Wah, Studying in Singapore

A common complaint about studying local is that Singapore lacks diversity in her higher education offerings. Is there any truth to that? It’s true that there are more options overseas, but the small number of local universities may still offer more variety than you would expect. So if you’re planning on studying local, it may be worth thinking twice before shooting straight for the more ‘prestigious’ or ‘established’ universities. You may find that another institution better meets your learning needs or desired specialisations.

Officially, there are 6 publicly-funded, autonomous universities in Singapore:

1. National University of Singapore (NUS)

2. Nanyang Technological University (NTU)

3. Singapore Management University (SMU)

4. Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT)

5. Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS)

6. Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)

Bonus: Although Yale-NUS is considered an autonomous college within NUS, its distinctive curriculum merits it a separate mention.

As they boast a greater breadth of programmes, this article will primarily focus on NUS and NTU, with occasional mentions of other universities/ colleges.

Disclaimer: this article was written by a current NUS undergraduate who, naturally, is more familiar with NUS curriculum structures. Whilst we’ve made every effort to ensure that the information presented here is accurate at the time of writing, we still encourage you to do your own research, particularly if you have niche interests or learning styles.

Course Choices

Local universities generally require applicants to apply directly to their programme of choice. This means that applicants have to decide on their major(s) and interest in any special programmes when applying, although some leeway may exist for those who are still unsure, depending on the university.

NUS’ Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences allows freshmen to enter with an ‘undeclared major’; they have up till the end of the 5th semester to declare their major. To facilitate exploration of areas of interest, FASS applicants are directed to indicate their preferred majors upon admission, and are pre-allocated up to 2 exposure modules in their first semester.

Alternatively, all Yale-NUS students read a common curriculum for their first 2 years of study, before declaring their majors at the end of their second year.

What if you’ve already matriculated, but have a change of heart? Pathways for changing majors or programmes exist, although the flexibility and requirements of each university may differ. A summary of your options:

1. NUS FASS undeclared major

2. Yale-NUS 2-year common curriculum

3. Changing courses mid-way through: check each university's requirements

It’s also worth noting that different universities have different academic strengths and foci. For example, SIT, SUTD and SUSS are generally considered more specialised universities. This would be of particular importance if you have an interest in a specific field of study (e.g. a particular engineering specialisation); some universities may be better aligned to your academic interests than others.

Special Programmes

Minors, Double Majors, Double Degrees… the terminology may seem confusing at first, but don’t be intimidated! We’ve curated a handy table below explaining the differences between some of the more commonly confused programmes.

Do note that this table is non-exhaustive: other programmes, such as the University Scholars Programme (offered by both NTU and NUS; similar but not equivalent), also exist.

Teaching Style

Students usually take 5 modules a semester. NUS and NTU both employ a lecture-tutorial system which JC students will be familiar with. Lecture sizes vary greatly depending on enrollment: some fill up entire lecture theatres, whilst others are as small as a seminar room. The format of lectures may themselves vary with the lecture style of each professor and size of lectures. For example, smaller lectures may be conducted more in the style of seminars, with student participation encouraged/ expected. Tutorial sizes generally hover around 20+ students, although exceptions exist. Class size generally decreases as modules become more specialised (higher level).

Each lecture and tutorial is generally 1.5h long (science students should expect that lab sessions may last longer). Lectures occur once or twice a week; tutorials occur weekly or fortnightly, depending on the module.

In general, learning in university is much more independent and self-directed. Unlike JC, attending lectures is neither compulsory nor enforced, as a general rule. However, depending on your professor, webcasts of lectures may or may not be recorded and uploaded regularly. Even when they are, there is no guarantee that the recording captures the lecture properly: there have been instances where lecture slides, live demonstrations, or the lecturer’s audio are cut from the recording. On the flip side, tutorial attendance is usually compulsory, and may even count towards your grade.

Universities generally require you to fulfill general curriculum requirements beyond your degree-specific classes. Different universities may refer to this through different names and the exact content also varies. For example, SMU has a compulsory community service component as part of its core curriculum. See our NUS v NTU article (coming soon!) for a detailed breakdown of their programme structures.

Beyond NUS and NTU, teaching styles and programme structures differ. SMU offers a 100% seminar-style learning, with each class capped at 45 students. SUTD, SIT and SUSS adopt more hands-on approaches to learning, with greater emphasis on work attachments, research opportunities and exchange programmes baked into core curriculums.

Assessments

Assessment styles will differ by university, module, and even by professor: different professors teaching the same module may have different modes of assessment. In general, the following principles apply:

1. 3 informal categories of assessment: Continual Assessments (CAs), Mid-Terms, and Finals.

2. Finals almost never have a 100% weightage.

3. Assessments may be 100% CA, or be a mix of CAs and/or Mid-Terms and/or Finals.

An overview of the 3 types of assessment is presented below.

COVID-19 Context

The biggest changes due to COVID-19 have been to learning and assessment modes, which have been taken online as much as possible. Lectures may be pre-recorded and uploaded or delivered live over Zoom/ MS Teams. Most exams will be done at home and online, usually open-book. Science students will find that most labs have been converted to e-learning, although a minority still remain face-to-face.

How to Research Local Universities

1. Visit the official school website, department and special programmes websites

   1. Compare credit requirements of similar courses. Find out what each course's requirements are –number of credits/ courses for your major, number of credits/ courses for general/ uni-wide electives, the makeup of credits/ courses required. This gives you a sense of how much time you will be devoting to your major vs general curriculum during your university life.

   2. Check out the module descriptions: NTU and NUS both have publicly-available information on the number of lectures/ tutorials etc per week per module on their websites (see links below). NUS also provides an estimate of the workload per week, including prep time (for readings, assignments etc). This can give you an idea of what to expect regarding teaching styles.

   3. Check out the faculty: Universities typically have profiles of their faculty members on their websites. Finding more about the faculty includes their involvement in research, public sector, other offices held etc. If you're keen on pursuing research and academia, for example, a faculty actively involved in current research may be more important to you. If you're more interested in applications of the major, profs that are involved in the public/ corporate sector may be more relevant.

2. Go see the school itself!

   1. Go to the Open House (usually in February or March)

   2. Sit in for classes

      1. NUS and NTU are open campus universities, which means they are open to members of the public. You can look up lecture schedules (NUS, NTU) and sit in on lectures to get a feel for teaching styles of respective universities (may not be possible currently due to COVID-19).

3. Talk to seniors in the majors, special programmes you are interested in

Key questions to ask yourself

If you’re trying to decide between studying local or studying overseas:

1. Why do I want to study overseas?

   1. How does studying abroad full-time differ from exchange programmes/ summer school? How well do these alternatives fulfill my desires?

2. Why do I want to study local? Why do I not?

3. What will I give up if I go? What will I give up if I stay? Which is more important to me?

If you’re choosing between universities in Singapore:

1. What learning style suits you the best?

2. What are the differences between universities in your chosen degree?

3. What other experiences do you want to have outside the classroom and how might a certain university fulfil that?

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