This is not a university, but resembles more like a high school, a very uneducative high school. there's a digital film course for sure, a bachelor degree. yup that's the course i'm taking, wasted 3 sems. but that's the limit. i've applied to LASALLE COLLEGE OF THE ARTS IN SINGAPORE. limkokwing doesnt teach you properly, they'll give u a few days lecture if the lecturer ever deceides to come, thank god it's only 9000 rm pr sem. huh.... after those few days they'll give u all the assignements, no papers nothing, u have to do ur own research online, dont bother to go to the library, most books are 13th editions etc.... u could do better with self study film, keep ur day job, buy film study books and a cam and study after work. u dont get wat u've paid for at limkokwing. it is so demotivative that most students prefer to hang outside class instead, u'll learn more by discussing with ur classmates. they got 10 panasonic dv cam, 100series, 3 tripods and 3 baby lights (red heads), no studio, no proper lecturers, this sem we only got 3 lecturer that actually knows what their talking about, and we got 7 subjects....i've been here for 3 sems and still dont know what i've learnt.... they got a editing room with severeal i mac and final cut pro...sounds good huh, but u have to share this editing room with 50 other students...things look good on their website, but u really need to go to limkokwing for 1 sem to really understand what i'm talking about, its the worst school i've been to. for foreign students, dont come to limkokwing if u actually wanna learn something, u wanna just waste time and pay a lot for that, go ahead...this is the place..... when it comes to film projects, we done 3 short films, 1 3 min film about the school shot with a old sony handy cam, and 2 continuity shorts 60 sec. atleast we get to do something right....when it comes to student service, no service at all, most workers in limkokwing are graduated here too, the lecturer etc etc.... they'll just spill out what they've learnt from former teacher or just read straight from a book. then they talk about ur future, become a director etc etc..... yup, this is the right path i guess....
Firstly, the location its in is quite isolated, and its by no means near to Kuala Lumpur(40km). If you dont mind spending commuting 2 hours a trip to K.L or vice versa with a)2 busses b)bus/cab + really expensive express train c)cut-throat priced cabs d)a mixture of any it. On the plus side, there are quite good apartments and condos nearby that balances out things. If you're the type that spends every waking moment at school - this is the place for you, else most of it is spent around friend's of friends of friend's place. Its hard to not meet new people. There is also the "campus accomodation" thats located so deep away somewhere but its not worth it after the compulsory 6 months. The public transport situation is quite bad that there are 'school busses' that drops off at major locations near the city.
At first glance, LUCT looks impressive, with its fashionable and mostly pan-asian students(middle east,indonesia,africa) and colourful walkways etc. But thats it. In the website itself, there isnt much to be done apart from the marketing propaganda and some contact information. No schedule, notes, bulletin board, announcements - nothing academic related at all. Even the registration is done manually, you walk from one building to another, and in most cases you'll do this a few times. You will slowly realize, for all its fame, they still use pen and paper for most things. For international students, student services is just there to handle processing for housing, visa etc and thats it.
On the academic side - the classrooms walls are usually a bright color, the chair/tables are quite bad condition, but usable, and is usually bare with only a whiteboard(no dustbin too). Its airconditioned, but the floor is bare cement, it tends to get very dusty. 3 lecture halls, last checked the carpets were giving way, but the sound system is quite good so is the lighting. Plastic seats but comfortable.
The computer labs are mostly made of a mixture of Mac G4's and G3's, and some PC's.The OS is almost never updated from out of the box, but most have Photoshop,Illustrator,Dreamweaver, Flash. Most Macs dont have MS Word so it can be quite frustrating. The PC's have some of the CAD/CAM and 3D apps, and it will be mostly virus infested(they've only RECENTLY switched to firefox).The labs are on a sharing basis meaning if a class needs to use the lab you have to save your work and get out. This usually leads to alot of jumping around the labs.
The Film&TV workstations are 6-8 Intel imacs, quite new, with Final Cut Pro 5.1 + Soundtrack (never updated). There are about 20plus other older macs in this lab thats a mixture of Final Cut versions 3.0 - 4.5, but rarely used. There's the professional tv monitor, a 2k light, a VHS recorder thats like decor,never used. Most of the cameras are consumer Sony Hc-46, and some panasonic lowest end range. About until a year ago, believe it or not they had less than 10 of these units. There were some Hi-8 lying around. For the higher end, there was a Sony 3ccd thats now spoiled, and a mid-range panasonic. Only one boom mic, plus a few others in deplorable condition. The tripods are good as gone, but the lighting equipment is pretty good and abundant, 800w/2000w, but thats because its rarely used. Usage of the higher end equipment is extremely limited, susceptible to module requirement, permission and whatever - allthough its unbooked. The majority of FTV lecturers are former LUCT students, with a bachelors degree- these core ones are mostly academic oriented and would not be able to assist you in most practical situations. There are even diploma holders being tutors. Turnover rate is very high. Its very common to have a lecturer disappearing the following semester. There are a few industry figures, which is always good, and they do take the practical approach, but these are mostly "part time/contractual" - they cant be there to teach you all the time and they arent usually around in the following semesters. They are still tied down to the availability of equipment.
All in all - dont do FTV here by a longshot, for what youre paying for. They might tell you they're gonna fix this and that but the problem lies in the organizational dysfunction. Hundreds of FTV students sharing a handful of cameras makes you wonder. LUCT is a liberal art enviroment with many international students that is a great experience as a whole, but not in this department
I'm a current student in Limkokwing University (LUCT). Overall it's an OK university. The university just recently changed their campus to a new (but very isolated) venue. LUCT is one of the most expensive university in Malaysia. Even though we paid a lot for the resource fees, some of the computers are in bad shape. And sometimes the printer gets jam and we have to line up for a long queue just to print one lousy assignment. The class condition are also TERRIBLE ! Feels like you're in a cave. No decoration what-so-ever in the class (even though LUCT is known for it's "creativity"), no carpets in the class, the white board are NEVER clean, there's even NO rubbish bin in the class and pleasee don't get me started on the tables and chair.
As a broadcasting student, I have duties as a campus radio DJ. The studio..are BAD BAD BAD!! All the stuff that are used, the mixer, microphone..are very old! But it's still in good shape..but OLD !
If you're taking Art & Design or Architecture, I think LUCT is for you (if you don't mind the condition of the classes). Apart from being one of the most expensive university in Malaysia, LUCT is also the best Art & Design school in Malaysia.
As for broadcasting, advertising or multimedia, they tend to change lecturers or no lecturers at all for the 1st 2 weeks for the semester. This is my personal experience I encounter for 4 semester.
