After Tawjihi: Do Your Research

if you have a relative, a friend, a neighbor who just finished Tawjihi and is waiting for results to be announced this Saturday, pass this piece of advice for him/her if they are willing to pursue their studies in Jordanian Universities.

This phase is very sensitive and making a right choice spares you a lot of regret for the following four, five or six coming years of your academic life.

according to Jordan University Calender, 2007/2008 academic year starts on 9/9/2007 and the fall semester officially begins on 16/9/2007 so between the coming Saturday and Sept 16th there would be a lot of discovering to do from your part and definitely a lot of decision making and getting familiar with a whole new block of your life.

so here you go:

"what primarily controls your choice is the Tawjihi average you scored", DON'T follow this pattern in thinking, don't take what comes your way,, find out what you want, and then see what are your choice's requirements, if you dont meet them and you think that IT IS what you want, repeat tawjihi, it is not the end of the world,,its 4 months vs 4 years !
its very important to do what you like to do and what brings out your best. think of what excites you, imagine when you start working, what will you be wearing, behind a desk, in the field? with a team, alone? teaching, supervising, managing, designing, inspecting, creating art, a people person, data person, philosophical, convincing, what classes did you like at school, what is the setup that would make you fall in love with your work?

after you know what you want which really should take the biggest part of the whole process, you should check whats available and which university offers the best package.. JU is not necessarily the best ,,,, here comes the hussle.. there is no mentoring pre-university, even if you wanted to choose between two majors no one will offer a distinction. so what to do?

when you get the post office application that enlists all the majors available in all public Jordanian Universities, highlight your top lets say 10 options and the next day early morning something like 8:30 am head to Jordan University for example and go to the Faculty of what you highlighted and go to the Department Secretary, they are the only helpful resource when it comes to study plans, Registration desk mish fadeelak!! they manage the registration protocols, you are an ID number to him!!! neither the dean, nor the professors will give anything more than words.
Secretaries have all information you need, ask for the major study plan and the courses description which explains every course you will take briefly and see if the courses they give you through the four years meet your ambition.

another thing is: lets say you wanted to go for Engineering, what are the options open to you; JU, JUST, BAU Amman, BAU Salt, Yarmouk, Hashemite University for public universities , if you think Private you got PSUT, Ahlieh, NYIT(donno if they have a school for engineering) , German University

from my experience, the study plan for the same BSc degree vary from one university to another, like JU is more Electrical Engineering oriented in the plan for Mechtronics Engineering for example, while JUST has Mechatronics Program following the Mechanical Engineering Dept. with different curriculum while Hashemite Uni focuses on Electrical Power and Control.

so you need to talk to people, ask graduates, use all resources before you sign up, check the labs status, the facilites, your transportation means. you need to look into all these things, in addition to that the social construct of your faculty, you will be living there for four years or so, you need something to keep you motivated and not kill your passion.

Don't be traditional in your choice!! a 93% scientific stream doesn't mean you can't do arts, business, marketing or languages.. we need journalists, scientists, researchers, presenters, media professionals, broadcasters, philosophers, athletes and psychologists and good teachers!

DONT PANIC.. you can always change major,, nothing forces you to stick to what you dont like!! make as many friends as you can, have a cool study group, volunteer whenever you can,, be creative and distinguish yourself. grades are not everything :D

another hint about university,,, PEOPLE WITH PhD ARE NARROW MINDED, they only know how to talk in their specialty field, so when you need advice from a Dr, just ask him in what he knows! he is not GOD and yes he makes mistakes! the thing you are used to at school where the teacher gives and the student takes the teacher as the only resource is no longer valid! knowledge is no longer inaccessible, in university, believe that you can know more that your Dr with hard work! the best engineers i know, used to study on their own, get books and read for themselves, provided that their motive was loving what they do, and its a personal request..... when you go to uni, if you had a question in your head don't be afraid to raise your hand and ask if you didnt understand even if everyone in class nodded their heads as if what the Dr explained is a piece of cake.

always be curious about learning .. the surrounding will try to destroy it, but work your best to keep it and work on developing it :)

and YUP you are SANFOOOR and we the Evil Sharshabeeels will make fun of you whenever we can :DD