Hey guys! I'm a 20 year old student who finished his a-levels mid of last year in ATC, which is a law school.
I know it's kind of weird (it was cheaper and more convenient to go there)
So now, I decided that I'd like to pursue a degree in a computer/software related field.

I've skimmed through most of the universities in Malaysia and have went to countless education fairs for the past 4 years since I was in form 4. Finally, I was able to shortlist from a donkey number of universities and ended up with these. Now I might be over-doing it and I understand that in the end of the day most universities would be the same and it depends mainly on the student, but I would like some opinions on which university I should consider to study in and what were your thoughts and opinions on studying in the universities you came from.

Personally, I was looking for a university with a big campus and had a lot more going on than just studying day-in day-out.
My aim in university is to try and goreng myself to death by trying to juggle both social and study life. So that I can get the best of it, both in terms of networking and a good/recognised level of education both locally and internationally if possible..
(wish me luck and I know I'm dreaming too much with this, but I just want to try my hardest in UNI)

While I've gathered my own personal opinions on all said institutions. I was hoping to gain further opinions, thoughts and experiences by former students from any of these institutes. I hope that none of them are overly bias and are rationalised. The reason why I'm stuck right now, is perhaps because I have aspects in each of these institutions that I like, which I wish could've been mix and matchable.

Ie: International degree + big campus + many facilities (rugby) + student community which is balanced and not too geeky or not too party type. + far from home + various co-curricular activities + enthusiastic + active learning environment.

And I'd like to stress that I know, this is hoping and asking for too much. That what I'm asking for or thinking of is not how the real world works.
That in the end of the day what you learn isn't necessarily applicable in the real world in the future and such. But I thought I'd express what I found personally important when picking an institution, which included not just studying but actively improving on my soft skills.


TLDR: I'd like to ask you guys what institutions you all would recommend and if I may have overlooked any. If it's possible do help illustrate why you would recommend said institution. Thank you very much in advance guys! happy.gif

(Total newb in lowyat forums)

PS:I made a separate post about this on the normal forums and the kopitiam forum and realised that was the wrong place. I hope you don't mind me reposting here.
Also I apologise for the midnight post, I've been reading through a bunch of threads for the past 4 hours ><

From employer perspective, no particular factual reason, the Universities you chose are correct (plus UTAR). I would say MMU > UTAR > Subway > APU > Inti, but frankly, little to differentiate them.

MMU was good in the old days. Now,it has fallen.

Thank you very much! I found this to be pretty insightful since I suppose its coming from an employer perspective, but that being said. I was wondering if you could elaborate further as to why this is the case from the employer's perspective. And if possible could you give an opinion on an institution I should join? Or perhaps any advice you could bestow on a potential first year student.


Personally, I've also considered Swinburne as well, since I've always fancied working or studying overseas at some point in my life (whether it's for my masters or to actually work overseas). Because from what I've heard is that working in Malaysia, the prospects of working in the technological field is not as great or worth the ROI as compared to places such as America, UK or Aussie. Or even Japan and Korea ( Although I don't know what are the odds of me getting in there in the first place)

Hence, if it is possible I was wondering if you could give some advice on this matter, thank you very much!

Care to elaborate? And perhaps give some opinion on where you think I should join, or perhaps some advice.

Is good that you done your research, i personally regretted most is did not research more about the course structure instead day-dreaming like you with those things.

Go through the course structure, and see which one is more relevant to your interest. If all course structure seems similar then just go for which more re-known uni itself.

Financial wise, how are you gonna fund your studies? PTPTN? FA-MA loan? self funding? Research further financially, dont think PTPTN loan fully yet. Cost-of living is another thing to factor in where obviously if your hometown have the options to further ur studies just go ahead, is way more cost saving.

Uni wise, i guess MMU is performing great in that faculty itself. I'm currently final year student in MMU itself where i can see the management of MMU highly allocate their funds to IT which is a good thing but however some may say MMU is fallen whereby in overall perspective of other faculty Law, Diplomas, Business schools intakes are getting lesser significantly.

MMU Computer science alumni here, i would somewhat agree with this.

During my time they won an award regarding best software engineering courses or some bullshit likethat, it quickly become a shitshow and lost that recognition a year later.

they slowly tighten the requirements for you to pass a subject from time to time

example: Last time if you fail your exam, if your coursework is high enough you can opt to resit the exam but limit to Grade C only

but now no more, you need to maintain at least 50% coursework and 50% exam for you to PASS

so even if you get 24/50 Coursework and 50/50 Exam , You will FAIL

here the thing, some Universities are notorious (or at least gossips or word of mouth) for giving easy PASS and lenient for their student *cough *cough lim kok wing *cough

MMU is not that lenient, they follows their rules and regulations tightly


But for the good part of MMU is that the races is well balanced, no races is too dominant in here, so mixing with people is good for growth, people doesn't have tendency to be racist that much


so my degree year is shit, but during my last year they suddenly improving

im talking about, pushing their student to join hackathon, MMU startup programs, some high tech rooms

so thats my take on it

Great ->shit-> slowly getting good again


btw sorry if my english is shit, im not bothered to re-correct my words cuz im writing this wall of text on my phone

It is a little subjective because different employers have different views. But of course having a degree from a well known university helps in the long run if you don't mind the fees. It helps more when you are a fresh graduate to get into big firms (and more demanding roles which helps to kick start your career). But once you have years of experience, people focus on your experience instead of your degree.

If you intend to study in Australia, do look up on G8 because they are the best universities in Australia. You could study in Monash or Swinburne and then transfer to their Australian campus later on to save cost (e.g. 2+1 twinning program). Or you could study in any local private universities (INTI/APU/etc) and then transfer to their oversea partners. You have to check which oversea university have partnerships with them and whether you are okay with those partners.

Also, I see that you have interest in going overseas in the future. If that is the case, studying in an oversea university will help as well (especially when you want to apply for PR and etc). Because when you apply through immigration, there are background checks which will evaluate where do you graduate from (you may get bonus points).

IMO, APU's quality has degraded over the years. Back then they were known as APIIT and is famous for IT degree courses. I would go for Monash if money is not an issue as that they will have better quality lecturers. But you will have to research on this as I don't know if they are still maintaining the quality now.

It has degraded indeed. Some subjects they have really skilled lecturers to teach you and of course there are some that are mediocre. And they are no exception either for giving lenient pass. What I disliked the most is how they sequence the syllabus, it's not very organized or maybe its just me didn't liked to study in that order.

Unfortunately, I don't meet the requirements to study at Monash ( didn't take maths in alevels) . That being said a supposed lecturer in Monash told me to study in Sunway and then transfer to Monash in my second year if I'm still interested.

As for its quality from what I've heard it's pretty good. But it's just a "study only" sort of life. Which I suppose I wouldn't mind all that much, since that would help foster healthy competition.

As for APU dropping in quality, that's also what I've heard. But is it okay if I ask you to substantiate what you just told me and explain further as to why this happened and when? Because from what I heard. While it's true, their teaching standards have dropped, MNCs still give preference to them when hiring. Or so I've heard.

Unfortunately, I don't meet the requirements to study at Monash ( didn't take maths in alevels) . That being said a supposed lecturer in Monash told me to study in Sunway and then transfer to Monash in my second year if I'm still interested.

As for its quality from what I've heard it's pretty good. But it's just a "study only" sort of life. Which I suppose I wouldn't mind all that much, since that would help foster healthy competition.

As for APU dropping in quality, that's also what I've heard. But is it okay if I ask you to substantiate what you just told me and explain further as to why this happened and when? Because from what I heard. While it's true, their teaching standards have dropped, MNCs still give preference to them when hiring. Or so I've heard.

It would be nice to hear what you have to say on the matter. Also, with me being an aspiring CS students, would you have any advice to give to me on the university I decide on? As well as things I should do to stand out or fill my CV with? Thanks once again for your time and patience on the matter.



Has it really? Are you a current student there by any chance? Could you tell me in what subjects exactly this were, or perhaps in PM? Thank you so much! Because I'm trying to reason out with my family as to why APU's standards may or may not have dropped. But I can't find proper facts supporting both sides. Although I do have a lot of hearsay saying it's fallen . Hence yeah. Thank you once again for the help.

This post has been edited by PopcornFan: Jan 30 2018, 09:22 AM

Based on my own experience (ex-student from the APIIT days), getting a pass is extremely easy. getting good grades is not tough as well. Those who fail are usually those who never bothered to study at all.

Quite some time back, I talked to some one in the higher up from APIIT. I was told that they they reduced the passing marks for their program just to ensure that the foreign students could have a higher chance of passing (this disgusted me because it's extremely easy to get a pass lol). Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if other private universities/colleges do the same because at the end of the day, money talks. The aim is to get more foreign students in.

APIIT was famous for their IT degrees. But if you are talking about Computer Science, I believe Monash or Nottingham might be much better. They are more established with more funds, hence better infra and lectures. Look up on Staffordshire university ranking in UK, they are actually at the bottom. Monash and Nottingham on the other hand have decent ranking (refer to the top 200 universities charts).

I can't answer on what criteria does MNCs use when they hire fresh graduates because I am not in the HR or recruitment line. But let's say you graduate from APU with top results, I'd say you get a better chance than if you were to graduate from Monash but with bad results. Character is very important as well and you gotta practice your interview skills. After all you are marketing your self to get a job (imagine you were to sell a product, what would you do to convince a customer?).

CV wise from a fresh graduate, emphasize on your academic projects, extracurricular, team lead roles and results (if you got good results). Make sure, it is organized, clean and neat. Google up on how to write a perfect CV as there's too much to write here lol.

APU since they have a lot of connection with industrial experience such microsoft

Hey there!
Thank you so much for the information and advice given. That being said I'd like to ask if I were to choose between APU and Sunway which would you reckon would be better? Or rather do you have any idea how things are in APU at the moment Vs how it was? As you said about Staffordshire's ranking. (I believe it's top 50s in UK CS ranking.) Their ranking is much lower compared to Sunway's Lancaster (top 10 UK, top 19 CS. Top 130 world) but that being said. Sunway's main faculties has never been their Tech faculty. Albeit. They have won several or rather gotten good results in recent competitions in related fields. On top of that, cost wise Sunway is much more cheaper by 6--7 thousand.

But all that being said, I feel like APU's merit lies in the fact that they've always taught tech/business related fields. And I'm here cracking my head trying to pick what's better for a student like myself, yet still getting nowhere. Like I can tell a convincing argument for both sides, and while I may convince others , I don't feel like I'm doing a job convincing myself sometimes.

As for Monash and Nottingham. Well I would go there but unfortunately didn't take maths in a levels, and hence can't enrol in their uni. As for the passing grade, I guess all unis are starting to pull off that crap, but I guess the point is to either aim for the highest or the bare minimum while focusing on learning practical skills. (Correct me if I'm wrong)

By the way, thanks so much for your long and detailed response it's been very useful. I understand in the back of my head, in the end it's the student and not the institution which is going to make the biggest difference in how I perform. But before I leave it to your answers, I'd like to ask if you think Computer Science is still a good field to dwell into in this day and age. Or should I go for something newer? ( I recently watched Zuckerberg, Jobs and Gates commencement speeches, realised they all studied the same field I'm interested in but came from different backgrounds)


PS: Do you have any thoughts about going overseas? Do you think it's possible for a local freshie to go overseas and work?

This post has been edited by PopcornFan: Feb 1 2018, 09:25 AM

To be fair, MMU, Inti, Sunway, Taylor's and many other institutions in Malaysia also has that.

hehe .. idk about others but so far as i know, APU got many lecturer do part-time there.. and mostly come from industry level. so the student really expose to industrial environment. mybe others also. if you said about connection, yes even public university also got. but lecturer from the industry not many university take that advantage coz they want to save money ma.. exp worker will demand hehe, juz my 2 cents

TS. If you are interested to pursue your study at the states :

EducationUSA is committed to bringing students, parents and counselors comprehensive and accurate information about higher education in the United States. The best way for students, parents and admissions counselors to get to know each other is through the education fair.

The EducationUSA University Fair is the biggest U.S. University fair in Southeast Asia and this year it will be bigger than ever.

Come and meet more than 45 US university representatives.

If you are interested in studying in the United States, join us at the Istana Hotel on March 4th, 2018 from 2:00 pm until 6:00 pm. This event is free and open to the public.

The schedule is as follows:

2:00 pm - 2:30 pm: Registration

2:30 pm – 3:00 pm: Opening Remarks

3:00 pm - 6:00 pm: Fair

During the fair, there will be university representatives speaking on the following topics: Visa, Scholarships and Financial Aid Application, Diversity of Higher Education/Applying to Creative Arts Schools, Community College, What Admissions Counselors Look For in an Application, Graduate School, How to Choose a University, Working on your Portfolio Applying as a Transfer Student and Essay Writing

I see, I did not consider that and overlooked it, thank you for bringing it up. I will enquire on the other universities if they have lecturers working in the industry.

Quick question are you a graduate from that institution? If so, what did you study there? As for their lecturers that deal with industrial partners how many of them would actually lecture me if I joined? Are these lecturers still teaching there? Since it's part-time I'm sure they can suddenly leave (had this issue with my previous college where we had great lecturers who all left to pursue other things)

I believe the chances are slim or rather luck dependant to get all of them since the student population is pretty huge. I'm not discounting these factors, I think APU is great. But I feel like there's a lot of luck involved in getting good lecturers since all I usually see is complaints by students on the syllabus.

I feel that having good lecturers won't mean much if the students aren't trying very hard in the first place. Don't you think so too? Also do you have any other suggestions to give out or solution to the matter? Thank you so much for your time and patience!

PS: I'm just hoping to get my money's worth in my study investment that's all. I hope you understand.

That sounds great, but I guess if the price is upwards of 400k, I don't think I'll be getting my money's worth if I don't secure a job in the states from Day 1 and would be riddled with debts. Especially if I'm not a scholarship student. (Which I'm not unfortunately)

What do you think? Do you think this edufair would still benefit me? Or should I skip it. Because I am serious if the path laid out has economical guarantees. Because I've known too many students who've even done well in the US, UK and Aussie and promised opportunities but in the end moved back to Malaysia because such guarantees were merely lip service.

That sounds great, but I guess if the price is upwards of 400k, I don't think I'll be getting my money's worth if I don't secure a job in the states from Day 1 and would be riddled with debts. Especially if I'm not a scholarship student. (Which I'm not unfortunately)

What do you think? Do you think this edufair would still benefit me? Or should I skip it. Because I am serious if the path laid out has economical guarantees. Because I've known too many students who've even done well in the US, UK and Aussie and promised opportunities but in the end moved back to Malaysia because such guarantees were merely lip service.

U also can consider UNITEN. got new sport complex, smart university and one of the strongest team in hockey and rugby among ipt