KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

Hi all,

I have a burning question. There are some who think that it is easier to get into the course you want in university via the polytechnic route than JC route. Is this a myth? Hope the parents can enlighten me.

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parentof3 wrote:Hi all,

I have a burning question. There are some who think that it is easier to get into the course you want in university via the polytechnic route than JC route. Is this a myth? Hope the parents can enlighten me.

Not necessarily so. It depends on how well the student performs in the poly. On average, a GPA (grade point average) of about 3.5 out of 4 is "safe" at the moment. This means that the student would consistently be attaining As and Distinction grades throughout the 3 years of study. However, the GPA score also depends on the quality of the cohort and the entry requirements of each respective faculty at the universities.

If not mistaken, some faculties at the uni may conduct interviews as part of the selection criteria.

Hope the above clarifies.

Every year, our national universities like NUS and NTU will publish the bottom 10% percentile and top 10% percentile of poly GPA scores based on students admitted to the different faculties.

Depending on the annual supply of places for poly graduates, the cut-off GPA scores will be more demanding. Besides competition from other poly graduates, the bigger competition is from the pool of JC applicants.

So the strategy is to score close to a 3.9 GPA, to be sure.

There are also some useful discussions on this at: www.hardwarezone.com and www.edupoll.org.

There are some articles on this at: www.StraitsTimes.com, written by reporter Sandra Davies.

Very often these poly grads can adapt better to the rigours of university life compared to their Jc peers, from what I noticed from some ex students.

If your end-goal is Uni, then better to go through the JC route.

The quality of students you meet in Poly isn't exactly the JC-Uni type. In particular, their writing skills are very poor.

Furthermore, getting a 3.9GPA and above in Poly isn't easy at all.

insider wrote:My daughter will be applying for Imperial College London next year from poly. Though she is likely to qualify for a place in local universities, I still prefer her to have an overseas education (with my sufficient $$$ of course). It will be another exciting chapter of her life journey...


. But is there any in holding back talent wishing to go as high as it can?

Hi Insider,

Can share what criteria is necessary from local poly or JC to be accepted by Imperial College? How about Cambridge? and how much of $$$ will be sufficient?

Will be following your dd there or someone there with her? How many yrs will be there from poly or Jc entry? Have heard of cases which parents pull back their children from oversea education due to bad influence , eg drug, drinking .... when they are alone,...

Tks.

Hi,

I think it is still easier to get into University from JC, although I believe it is better for poly grads now than say 10 years ago.

I work in one of the local universities and have been involved in discussions with a number of polys. Poly students can struggle (initially at least) in degrees with high mathematical content (e.g., physics, engineering) and/or require a certain "depth" (e.g., philosophy or PhDs in science). Part of the problem is the poly curriculum, which is geared towards employment. Most polys are now trying to address these issues.
Due to the nature of the biomed/biotech sciences, the above deficiencies in academic preparation are less evident, or in most cases, not a problem at all.

Some might see this as elitist, but glossing over the problems faced by the "typical" poly grad entering university is not helpful at all. We should instead see what can be done to remedy these deficiencies, if any.
This is of course a "gross" view of things; JC students do, and often, struggle as well. Ultimately, it depends on the individual.

Believe or not, graduating with a PhD degree is quite easy nowadays, and is not as rare as it used to be. Being good at research is another matter.
I encourage students who are passionate enough to do a PhD, but also emphasize that science does not pay "well" in a relative sense (a new PhD earns about 4-5k a month). Furthermore, a PhD is no longer a guarantee of a permanent job (e.g., faculty position in a uni). I believe it is important that students take these into account when deciding to enrol in a PhD programme.

Since the institution that is called Imperial College has been raised, I would like to ask a few questions that may seem ignorant.

My understanding is that normal entry requirements for Imperial would be for students offering AS and A-level examinations. Typically they are looking for A-level Maths, Physics, and the sciences. Typically the grades should at least be AAA or better.

On the Imperial website, they do state that they accept other qualifications. My question is what weight Imperial gives to qualifications from our local polytechnics.

It would be very interesting to know how many of our Polytechnic graduates have gone on straight to Imperial after getting their Polytechnic diplomas.

insider wrote:

noobparent wrote: It would be very interesting to know how many of our Polytechnic graduates have gone on straight to Imperial after getting their Polytechnic diplomas.

Several of my daughter's seniors went on to Imperial College, Stanford, and Johns Hopkins and other reputable universities straight after their diplomas. These seniors come back to school to give talk to the students about their lives over there. Some universities offering them direct 2nd year entry just like NUS.

Her perfect 4.0 GPA classmate who aspires to be a surgeon got his 4 months attachment in Johns Hopkins (not sure whether is it the JH University or JH Hospital but seems first time JH is offering her school the opportunity of 1 attachment student). These kids are 'ranked' and then sent to various places for attachment based on their GPAs and they are sort of expected to do the school proud after the attachment (else the institutions may not want to offer future attachment opportunities). So even in terms of attachment applications, it is also highly competitive.

Most of these kids going for their overseas attachments with a hope of gaining an offer there for a university placement / scholarship based on their mentors' recommendations.

It is great that the ex-students come back to share their inspirational stories. 10 to 15 years ago, I think it was very very rare that Poly diploma holders could go on directly to top Unis overseas. Looks like that situation has improved.

You write of overseas attachments etc. I gather that this would just be for a very select group in the Polytechnics. It is good that the Polys are paying special attention to their high achievers.