MARA YOUNG TALENT DEVELOPMENT (YTP) 2018 EXPERIENCE

Besides PETRONAS sponsorship, I also applied for MARA scholarship. It is more to convertible loan actually. Between JPA, JPA-MARA and MARA, applicants must choose either one. Although I am quite tempted to apply for JKPJ (jepun,korea, perancis, jerman) program under engineering, I didn't apply because I am more interested to apply for medic under MARA YTP (Young Talent Development) program. If I got lucky and did well for my IB, I will have high chance to do medic overseas. It was a rare occasion that MARA wants to sponsor students to study medic overseas because of the very high cost. I give it a try, who knows I got lucky and it is the best for me. First and foremost, I filled in the online application through MARA website. I had to cancel my earlier application for JKPJ program first. My first choice is IB program at Kolej MARA Banting and second choice is IB Program at Kolej MARA Seremban. After a month, the result was out and Alhamdulillah.. I passed the first stage and was called for interview and psychometric test.

The psychometric test must be done at home within the time stated which is one hour. Different candidates have different time for psychometric test. During my time it was some personality test and SPM-based questions so better refresh back what you had learn during your high school years. But for the past years, the psychometric test ask about MARA and some history so the test differs by year. Some courses might only require the candidates to sit for psychometric test only without interview so it depends on what course you applied.

My interview was on 28th April at Kolej Poly-tech MARA Bangi. The registration session was at 8-9.30 but because I arrived a little bit late, which is at 8.30, I had to wait for the second round.The earlier the better so that you can finish early but if you can't make it, don't worry as long as you don't pass the registration time. The queue is long, tho and the interviews will be held for 2 days with so many more sessions. What I've learned is the ratio of girls to boys that wanted to become doctors was like 3 : 1 but there are also interviews for future engineers so yeah that's why there are so many people. My registration was at 9.30 a.m. and my interview will start at 10 a.m. I already arranged my documents according to the order they wanted but unfortunately one document is not complete which is borang BE. sigh.. I thought by bringing slip gaji is enough so they gave me MARA's email and told me to email them the borang. Phew. I thought I'll be disqualified already. After the registration, I was given a tag labelled C4 and told to follow the usherer.

I was brought to a room and was asked to sit according to my number so I was in group C. There were 8 people in a group. During the waiting time, I chatted with my groupmates, Shazmeen, Alya, Aminah, Fatimah, Anis, Hakimi and Adam. Most of them are from MRSM and only Fatimah are interviewing for engineering course while the rest for medic, as same as me. We chatted about a lot of things, experiences and opinions so don't be shy and make a lot of friends ! Speak up and be friendly :). After about half an hour waiting we were briefed about the interview and were brought to the interview room. The interview room was cold, tho and there were three interviewers. There are two phases which are group task and individual interview.

So, our first task is group work. Eight of us were divided into two groups. We were given a set of legos, building blocks, and we were required to build a double-story building using all the blocks. There were also some gears that must be functioning using the batteries. We were given 20 minutes to complete the task. It was quite hard, tho because the blocks did not really fit but the most important thing is you must work together. Teamwork is the key. When the 20 minutes time was up, my team's building is not completed yet but we were satisfied and had some fun. During the presentation time, Adam came up with a brilliant idea on how the gears can be operated using hydro energy or wind energy, Fatimah said that it can be build at riverbanks, Anis said that it is fun for the children and safe while I stated that our building is an indoor playground and can also  act as kindergarten where the children will be secured and it is also portable and easy to build. The gears function really well and it turned out pretty good actually although it was not finished.

After the group task, we were asked to sit on the chairs according to our number. The interviewers asked question to us. I am the first person to be asked and the question I got is "what are your biggest challenges to be a good leader". Different candidates got different questions like "what is your dream", "how you go through hardship", "how to succeed in life" and so on. The second question is "what is your strength and why MARA should choose you compared to others" This question must be answered by all candidates and as for me I talk about research and my upcoming idea and how passionate am I to be a medical doctor. The interview was quite nerve-wrecking but the interviewers were supportive and will not scold you so they really calmed me a lot. The ending for our interview is by describing a short and sweet background about us and after that the interview ended. It was a delightful experience and I am very grateful to be given such opportunity. I make many friends and gained a lot of experience !

So, after 2 weeks of waiting, the result is finally out. Fortunately, I got offered into the program however, I did not get the course code that I wanted which is MARA0101 instead I got MARA0301 which means, I will not have the opportunity to study abroad under this code. I will have to undergo one year of Foundation in Science at Kolej Mara Kuala Nerang, Kedah and continue my degree in Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in UniKL Royal College of Medicine Perak (RCMP). I am really grateful to be offered such a great opportunity but I'm not sure yet whether it is the best for  me because RCMP is very new so I need to look up for some reviews and information about this college first. I really wanted to study medicine, tho and but I need to do some thinking and ask for opinions first. I hope this is the best path for me to become a great doctor one day.