actually, in most applications to oz/nz, they do ask which qualification you are using for entry purpose, and if it is not wholly done in english, only then do you need proof on english proficiency......so it is NOT a blanket requirement.....

however, 1119 is NOT recognised by most of their unis.....it is actually marked locally in msia, based on cambridge marking scheme, NOT marked by cambridge itself........

you do not need ielts if you apply with sam to oz unis.......

@ arron.
some uni will accept ur 1119, some not.
thats for you to checkout on which uni ur enrolling.
if not , they will need your IELTS.

an entrance based on SAM will require different band based on wat you're enrolling into. the obvious medic and law will require a higher band of ielts.
nobody gives a damn if you got A20 for ESL. its only english as SECOND language. and you dont learn any english in that course , lol. but yes, many aussie uni's do accept ur ESL if its band B16 and above ( or a higher band i cant remember) according to my SAM ESL teacher... she always emphasize how important her subject is when we all skip her classes to go chaogei in Asia.Net .

mechengineering Auckland UNi.
IELTS requirement was 6.5 .
but if im not mistaken, 1119 was allowed also for my course in this uni.

its different based on uni and course.
ask here


or checkout uni website.
which uni and course lar,,...?

but for safety, IELTS is accepted by all.
i took it earlier, coz i didnt know which uni to go.

selset?? that is my agent..
i just got in NZ last 2days..
selset made an arrangements for me..
yeah, just next to taylor college in subang..
ss15/7.. ghee 

Hey... I heard that NZ is famous for studying Accounting. Is that true???

What are your interests?

Just curious, what is your idea of a great student life? Cos opinions differ and Otago's might not exactly what you would want.

I'm a city kid too. Otago is great to study at but I couldn't live there forever.

Sounds like Otago's more the place for you than Auckland then. This is the uni where people carry bikes and race down a river while being pelted with flour bombs in the middle of winter.

Bear in mind that the experience is what you make of it though. I know a few who never get involved in anything and stay in their little cocoons. But you don't sound like that sort of person.

Something you should take note of though - a big part of the experience is the drinking culture. If you cannot stand the crazy behaviour and noise created by drunkards or are strongly against drinking in principle, stay away. The drink culture is something you cannot escape in Otago, whether you choose to join in or not, unless you live in your own little cocoon. It's easier not not get involved/affected in Auckland since you don't live with potential drunks.

I'm not a drinker myself though I don't mind a drink or two now and then. But I found the whole experience, umm... educational.

For a really different experience, watch out for national nude day.

Oh, and there's a total absence of Malaysian food in Dunedin.

Economics and Politics? Excellent choices, from the interest point of view. I sometimes regret not doing politics, but hey, I can't have everything.
Have you considered changing to Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE)? It's a BA. Btw economics can also be taken as a BA.

I don't think I'm really in a position to give you accurate info about job opportunities. From my own experience and observing others, I think there are opportunities but they don't come easily. It's only easy to get a job in NZ if you're doing accountancy, engineering (but only in some fields), medicine and dentistry. Like it or not, it's a small market with far too many grads, IMHO.

If you want to boost your employment chances, consider adding accounting as a major to the BCom.

I suppose you could complete the double degree plus honours in less than 5 years, depending partly on what your first year credits from INTI are like. A double degree in econs and pols will take 4 years and a single honours another 1 year. It's not too hard to reduce that by a semester or even a year if you push it with summer school and credit overloading. Most people only do 3-4 papers a semester... you could do 5, it's manageable enough. For 6, I think you'll need special permission. Note that you can only do 2 summer school papers at once and to push for max credits you need good grades.

But why the rush? 5 years isn't too long, and frankly whether you do it in 4 or 5 years isn't going to affect your employment prospects. Better that you use the extra time to get a summer job/internship and get involved in clubs/societies... that'll do much more for your employability.

For Otago, I'm fairly sure that you can still do a double degree. Otago has a very flexible system... I have friends who transferred from HELP for their second year, changed their degree and picked up another one. Another friend of mine picked up her second degree in her 3rd year. So I think you'll be fine... but just check with the uni to be sure.

As for Auckland, they don't actually offer double degrees - it's conjoint degrees for them. From what I understand, it's more than a simple difference in name. The structure is tighter because more cross credit between degrees is allowed, but it does mean that people who pick up the second degree late lose some time. Since I didn't do my undergrad in Auckland, I'm not quite sure how it works.

I'll strongly advise you to check with the unis first - both Otago and Auckland. You don't want to be surprised.

Heh, totally understand not liking accounting. It's also something I tried and gave up on. You actually sound like me, with all those wide interests. It can be hell trying to decide what to do. 

Oh when I threw the PPE idea out I was thinking about you doing PPE with Accounting or something like that (but that's out of the picture now). Not PPE with Econs.

If you're thinking about going down the investment banking/international organizations/academia line, I think it would be good for you to do Econs with Honours. Make sure you do the maths and econometrics papers (some are required for Honours anyway). In NZ, you can almost get away without touching the maths in an economics degree... a bit silly IMO. Or at least you could when I was a student.

As for me, the job market was difficult to break into. I tried to get a law graduate position at a law firm but was unsuccessful. I'm now working at another company, doing nothing related to law/econs while doing the NZ equivalent of CLP. Hopefully after that, things will look up.
Of my 4 good friends at law school, one went back to Malaysia and 2 are working in accounting firms (one did acctg and another did econs), and the last is still at uni pursuing postgrad qualifications.

It's really up to you whether you want to do law. But bear in mind that it'll take an extra year (6 if you intend to do honours in any subject) and it's not easy to get in.   

Speaking of law, the racial composition of Otago and Auckland law schools are like night and day. There were a grand total of about 15 non-white students (that includes Chinese, Indian, Maori etc) in my Otago class. But in Auckland, there's a huge number of Asians... my friend says it's almost 50%.

Nope, I didn't say there's little or no difference if you don't want to practice. I actually have little idea about the job prospects of a law grad who doesn't want to practice. I do know it's hard for a law grad who wants to practice to find a job. My friends at the acctg firms - they might not actually be practicing law, but it's a requirement that they pass the bar and get a practicing cert. Apart from that, I have no idea what they're doing.

Since you're more inclined towards politics, by all means go for it.

Sorry, I've got no idea if you can get into an acctg firm with econs only. I'd always assumed that you'll generally need a acctg degree.