On Monday, September 17, 2018, UGM Psychology received a visit from Bunga Bangsa Islamic High School (SMA Islam Bunga Bangsa). There were 17 students and 2 chaperones, Zulfarhan Ibrahim, BA and Rici Widyaningsih, S.E. Touring a chosen campus is a yearly trip for the high school, and this year is the third year for it. Bunga Bangsa Islamic High School is a high school established in 2013 in Samarinda, East Kalimantan. The meeting was held in Room D-506 in Building D.
The meeting between the high school and our faculty started at 9 a.m., and was opened by Wahyu Sujarwo, S.IP, the Office Head of UGM Psychology. One of the chaperones for the visit, Zulfarhan Ibrahim, BA, who is a teacher, also gave some opening words. “This trip can hopefully lift up the spirits of our students so they can go to college in the best Indonesian universities. This year, our high school has graduated 3 batches of students, and because many alumni go to college in Yogyakarta, we already have an alumni association for the Yogyakarta chapter,” said Mr. Zulfarhan in his greeting.
Agus Riyanta guided the meeting, explaining about our faculty so the students can understand more about UGM Psychology. The topics explained were not just about the selection system but also regarding tuition fees, in which Zainal Mustofa, S.S. as the Head of Academic and Student Affairs gave the students thorough explanation.
“One way to be admitted to UGM Psychology is SNMPTN, in which students are selected based on their grades throughout high school. It is important to note that to be admitted, your grades should be stable and improve in each semester. Students can also apply through SBMPTN (nation-wide exam arranged by the government in which students can apply to public universities and sit in the exam) and the written exam held and organized specifically by UGM, known as UM UGM. This exam, the UM, is held in UGM campus and also other cities such as Jakarta. The tuition fee, known as UKT, is differentiated into 9 groups, from UKT 0 (free tuition) to UKT 8 (highest tuition). The amount of tuition paid in each semester is based on the parents’ salary,” said Mr. Zainal.
The next thing students learned about was psychology’s real-life scientific scope, presented to them by Nurul Hidayati, S.Psi from UGM Psychology’s Center for Public Mental Health. “Psychology is a science that can cover many branches. In research, you can be a researcher. In the field of social empowerment it is also used. Psychology is also important for organizations and industries, meaning you can make a career in the field of Human Resources Development. In the field of health, you can be a psychologist. You can also interact with children (if you like children) because there is a field of psychology that covers life-span development, so you can be a developmental psychologist.”
There was also a discussion about college life from one of the high school’s alumni, sophomore Virta Attirah Damananda.
In the previous years, Bunga Bangsa Islamic High School has already visited the Faculty of Law and also the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences. This year was quite different, because the students were divided into 2 groups to visit 2 different faculties: students from the Science Major visited the Faculty of Pharmacy, and the students from the Social Studies Major visited the Faculty of Psychology. This is so students can go visit and tour faculties that fit their major in high school, meaning that the tour will be more effective.
The introductory meeting in D-506 ended at 10.30 a.m., and Bunga Bangsa Islamic High School presented a souvenir for our faculty. The real ‘tour’ started afterwards, by touring campus grounds and seeing the activities happening.