JPA Scholarship 2008 Interview Experience

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The post below was written by wilson, an active member of Student Malaysia Forums. He blogs regularly at his personal blog.

Hihi, my name is wilson. Below is my experience for the jpa interview 2008.

On second of April, my father drove me to Pusat Konvensyen Antarabangsa Putrajaya (PICC).

The place is not difficult to find. In fact, my dad and I had gone there on last Sunday to determine its exact location and have a look at the building, so that I can prepare myself mentally. Yes, I would be having my jpa scholarship interview there.

My interview time was on 8am, but I had reached PICC at 7am. For one, I am afraid of traffic congestion (in fact, it's quite silly to worry about that...). Secondly, being early is much better than being late.

I went into the huge and rather-grand building and followed the directions along the way to the interview place. I then checked my panel and interview room. It's panel 5 and room 15. I put my signature beside my name and then went outside to take fresh air. I was together with my classmate. So coincidentally, we got the same interview time. This is called fate!! Haha.....

The sceneries out there is really beautiful. To the future interview candidates, You should actually bring along your camera to snap. How can you possibly miss it? Furthermore, this helps you relax and stay confident.

Finally, the waiting time passed and it's 8.

My friend and I went separated to our respective panels. I registered at table 5. By register, I mean I just had to sign on a paper beside my name. Then I began arranging all my certificates according to a sequence that was listed on a paper given to me. After submitting the photocopy certs, I had to wait again. Oh no! I badly wanted it to be over, as my heart was thumping faster and faster, harder and harder. I think my blood pressure was shooting up that time, will that be 150/110? Wow, this blood pressure is definitely incredible!

Eventually, it's my turn. The interview was-as usual- done in groups. A group of eight candidates including me went inside. The room is not very big. And the distance between the interviewers and us is just about 2 to 4 meters.

We started off by introducing ourselves one by one in Malay language. It's very kind of the interviewers to tell us what to say when introducing ourselves. But some of the interviewers won't do so, as what my friend had experienced. This was part 1. I talked about my family, my co-curriculum participation including the competitions that I took part in. In my opinion, a very important part (VIP) when introducing ourselves is to mention the reasons why we want to choose that course. Tell honestly and just bluff a bit if you want to.

However, I did not bluff at all. I said i want to do medicine because that's really my dream and passion since small. Then............blablabla........ I was quite nervous. And when I talked about my ambition to be a doctor, my sound changed a bit and it seemed that I wanted to cry. But I wasn't actually so. Perhaps, it's an effect being over-nervous. Honestly, I have no idea whether this is good or bad.

Next was part 2: group discussion. Our topic was "Handphones, a luxury or necessity?" Every one of us had to say something. Don't talk too much or too little. Be moderate. If you are not good in spoken English, talk slowly as you need time to convert your thought into words. For the english-ed people, the ideas and words all flow into their minds because they are already used to speaking English. Never try to talk fast to pretend that you are good in spoken English. You will only end up in trouble. This was what I noticed during the interview.

Finally, after about an hour inside the room, we are "released". I was so relieved.

I think I did not do very well in the interview. I just have to pray that I would get jpa scholarship offer. But I have also prepared for the unwelcome result.

Lastly, good luck to those going for scholarship interview.

Related link: Read Amelia's interview experience on her personal blog too.
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