Pre-University Options after SPM

There are many pre-universities in Malaysia that you can choose after your SPM. First of all, make up your mind whether you want to study in public universities, private universities, or overseas. If you choose to study in public universities, there are only 3 pre-university options: matriculation, asasi (foundation) or form 6. If you choose to study overseas, take A Levels, IB Diploma, AUSMAT (australian matriculation) or SAM (south australian matriculation). You may use asasi/matriculation to apply overseas, but there are very limited courses as they are not widely recognized. STPM (form 6) is widely recognized but it is hard to score so not many people use the results to apply overseas. However, you can use any pre-university results to enter private universities.

Below, I will list the pros and cons of the common pre-university routes taken:
1. Matriculation
pros:
-very fast, only 1 year
-very easy to get into public universities
-very easy to score 4.0 and a co-curricular marks of 100 (of course you need to work hard and be active)
-many past year and tutorial questions to practice
-allowance given
-cheap, around RM550 for the whole course

cons:
-you may have to live very far away (eg. you are from Terengganu but you get matric in Johor)
-long hours of classes, 8-5pm, sometimes there are night classes too
-if you get below CGPA 4.0, you can say goodbye to your first choice in public universities especially for critical courses like medicine, dentistry and pharmacy.

2. Asasi
pros:
-very fast, normally 1 year
-you can enter degree in that specific university you did your asasi in
-you get allowance too
-exposed to uni life at an earlier age, step into uni at the age of 18

cons:
-there is a possibility you may NOT get your first choice in that uni
-you cannot apply to other public uni (except for PASUM and asasi UiTM)
-you don't get many friends from other uni during degree, unlike those from matric have friends almost everywhere
-maybe harder to get? you need really good SPM results
-very limited places

3. Form 6 (STPM)
pros:
-extremely cheap
-the only pre-U that can enter public, private and overseas uni
-you will do so much better than your matric peers in uni because 'susah-susah dahulu, senang-senang kemudian'
-get to enjoy school life (unless you hate school)

cons:
-1.5 years, around 2 years if include the holidays and waiting time for results
-harder to score (doesn't mean its impossible)
-you might not get your first choice in uni if your results are not really good
-you'll be 1 year older than matric peers in your 1st year in uni

4. A Levels
pros:
-recognized internationally, higher chance to go overseas for degree
-easier to score excellent results
-get to enjoy college life

cons:
-expensive!! around RM30k++
-cannot enter public uni (if you're aiming for overseas don't look at public uni)

As a conclusion, whatever pre-U that you take, think wisely what you want to do and where you want to go, so that you won't regret in the future. :)