Wednesday, March 31, 2010

PNB Scholarship Test

I got my first scholarship call-up 2 days ago from Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB). PNB's style is that you sit for a special test first and based on your test score (and other factors too, so I've been told) they'll call you up for an interview and they will decide from there whether to grant you the scholarship or not.

So, today I had to sit for the test at its office, Menara PNB in KL and truth be told, I didn't know what to expect. From what I saw today, there were about 40 of us for the afternoon slot and I would say 80% of those who came today were previously from boarding schools. MCKK, Kolej Yayasan Saad, the Science schools etc. There were only a handful of us from daily schools if I wasn't mistaken.

Anyway, the test was 60 minutes long as it was divided into 3 sections. The first one was Verbal test. They gave us different passages and we had to answer True, False or Cannot Say statements based on those passages. 30 questions within 20 minutes.

Next was the Interpreting Data test. 18 questions were to be completed within 20 minutes. Most of the questions asked involved maths and were economics-related. Like how they asked us to calculate the turnover profit, the capital growth, the average sales yadda yadda. It can be a little tricky at times. Dah la I suck at maths. Hmmphh.

The last part was the Diagrammatical Series, the one you usually get in IQ tests. That one was okay, I guess. 40 questions in 20 minutes. A little bit confusing after awhile but still manageable.

Overall, I wouldn't say the test was easy but it was still doable. I've been out of practice for like 3 months ever since SPM ended so that didn't make it any easier either. Next would be the interview and only selected candidates from the test sessions will be called upon. That'll be within the next one month.

I don't know if I'll make it through or not. I heard the deal is pretty good. They'll send you for A-level in KYUEM and if you do really well in your exams, you'll be sent off to top universities in Australia, United Kingdom or United States. With 1000 pounds a month as your allowance, that is if you're studying in the UK, I presume. That's kinda...wow!

But I'm keeping this in mind; if I do get it, alhamdulillah, good for me. A great chance for me to further myself in life. And if I don't get it, perhaps my rezeki is elsewhere, just not here. At least this has been a pretty interesting experience.

So, whatever comes, comes. Whatever goes, goes.

Next up, JPA interview on the 8th of April. Another learning experience. Amin.

2 comments:

Atikah said...

erm, did u wear blazer on that day?
Is there anyone wear it? mine will be on monday ><

Nik Nor Zafirah said...

Atikah: no i didn't wear a blazer the other day. just white pants and a blouse.

you could wear one i guess but seeing as how it is just a test, you might want to wear something more comfortable.

good luck for yours then :)