It’s set! You’ve looked through a couple of websites, had serious conversations with your parents and you’ve decided that you want to study in Malaysia. But wait… before packing your bags and booking a one way ticket away from home, there’s a bunch of paperwork and preparation that you have to go through before getting here.

Not quite sure what to do? We’ve got you covered. Here’s the lowdown on how exactly to enrol yourself into a Malaysian college or university.

1. Via EMGS

Image via EMGS

Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) is a platform that acts as the middleman between a student and the school that they’re applying to. EMGS helps a student process their application in terms of getting them a student visa and provides services from the moment they apply until they touch down on Malaysian soil.

At current, not many students use EMGS, as told by Alaa Mousa, who’s in MAHSA’s business development department. “Students don’t really use EMGS, but the university does. We are the ones who send the student’s application through to EMGS.” Either way, a student’s application has to go through the EMGS, whether it’s the student submitting it or if it’s submitted through the university.

So you may not be using the EMGS system, or maybe you’ve never heard of it! It’s okay. Alaa tells us that most international applicants process their paperwork…

2. Through an agent

Agents are basically people who figure out the nitty-gritty for you. They report straight to your university of choice as they work with them to bring students in, earning a commission from the university for every student they bring in. You can find them either at agencies in your country or at education fairs in your high school or local embassy.

Of late, agents have earned themselves a bad reputation because of how some of them bring in students just for personal gain. Alicia* told us about how her university and the agents strike a deal to bring in students as workers.

“I heard that some agents bring in ‘students’ who are actually just here to work. The agents are paid, and the workers came over for a few years to work on our university’s new building. These workers were here on a student visa.”

However, most students that we spoke to all used agents and said that they were pretty trustworthy, as long as you knew how to look for the right ones. These could be found mainly by speaking with seniors who’d already known and used these agents, through education fairs or just by going to the ones that were popular.

Ali, who's doing an American degree programme here in Malaysia

“I found out about my college through an education fair at Saudi Arabia's Malaysian embassy,” said Ali Qureshi who’s from Pakistan. “I found a programme I wanted to do, so I contacted the education agency. It was so much better dealing with the agency rather than directly with the university. It's not that the university representatives aren't doing a good job, but it’s just much harder to get answers back and forth promptly from them. I had a lot of questions, and the agent would answer them instantly.”

Besides going through an agent, Ali also recommended our next tip:

3. Doing your own research

Work that Google! - GIF from Molly's Book Nook

Alicia told us about how doing her own research was very important to her, to the point where she even came to Malaysia just to figure out where she wanted to study.

“My father used to work in Malaysia Airlines, so Malaysia wasn’t foreign to me. Before I started studying, I basically came to Malaysia and walked around, scouting a few universities. Only after that did I go back to [my home country] and talked to an agent.”

Many people that we spoke to did a lot of research, from the agents they should look for, to the universities they should study in. Some even skip the agents and come straight to the universities to process their forms, or submit their forms to the university’s website if that option is available.

Whatever way you choose to apply for college or university in Malaysia, always do your research; Google is thy friend, and the world is literally at your fingertips! Speak to people who’ve done it before, or speak to us by filling in this form. Until then, good luck in applying for a Malaysian school!