My experience for JPA scholarship interview 2021

 before

so you can check the list whether if you can apply for the scholarship.

both are two different list names. one is for ppn and one is for lspm.

after you have checked you can apply on the given website. then i waited for a few days to be short listed for the interview. so then i received a message

that i was shortlisted for the interview. yay finally. so then please kemaskini whether you’re attending for the interview or not in the given time.

you also have to complete your psikometric test online. just click on the link.

later on you have to print surat panggilan sac and a copy of your ic. you will also have to bring your ic and birth certificate there.

in summary the things you need:

• surat panggilan sac

• i c

• copy of your ic

• birth certificate

oh and when you attend your interview there will be a dress code. make sure to follow the dress code. during my interview the dress code was

• dark long sleeve t shirt (black or dark gray or dark blue) collared - for female

• dark long/short sleeve t shirt (black or dark gray or dark blue) - for male

• black tracksuit

• sport suits

it very important to follow the dress code cuz it will be a good first impression to the panels.

make sure to put all your documents in a file so that it will be easier for you. make sure to bring pen or pencils. prepare your outfit a day before the interview so it won’t be hassle for you in the morning. make sure to bring water as well.

during

wake up early. so i woke 6 for my 8 registration 💀 well the place is around 30 minutes from my house. my sac centre was at Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (Numed). i left home around 7:10 and reached there around 7:40.

there were many people to my surprise. so as i was waiting for the registration i made some friends from different schools. and some were from different states. i also met my old school friends from different states. so i didn’t feel too uncomfortable at that. so at 8 we were lining up for registration and i was in group 1. there were 4 groups. and group 1 was with many people. the registration process was quite late. so the people there ordered us to sit in a room and called our name one by one. and that’s where i gave my ic, a copy of ic and birth cert. and they took my birth cert and at the end of the interview they will return it. of course the process made me a bit nervous and i got my number which is number 2 ☠️. that’s even nerve racking

so we were then divided into groups. each group had 5 people. so my group was 2 male and 3 female. though i didn’t talk to them cuz i was shy but i recommend everyone to get to know their members.

the registration ended at 8:45. at 9 my team from 1-5 and another team from 6-11 (one person was absent in the team so they asked person number 11 to join the second team in order to be fair) to go for the interview. there were two rooms. one is for the interview session and another is for LDK session which stands for Latihan Dalam Kumpulan. so my team entered the interview session first and the other entered the LDK session first. my team members were offered with lspm and ppn scholarships.

so when i entered to the room i just did a little prayer to calm myself down lol. because it was my first time. so when we entered we greeted the panels. there were two panels a male and a female. we brought our back in and put it at the side. my phone was in my pocket but i muted it though. and the panels were sooooo nice. they were so friendly also. so the first question they asked it what was our dress code. since they’re not from jpa so they had no idea about our dress code. but although it wasn’t about scholarship they were already evaluating us that time. the interview was in english and malay

some of the questions were (english) :

1. self introduction

2. one of the best decision you made in your life

3. which fruit resembles you (from another team)

4. how do you handle your stress (another team)

questions (malay)

1. yang ingin ke luar negara (lepas pengajian walaupun gaji di luar negara tinggi adakah kamu akan kembali ke malaysia)

2. untuk medical, apakah kepakaran yang kamu pilih kenapa?

3. kenapa perlu bagi kamu biasiswa

during my interview, medicine was only offered local for me. so i decided to study local. other members from different courses preferred to go overseas.

a small tip was given to us by the jpa before the interview please mention whether do you prefer to study locally or overseas because it would be easier for the panel to evaluate.

the whole interview was extremely nice and our team actually took a lot of time comparing to another group. so an advise. remember to talk not too much and not too less. give people chances as well.

one of my teammates talked very well unfortunately she talked too much. at first the panels were impressed by her answer. but as time went by they were paying attention to her as her answers were too long. so other members were not able to talk that much as well. keep in my mind your attitude towards others is also observed.

another thing is that if you’re going for scholarship interview make sure you know what you are going to do. know how well the studies or job that you are going to pursue. for example i want to be an oncologist. so when they asked me what pakar i wanted to be they also asked the types of treatment for cancer. the male panel also asked what causes cancer. he wanted to see if i knew or don’t know about this profession. though they’re not from medical backgrounds they might ask you about your profession. so please do a little research and know about what you want to do.

after our session was done. we said thank you and left the room. i drank water before entering the LDK room. and we kept our bags outside the room.

again there were two panels. a male and a female. we were required to do debate in malay. so two people to become the opposition, two government representatives and a moderator. so i was the opposition team. throughout the session the panels won’t say a single word. they just observe. and they don’t even smile tho. but it’s okay 😅 i promise that it is very normal.

so the topic we got is

• PENGANGKUTAN AWAM ADALAH LEBIH EFEKTIF DARIPDA KENDERAAN SENDIRI
• MEDIA SOSIAL MENDATANGKAN KEBURUKAN KEPADA REMAJA BERBANDING KEBAIKAN (from another team)

so the preparation is only 5 minutes. and you have to talk around 20 minutes. during the preparation is where you have to discuss with your partner about the points.

the thing they evaluate here is your confidence and how fast is your thinking. they are also seeing how well you can cooperate with your members.

the debate went well. for my topic opposition was a hard thing but i felt like the point i states was good. i never felt bad about debate. i think that it went pretty. after the debate, we said thank you to the panels and left the room. a sigh of relief *phew* i wished my members all the best and told them that they did great and yes they were awesome as well. it was very competitive as well. because everyone there are top students who scored great in their spm. i was lucky to be shortlisted for the interview.

after

i returned the number tag and got back my birth cert. i then called my mom to pick me. while i was waiting i was talking to my friends from old school. then yea i went back and done. finished my interview.

it was a new experience for me. though i was very nervous i was happy that things went great. so if you’re shortlisted CONGRATSSS and if you’re not ITS OKAY. there’s still more to come. it’s god will and not our. what is written for us will be for us. life is just trial and error. writing this because before the interview i did read A LOT of blogs to get any information about the interview ehehehe. so i think it would be helpful to others as well. goodluck and all the best to everyone :)

UPDATE: got it :))