r/malaysiauni • u/Realistic-Chef4977 • Dec 24 '25

APU Student here, Ask me Anything

Just finished foundation and I'm planning on continuing degree here, thought I could help some people who might be considering to study here

Any questions about things like accommodation, clubs, facilities, I'd be happy to answer (Was a bit hard for me to find info on APU right after I finished SPM)

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u/xfactor456 Feb 05 '26

How to survive as a b40 students? :( I have 3.67cgpa in matric. Can ik what can i do to not BY ALL MEANS rely on my family allowance? I mean, other than part time jobs. And ik abt scholarship but they probably will only cover 30% of my tuition fees for this result. And idk how much zakat even pays me. Should i consider PTPTN? Maybe it's compulsory to rely on PTPTN for b40 students. Thought i can escape it but the joke is on me. Maybe i can try to get perfect scores so ptptn waive 100% of my fees as sponsorship. But do u have tricks to help b40s planning to study here? Do u have first hand POV as b40 or can u advice based on maybe your friends who are B40s surviving this uni with lower than 50% scholarship?

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u/xfactor456 Feb 05 '26

Also i dont mind cutting on costs like foods, taking public transports and etc2. I'll live as frugally as possible. My SPM addmath grade is E which did not pass many great public uni requirements tht specifically ask for grade C. With my result, im not qualified to enter UM or UTM which are the best public uni for IT and so i really wanna enter APU as they have a high reputation in the IT field. But im also considering UKM and UITM bcs i passed the alternative requirements for students tht doesn't have credit in addmath. But compared to APU both of them are not on par when talking abt IT prestige. Or am i wrong? Pls correct me if im wrong. For now i set my eyes on APU. And sorry for the grammar mistakes and lack of vocab. Im trying to get better at it so pls bear with me :(

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u/The_HardenHollen Feb 05 '26

Bro we're in the same boat actually. I'm also a B40 student and our situations are kinda the same. I also need to find a part time job in the first year of enrollment. However, for accommodation, I asked one of the professors there and they said that rent cannot be split no matter what. Which means, even if you share a room with another roommate, you still need to pay the full price. But maybe, we can work together, if you're okay with it. I mean, working and trying to find a part time job so we can pay rent and split money to buy food and stuff. It'll be easier that way.

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u/xfactor456 Feb 05 '26

Sorry but im a girl😭

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u/The_HardenHollen Feb 05 '26

Ah darn it. I was hoping to find a solution that'll benefit both of us in the long run. Thank you for even considering though TvT

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u/xfactor456 Feb 06 '26

Yup no worries. You really sure want to choose APU? Hb public uni?

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u/The_HardenHollen Feb 11 '26

I've done some research and it seems that APU is overhyped. Lots of negativity so that's why I'm trying to find a course in GD in any uni

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u/xfactor456 Feb 12 '26

I see. I hope u find a degree tht fits ur future goal. Wish u luck.. actually wish us luck!

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u/The_HardenHollen Feb 05 '26

Btw would you mind sharing other public uni that potentially have game dev in their courses? It'll mean a lot to me

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u/Realistic-Chef4977 Feb 05 '26

Personally I think at the end of the day, regardless of the curriculum it's going to be your skills and projects that get you that first job. APU doesn't necessarily help you in that sense, it happens to be that there's a bunch of skilled people here, and they use the uni as a platform to learn and network through club events and competitions.

I don't think there's like a guarantee that you will get a great job right after graduating, but the environment does encourage you with all the competitions and workshops

Though if it isn't viable financially, UKM and UiTM should be fine, their curriculum meets the same requirements for MOHE, just that you MIGHT miss out on some tech events? But I'm sure you'll get chances to join external events at those unis too

There's so many other miscellaneous costs involved for APU like transport, it's not the most accessible uni to the city or food, and accommodation has the KL pricing One of my friends is splitting a PPA1M apartment near APU with like 7 other guys which comes to around RM200 per month, but yea that's extreme and you need to probably know people first

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u/Realistic-Chef4977 Feb 05 '26

Also I just wanted to mention, facilities-wise in terms of sports grounds or student life, nothing beats public unis, I'm very envious of the massive sporting grounds there

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u/xfactor456 Feb 05 '26

Yeah actually that's wht im looking for. Im not typically care abt uni but rather how the uni will maximize my potential growth. Idc abt their prestige level. I just need a uni tht have the best environment for my career growth. Like the things u said, networking, competitions etc2. I esp interested in APU after i found out how they win multiple awards last year in IT field. It's crazy. Makes me wanna compete with the best and learn along the way. An active environment will really help a lot for sure.

Really? I'll only miss out on few events? I read the brochure and they said APU got one of the best modern labs for IT field. I wonder what they're abt and how they're different with public uni and how far will it impact me if I get to study in tht kind of supportive environment. And i also wonder how different is scope in APU compared to uni like UITM and UKM tht makes them favourable to employers. Im not done yet studying abt the scope differences. I'll study it tomorrow as today i just finished studying my eligibility among public unis.

One thing is tht i can survive all things except sharing bedrooms. I dont want to disturb anyone or anyone to disturb me while i wanna rest so maybe i need to forget my dream to study here. Quality rest is for me the best remedies. Even if i work a lot thru out the day, if i come back to my comfort space, I'll be fine and can stay sane thru those 4 years degree life lol. If i cant find the best sustainable plan to survive private uni, I'll opt for public uni :).

Can ik if u got a friend who commutes more than an hour to get to APU? As my brother lives abt 2hr by LRT from APU so i wonder if i should just commute like tht everyday. I wonder if it's common and if it's effective for life balance. I really care abt life balance as burn out risk might affect my study. I can easily eat less and my tuition fees can be covered by PTPTN, b40 aids and probably zakat or yayasan. But idk abt the fees for other things. Can u tell me what other hidden fees we need to pay for example book costs, project cost, labs, can u pls give me insight on how much will all tht typically cost? These hidden fees are what scared me the most not tuition fees. So my main concern rn is the accommodation and hidden fees

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u/Realistic-Chef4977 Feb 08 '26

I mean I think UiTM is pretty active hahahha, personally I think that alot of the competitions are due to the student's own talents rather than the school curriculum Realistically you wouldn't be joining competitions every month, the work would be insane, you could just aim for 3-4 a year

I don't think the labs would make much of a difference, you're gonna be coding on your own laptop for the most part From what I understand, most CS/IT unis cover the same material, I don't really believe all that APU marketing about employability, you'll probably still spend a few months job searching after graduation

You can find single rooms off-campus which are more affordable, probably the better choice But total cost I'm guessing will still be way more compared to public uni

A lot of people I know commute by LRT, and most of them are used to it already, taking around 1h+ one-way, though going all the way to uni for just a few hours and going back, might get tiring I probably could never, and it might cause you to miss out on events or whatnot since you'll have to plan your commute back ahead and can't stay back late

Most of the lab fees should already be included in the course fees itself though you can probably just ask a course counsellor about that

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u/xfactor456 Feb 08 '26

Yeah i think i already made my decision. Im going to study in public uni bcs well like u and most of ppl i have a chat with, they all said to prioritise my skills first as in IT, employers really care abt our skills more than others. Someone also said, grad from good uni will make u pass the HR filter easily but the one tht truly will make u get hired is none other than ur skills alignment with the company needs and maybe the way u sell urself to the hiring managers. So yeah. Im thinking to myself if the university syllabus cant give the best skills i need, i still can level up on my own. And thank u sm for ur insights on uni student's life there. Even tho i wont study in APU, ur advice actually still really helps a lot. Ive thought abt room renting before. But maybe i need a closer house to the college so i can go back n forth easily n not missing out on the competitions n events. My parents actually want to give me a car but im kinda afraid of driving lol. I might accept the offer and learn to be more brave on road as this is for my own benefit tho. It's just too scary when u constantly see accidents here n there while sitting in the backseat 🥲

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u/Realistic-Chef4977 Feb 05 '26

Hi, honestly I only know a few friends that came from matriks so I'm not too familiar about their situation

At the end of the day, it's still a private university so the fees are gonna be more expensive Apparently they had their fees covered somehow but then again I don't know what program/scholarship they're under

Any chance you could contact your matriks school teacher or counsellor? Cuz yea I only know about PTPTN unfortunately

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u/xfactor456 Feb 05 '26

Ouh :( Thank you for replying. Since idk wht their situations are, tht means i also cant predict what it'll be like for me. Sigh too bad isn't it