Joy, disappointment color university entrance notices<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Monday was an important day for nearly half-a-million senior
\nhigh school graduates who competed last month for a seat in 46
\nstate universities across the country.<\/p>\n
As many as 81,471 students, or 20.1 percent of 404,907
\napplicants, will soon experience campus life as undergraduate
\nstudents.<\/p>\n
Toni, 17, expressed his joy when he read his name on an
\nannouncement board at the University of Indonesia campus in
\nSalemba, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"Look! Father, my name's in the paper,\" the graduate of a
\nprivate high school in South Jakarta told his father with a big
\nsmile.<\/p>\n
His father, who accompanied him, looked even happier. He
\npromptly called his wife on his mobile phone to tell her the
\nnews.<\/p>\n
Toni told The Jakarta Post later that he secured a seat of the
\nreputable Bandung Institute of Technology's school of civil
\nengineering.<\/p>\n
\"I've been working hard for this, I deserve it,\" he said,
\nsaying that he had joined two preparatory courses for the
\nentrance examinations and sacrificed his leisure time.<\/p>\n
Another student, Neli, looked calm seeing her name on the
\nboard. Her friends shook hands with her to congratulate her.
\nThey, like others, later continued looking at the board,
\nexpecting their names to appear on it.<\/p>\n
\"It is good, but it wasn't my first choice,\" said the 18-year-
\nold student.<\/p>\n
She was accepted by the University of Indonesia school of
\ncultural studies majoring in French.<\/p>\n
\"I would be happier if I was accepted in the school of
\neconomics. But, cultural studies is fine,\" Neli remarked.<\/p>\n
Most students, however, are not as lucky as Toni and Neli.
\nSome of them must struggle for a seat in a private university or
\na nondegree seat in a state university.<\/p>\n
Lili Wardhani did not seem disappointed by the fact that she
\nfailed to enroll at a state university.<\/p>\n
\"I tried my best but I failed. It's OK as I've already been
\naccepted in the law school at a private university,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Lili believes that the standards at private universities are
\nas good as state universities.<\/p>\n
\"The difference is that studying at private universities
\nrequires more money,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Another student who also failed the examination, Renald,
\nclaimed that he was not worried although he had not applied for a
\nseat in any private university yet.<\/p>\n
\"I'll try for a nondegree course at the University of
\nIndonesia,\" he said, saying that he would apply for an
\nadvertising and broadcasting diploma course.<\/p>\n
However, Renald expressed his disappointment over his
\ndifficulty in accessing the examination committee website
\nwww.spmb.or.id, which reportedly had posted the examination
\nresult on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\"I failed to access the website although I tried all night,
\nbut when I was finally able to access it, I found nothing,\" said
\nRenald, who decided to go to the University of Indonesia campus
\nin Salemba to read the announcement.<\/p>\n
Some other students, too, voiced the same complaint.<\/p>\n
Soesmalijah Soewondo, the secretary of the examination
\ncommittee, told reporters that there was an 11.6 percent decrease
\nin participants compared to last year.<\/p>\n
Last year, the number reached 458,351 students.<\/p>\n
\"This has become the trend each year. There are many
\nalternatives nowadays for high school graduates instead of
\nenrolling in undergraduate courses at state universities,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/joy-disappointment-color-university-entrance-notices-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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