the general rule is, the established med schools like UM is always tops in the pecking order, and the straight 5As, and maybe some outstnading 4As will put it as first choice.

The unis always look at the those who put them as first choice first, and select from there. Then, they will look at the others. So some people with less than perfect results, to maximise their chances, will select one of the 2nd tier school as their first choice.

If you arew confident that your results are tops, then take the chance and put UM.

Remember, there is a quota system (no matter what the government says to the negative), and non-bumis only have between 20-40% of the places, the majority will be taken by the 4.0 from matriculation (bumis). Some med schools take in very few non-bumis.

The sad fact is, even with 4As there is no guarantee of a place..........

just look at the composition in the uni now, generally between 20-40% non bumi lah..................so yes it is tough, and i wonder if it will be a repeat of past years, 4 flat candidates turned down............

on paper it is meritocracy, but in practice, there are so many matric candidates with 4 flat, its up to them to choose, and there is no transparancy in the selection process.............

by the way, do you know that the matric qualification is not recognised for uni entry overseas (eg spore, oz, us etc), unlike stpm............and the govt scholars earmarked overseas are all doing A'levels, IB, SAM etc........

are you sure? ns should NOT be used for consideration at all, as it is NOT a voluntary, or compulsory activity, and is based purely on the luck of the draw, where only 20-25% of the students are selected.................

how can something based on luck and random draw be used to decide uni entry!!!

according to the star today, only two candidates got muet band 6, one is a girl from sarawak, are you the other one?

the authorities supposedly have done away with the quota system, and admit students on merit.............

unfortunately, the quota system continues in the form of a dual stream pre-u pathway, the bumis through matriculasi, and the rest via stpm...........

the relative standards between the two is pretty obvious.........

when they started, the actually use both as the same, ie a stpm b = matric b, but later, after much protests, changed it to a stpm c =matric b and stpm e =matric c..............

but an a is still an a, and we all know there are a's and there are a's..........

because of the non-transparent internal marking, and the lack of external benchmarking with other internationalised matriculation systems, matriculasi results are not recognised anywhere else in the developed world..........unlike stpm, which is recognised in the commonwealth countries malaysian regularly goes to...................and the uec, also recognised internationally, except in malaysian ipta's.................

it is a sign of the times, that a top straight As student have doubts about his/her ability..........i think the authorities have achieved what they wanted to do, ie lower people's expectations, so that they don't complain if they are not offered the choices they want..........

another student of this level with the right ethnicity/connections will already be somewhere overseas in a top university on a scholarship...........

okay, since everyone is beating round the bush, and you are still asking..........why bother with ukm, go for it, put um as first choice.........take a chance, you may get lucky...........go for it............um 1 choice...........

From the star on sunday................

tell me, what am i supposed to think?...........

ISOBEL Chong Shui Theen has been spending the last two months teaching English to the children of missionaries in Thailand.

"My church (SIB Olive Garden in Kuching) was looking for volunteers, so I opted to go. I stayed with a family in Kok Samrong in central Thailand and taught about seven children between the ages of four and eight," said the 19-year-old.

Isobel, of SMK St Thomas in Kuching, Sarawak, got four As in the STPM for General Paper, Literature in English, Biology and Mathematics T, and an A- in Chemistry.

She was one of two students placed in Band Six in the Malaysian University English Test (MUET).

The other is Taylor's University College, Subang Jaya, student Nicholas Ng Beng Hui.

Both received RM1,000, a certificate and a plaque from the Malaysian Examinations Council in recognition of their achievements. - By KAREN CHAPMAN