" Huh?? That existed? "Honestly, a lot of people are lost on what to do before entering a university. All these basic stuff were not taught to us in our 18-20 years of education. What do we do after we accept our offer at the university? How do we do financial planning? How am I going to pay off my school fees and loans? What schemes can I apply for?
All these mind boggling questions were what I had in mind. Here is what I did: I went to the school website and searched for the steps I needed to do before university started. There is a comprehensive guide on what to do, but they miss out on the miscellaneous things too. Follow the guide, first and foremost. Apply for your matriculation card and go for your health check up as soon as possible. You will also need to complete your online learning units(RPU and CIP) if you are a SMU student. Next, I applied for all the different schemes available - PSEA, CPF Loan, Student & Study Loan, as well as Bursary. I compiled all the documents as soon as possible to send to the school so that it will be able to be processed faster. Other than that, I applied for a ez-link card to pay for cheaper concession fares. You will also need to configure your laptop and download the security software that your school provides. You will also need to make sure your bank account is approved, and apply for your bank account to be your GIRO account. You will also need to bud for your modules (if you are a SMU student), and I will address this in my future post.
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I was one of those that were conflicted between choosing between the three local universities and my course of study. I was offered the double degree program by SMU, while NUS and NTU offered me Economics with Business and Economics with Media Analytics (both double major programs). Firstly, I will address why I chose Economics. Next, I will talk about why I chose SMU over the other universities.
Why Economics? I was from the arts stream, but I took H1 Chemistry - so I'm also part of the hybrid stream as well. I have always taken an interest in Economics, but my main passion was History. However, I'm someone that is more realistic and I didn't think History as a subject, have many prospects in our industries. People with the art degree will normally do professions such as teaching, HR, etc(mostly government sector too). Whereas Economics is broader, and you are able to do professions in the finance and banking industry, or even in real estate / maritime industry where you analyze the trends and statistics. Hence, Economics is something I chose since it was my second favorite subject in JC. Why SMU over NUS and NTU? I have always aimed for good grades to enter NUS FASS. When I was given the opportunity to enter all three universities, I started to be conflicted. I never wanted to apply to SMU in the first place and applied only after I was accepted into NUS and NTU already. 1) No interest in Hall Life I was not really interested in hall life though the idea of it did intrigue me. To stay in a hall, you have to earn hall points and take part in hall activities. You will need to gain enough points to earn your keep (a place to stay). This was something that I wasn't interested in as I wanted to focus on my studies and securing a job. Such a realistic mindset was why I chose SMU too. 2) SMU's seminar-style way of teaching & opportunities As compared to the lecture and tutorial style of learning, I wanted something that was more interactive and encouraged learning. Of course, the seminar style way of learning is not to say without flaws, but it was something I appreciate more and would not fall asleep as easily in. Given that, there are more opportunities to go overseas or experience stuff with a smaller student population, as the global exposure component is now compulsory for the current batches ahead as well. Hence, this was one of the main reasons why I chose the school since it ensure that you will get different exposures in different areas (i.e internships). Other than that, one of the factor involved would be making friends as well. Honestly, compared to a lecture and tutorial based environment, I feel that I could make friends easier in a seminar style where there are about 40 people in a class since the room would be much more compact and everyone would (kind of) know each other. 3) Location I didn't want to travel much and SMU was the nearest out of all my three options. The fact that its also located in town made it convenient for me to go explore different places near the school and get to my work place (I'm working part time as well). These are my top reasons why I chose SMU, and I hope it would be a fulfilling experience. |
Author: YTI am currently studying economics in SMU. This is a place to help individuals who are finding their own path to University and the course of study. ArchivesCategories
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