Yup, safer for students. Though some students have been known to set kitchens on fire with electric stoves as well. Bottom line is, always be careful in the kitchen.


2 weeks mid-semester break each semester, one 3 week break between semesters. And of course, the long summer break (mid-Nov to late Feb). Med school might be different though, especially since you're in the clinical years.
It depends on how much is sufficient for you. An important thing to remember is to never count on supporting yourself entirely on part-time work over here. All sorts of contingencies might happen, and your No. 1 duty is to study... Not easy to work and study at the same time, you are doing med after all.

Auckland has a Chinatown? The way it looks sometimes, Auckland could be in Asia itself. Anyway, NZ isn't like some other countries - you should be able to find jobs easily without resorting to getting bullied by Chinatown restaurants. When you get here, just register for Student Job Search to look for jobs. www.sjs.co.nz.

EmperorMeng,

Not everyone is doing engineering. For some people, holidays are for holidays. Btw, did you manage to get a job in NZ or are you going back for industrial training?

hm..
im going back during summer.
no point staying here considering the cost of living.
i'll start practical work next summer holidays.
i will choose then, where to do it.

If you do industrial training here, the pay will easily cover for rent/other expenses. Average pay is $15 per hour from what I hear, and as a full time job, it comes to quite a substantial amount. Compare that with the measly few hundred RM you'll get for industrial training in M'sia. And if you get a good firm, chances are they'll employ you after graduation. It can get pretty competitive though... But I'm assuming you're a PR since you take NZ govt loan. That will make things easier.

thanks for the tip.

Hi all, i am new to this thread. Anyway,

If i were to further my study in New Zealand doing MBA (i am IT graduate and working in IT sector) and have plan to pursue PhD sooner thereafter, do i get a chance to work there as soon as i completed my MBA (part time or full time, preferably in the academic world). And continue my PhD while working full/part time? If not, please advice me on any other choice for me to get a job after finished my MBA while doing my PhD.

Thanks in advance.

This post has been edited by Spade: Oct 3 2007, 01:56 PM

Whether you can work here after your MBA depends on whether you get a job. At the moment, all NZ graduates a granted a 6-month work visa on application. If you do get a job within six months, they'll grant you a permanent work visa. I believe the job has to be full-time and related in some way to your course (with an MBA that should be too difficult to comply with). Once you find a permanent job and work for about 2 years, you'll be able to apply for PR. Then you can work full-time/part-time/ not work while you study... what ever suits you.

If you don't go down the job/PR route but instead start your PhD immediately after your MBA, you'll be on an international student visa which only allows you to work up to 20 hours a week. Note that PhDs students are only charged local fees.

Guys, wanna ask bout studying in Otago. Isit easy to get into medicine course there compare to other U in australia or in nz? Otago is certainly one choice of mine. hehe, do gimme some advice ^^ Thanks alot.

IMHO, slightly easier than Auckland cos there's no interview. 90% average in first year health science will pretty much guarantee you a place (unless your UMAT is atrocious), but not so in Auckland. The threshold is actually lower than that, but because of the international student quota (mostly taken up by govt scholars from Saudi and Malaysia), it can get tight.

No idea about Australia. A word of advice, if you manage to get into an Australian uni, just go. You don't want to risk wasting a year if you don't get into an NZ programme.

thought you've decided to go to oz?

there is NO easy way to get into medicine in the developed world..........

nz is not good for international students, as their system is an open health sciences 1st year, and selection to continue in 2nd year medicine based on the 1st year results..........so they may take in 1000 students, and only the top 200 goes on to medicine, the rest do other health related courses like dentistry, pharmacy, physio, nursing etc..............

so you take your chances........and i know people who failed to get into 2nd year medicine, and quited and returned to start again in imu............

it is very competitive............you may be top student in your class now, but when you go do, say, sam at taylors, you find you are in the middle of the class.............and when you start health science, you may be at the bottom of the class............

not advisable for full fees paying international students............unless you have nz pr............

More like 1500 students (the numbers increase each year) and 150 med school places - at least for Otago. Note that some of the 150 places go to graduate students. The numbers for international students are also different because of the quotas. Say they admit 30 international students into 2nd year each year. Of those 30, a large majority of places are taken up by pre-approved govt scholars based on agreement between their respective govts and the uni. That leaves a handful, and I mean a handful, for private fee-paying international students.

On IMU, neither Otago nor Auckland allow unsuccessful health science students to enter their clinical schools from IMU. You only get one shot at it, unless you try for graduate entry.

thanks for the current figures, i was referring to auckland figures of a few years ago...........

yes, and oz also do NOT allow oz prs from twinning back into oz med schools after imu..........but you can still go to uk, canada, us................

Thanks for the info, bro. With my MBA, can i get a job in the IT (business side of the IT) sector and still be counted as "related to my course"? As for the PhD fees, how is it like to pay local fees? Cheaper i suppose. Any other things for PhD student? Actually what i have in mind is to go back to Malaysia and enter the academia but before that i would love to at least work there for about 1-2 years, preferably in academia. Is it so tough to be part of NZ academia? Please advice
.


Thanks in advance.

ah thanks limeuu, cos i dun have any info on nz xD I'm just looking around and found NZ offers the prog too. hehe, Well, you might say i'm abit worried of where to go actually. financial wise, its good to stay here in msia, but parents are bragging me to go out to 'see' the world >.<

LOL, you are fortunate enough if they accepted you already. sometimes, even your scores is praiseworthy, those unis wont even accept you.

medicine is a tough path to walk. application itself is already a hassle. mind you, UMAT isn't as easy as it seems. there are three categories and you need high concentration and rationing skill to get away with flying colours. opps, and also your english powderness... if i remember correctly, most unis in aus requires on average 80 on all three categories.. pass that and you still need to face the wrath of the interviewer. you have to be really good in acting or you really have a pure heart if you wanna get their attention.

done with apps, the course itself is not an easy one. afraid of blood? irritated by mockeries from your superior? lazy to study everyday and keep updated (actually study smart and study adequate is sufficient to pass exam already ^ ^)? can't socialize and adapt with other students? well medicine aint your field :-/

seriously, think carefully beforehand, i've knew some friends who really regretted this path... heck, deep inside, i sometimes question why i took this path .....



actually, imu twinning policy stated that you cannot choose any partner uni if you are a PR in that country... so, if you're from US, you cant get into US and if you're NZ PR, you can't get into NZ unis too...

in the developed world, students choose which uni to go to, except for medicine, where the uni will choose you, and you go anywhere you are chosen............and many will NOT be chosen, even if they have very good results and tons of money........

in the third world, you can still choose which medical school to go to, because you can still buy a medical education............facts of life..........

This post has been edited by limeuu: Oct 3 2007, 10:54 PM

It's probably cos the partner uni won't accept PRs in the first place. After all, the reason why they open their doors to twinning students is for the $$$. If you're a PR, they won't get the $$$.

But that wasn't what I was referring to. What I meant was - if you tried getting entry from first year health science and failed, then went back to IMU, they won't let you twin back. Even if you're an international student. I guess I didn't make myself clear enough.

---

Added on October 4, 2007, 7:17 amI'm sorry, can't tell you much more than I already did. For the MBA/IT/related to degree thing, you'll have to check with NZ immigration.

PhD fees are around $4000 per year. Before the govt implemented this policy, it was at least 3 times more. It varies from course to course though, more technical courses are more expensive. You'll have to find out the exact figures from the unis. You could always try looking for scholarships too.

NZ academia - I have no clue how hard it is. general tutorship positions while pursuing postgrad degrees aren't hard to get, but full-time positions are different. I suppose it depends on which institution you go to and whether there are vacancies. Standards are generally high since we don't have hundreds of private colleges here. They are equal opportunities recruiters, which basically means that you won't run into racism problems getting a job.

This post has been edited by wornbook: Oct 4 2007, 07:17 AM

so true!!!

ops, sry for the misunderstanding.... ya, i heard even if you got kicked out of the uni and tried to reenter through IMU, thats not gonna happen...

well, at least doing twinning through IMU is much cheaper than doing the whole course in oversea unis. moreover, the degree you earned is the same as other students in the partner university. everything the same and they wont mention that you are from IMU in your certificate...

it is not the money.........even if you are willing to pay full fees as a pr, they will still not accept...........

it is simply because this is considered a backdoor entry, and they do NOT like people whom they have rejected, to go through alternative pathways and re-enter their system........

you must understand that these countries assess and select their to-be doctors VERY carefully, and they have NO shortage of candidates to choose from............

the situation is the reverse in malaysia, where there are LOTs of backdoors, and selections are done based NOT on the best student for the sake of the people, but on racial quotas, and how much money you parents have..............sad, but true.............

and don't any blockhead come and accuse me of being racist again, i am ONLY stating the obvious defacto situation..............

This post has been edited by limeuu: Oct 4 2007, 09:11 AM

I agree with your sentiments on medical schools. But with respect, I think you've gotten two situations confused.
1) A PR has never set foot in the university before, never attempted health science and applied for med school, an was therefore never rejected (obviously I'm referring to NZ unis here). He goes through IMU but is rejected by that uni.
--- This is as much for financial reasons as much as maintenance of standards. Note that it is not entirely a back-door route, unless you think that all IMU students get in through the back-door (lots of locals do actually).

2) A student, whether PR or international, fails to enter med school through the health sci route goes to IMU. That is definitely back-door entry, which I believe is what the unis to prevent.
--- This is maintenance of standards.

The sad thing is, it is not entirely true that you cannot buy a med degree in an developed country. That is pretty much what govts are doing when they form an agreement with the unis to send their students over here. In Otago, the average cut-off point for 2nd year med is in the high 80s. Govt scholars (whether from Malaysia, Saudi, Fiji etc) can get in as long as their health sci grades do not fall below 70%. Some are even accepted into 2nd year med BEFORE starting health sci. I know this guy who was given a telephone interview and a place by the uni before flying over. That said, he deserved his place as he averaged 93% in health sci that year. Not so for other scholars. So you can see why there's some jealousy going on - between locals and internationals, and between private-paying and govt-sponsored internationals, and then between students who got in the standard way and IMU students.

This post has been edited by wornbook: Oct 4 2007, 10:59 AM

you are not getting my meaning.............

you must consider these students in two separate cohorts...........the home students (ie citizens, and prs) who will be selected and trained to serve the health care needs of the country...........

and the international foreign cohort, who are selected (like you said, often by the sending country, and with lower entry requirements) and trained to RETURN TO THEIR ORIGINAL COUNTRY and serve their own countries (they have no right to stay on and work, they can of course eventually stay and apply for pr status, but that is another story)...........

therefore there are two different sets of conditions and considerations, and i am referring to the first cohort..........ie those with pr's in the country, who will have right to stay on and work there...........so whether you have applied or not to the home programme, as long as you have a pr, you are excluded from imu twinning pathway..........because that is considered a backdoor, as they have NOT formally assessed you to see if you qualify to enter directly into the home programme, and everybody knows the international/twinning selection process is not as stringent............

so the bottom line is, NO you cannot buy a medical education in these countries if you are resident there, but they don't mind selling some places to foreign governments and rich students for money..............and even then, the direct entry ful fees international places (NOT the gov to gov places) are VERY competitive (ter 97 and above in oz), and most who gets in would have qualified by any reasonable standards.............