Post Script

Post Script


Penultimate week, I wrote about simple steps to take towards studying in Malaysia. In that article, we discussed how to apply for visa, options for buying air ticket and types of tuition fees especially as they relate to UPM.

However, there're equally important nuggets of information that I didn't include in that column; partly because I didn't want to inundate you with information and partly because the ideas had not completely formed at the time of that writing.

In this piece, you're going to read about how to structure your CV so that you're considered for admission. If you make one mistake in your CV, your application will spend the rest of its days in a waste basket. You'll also learn how to graduate in one year – if you're doing a master's degree. Additionally, we're going to talk about the importance of owning your own laptop. And finally, we'll discuss which structure of degree to apply for in order to graduate on time and pay the minimum tuition fee.

But before we start, let inform those who have emailed me about their interest in coming to UPM, that the deadline for submission of application is 15th of August, 2008. For postgraduate students; you can go directly to gso.upm.edu.my. Click on 'admission' then 'apply online'

For undergraduate students, go to upm.edu.my and click on 'prospective students' and then 'undergraduates/academic division'

Structure of degree: with thesis or without thesis?

This part concerns master's student only. Since at UPM, there's only way of doing PhD; course work combined with research. In your application, you'll be asked to choose whether you want to do your degree 'with thesis' or 'without thesis'. With thesis structure means you're going to take a few courses and fulfill the larger part of the requirement for the award of degree by writing thesis. The students on this structure are called research students.

Without thesis structure means, you're going to fulfill the requirement for your degree mainly through courses and comprehensive examination. Students on this structure are called courses only students. However, if you're on without thesis structure, you've the option of either sitting for the comprehensive examination at the end of your courses or write a project. What's the difference between the thesis on 'with thesis' structure and project on 'without thesis' structure? Good question.

Thesis and project are not the same kind of fish. While project writing may be a simple academic writing, thesis is a rigorous one. Thesis writing is the chief reason that keeps students from graduating on time. Their proposals get rejected again and again. When the proposals are finally accepted, the theses have to undergo several revisions over several months. Put together, these are a source of frustration for many students all over the world.

Which one do you choose?
Despite its rigorous nature, I'll advice you to choose 'with thesis' structure. Here are my reasons.
You'll only be recognized as a scholar when you're on 'with thesis' structure. The rigorous terrain you'll be subjected to, will give you a sound foundation to bear up the meticulousness of the academic world. And it's the tradition of universities, to give preference to candidates who are published researchers in the employment of lecturers. I remember Farooq Kperogi once said this about employment of university teachers in the USA.

Here – in UPM – students pursuing their degrees through courses only are seen as not as intelligent as student doing their master degree through research and course work combined. This is a wrong assumption of course. I've seen students who are very bright on the 'without thesis' structure and those who are not as able on 'with thesis' structure. But that's the way things are! As Dalai Lama would say, "what is is." This brings me to an important point: if your CGPA is not up to 3.0 don't apply for 'with thesis' structure because you'll not be admitted. Why? You're not following! You'll not be admitted because your records show that you don't have enough aptitude to be a researcher.

This is where Nigerian lecturers are culprits. Please, lecturers don't give your students low marks simply because they didn't visit you when you're ill, didn't agree to have sex with you, or other such trifles. The bad grades you give them today will affect them in the future. Nobody has yet designed a better and faster way of measuring students' abilities other than the academic records. Thus, scholarships, fellowships and other studentships will be given to lesser candidates just because you gave your student low marks to punish him for debating a point with you in class. Great teachers encourage such debates. And if you acknowledge that some of your students will know some things better than you, you're even a greater teacher. The attitude of Nigerian writers needs to be discussed thoroughly and that'll be considered another day. In the meantime, let's go back to today's discussion.

Without thesis structure is more expensive. At UPM, the master's student on 'with thesis' structure is required to pay only about $800 per semester as tuition fee while students on 'without thesis' structure will also pay that and then more! Without thesis students will pay for every credit required whether compulsory or elective. Research students need on 9 credit hours and their theses to graduate while students doing courses only need 36 credit hours. At UPM, every credit is RM120. Do the math; RM120 X 36 + $800. If you're a self sponsored student – which most Nigerians are – that's not the way to go.

Research students can graduate faster. This seems as if I'm contradicting myself. Earlier I said thesis was the chief reason why students didn't graduate on time and now I'm saying that 'with thesis' can graduate faster. It's not a contradiction – if you look closely. Research students need to do only three courses to give them the 9 credits they need. So a student can register for all the three courses in the first semester. As they're doing the courses, they're writing the first three chapters – Introduction, Literature review and Methodology - of their thesis simultaneously.

During the holidays, they can collect their data. In the second semester, they can concentrate on the last two or three chapters and the revisions. And there you've your master degree in one year. Don't allow anybody to tell it's not possible! When you come here, people will tell you it's not possible. Personally, I've never had any use for people who tell me things are not possible. I don't think you'll have any use for them either. Thus, if you intend to graduate in a year through 'with thesis' structure, don't tell anybody about it because people don't discourage you because they dislike you it's actually because they love you!

So is it, also possible to finish a master degree in one year through 'without thesis' structure? It's not probable. Let's look at it. 36 credits hours translate to 12 courses. Even if a student decides to take 4 courses per semester, which is not likely, he still needs three semesters to graduate.
To be concluded.