All About Universities

[Terrydad]

I would say though, most courses in the US, will take 4 years of study. It is not easy to get exemptions or acceleration even with APs and A levels or IBs. They wlll simply require you to take more advanced modules, as the number of credits needed for graduation typically do not change. Well, the universities need to earn your tuition fees Most degree programmes in Singapore are 4 years too. The UK is more of a mixed model - there are a good number of programmes requiring 3 years of study; there are also some requiring 4 years of study.

My pockets are unfortunately not unlimited. It is a huge financial sacrifice to finance university studies overseas. I have told my kids that unfortunately, US universities are beyond what we can afford.

If you are lower/middle income, the wonderful thing about a small select group of US universities (Harvard, Princeton, MIT etc) is that they offer need blind admissions with up to full financial aid even for international students. I don't think the equivalent exists in the UK.

Hi doodbug, thanks for always being informative and entertaining.

You can in fact reduce the 4 years of US university through AP credits. I know this because a good friend accelerated his US education to 3 years by taking AP exams. So for eg. If you need 100 credits to graduate, taking 1 AP exam could give you 5 credits. You will, in this eg. need about 5 exams to get you skipping the 1st year of introductory courses.

Just a thought for those who want to reduce their US uni costs.

[lee_yl]

I remember seeing one President's Scholar from Dunman High that went to Beida (Peking/Beijing University), although she took both CSC (BSP class) and CLEP in JC. Seems like a rare occurrence though, both the subject combination and destination. Like the US, it may not be for everyone but the destination is the other economy on the planet that is hard to say "no" to...

Yes, indeed rare for a President’s Scholar to go Beida (Peking Uni). Seeing how she took BSP and CLEP in JC, should know she had strong interest in Chinese. My hub did his postgrad in Peking Uni because he was curious to explore the Chinese world as his undergrad was done in the Western world. DH did his thesis in Chinese but I think now undergrads there are allowed to write their graduating thesis in English.

[lee_yl]

From my time, PSC has always sent a small number of scholars to Peking University - a senior of mine went and came back to work for MFA.
Unfortunately, having seen all the student dormitory videos on youtube and all, even the international student dorms, which are already better than those for local students, I don't think my kids (or I) can adjust to it. My American cousin spent a year at Beida on exchange programme about 3 years ago and had a Singaporean roommate (some govt scholar). One thing they really had to get used to was how meal times were arranged for in the canteens - I guess they had never seen such crowds/student numbers/ lines before and there is a rush as food runs out and the hours are narrowly prescribed.

According to DH, international students are treated differently from locals. Like 2 to a room (2 single beds with 1 attached bath). For the locals, maybe 6 to a room using bunk beds? Haha, sounds like army barracks?

DH’s first choice then was to apply to stay inside PKU but was told no vacancies, so he rented an apartment nearby. Back then, the Chinese landlords didn’t trust tenants, so tenants were required to pay the full rental upfront. If stay 2 years must pay 24 months!

[ChiefKiasu]

I never had the impression that UIUC is a party college lol My impression is that it is pretty STEM heavy and serious :p the likes of Cornell, CMU, CalTech, Georgia Tech come to mind. The Mid-West weather scares me

Oh yes... we had regular tornado warnings where we went into the basement, but then nothing happened I was hoping for some excitement . But the buildings are really rock solid with thick walls. They were built to keep the heat in which is great during winter... but really hot during summer . You will get used to it.

[lee_yl]

Lol. I was an NCB scholar. Haven't heard of the name for a looong time. Now that organisation does not even exist. It became KRDL then I2R and now I don't even know what. The public side of NCB became IDA and now it is IMDA or something, having been merged into MDA.

Scholarships to European countries would be appealing, but I'm not so sure about India. I think most Indians would prefer to get an overseas education if possible, and NUS is a good destination for them. So might as well stick to Singapore if you can't go overseas.

As for weird conspiracy theories, well, I think we might be overly worried. I think the stint in our primary to JC schools should have prepared trained our students to be more discerning. Of course a lot depends on the individual.

Haha, Yup, I read in KSP many years ago that you disclosed you were an NCB (scholar).

I have a male cousin who frequently backpacks to India because he is fascinated with the culture, food and scenery. That is the sad truth, vast majority will want to go US/UK but not India.

Just thinking aloud, since Singapore will continue to import large numbers of South Asians, shouldn’t our govt send more Singaporeans to India to better understand them? Moreover, India is another up and coming superpower, so better take an effort to understand them better.

[doodbug]

According to DH, international students are treated differently from locals. Like 2 to a room (2 single beds with 1 attached bath). For the locals, maybe 6 to a room using bunk beds? Haha, sounds like army barracks?

DH’s first choice then was to apply to stay inside PKU but was told no vacancies, so he rented an apartment nearby. Back then, the Chinese landlords didn’t trust tenants, so tenants were required to pay the full rental upfront. If stay 2 years must pay 24 months!

You are right! Almost all Chinese universities split the local and foreign students for accommodation. Many of the local dorms - some of the bathrooms are stainless steel squatting pans, and are wet rooms essentially (no shower cubicles). Fortunately there is the split - otherwise I think many of our local unviersity students will be put off going to China universities for exchange programmes.

[doodbug]

Haha, Yup, I read in KSP many years ago that you disclosed you were an NCB (scholar).

I have a male cousin who frequently backpacks to India because he is fascinated with the culture, food and scenery. That is the sad truth, vast majority will want to go US/UK but not India.

Just thinking aloud, since Singapore will continue to import large numbers of South Asians, shouldn’t our govt send more Singaporeans to India to better understand them? Moreover, India is another up and coming superpower, so better take an effort to understand them better.

I went to India only once in my life and it was eye-opening in many ways.

1. I transferred from SQ to Kingfisher (a local, no longer in business) Airlines for a domestic flight at Mumbai. The transfer between international to local terminal took 45 min in a bus/van - and the route traversed through villages (with cows and all), and stops in the middle of nowhere to pick people up! I was really concerned I was on the wrong transport!

2. Depending on where you are at, apart from chapatis, I didn't really know what I was eating after a while. Everything seemed to be some sort of smothered in curry sauce - the only difference is, it's either yellow, orange, red, brown, or green curry!

3. I could understand why Covid spread so quickly in India. In China, yes, there are crowds, but by and large, everyone is in their office or at home over the weekends. In India, as few families have airconditioning especially during the summer months, they practically gather on the streets, grass patches and squares the whole weekend, and talk away. (Maybe that is why we see the foreign workers doing the same in Singapore, at Little India, Toh Guan etc).

I am certainly intrigued and impressed with how Indians have succeeded in politics and business against the odds in Western countries (for example the number 2 politicians in US and UK, i.e. Kamala Harris and Rishi Sunak).

[doodbug]

Oh yes... we had regular tornado warnings where we went into the basement, but then nothing happened I was hoping for some excitement . But the buildings are really rock solid with thick walls. They were built to keep the heat in which is great during winter... but really hot during summer . You will get used to it.

Haha I spent two years in CA which has glorious weather (and a showy beach culture lol), but the real fear then was being at the St Andreas fault which is supposedly due to unleash in a big way any time. Californians, especially those with kids, do take things like securing shelves or furniture to the wall quite seriously as a tremor can cause furniture to topple. Some households also have earthquake kits/bags - I didn't buy that though.

[slmkhoo]

Haha I spent two years in CA which has glorious weather (and a showy beach culture lol), but the real fear then was being at the St Andreas fault which is supposedly due to unleash in a big way any time. Californians, especially those with kids, do take things like securing shelves or furniture to the wall quite seriously as an tremor can cause furniture to topple. Some households also have earthquake kits/bags - I didn't buy that though.

When my husband was planning to go on further studies, I tried very hard to dissuade him from applying to CA universities. He did apply to one, but I think got rejected (whew!). My reasoning is that there is really no point going somewhere that's waiting for the "big one"! History nearly repeated itself when my daughter was applying for universities, but she didn't apply to any in CA - she said it was a vacation destination in her mind, not somewhere to go to study! One of her best friends is there, though. Years ago, we lived in Darwin for a year, where we had to prepare a "cyclone kit" just in case. We had our power knocked out once or twice for short periods, but never had to resort to the kit.

[lee_yl]

You are right! Almost all Chinese universities split the local and foreign students for accommodation. Many of the local dorms - some of the bathrooms are stainless steel squatting pans, and are wet rooms essentially (no shower cubicles). Fortunately there is the split - otherwise I think many of our local unviersity students will be put off going to China universities for exchange programmes.

Not sure if it’s purely about hygiene.
DH believes that China govt does not want international students to impart ‘undesirable’ values to the Chinese students.