Journey in University of Malaya

hello everyone!

So it's my first week in University of Malaya, Malaysia and i am glad everything goes smoothly. I have some difficulties during the first few days after registering my courses online, but now I have them sorted out.

Thanks to seniors and friends who have been helping a lot.

So as you all know, I am taking a Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology for the second intake of the University of Malaya. I directly entered Semester 2(Year one). They are around 50 students who managed to be offered places in the Faculty of Science in various fields, I am glad that I am one of them!

Since we are the apprentices to this new system, for your information, this is the first time University of Malaya opens for the second intake, starting from 2016. To be honest, we, the second intake students did not really understand the system at the first place as some of the fields such as Biotechnology hasn't yet been fully revised, said Dr Nur Hayati (She was the one who had helped us a lot, thanks Doctor! ). And bunch of thanks to Dr Faris(Coordinator for Biotechnology) for helping me and my international friend (who takes the same course as I am) in opening the quota for Population Biology class. If not, we are not able to take next semester's subjects as it is one of the core courses and the pre-requisite for all the subjects in next semester.

So as the day goes by, with a clear explanation from Dr Hayati, we were able to finally understand the system and registered our courses. But we have to struggle really hard as we are needed to take all the core courses within this semester!

Supposedly, in semester 2 there are only 3 core subjects that should be taken by Biotechnology students, BUT the new intake students have to take the core courses from the first semester. There are 2 core courses in Semester one, that makes it 5 core courses that need to be taken for this semester. It is going to be tough, but it will make me a better and a fast learner!

the same thing goes for University courses, courses from the first semester have to be taken but it is not compulsory to take them within this semester. We can take them within the period of study in the university.

As a second intake student (Direct entry to semester 2) who is taking Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology, these are the university courses and core courses that I have registered. It is recommended to do it this way because there are lack of options to choose from.

University Courses:
1. Biostatistics (3 Credit hours)
2. Social Engagement (2 Credit hours)
3. Introduction to science and Technology studies (3 credit hours)

I did not register for English, TITAS(only for local students, not applicable for international students) Ethnic Relation, Basic Entrepreneurship culture and Information skills. I will take these within the period of study in the university :)

Core Courses
1. Cell Biology (2 credit hours)
2. Biology Practical (2 credit hours)
3. Life Processes (2 credit hours)
4. Biology of Organism (2 credit hours)
5. Population Biology (2 credit hours)

so it all makes it to 18 credit hours.

So far, the classes are okay, but me and my international friend had to change lecture group for Biostatistics as the lecture used a lot of Malay words in explaining things, and my international friend(from Sri Lanka) was not able to understand everything she had taught. I hope we made the right decision for changing the lecturer.

That's all from me. If you have any questions, just leave them in the comment section and i'll get back to you soon dears!

Regards, Aaronn.