QUOTE(yry1077 @ Jul 20 2022, 08:10 PM)
Hi everyone. For your information, I'm a fresh SPM leaver with 7A+ and 2As. As I would like to save up money for the future, I have decided to take the cost-saving STPM programme to pursue law overseas (preferably in the UK, although Australia would be nice as well). The scholarships I obtained in private unis to pursue A-Levels are still not quite sufficient, unfortunately.
However, I have been informed that I might need to wait a whole year before I could apply to UK universities after I obtain my STPM results. Is that true, and if so, could I apply for it using my forecast results instead? Is there any way to overcome this problem?
Furthermore, its difficulty worries me. I understand that STPM would be an incredible challenge, but will it truly be on another level?
Finally, will taking STPM lower my chances to enter UK universities compared to taking A-Levels? Yes, they're both accepted worldwide, but I've heard that only a few students get to study overseas with an STPM cert each year. Did you manage to study overseas with an STPM certificate, or do you have any friends who did so?
I would love your opinions on these. Thank you in advance.
As a working adult who sat for STPM ten years ago, I still don't know why people absolutely despise the notion of one gap year. Nobody I know who graduated one year earlier than me actually rejoice the idea of being outside to work early and earn more money. Everyone around me is complaining about their job and how underpaid they are.
My advice? Don't worry about the gap year. Nobody I've met, I mean ever, regrets having that gap year or celebrating graduating one year earlier than their STPM peers. Nobody ever. In fact, nobody ever cares what age you graduate, as long as it's not too late. People who studied diploma took even longer to graduate degree despite exemptions.
If you have financial difficulties and want to graduate early to assist your family financially, I would understand. But this doesn't seem to apply to your case, if you can afford to go overseas for law degree. So I guess you currently just despise the idea of graduating one year later than your peers - trust me when I say, this is so insignificant and unmemorable, that nobody mentions it at all after you graduate from your degree.
The thing about studying law is that you must be very good in English. Law has always been about interpretations and semantics and case studies, especially on binding precedents. You need to make sure you score very well in MUET, even though it'll not be recognised overseas as an acceptable English Language Proficiency Test, because what you scored in MUET would be a good indicator of your English proficiency. My advice is that you should aim for a minimum of Band 5, with Band 4 the lowest acceptable limit but preferably above 200 score. You'll need to sit for IELTS for universities overseas if you sit for STPM. Law schools normally demand a higher grade, at least 7.5 with no component below 7.0, depending on the university in question.
Overseas universities accept STPM, don't worry about it, but it's true that scholars tend to hunt for A-Level students and thus A-Level students normally gain better acceptance and would likely secure better scholarships. But if you apply with STPM results, your application will be processed and treated as well with a good likelihood of acceptance if your result is good. But note that if you are aiming for top universities, you need to ensure your grades are competitive, and it's also an unfortunate truth that STPM is harder than A-Level and thus the difficulty to gain a similarly competitive grade would be higher.
In other case, worse comes to worse, you can just study in Malaysia. I know it's not your top option, but I'm just informing you that it's a realistic one you could look into. After all, if you study overseas, you'll still need to come back and sit for a professional exam to be admitted as a practising lawyer. In the end, it's the professional recognition and exams that are the priorities.
This post has been edited by Just Visiting By: Jul 20 2022, 10:11 PM