Decision made!

I have to say it is a bit funny... As I took such a long time to make this decision... But it is only a bit... As it wasn't an easy decision to make... It is going to affect my whole life... Just one thing I am sure, I am a future civil engineer... As all universities offer me the same course...

It all started with a phone interview from Hong Kong in the 21st of April... It is Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) calling... It wasn't really much of an interview... Simple questions... And they said they would give scholarship to me... Around 50%... I was quite happy actually... At least it is a hope not to study local... And it is a good one...

2 days later... I got an offer from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in the morning, another one at night, from National University of Singapore (NUS) ... I was over-joyed... As I am sure this time that I won't be studying in local university... Singapore offers full loan... It is just a matter of choice...

I applied for 4 oversea universities in total... One more is University of Queensland (UQ), which my cousin Mr.Chuee said it is very good in engineering... Actually I wanted to apply for both University of New South Wales and University of Queensland, but the counsellor in AusEd suggested to choose only one, as it would be a waste of money... They would surely accept me, as they don't consider Pengajian Am... (That makes me a straight A student, lolz...) I had to choose one, I chose UQ because of its faculty scholarship... And some personal reasons...

Problem... NUS wanted me to reply by 8th of May.... UQ's application was quite late, so the outcome was yet to be known... I had to choose between HKUST, NUS and NTU... Before the deadline mentioned... I actually talked to my father, he said I can consider everyone of them, and let him know my decision...

For your information, during that time, the latest ranking of those 3 universities in the world are: HKUST 39th, NUS 30th, NTU 77th... Actually I wasn't very much into this ranking thingy, as I actually prefer NTU more than NUS in the first place, as I heard NTU's engineering is better than NUS... (common knowledge, technological university mer...) To me, it is more to the cost problem... I wanted to choose the cheapest one... So I had to wait for better scholarships... Though I knew the chances are slim...

Then I heard people getting scholarship interview invitations... I knew i failed to get scholarship for Singapore universities... And it got to a time when I made up my mind, in this fine morning that, I wanted to go to HKUST... Cheapest (Scholarship), Fastest (3-year degree) and Good (for civil engineering, China is coming up...) are the main reasons.... And I had to make the decision fast as the deadline for NUS was near... But to the least of my expectation, my father put his hands into my decision... He wants me to go to Singapore, due to financial issue... (until here, I must emphasize that I am NOT RICH... My parents's income is OK but they have 5 children with very small age difference, they can't afford to send me overseas if I don't get any financial aids...) Singapore offers loan, though it is more expensive, while Hong Kong doesn't, which means he has to pay for everything... My father wanted to do it the safe way... Or maybe he listened to his sister about the ranking thingy? I don't know... But at that moment, I really thought I was going to Singapore......

My father is working in Indonesia... So, I actually talked to him through phone... Then, that day at night, I told my mother about it... My mother actually supported me... And she said she would try to talk to my father about it the next day... I wasn't really expecting much as I usually dare not to disobey my father... But she managed to change his mind... He allowed me to go to HKUST... But that lasted for a few hours... In the afternoon, again, he asked me to call him, and told me about his retire plan... He insisted the more secure way... And this time he even chose the university for me... "NUS" he said, with longer history, higher ranking, cannot be bad in engineering... Once again, I thought I was going to Singapore.. Lolz... Funny huh?

I had another discussion with my elder brother and my mother again that night... My mother didn't say anything... My elder brother actually contributed a lot by stating many benefits to study in Hong Kong... He prefers me to go to Hong Kong...

The next day again, this time, I didn't actually know what happened... What I know is my beloved mother pursauded my father successfully... I got the permission to go to Hong Kong... I really need to thank my mother for that, and my father as well for understanding... Not to forget Chung Kok Loong who had been so helpful throughout my hard time... Thanks alot...

I really thought it has come to an end... I really thought I am going to Hong Kong... I even wanted to pay the HKD20k deposit to HKUST... That was when I received my conditional offer letter from UQ... Condition is IELTS... The date was 11th of May... One of the days in the week I named as "crucial week"...

Why crucial? HKUST's reply deadline is 18th of May... And the reply must be with deposit to be valid... The deposit is not refundable... Back to UQ... I don't know about the scholarship thing even till now, so I presumed it is a no... Australia Unis' tuition fees are expensive... Expensive to an unaffordable level to me without full scholarship... So I thought of just to reject UQ, stick with HKUST and pay the deposit... Until I found out about this one... What it takes to get a PSD scholarship? (Take note the group of eight part...)

It is about JPA scholarship for undergraduate, where they said they will sponsor students to study in top universities in the world... Including the Group of 8 in Australia... (UQ is one of them) As long as the students get unconditional offer from the universities, in specific fields...

Walao... This made the hard-to-make decision even tougher... The scholarship will be announced in June... People in forum said they are still uncertain about it... It might not run this year... And UQ might not be in the list... I am taking risk if I take this one, a big risk... So I planned to pay HKUST first, then only see whether this is applicable or not...

But HKD 20k... It is not a small amount... So my mother and I came to an agreement that, if I am going to wait for UQ, choose Singapore where we need not to pay... While if I am going to HKUST, pay the money and go... To prevent further lost of money...

12th of May, I couldn't make a decision... We planned to pay the deposit during this day... Had to postpone... But can't be too long... The deadline is near...

13th of May, is my old best friend, Ng Shuenn Siang's birthday... And this old friend of mine, kicked my ass all the way from US, to wake me up from a unrealistic dream......

In the end, HKUST instead of UQ... Based on the reasons below:
1. The JPA scholarship is uncertain, not only it is not announced yet, the complaints lately made it changes to Perdana Schoalrship... Everything is so uncertain... HKUST is giving me half scholarship, though not full but affordable...

2. To get to UQ, many things need to be done... IELTS which is expensive and quite torturing... Book accomodation... Postpone reply date... Time consuming indeed...

3. I don't want to work for JPA... A quote from my old friend "You are a smart person, go out and rock the world..." I think I will stay in Hong Kong after graduation, to work there first... This is a country for the last two of CIMB, not me...

In the end, HKUST... No turning back, I paid HKD 20k!!! Lolz... Non-refundable, so, quite sure going... lolz... Wish me luck my friends... I need it... And I will be leaving in August... Ya, to make this decision, the road was sure a tough one... Lolz... If don't like to read about them just read the 1st paragraph and the last one will do... Haha... Anyway, to all my friends who are going to pursue their higher educations, all the best! I am anticipating the day when we are all professional people... Hehe... NEVER GIVE UP!

Btw... For those who don't read newspaper... Asian Top 200 Universities... Take a look... Hehe...