For many last year students, getting into a university is their next goal. Their goal differs from one to another, whether they want to get a degree in a program they're interested in, or just to spend more time before diving into the open world and getting a job. Not only are the goals differ, but some might also prefer private over state university. In this post, I will talk about what Indonesians have to deal with when it comes to admitting to a state university.

In Indonesia, there are a few ways to be admitted into a university, they are:

1. SNMPTN
2. SBMPTN
3. University's Entrance Exam

The first option is based on the student's achievement when they're in high school, while the other two generally use an exam system to test their knowledge. However, in this post, I will only talk about the first option.

What is SNMPTN?

SNMPTN is a way to get into university based on your achievement when you were in high school. It is measured from your first to fifth semester on six subjects, which are Math, Indonesian, English, and three more based on the program you were assigned in high school:

• Chemistry, Physics, and Biology for science program
• Sociology, Economy, and Geography for humanity program
• Indonesian Literature, Anthropology, and one foreign language for language program

Each school only has <50% of their students eligible for SNMPTN (value varies on your school's accreditation).

The registration opens after the school has ranked all students based on grades of the six subjects mentioned. This means, if you do well, then you are ranked higher. Which results in better chance of getting in. Upon registration, you have the freedom to pick two programs (either from the same university or not).

Now, you might think, "Oh, this is simple! Just get good grades on all of them, get a high rank, and you will easily get in!". Well, there is a catch. Grades and rank are not the only variables that matter here.

The other variable

Turns out, there is one more variable needed to be taken into account before you register! Which is a huge bummer, because you need to be careful when you pick the programs upon registration.

School Index

"School index, what?"

Yeah, I know. This is basically another way of saying how likely the students of your school to get in. The index score of your school is different from one university to another, so you must be careful. The index score is also not visible to the public, but you can get the general idea based on:

• The number of former students that were accepted via SNMPTN
• Their performance in university
• Former student's score in SBMPTN (that applied to target university)

There are more factors, of course. As each university has their own policy. However, those are the first thing to be accounted first.

So, with those in mind, what is our strategy to get accepted via SNMPTN?

The Strategy

With all of the information we have in mind, we can now plan out where to go. For a quick recap, here are the general ideas of SNMPTN:

• It is based on grades of the six subjects when you were in high school.
• You are more likely to get in if you're highly ranked.
• Your school index matters on your chance.

So, here are our plans:

1. Gather all information regarding former students.

Since the school index relies a lot on the status of former students, try asking your teacher for previous SNMPTN acceptance data. If there are a decent number of students that got into the university that you want to (preferably, same rank and program too), then give it a shot!

2. Make a group to communicate with other participants.

This is very crucial, especially if you are not highly ranked. You need to know everyone's planned pick when they register so that your choice won't overlap with others. This is important because usually there is only one student that gets picked for the same program and university in each iteration. There could be two, but the chance is low and you're taking a huge risk if you're lower ranked.

3. Plan out the choice with other participants.

Inside the group chat, make a list of what program and university you and others will pick. Preferably, make sure to type in on the list based on rank, from highest to lowest.

4. Register.

Now that everyone has planned their picks, it is now time to register! Be confident!

5. Hope.

What you can do now is hope, but always prepare for the worst! That means, keep studying for SBMPTN and your target's university entrance exams.

In the end, SNMPTN will always be seen as one big RNG game, and luck plays a huge role in it. However, I hope you can raise your chance from what I have said, and I hope you find it more enlightening.

Have a nice day.