Pengalaman Interview JPA PPC 2019 : Part I

Assalamualaikum and hi friends!



Baru-baru ni saya attend Interview JPA PPC. Biasiswa ni boleh mohon if masa undergraduate JPA scholar. Saya memang plan nak sambung master right after degree. As much as I am looking forward to further my studies, I'd love if it could be somewhere abroad. I'll write further about my journey in the later posts. So, before pergi interview ni, saya secure an unconditional offer letter from University of Birmingham. Unconditional sebab tak buat IELTS lagi. Every year, list universities JPA might have slight changes so best is to secure top 100 universities ikut world ranking.

So for this year, interview dekat USIM, Nilai. Seingat saya, application tu bukak mid July then panggilan SAC (interview) dalam 29 July - 2nd August. Turn saya 1st August sebab the other two earlier dates were occupied for PHD applicants.

Memang jauh lah dari Kedah. Saya sahkan kehadiran dalam 3 days before sebab saya terlupa haa nasib baik tengok Instastory kawan, kalau dak pakai terlepaih la. Then booked AirAsia, nasib baik time tu weekdays dapat low fare, pastu prepare all the documents. Semua requirements saya buat dua salinan and get them certified. Selain dari documents yang dia listkan, saya prepare writing portfolios and certificates. Bawak yang perlu saja okay. Certificates yang lama-lama tu tak perlu la unless some yang outstanding like awards and what not yang you want it to be highlighted.

Startlah my journey to USIM. Memang penat, saya sampai Nilai around midnight then esok pagi tu sesi paling awal 8:30 pagi. Saya sampai USIM around 8:15 pagi. Terus check nama and we were all divided by group. Saya dapat Group 4 - Number 6 (setiap orang nanti dia kasi tag number). Awal-awal tu ada briefing session dari pegawai JPA. Masa tu dah rasa cuak dia weh tengok all the applicants rasa macam alah boleh ke.

Taknak serabut-serabut, I started mingling with the others and made some good friends. For this year, ada nearly 2000 applicants, 500 was shortlisted, only 250 are entitled for JPA PPC and that comprises locals and overseas institutions.

After the briefing, semua orang tunggu turn number masing masing. So, saya dan lagi 3 orang masuk sekali satu bilik sebab interview in group of 4. Awal-awal tu kenal satu sama lain and exchange details walaupun masing-masing cuak but still kita kena chill hehe. Interview tu went for about 45 minit. Kebetulan, among us 4, saya sorang yang apply abroad. Boleh tahan jugaklah questions panels huhu, oh by the way, ada 2 panels, English and Malay languages interchangeably used. Kiranya one panel tanya in Malay, another one in English. Also the expected result shall announce one month after, dalam 4th September 2019 gitu. Haa waiting time ni lah moment dalam hidup yang paling tak tenteram tau dak, hari-hari countdown, anxious weh.

I have been to nearly 5 interviews my whole life and semua tu untuk admission. This is my first time untuk scholarship, memang takut dia lain macam, berdebaq-debaq ja! Lupa nak cakap, semua certificates and portfolios tu kena letak belakang bilik, which means masa interview tu solely interaction dengan panels. In short, they have the littlest background/reference about you and you really need to sell yourself. Masa tu memang butterflies in my tummy raging fluttering lah, cuak.

Pastu duduk according to your number, saya seat number 3. Awal-awal tu tanya about yourself, what motivates you to further your studies abroad etc. The normal questions you'd get in every interview. Kemudian baru panels teruskan dengan questions critical thinking yang baru kau rasa asal tak pernah terfikir soalan simple macamni, tapi masa tu tak boleh nak research apa dah lah, sesungguhnya jangan mengarut lebih-lebih, hentam lah cakap apa-apa yang logically accepted, itu lebih baik haha.

Alright rasa panjang sangat ni, nanti saya continue next post!

Till then.