?

what level of research are u doing? masters or PhD?

this topic has been covered by many people, so u wont have any short of references to start with. the point is, what would be ur deeper focus? would u like to talk about in practice or in education? only revit or could be other software?

there are lots of things u can research still in this area. it depends on what u wanna do.

u should talk to ur supervisor. although i use revit a lot, i dont do clash detections. i do mostly design and modelling and a little bit of costing and management. basically just the authoring part. apart from that, i focus on teaching and educational modules for revit.

the references are usually available through university libraries. u do have access to those, yes?

i can recommend my student, Dr. Lim Yaik Wah if you're interested. So far just the two of us in BIM (authoring) in UTM. of course, u can find others in other fields.

i mean we can still do architecture, but the supervisor might not be in architecture field. BIM is very broad, authoring and clash detection is just one piece of the pie. so experts in clash detection might be under project management, building construction or even engineering field.

sorry that u failed to reach the minimum mark. for your information, LAM has always use C as the minimum pass for part 1. i guess your school only recently adopted it?

anyways, yes technically u can still work. and this is because our profession relies on portfolio and skills for the job, not just paper qualification. but to be realistic, which office would be willing to take u as compared to a properly qualified individual?