Singaporean connection

Student Lounge International Students
861

<p>Don't get me wrong. I am immensely dissatisfied with the educational establishment in Korea and even the US too. The Korean obsession with the Ivy League is disturbing.</p>

<p>Despite the flood of top echelon Asian students to overseas schools, innovation and breakthrough are slow in coming.</p>

<p>The problem I suppose, is that after being pounded all the way through primary and secondary school on how meritocratic the Singaporean system is, you realise, meritocracy is a sham. Perhaps the sting is in disillusionment.</p>

<p>Admission isn't contingent on income, but there is a high correlation...</p>

<p>
[quote]
scholarships are common so most independent school students don't need to pay restrictively high fees.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Ehhh .... at ACSI you got your 12-dollar / month tuition only if you were GEP / MEP.</p>

<p>My 10k / month remark btw, was more of a rhetorical point. Even at 5k to 7k you're hovering around the 75th percentile. </p>

<p>The "good school" characterisation is also problematic. The formative years of primary school are the most important ones -- but they're also the ones that are the cheapest to influence. Is there anything "bad" about a neighbourhood school? I went to Fairfield Primary, which is a government-aided institution but hovers somewhere around the middle. The atmosphere and climate there (and at its successor FMSS) is much warmer than at ACSI, and surprise, most of my good Singaporean friends that I've kept contact with hail from my primary school than my secondary school.</p>

<p>Many rich parents it seems, can't stand the thought of their child attending any other school (at the primary level) but the "top". But with all that high tuition, how much does it matter? And why are so many unwilling to say, use those resources they are willing to pay to <em>create</em> excellence (e.g. through parent-funded coalitions and programmes), rather than be enslaved by the establishment's conception of it?</p>

<p>Anyway, you are someone I would like to meet :) </p>

<p>Don't worry, I am not against high-income per se (I am a libertarian), or condo/bungalow-dwellers, etc. It's just that the wants frequently correlated with individuals with such traits are often mindless, but the don't have to be (which is what I'm getting at.)</p>

862

<p>Oh well, I thought alot of people got EESIS/ESIP. The cut-off for Nanyang is about 261 and the cut-off for EESIS was 262 so I know quite alot of Nanyang people do get it.</p>

863

<p>hmmm, i was from fairfield primary as well, '88 batch, who might u be galoisien?</p>

864

<p>Fairfield Primary 2002. 5B/6F! (Register #41, if you really want to know. :p) </p>

<p>I had Ms. Ho for principal before P6 and Mrs. Tan Shook Fund during P6. Sadly, Mrs. Tan died December 2003 while vacationing in Thailand. And she had such vision too, even those two years!</p>

<p>I lived in the HDB estate just across. ;) Block #35. I think it's demolished now. :(</p>

865

<p>dorothy ho was my principal too. haha. i see, so u are 2 yrs younger than me. really miss those primary school plastic soccer balls days. i was 3g 4g 5f 6b.miss gaw & mrs kong. twin terrors.</p>

866

<p>hey guys~
im really worried about ECs in application for us universities and ive been thinking for weeks whether to post this.. </p>

<p>how is it like non-ivy league universities? so far my ECs are just:</p>

<p>National Cadet Corps - Outstanding Cadet Award
Student Council
Organizing Committee for Pre-U </p>

<p>im in the arts stream.. wad can i do for arts-related ECs?</p>

<p>ive also recently applied for young pap and united nations association of singapore but havent received any reply since then! so assuming i do not have these 2 ECs, what else can i do? well the thing is that i cant join more than 1 cca in my school. I know that I should be looking at out-of-school ECs, but im having a hard time finding for arts/humanities-related ECs. Its easier to find stuff like external sports club or sth. Thanks alot guys! I hope to be able to join u guys in US! :)</p>

<p>also what unis should i be looking at assuming that im not a maths olympiad, national chess champion etc... </p>

<p>ps: Im losing sleep over this! :(</p>

867

<p>Geog/Hist/Lit Society, Eng/Chinese Debates, etc... Lots for you to join wad. Why can't you join more than one CCA at school anyway? Could you apply for an exemption?</p>

<p>What are your statistics/preferences anyway?</p>

868

<p>well i really cant , i tried and my friend almost got sacked from SC for this CCA-matter..</p>

<p>yup im trying to find external hist/lit society etc.. any clubs u know? anyway wow u are at stanford! i admire u! :)</p>

<p>im also thinking of volunteering at a museum or something.. </p>

<p>thx for ur help</p>

869

<p>Young PAP? You might try emailing your MP to ask if you can follow him around on Meet the People sessions. It's very enriching.</p>

<p>Quite alot of my friends have volunteered at ACM but I don't know if they have any programs.</p>

<p>You are doing the UNAS UN thing?</p>

870

<p>okay thx! ACM refers to the Asian Civilization Museum right?</p>

<p>the unyas im referring to is some voluntary organization for youths.. well it seems like no reply so far so im trying to look at other things</p>

871

<p>Hmm coz I heard that UNAS is organizing some program where you complete a series of activities and they award you some award. A bit like NYAA in terms of requirement. Last year it was pilot though so they might have discontinued it.</p>

872

<p>wow cool i'll go check that out! :)</p>

<p>thx fiona! any other ideas/activities u noe of , hope you'll tell me :) </p>

<p>found this:</p>

<p>The Education Sub-committee focuses on the Young Diplomat Scheme (YDS) which aims to enhance young Singaporeans' awareness and understanding of UN missions and functions. It plans to distribute the test series of YDS to schools and get students to participate in completing the questions and tasks. Three type of medals: Gold, Silver & Bronze, will be awarded to the successful participants in JC, Secondary Schools and Primary Schools respectively. The registration fee is S$28 per student participant.</p>

<p>Contact for All Education Matters and Correspondence –</p>

<p>Email : <a href="mailto:info@unas.org.sg">info@unas.org.sg</a></p>

873

<p>I also heard of an essay competition organised by NTU.
AIESEC</a> NTU - SSTI International Online Essay Writing Competition - Home
Not too sure how much it overlaps with your interests though.</p>

<p>
[quote]
The competition topic is "How can non-profit organisations/voluntary welfare organisations attract sufficient resources for sustainability?"

[/quote]
</p>

874

<p>Whatever you do, ensure that there is a common thread that you can showcase. Don't do random stuff just for the application.</p>

875

<p>Woah! Didn't know there was a thread for Singaporeans!</p>

<p>Hey everyone!</p>

876

<p>hello jteh!</p>

877

<p>hmm sorry to bother but anyone here knows about canadian universities?
other than LACs in US, ive also been looking at McGill Uni.. the cost is also much much cheaper than schools in US.. i was thinking is it possible to take up a science course although im from the arts stream in JC?</p>

<p>cos im from the pure sciences stream in sec sch and according to this link,Applicants</a> from high schools outside Canada and the U.S.A.</p>

<p>i see alot of " Sciences not taken at A-Level must be taken at the GCSE level. "</p>

<p>and when they say : one A-Level subject in mathematics and at least one A-Level subject in biology, chemistry or physics.</p>

<p>is H1 (AO) level counted?
anyway , im also looking outside of US universities and not just restricting to jz US but also UK, Australia, Canada</p>

878

<p>personally, i think canadian unis are very much worth a look, since they obviously have the quality and are often overlooked by sporeans for american (lol), british or even australian unis. then again i don't really know them in details, but the top ones are always U Toronto, McGill and U British Columbia i think... haha</p>

879

<p>And they are much cheaper, too! But the way the curriculum is organized there is quite different from US universities I believe. Are the Canadian version of LACs any good?</p>

880

<p>Canadian LAC's are few but they're good.. I'm going to one.. check out Mount Allison University, St. Francis Xavier, Acadia etc.. they're pretty much like American LAC's and are much cheaper</p>