Hey guys, I received an email saying i was short listed for interview today?
Has any of you received one too? any idea as to what will be asked during the interview??
also wondering if this year’s admission rate will be higher seeing that they hav a new campus O_O
Hi @chihayafuru! I’m a current student at Yale-NUS. Congratulations on your shortlist! The interview will depend a lot on your interviewer. Some will ask hard questions (like my interviewer, who asked a lot of tough, substantial questions), and some will be a lot more casual. However, keep in mind that the interview is a huge part of the decision itself–since it is done by the actual people deciding your admissions decisions (rather than alumni/volunteers like most colleges), it will have a lot more weight in the outcomes.
I work in the admissions office and the question on the admissions rate is a common one. My batch was the first batch to be accepted into the new campus. Our intake was about 50 students short of max capacity for a class (because the school wants to ease into max capacity), so the admissions rate is expected to stand between 3-6% depending on the amount of applicants.
Best of luck! Let me know if you have anymore questions.
hey so what counts as a tough, substantial question? Could you please give me an example?
hey @chihayafuru! Congrats! When’s your interview?
Heyy @bsb4389 thanks for that information! and wow that sounds very competitive! now I’m getting nervous… about what percentage of students actually receive an interview? I’ve seen somewhere that it’s 20%, is that true?
@indian98 congrats to you too :DD humm the 13th… yours? are you applying as international student or?
Actually just got the email yesterday! Wondering what types of questions will be asked too (Singaporean here btw)
@celvatian @chihayafuru @indian98 I don’t remember much, but here were some questions that were asked of me (they of course won’t be the same questions for you, but they will be critical thinking/personal questions nevertheless):
-“If everyday had 5 more hours (29 hour days), and you went back in time 10 years, would you live your life any differently?”
-“Say we gave you 10k dollars. You have one summer to learn or do anything with the money, but you have to go with peers and teach them something. Where would you go, and what would you do?”
-One of my big things was poetry in my app, so she asked me to write her a short poem on the spot.
-Another one of my academic interests was film, so she asked me to convince her to watch a movie she’s never heard of and what she would learn from it.
There were “basic” questions too (e.g. what you like to do, favorite subject), but most of the interview was surprisingly substantial (especially compared to some other interviews I did), which is why I love the school so much!
Regarding the shortlisting, I don’t think there is an official percentage of students shortlisted. I know they try and interview as many candidates as possible, but the admissions team handles all the interviews (since they are more integral to the admissions process), so they simply don’t have the time to handle the amount of applications received.
Best of luck to you all! Let me know if any of you have more questions.
also received the invitation! anyone knows what percent of applicants are invited for a interview?
wow these are some scary questions… @runwithout not sure… seems like it really varies heard someone said it’s 20% but im not sure…
international students? anyone?
“Shortlisting” is a little misleading. Basically, they try to interview as many candidates as possible. If they don’t have the time/resources, they begin to cut relatively “weaker” applicants by application qualifications. I can’t comment how big or small this number is, but there isn’t a certain percentage they shortlist for interviews.
@chihayafuru Im international , from Czech Republic 
@bsb4389 thank you for providing us helpful information regarding the interview process! Do you by any chance know if the admissions office is sending more interview requests? or are they done?
Congrats guys on your shortlist! I sent my application really last minute at 31 Oct and I haven’t managed to get a shortlist ): . I honestly don’t know if they have already sent all the shortlisted notifications out already. For anyone that was shortlisted, if you don’t mind me asking but how were your prelims results? Mine were BBB/AA. Wanting to know if i still stand a chance