Hi peeps, I got an offer from an oversea university and a local university (UM) at the same time. Both offered me my preferred course, Pharmacy.

However my concern arises when I got the offer from UM yesterday. I come from an average family, when I first got an offer from the oversea uni, my uncle offered me saying that he would sponsor my tuition fees partially on going abroad, to UK particularly. At the same time, my dad got a personal loan as well to cover the rest of the fee + living expenses. The hope of both my uncle and my dad is that I could explore more and gain more valuable experiences, and they felt that the money is worth it.

and Yesterday, I was very lucky and grateful for I get an offer from UM as well, for the same course. My mum persuaded me to opt for the local Uni instead of the oversea uni. Her reason behind was I need not to pay back the debt once I graduated, and that my parents do not have to pay the interest/debt monthly.

I am really in a deep dilemma.
Deep inside I really hope I could study abroad as I know there will be lots of challenges await me.
Im here basically to know your opinions if you were in my shoes.
I sincerely hope you would understand how I feel and please, no demotivating comments here.

well its goods if u can study overseas..however, by putting the burden of debt on ur family when u have another option to save them all the trouble is not right in my opinion.... hence i would opt for the local u... can always travel overseas on ur own account later to do ur master if u are keen... at end of the day ur degree just helps u land ur first job... after that its all on u to drive ur career

well debt IS a serious issue amongst graduates, be it local or overseas. i think the rest are non-issue to u. so my advice is to look into the whole graduate debts issue and ask around.

my wife took a loan to study overseas. she managed a credit transfer so she only had to study 2 years in the UK. but that sets her back over RM120k, in which she has to pay JPA back every month for over 30 years. and this is pretty burdensome particularly in her early years after graduating that i had to help chip in (and we're not even married yet!). but she managed to get by without putting any financial load on her parents.

in ur situation, do think hard about that first 5 years after u graduate. financial problem can force u into unwanted situations, and these are very real problem amongst graduates nowadays. if u can get scholarships, go for overseas. if not, do local. for courses like pharmacy, i'm sure u can opt a year of masters overseas later in life. that's what i did (with architecture).

go UM la. free u dont want...damn... cuz after u completed the degree, u still can get chance to go study overseas for masters programme. unless the foreign uni is fully sponsored or you rich, then no problem just go ahead.

especially if u wanna come back work in malaysia after graduated and earn 4k per month in government hospital as pharmacist during first few years after graduated, that feeling just sucks when u still have huge amount of unsettled loan.

getting local uni for your desired course almost means u are fully sponsored already, just need living expenses and a very small amount of study fees (UM pharmacy maybe 2-3k per year). and u still can apply for many local scholarships which are not hard to get if u really go dig around and apply for all of them that offers scholarship for local pharmacy degree.

Thank you very much for your kind opinion

Yup I understood that. I'll ask my dad and uncle clearly regarding this debt issue. However, thanks for the advices

This post has been edited by bellobanana95: Aug 13 2014, 11:32 PM

Depend your total situation.
In term of education, both should same.

But going oversea will expose you cultural that will open up ur thinking and this experience can only gain via long term staying in oversea (>1 year). Short visit or holiday will never have same experience as stay there. To me, this is priceless as it will effect you rest of your life.

But again, only urself know should u go or not go as there is also money factor.

Cheers

Yeap, that was also one of the reasons for wwhy I'd like to study abroad as I believe that this opportunity allows me to widen my view and to allow me to be more independent.

Thank you Chamelion for your view. I'll take them into account

Your first option is to study oversea which you anticipated a lot. However, putting your family in a financially strained situation for your tertiary education is never a good idea. Plus, University Malaya is a good university in Malaysia! I am sure you will be exploring a lot of challenges there as well.

To me, the second option (study locally) is more attractive unless you are able to secure a scholarship to study abroad. Good luck.

Which overseas university?

short answer: go um....

the only reason to choose uk in this case, is if one intends to stay on and work....and even then, it is difficult to get jobs, and eu rules makes getting a tier 2 visa very difficult....

don't use up your parent's retirement fund....

i study in local uni and then joined work and travel usa programme, went to usa mix with the locals there (mostly uni students too) during the summer for around 3 months. not that bad too.

I would say go for UM since studying in the UK is really expensive and it will take many years for you to earn back that amount of money. But if you value once in a lifetime experiences more than money, then go for uk.

On a side note, you must have had great results since you managed to get pharmacy course from UM. What pre-u path did you take and what were your results?

This post has been edited by sagethesausage: Aug 14 2014, 12:16 AM

Go UM.

People have already explained why.

Want foreign experience? Ask your uncle to give you RM20k. That is NZD 7k. Apply for the working holiday visa. You get to live and work in NZ for 6 months. You could decide later if you want to move to NZ permanently......Pharmacy in many countries, faces skill shortages.

If you go to UK....you'll spend like at least RM500k. Then you come back......to earn like what? RM3k gross? With that sort of money, your family could buy a new property, or use it to fund your permanent settled abroad later on if need be.

Really bad ROI.....extremely bad ROI to go to the UK.

thanks for the advice
erm, im a non-bumi who is lucky enough to get matriculation, i got 4 flat.

Do well in your local pharm programme, get good results and apply for masters overseas (Mpharm). You need to complete 4 years of studying if you were to opt for an overseas programme (3yrs degree +Mpharm) because for some reason that's the only way you are allowed to practice here in Malaysia. 4 years of overseas fee is really exorbitant and there are more scholarships available for postgrad study.

So do well and apply for a scholarship to do your postgrad abroad. That's what I did.

Heyy, you're taking MPharm as well?

Nope! But I did my degree at a foreign IPTS though. Many of my friends take the BPharm and Mpharm programme.

You can choose to study at institutions like Notts and Monash. They will allow you to go for an exchange for one year and still be charged local tuition fees only.

This post has been edited by Cottoncandyclouds: Aug 17 2014, 12:55 AM

there is no 'local' mpharm programme in notts msia....everybody transfers to notts uk for the last 2 years.....and you will need to pay full international students fees for the 2 years in uk....