KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

Hi all.
Which are the popular universities and cities in UK that our Singapore kids go in UK other than London ? We have plans for our girl to go UK (2015) but other than London, which cities/universities have good Singaporean representation?
UCAS application starts in early October and we would like to consider places that are Asian/ friendly.

What course are you interested in?

She wants to do medicine with the objective of going into clinical research. In JC year 6, she did a 6 month internship which was mainly research oriented.

Can't help you, but maybe others can now that you have given more details. Maybe she should ask her seniors?

wunderluster wrote:Hi all.
Which are the popular universities and cities in UK that our Singapore kids go in UK other than London ? We have plans for our girl to go UK (2015) but other than London, which cities/universities have good Singaporean representation?
UCAS application starts in early October and we would like to consider places that are Asian/ friendly.

Plenty of UK universities have Singaporeans - outside of London, I have friends at Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, Nottingham, Sheffield, Exeter, Edinburgh, Durham, Birmingham, Manchester etc. Obviously, the size of the community would vary between universities and years.

I wouldn't be too worried about finding a city/ university with "good Singaporean representation" (and in some sense, doesn't hanging out with Asians/ Singaporeans all/ most of the time partially defeat the purpose of going overseas?) Most places in the UK are reasonably friendly to Asians IMO, although the culture gap takes some effort to bridge.

I'd be more worried about getting into Medicine. The UK government imposes a very strict cap on the number of foreign students each university may take per cohort, so internationals face an even higher hurdle than normal. Your daughter should look at what her strengths are and apply accordingly. For example, some schools are notorious for valuing the UKCAT heavily, whereas others don't put so much emphasis on it (see: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/ap ... _strengths and more generally, http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/medicine , although bear in mind that these resources are UK-centric and might not apply wholesale to internationals)

wunderluster wrote:Hi all.
Which are the popular universities and cities in UK that our Singapore kids go in UK other than London ? We have plans for our girl to go UK (2015) but other than London, which cities/universities have good Singaporean representation?
UCAS application starts in early October and we would like to consider places that are Asian/ friendly.

I'd say qualify first, find the right med sch, then consider the Singaporean student population in that sch finally.

Hv you gone to Brit Council yet to check the prospectuses and Good Uni Guide Book? Here's the league table for medicine in 2014:
http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.c ... s=medicine

I'd 1 relative who did his at U of Edinburgh and another gf who did hers at Queen's Belfast, both of which will be quite 'ulu'. You don't hv to worry abt her not being able to hv Singaporean friends, as there'll be plenty of MALAYSIAN, HK, Taiwanese, Chinese, Thai, Jap, Korean and Indian friends to keep her very busy in the kitchen, at the gym, pub, at laundrette, supermarket and at the library...

If you really want more Singaporeans/Malaysians (i.e. want her to meet potential boyfriends), send to med schs in UCL, Imperial College, Manchester, King's College London, Birmingham, Warwick and Queen Mary. Try not to send to those in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. She will be VERY lonely and downcast, unless you're telling me she is very sociable.

Thank you for the advice.

Since she has 4 choices for med school, we thought we should spread out her options in terms of location, unis and qualifying UCAS results. That meant opting other cities besides London where it may not be so cosmopolitan ( pardon me if I am wrong ).

At the same time we also want to take into consideration the possibility of her not integrating well in a place with less international students since she is an introvert, thus the question posed. The issue of potential boyfriends has no bearings in our equation but now that Jetsetter has mentioned it, we may have to examine if it is a consideration criteria.

wunderluster wrote:Thank you for the advice.

Since she has 4 choices for med school, we thought we should spread out her options in terms of location, unis and qualifying UCAS results. That meant opting other cities besides London where it may not be so cosmopolitan ( pardon me if I am wrong ).

At the same time we also want to take into consideration the possibility of her not integrating well in a place with less international students since she is an introvert, thus the question posed. The issue of potential boyfriends has no bearings in our equation but now that Jetsetter has mentioned it, we may have to examine if it is a consideration criteria.

I wouldn't choose solely based on location. Medicine is a notoriously difficult subject to get into - plenty of excellent candidates get rejected from all their choices every year (just look on thestudentroom). Make strategic selections based on her strengths. You don't want to (and cannot really afford to) waste choices. Pick based on where she'd have her best chances at, and then look at preference.

I really wouldn't be very minded about the "potential boyfriends" based on number of Singaporeans either. I go to a university with a relatively large Singaporean population, and there haven't actually been many pairings within the Singapore society. Quite a few people have ended up dating non-Singaporeans (and not by design) or have girlfriends/ boyfriends back home/ elsewhere etc. If it happens, it happens. It's very hard to have much control over this IMO.

Incidentally, I've been to Edinburgh and I would hardly call it "ulu". It's quite a big city and personally, I love it (I also have a medic friend there and she seems to be very happy, has a Singaporean bf etc). Edinburgh has an excellent reputation for medicine, and seems to have a decent sized Singaporean community. "Ulu" to my mind would be something like Warwick.

As a medic, she'll eventually have to work and interact with many Brits, especially in her clinical years. It's really not a bad idea to start interacting with them early on. I won't lie and say there's no culture gap, but it can be overcome with some effort. Once you get to know them, they are actually very fun and interesting people to talk to.

The problem with being surrounded by a lot of Singaporeans/ internationals is that some people end up only hanging out with those people (I've been told this is quite common in the London schools). I personally feel that you lose out somewhat on the "overseas" experience, but if people are happier this way, then this is obviously a more ideal option for them.

wunderluster wrote:Thank you for the advice.

Since she has 4 choices for med school, we thought we should spread out her options in terms of location, unis and qualifying UCAS results. That meant opting other cities besides London where it may not be so cosmopolitan ( pardon me if I am wrong ).

At the same time we also want to take into consideration the possibility of her not integrating well in a place with less international students since she is an introvert, thus the question posed. The issue of potential boyfriends has no bearings in our equation but now that Jetsetter has mentioned it, we may have to examine if it is a consideration criteria.

wunderluster: finding a potential bf oughta be the last thing on your DD's mind

micko07 wrote:Incidentally, I've been to Edinburgh and I would hardly call it "ulu". It's quite a big city and personally, I love it (I also have a medic friend there and she seems to be very happy, has a Singaporean bf etc). Edinburgh has an excellent reputation for medicine, and seems to have a decent sized Singaporean community. "Ulu" to my mind would be something like Warwick.

whereabts r u at the moment, micko07?

Agreed U of Edinburgh is a good choice, but wrt the city itself, I don't think it's that "big" a city, compared to Glasgow. Population in 2011 was just under 500k according to wiki.

In any case, I've also been there and I like it too:) Small, scenic and laid back.