KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

Hi

2 days ago, my son received his O level results. I was pleased and elated to know that he managed to get an L1R5 of 6. I told him that he could go to which ever school he wanted and I would be fine with any. He has always been very independent in his studies and I never had to worry about his academics before. However, he seems very stressed out about choosing his new school.

He came to the decision that he would either go to VJC or RJC. He asked many of his friends as well as cousins and 90% of them recommended RJC. I mean, if someone were to ask me if he should enter RJC or VJC, I would definitely say RJC as well since it is so reputable. However, my son doesn't like to spend time travelling to school and back. We live pretty close to VJC, about 5 minutes drive or 20 minutes if he takes the bus. On the other hand, if he were to go to RJC, it would probably take him an hour to get there,and another hour back daily, considering the fact that the nearest bus stop is a 10 minutes walk away, while the nearest MRT is 15 minutes away and he still needs to take a bus to the MRT station. Furthermore, there is no direct bus to RJC from our place.

Hence, what I wanted advice on is whether the time saved from travelling to school and back is worth it? I heard that JC life is more hectic and I don't want my son to have to travel 2 hours daily to get to school and back as it seems that it will only add to his "work load".

Also, he scored 7 A1s (Triple science,double math,english and combined humanities) , B3 for chinese and B4 for higher chinese, as well as an A1 for CCA. Does this guarentee a spot in RJC if he were to put it as his first choice?

Lastly, what are other things he needs to consider before making his choice?

Thank you

Also, his good friend has an L1R5 of 6 but only has 3 bonus points as his CCA was a B. what are the chances of his friend going into RJC as well?

wewewe22 wrote:Hi

2 days ago, my son received his O level results. I was pleased and elated to know that he managed to get an L1R5 of 6. I told him that he could go to which ever school he wanted and I would be fine with any. He has always been very independent in his studies and I never had to worry about his academics before. However, he seems very stressed out about choosing his new school.

He came to the decision that he would either go to VJC or RJC. He asked many of his friends as well as cousins and 90% of them recommended RJC. I mean, if someone were to ask me if he should enter RJC or VJC, I would definitely say RJC as well since it is so reputable. However, my son doesn't like to spend time travelling to school and back. We live pretty close to VJC, about 5 minutes drive or 20 minutes if he takes the bus. On the other hand, if he were to go to RJC, it would probably take him an hour to get there,and another hour back daily, considering the fact that the nearest bus stop is a 10 minutes walk away, while the nearest MRT is 15 minutes away and he still needs to take a bus to the MRT station. Furthermore, there is no direct bus to RJC from our place.

Hence, what I wanted advice on is whether the time saved from travelling to school and back is worth it? I heard that JC life is more hectic and I don't want my son to have to travel 2 hours daily to get to school and back as it seems that it will only add to his "work load".

Also, he scored 7 A1s (Triple science,double math,english and combined humanities) , B3 for chinese and B4 for higher chinese, as well as an A1 for CCA. Does this guarentee a spot in RJC if he were to put it as his first choice?

Lastly, what are other things he needs to consider before making his choice?

Thank you

Firstly, let me congratulate him for producing an excellent set of results!

He will definately be posted to RI(JC) if he places it as top choice. No doubt at all!

No need for me to glorify RI on this occassion as it is the no.1 jc. However, much as one aspires to study at top notch jc, the circumstances one is in must be taken into consideration. In this instance, his travelling time is indeed a big problem. Unlike jh, jc students are dismissed late as the lessons take on lecture and tutorial styles in addition to cca and pw in j1. Your ds needs to be agile when returning from school to complete his assignments rather than looking tired. All these travelling will definately take a toil on him and is likely to affect his performance. Looking at his excellent results it is still ordinary by RI's standard.

I think he might hve better opportunities at VJC.

wewewe22 wrote:Also, his good friend has an L1R5 of 6 but only has 3 bonus points as his CCA was a B. what are the chances of his friend going into RJC as well?

Chances under jae is not good. Probably needs to appeal.

I have a friend's daughter who scored 9 A1s and is thinking of either RJC or VJC. She lives in the East and VJC has no direct bus and RJC's distance with MRT is about 1-1.5hrs. Which should she choose? She has an inclination to go to RJC.

Chances are, she would have made her choice by now but my question is :

Is there is a "guarantee" entry to RJC with her results?

dasalo wrote:I have a friend's daughter who scored 9 A1s and is thinking of either RJC or VJC. She lives in the East and VJC has no direct bus and RJC's distance with MRT is about 1-1.5hrs. Which should she choose? She has an inclination to go to RJC.

Chances are, she would have made her choice by now but my question is :

Is there is a "guarantee" entry to RJC with her results?

Seeing that the COP for RJC is a partial 3, she would need to have at least 3-4 bonus points to get in. Does she have bonus points?

jtoh wrote:

dasalo wrote:I have a friend's daughter who scored 9 A1s and is thinking of either RJC or VJC. She lives in the East and VJC has no direct bus and RJC's distance with MRT is about 1-1.5hrs. Which should she choose? She has an inclination to go to RJC.

Chances are, she would have made her choice by now but my question is :

Is there is a "guarantee" entry to RJC with her results?

Seeing that the COP for RJC is a partial 3, she would need to have at least 3-4 bonus points to get in. Does she have bonus points?

With her GB and Higher MT..she should get a 2. Does RJC has a quota? Assuming there are a 100 places and 102 pupils with 2 points. Would they take in all the 102 or do they do interviews like entry to Unis?

dasalo wrote:

jtoh wrote:

dasalo wrote:I have a friend's daughter who scored 9 A1s and is thinking of either RJC or VJC. She lives in the East and VJC has no direct bus and RJC's distance with MRT is about 1-1.5hrs. Which should she choose? She has an inclination to go to RJC.

Chances are, she would have made her choice by now but my question is :

Is there is a "guarantee" entry to RJC with her results?

Seeing that the COP for RJC is a partial 3, she would need to have at least 3-4 bonus points to get in. Does she have bonus points?

With her GB and Higher MT..she should get a 2. Does RJC has a quota? Assuming there are a 100 places and 102 pupils with 2 points. Would they take in all the 102 or do they do interviews like entry to Unis?

Admission is via central posting by MOE so the school will accept all students posted there by MOE until vacancies are filled, based on merit. Given that your friend's dd has a perfect score, plus 4 bonus points, she shouldn't have any problems getting into RJC.

As a former Victorian, it would be natural that I recommend VJC. However, its a known fact that there are some things that go on in RJC that no other schools have access to. One is PSC conducts a psychometric test and evaluation of prospective candidates every year. No other school gets this privilege. VJC is good, but over the years, the teaching caliber has been some what rocky. Facilities in VJ are also old. Some minor considerations for you.