Hi, my name is Justin Tan and I'm from Subang Jaya, Malaysia. I'm currently in my fourth year in Mechanical Engineering and I was part of the direct entry programme of the 2+2 MEng Mechanical Engineering between Taylor's University, Malaysia and the University of Birmingham.
Question on screen: What surprised you about Birmingham when you arrived?
Birmingham is more diverse than I thought it would be, because prior to coming to the UK I always thought that the UK would be predominantly British and I didn't get to maybe explore other cuisines, but after being here in Birmingham I get to explore many other cuisines that never get to in Malaysia, like Arabic, Indian, Pakistani, even Italian, so yeah it's a pretty good experience for me.
Question on screen: What is different about Birmingham to studying in your home university?
I think at Birmingham the lecturers encourage us to do our independent study, as compared to back in Taylors University the lectures and tutorials conducted are more guided for the students, so we pretty much know what's going on throughout the syllabus. Whereas in Birmingham if you were to do your independent study you get a better understanding of the syllabus.
Question on screen: Do you spend much time with students from your home university?
Yes I do. Fortunately there are about 20 other students from Taylor's who applied the direct entry pathway to University of Birmingham, so currently I'm actually staying with five others and we practically do everything together from playing sports to celebrating major events back in Malaysia, like the Lunar New Year, so I actually got to celebrate my first Lunar New Year from home with them so it's pretty amazing.
Question on screen: What advice would you give to a student applying from your home university?
I will advise them to apply as early as possible once they've made their decision to study in the University of Birmingham, because there's a lot of documentation they have to prepare especially for Mechanical Engineering students, so these documentation do take time so if you apply it early you can get your documentation early and your visa application will be as smooth as possible.
Question on screen: What are your plans after your studies at Birmingham?
I plan to actually work in the UK to gain some experience before I head back to my home country in Malaysia. I'm currently searching and applying because I'm in my final year right now, in areas such as consulting or engineering to improve myself in these areas.