hi there,

before we begin, let me clarify that science students hold no disadvantage or advantage over arts students when applying to architecture.

and no, not all architecture programmes reside in research universities.

now to your questions:

1. cgpa gets u the interviews, but it doesnt guarantee u will pass it. it is quite common for a 4.00 to fail the interviews due to lack of confidence and inability to converse effectively during the interviews. so yes, getting a 3.50 will get u the interviews. beyond that, it's all about how u perform during them.

2. which blog/girl is that? like i mentioned in 1., it's quite common for anyone to fail the interviews. the tricky part about USM and UM vs UPU (UTM, UKM, UIAM, UPM, UiTM) is that they can offer u individually outside UPU. meaning USM and UM can cherry pick the best of the best of candidates before UPU gets the leftovers. UPU might overlook high-ranking candidates on the assumption that they will get an offer from either USM or UM. there's a chance USM or UM didnt pick them due to non-performance during interviews or simply because they already have fulfilled the vacancies.

3. yes. despite what they say "it's not explicitly required", having portfolio greatly boosts ur chances. the content of the portfolio is absolutely up to u. people always think that portfolio can only contain stuffs u do in school (like for SPM). that would mean science students such as urself would have nothing to show, right? well, WRONG.

portfolio is a collection of YOUR WORKS. any works. from kindergarten to STPM. in school or outside. proper training or self-taught. heck, it's not even limited to drawings. architecture is about design, not just arts. portfolio can contain photography, web design, wall murals/graffiti, sculptures, landscape, interior decor, comics, textile/fabric products, collages - literally anything. just because your friend is good in water colour means you cant beat them using your t-shirt designs!

4. practice debating and public speaking. this will be useful during interviews. also, start doing IQ tests, particularly those logic exercises.

5. the biggest difference between USM and other universities' part 1 courses is USM is offering a degree in HBP (housing, building and planning). so the course is broader and covers other built-environment areas, not just architecture. apart from there, all LAM approved programmes are similar.

hope this helps. please dont hesitate to ask further.

well, that's quite a broad question. let's assume u own ur own business. the fee for a complete project (design and build) is set between 3.75% (RM500mil and above) to 10% (below RM500k). meaning a RM1mil bungalow can earn u RM100k from start to finish. the project could take around 3-6months, which means RM16k to RM33k per month depending on duration.

as a practice, u usually will have 2-3 other projects overlapping each other. so u keep taking in projects to sustain ur business. at this point, each architect in malaysia serves around 16,000 citizens. if we're talking about bungalows alone, there could be at least 50 bungalows in there, not including renovations. and then there's government projects and all that stuff.

is it stable? well, if u're good, u will be.

The job i mentioned if u have ur own practice (normally with part 3). U will have a few part 2s working for u which u employ on a permanent basis (say RM4k per month). As a part 3, u will have to look for projects to ensure ur business can continue and pay ur workers.

If u wanna practice with part 2, then u will most likely work for somebody else. In your perspective, u get paid monthly salary on a permanent basis, no need to worry about getting projects etc. Just do what u do. If there are plenty of projects, u'll busy and in turn u might get bonus. If there are no projects, the firm will enforce cost cutting measures and all that.

currently the average is around RM2.8k for a fresh part 2 grad. it's a bit higher than before despite the poor economic performance because of the 1 year working requirement after part 1 (before part 2). meaning by the time u grad part 2, u already have 1 year working experience. not exactly "fresh", i would say .

if it were up to me, i'd avoid going into developer firms (SP setia, mah sing, IJM, glenmarie to name a few) if u're looking for experience. developers are very profit oriented. architects on the other hand are very client oriented. we fulfill the needs of the clients just like a fashion designer does. developers are like big retail companies that produces articles of clothing in massive scale. there's no place for individual one-on-one custom tailored designs to suite what each individual clients need. u dont experiment, u dont do anything out of the ordinary. there's a tried and tested formula, and u do exactly that.

not my cup of tea.

yes, USM offers BSc HBP (part 1) followed by BArch (part 2)

no, UTM now offers BSc Arch (part 1) followed by MArch (part 2). UTM's 5 year BArch programme have been dissolved in 2014. all that remains is the part time BArch, which will become obsolete in about 2 years.

we refer to it as broad-based. general degree refers to 3rd class degree (just above fail) .

actually u can branch out into those masters even with a normal B.Sc.Arch from other schools, because landscape, QS, planning etc do not need an M.Arch or B.Arch in order to practice professionally. i think what u mean is "can i become a QS or planning or architect with just BSc HBP?". this one im not particularly sure. all this while i only deal with BSc HBP going into M.Arch part 2.

safer route? USM and UTM offer the same part 1 degree, and both are equally acceptable everywhere. i just dont know whether USM's degree can be used for QS, planning or others due to its broad-based content, but i'm sure UTM's BScArch couldnt.

the interviews will be held in may. so expect calls/sms in the next few weeks. different universities will have their specific interview dates, so please verify which is which first.

regarding portfolio, it depends on quality. but based on the people i have interviewed, quality work is extremely rare. if u dont have quality stuff, then u have to fall back to quantity. and 10 is nowhere near enough.

first of all, congratulations for getting through ur 1st interview. it's very common to get nervous. u'll be better prepared when u face other interviews in the coming weeks.

i. language - usually BM is not critical. usually they will check ur conversational english to see if u can explain urself properly in a simple dialogue. BM is less critical, but still required for use in malaysian practice.

ii. role of interviewers - because there is very limited time for them to evaluate every single student, they usually assign roles to the interviewers. one will check ur language proficiency. another will check ur portfolio. one may concentrate on ur certificates and credentials and so on. so for one or more of them not checking up on something is very common.

iii. UTM interview is much more liberal. but it can be really diverse and unpredictable. u could end up talking about what u had for breakfast or what happened last night in game of thrones.

In KL? Two days, 18 and 19th. Why?

Im not sure either. But u can just ask the guards when u arrive in UTM KL. KL campus is small. Very hard to get lost.