Yeah for sure, was what I was planning to do anyways though I don't really have previous experience in CS, just quite interested. Not so sure about studying abroad anymore now, though I'll be open if I get the chance to do it. Have you personally studied in the US before?

May I ask why it's better to take Pre-U courses rather than A-levels if I wanted to study in Japan?

Ah that sounds reassuring, I've always heard about how A-levels is extremely hard despite there being only 3 subjects but I guess it's better to be wary than not. Definitely aiming to get a scholarship though regardless of the challenge. How was your experience in A-levels, is it a considerable leap from IGCSEs?

Hahahah definitely will do, kinda understand what you mean since I have all these 10 year past years for IGCSEs but literally only did like the first few papers before exams and called it a day. Felt quite wasteful as now I'm done with exams and still have so many empty pages left but nothing to do with them anymore.. but yeah I feel like past years is slightly more useful than topicals unless you really need to revise a specific topic.

Might be good to also poke around explore what are the subfields under CS - pure CS (if i may call it this) is much problem solving, theory, algorithms and such. The extended family that sometimes come packaged under CS is programming and other software/hardware tech stuff. But best to ask someone in the CS field! And yes, I did my degree in US.

On a side note, since CS and math are close cousins, you'd might need to take A-Levels maths which will be on the hard side since you didn't take IG add maths. Memorizing mark schemes for maths is NOT a good way to learn the subject! Work regularly, and immediately ask questions if stuck or of you have doubts. Ask friends, teachers, or simply global communities dedicated to helping students (e.g. A-Level Math FB group, ZNOTES Discord server, Mathematics Discord Server).

This post has been edited by E-Tan: Nov 4 2019, 05:34 PM

I'm quite interested in the programming and software development part of CS but not so sure about the subfields and etc, might dig deeper about it. Also, how did you go about after completing your SPM/IGCSEs? Currently looking for a college which provides computer science as a subject for A-levels but I've seem to only come down to two options.. Taylor's or MCKL, though leaning towards the latter since Taylor's is hella expensive.

As for maths, yeah of course, I don't look at only the marking scheme to learn. I try to look around for as many resources as possible to make sure I truly understand the concept, might need to work a little more on my maths for A-levels though. Also, Znotes and Maths discord server? Didn't know that existed, mind linking me?

This post has been edited by shwegdow: Nov 4 2019, 08:59 PM

Seems like TARUC also has CS? At least according to iSean's List of A-Level Colleges. After SPM I did A-Levels (because I had no idea what I want to study for sure), then studied Physics in US (and realized that I actually didn't need to do A-Levels to study there lol).

ZNotes Discord (For CIE A-level & IGCSE)
Mainly for all kinds of IG/A-Level subjects. Discussions of past-years, exam rants, help on topics, random discussions, etc. It's a global Discord server which is nice because there is almost 24-hour help available lol. Make sure you get the right 'roles' to view all the channels for your subjects! To join, go to the main website znotes.org/, then click on the 'Community' tab which brings you to the Discord invite link.

Mathematics Discord
Also a global Discord server too. Maths of all levels from secondary to university/graduate maths are in there, so make sure your discussions and help questions are in the right channels. To join, go to https://discordapp.com/invite/EPRSUcc. Since you're interested in exploring CS, you could also go to their #network channel and find the CS Discord server.

Welcome to the world of academic Discord!

This post has been edited by E-Tan: Nov 5 2019, 09:56 AM

Oops, didn't even notice his flair. Just checked it out, seems like the course is limited to Art Stream and Science Stream and I don't even meet the conditions of the latter so that's out of the list. Most probably going to go with MCKL in the end unless I find an alternative. Oh wooow, Physics in US huh, sounds costly.. how are you doing now?

Thanks for the Discord channels too! Didn't know there were actually academic Discord servers, might be a great help

Ah that's sad that TARUC has more conditions/requirements.

Thankfully it didn't cost a bomb (due to scholarships and 3-5 campus jobs per semester). Now enjoying life in Maths and Physics heheh. Wish I found out about the network of academic Discord servers earlier haih, could have spared me lots of extensive, frustrating moments when problem solving in degree.

Oh wow, that's good to hear you're breezing through hahahah. Yeah, thanks for introducing it to me. Haven't really done much in the Discord but looks like a rather helpful community.

I remember trying to apply for Japanese unis after getting my A level results a few months ago, and there are very little courses that accept A-levels as its qualification, and most of them are arts stream subjects. So yeah, A-levels is pretty bad for applying to study in Japan, but you might be able to discover something I didn't, cause I didn't do much digging.

Also, you should consider taking 4 subjects instead of 3 if you aim to get scholarships as 4A* is like the minimum requirement to even obtain a scholarship interview. Beyond that, you'll also need to participate in national/ international level competitions. Forget school-level activities, cause most scholarship interviewers ignore those.

Now, as for my experience in A-levels, I took the double maths + phys + chem route. Further maths is a huge leap (I felt as if all the stuff I learned was magic) from what I learned in SPM, but with a strong mathematical foundation, I found it doable after doing some tutorials. Chemistry is also a slight leap since I took SPM, and we weren't taught the actual electron orbitals. So, it was kinda hard coming to terms with this new rudimentary theory. But, after learning to accept it, it became pretty easy. I only did past years that our lecturers gave in class, and 1-2 extra ones before each paper and I ended up getting 2A* and 2As. So, I think A-level isn't that hard as others make it to be.

Word of advice, don't memorize the content. Instead, try to absorb the concepts and you'll be fine. Also, ask a lot of questions, especially for the "basics" if you haven't nailed them. I was especially bad in physics during high school, but after asking a crap ton of them to my lecturer, he provided plenty of examples and I finally understood most of the "basics" that plagued me in highschool. With that, physics was smooth-sailing all the way.

Ahh I see, well now I'm not so intent on going to study in Japan anymore unless the opportunity arises. And damn, 4 subjects? That sounds a little nuts from what I've heard.. if I were to take 4 subjects I'd like to pick further maths as an additional subject but I have practically no knowledge in add maths so that sounds impossible.. great results though. But 4A*s is the minimum? Holy, that sounds borderline impossible for being a minimum not gonna lie.

Yeah for sure, how do you teach yourself to understand rather than memorize? Because when I read notes online, I instinctively go into passive rereading and memorizing mode rather than understanding which kind of messes me up since I have a lot of terms to memorize. What are you doing now after A-levels by the way?

Yeah, for actual 100% full tuition waiver scholarships for foreign countries, 4A*s is only the entrance ticket. But for some unis, like HKU, 4A*s guarantees full tuition fee waiver iirc. Also, 4A*s is actually pretty easy to get. From what I've seen, there are generally three cases where students get 4A*s,
1: They smart af
2: They're hardworking af (ie drown themselves in past years to drill the concepts into themselves)
3: A combination of both

The only reason I didn't get 4A*s is because I'm super careless at maths despite understanding the concepts. Like imagine copying the equation wrong and blindly attempting to solve it for half an hour kinda careless.

Well, for physics, each chapter revolves around a few formulas. Memorize those, and you'll be able to figure out the entire chapter based on the formulas alone. Take the formula for gravitational force as an example, Force of gravity = -GMm/r^2. From this formula, I can understand that gravitational force decreases in magnitude over a distance, since r = radius. Then, it can also be surmised that gravity is an attractive force, since force is a vector, and its sign is negative. Then, from the two Ms, I'll know that gravity is based on the distance between two masses, hence M.

Another thing that can help with understanding is by visualizing the things you learn. Like a mental simulation if you will. Another thing that helps is to relate if to phenomena you encounter IRL. Like, after learning what centripetal force is, I take note of how my body moves while the car makes a turn (you better start noticing this now, cause most people find it hard to come to terms when they reach that chapter).

That's what you do with physics. As for chemistry, half of the content needs to be memorized (no other way, I'm afraid), whereas the other half can be built on what you've memorized.

As for Bio, well, you're on your own with that. I despise that subject with every fibre in my being. There's literally no way to cheese it besides pure memorization

Also, I noticed that you're interested in CS, which is my current major. One of my current coursemates used to study A-levels CS as well, but he says that he's struggling with our current course content. He says that A-levels CS only touches briefly on each topic, so he didn't really get a strong foundation. However, from what I've skimmed from the CS textbook, it leans more towards the Information Systems side of CS. So, please check it out beforehand and make sure that this is really what you want.