Tuesday 4 August 2015

#26 | Getting into Uni & My SMU Interview Experience.

Hey guys! How are you doing? Sorry for the month long absence, just didn't have fresh content that was ready for upload and I have been saving this post till I had my thoughts organised and finish attending to other stuff in life.

An update in life, my holidays are finally ending as I would soon (or have already started to) embark on a new chapter in life. I have chosen to complete a business degree at SMU for the next 4 years and so far I am not regretting a single bit. Arriving at this decision was not easy as I was constantly torn between the thought of having a hall life or being able to check back into my own bed every night. (You can tell what my priorities are)

Today's post is really a concise breakdown about how I arrived to my decision, tips for future University-goers, and more importantly help out people/juniors who are intending to apply for SMU. Thought that doing up a post like this would be helpful as before my interview, I tried so hard to find relevant tips and experiences shared online, but there were too few detailed posts to make me feel prepared and assured. I'll try to give less stats, this ain't a report right?


T H I N G S   T O   C O N S I D E R   F O R   U N I V E R I S T Y

1. Costs 

With all honesty, my family is not exactly rich but I would not consider myself to fall in the low-income range. Just your very average Singaporean family. Regardless, no matter what my family's financial standing is, money is something that you would not be upset about if you had more than less. To get my typical business degree in a local university, there were just that few choices - NUS, NTU, SMU, uniSIM (Arranged according to their course costs from lowest to the highest

As from 2015 for business degrees, NUS is charging SGD$7,600, NTU charges SGD$9,150, SMU charges SGD$11,200, whereas uniSIM charges about $14,400. (All inclusive of government subsidies. Prices might vary for different year and types of business course you take up)

Other than school fees, if I intend to stay in the Halls of NUS or NTU, that would be additional cost of between $200 to $500 monthly. As I live in the East side, travelling to NTU and NUS is really not convenient and would lead to higher transportation costs. These are just some of the many monetary issues to consider.

2. Time and Convenience

Time and distance issues was one of the crux of my decision. Travelling to and fro from one end of Singapore to another is no fun. I take into consideration about the morning classes that I might have and how I would need to jump into the sardine-tin cabins in the morning riles me. I'm a very time-conscious person, and knowing how I would need to spend about 3 hours a day just travelling to school and back seems like something too out of the way for me. And there were many what ifs moment like, what if I only had one lesson on that day? What if I just needed to return school for a meeting? What if I just needed to meet the prof just for a consultation? It seems too much of an inconvenience for me. 

Another factor is the flexibility of the timetable. All university practice this bidding-system thing where you get to arrange your own timetable to fit your schedule. Which I, at first, did not really like the idea of it. After actually bidding for my courses, I have learn to loved it as it meant that I get to spend my time more efficiently in school and not have huge unwanted breaks and get longer rest days! From many of the advice that I have received, SMU was the school that provided more flexibility to their students to really plan their time out, considering how we have one 3 hours class per subject instead of breaking them down into a lecture and another tutorial class. I appreciate that as it meant lesser time in school, more time for me to work (part-time), join CCAs / groups or even travel in between, sounds like a lot of freedom.


3. Reputation and School Culture

Here comes a very controversial topic, that I will try my best to be very objective about. Supposedly, NUS is considered to be the best university in Singapore followed by NTU and SMU. However, that is only the case if we are looking the school in general and not course-rankings. Numbers are just numbers, sometimes it is best to hear from the actual people going through the real deal right? 

So I did ask around, I did not have that many friends in NUS but from what I hear, other than it being difficult to enter the courses, you will have a hard time surviving there as NUS is home to many local and foreign scholars. NUS, undoubtedly the best university in Singapore, is not only the oldest, the biggest and also have the largest student body. They have been placed 22nd in the world and 1st in Asia. Its business school is AACBS and EQUIS (An accreditation system for business school around the world) accreditied. (Means that they are recognised as a good school) The forte of NUS seems more to be on their medical and engineering courses.

As for NTU, they do seem like they have lesser scholars, school life seems to be more exciting here than NUS, however Hall activities here seem to be really draining. NTU is ranked 39th globally and 4th best in Asia, particularly for Nanyang Business School, it is 66th in the world and 1st in Singapore. The catch about NTU business degree is that it only requires 3 years of your time instead of the usual 4 and the really attractive part is that you WILL graduate with direct honors. (Which means to say.. no matter what grade you get, as long as you pass, you will get an honors degree. Suddenly don't feel so special. Lol) Both of the universities, from what I hear and read, are very theory based and place more emphasis on your final exams. 

SMU on the other hand is almost like NUS but with lots more fun. Unlike the education system that NUS and NTU follows, SMU models after an American style system that supports a more flexible and hands-on education - very much similar to poly. SMU is also one of the youngest university to be accredited by the oldest global accrediting body, AACBS International. Lee Kong Chian School (aka School of Business in SMU) is also one of the youngest to be accredited for 5 years running by EQUIS. I mean for a school that young (celebrating our 15th this year) and already recognised that fast is quite a feat right? There must be something they are doing right and good for them to gain such a title and fame in such a short span of time huh. 

I've also started asking people around me, random sets of people which included my dentists, for their opinions. I was really expecting to hear NUS and NTU business more than SMU, but out of 10, 7 recommended SMU saying how they have friend's kids there and are enjoying themselves. Even my Mum's friends' daughters are in SMU and seem to enjoy studying there. Hmph. 

4. Exchange Programmes

Unfortunately, I did not choose to do an overseas internship nor did I do any overseas activities in my Poly days. However, even before I have entered university, I was all about their exchange programmes (summer exchange, term exchange, OCIP etc) that allow students to study abroad in whichever countries that they want to. The common ones are Europes, USA, and as silly as it sounds, I really want to try South Korea. But who knows, I might just change my mind in the future.

I looked up their respective sites and tried to do as much research as possible. All schools seems to give equal opportunities to their students, however it would really depend on your on merits and school record to earn that chance.

5. Which school do you think you'll gain the most from?

This question refers to many aspects, and it really depends on your goals, priorities and overall experience you want to get out of your university choice. Some people would want to have the full campus experience and tryout living away from home (to get more freedom from strict parents, convenience, being able to sleep in, gain independence etc.) Some might just want to choose the fastest way to get a degree, or the easiest way to get a degree - which there really is not many a way to do so. And let's be real, some are about the pride they get from attending top universities. To some, whichever university is fine because they just want to meet as many new friends as possible (*cough* single NS guys, haha kid), while to others who are more studious, they might want to have as much relevant experiences and knowledge as possible to equip themselves for the workforce. 

I know of people who are still rather lost in life (including myself), unsure of what exactly they want to do after graduating. My close ones advised me to just go with the flow and take my time in school to figure out my passions and interests and just figure out at my own pace along the way. There are no rules that states you have to stick to the industry you have studied for - although it is recommended to, so don't feel restricted your choice, its not your final one in life ;)


M Y  S M U  I N T E R V I E W  E X P E R I E N C E

I applied for all schools anyways and the SMU interview would definitely be one of the most nerve-wrecking interview experience for me. As I was previously from poly, we did not have any English related module to attest our language abilities. It was a requirement for us to take upon an English test before the group interview.

I received the notice of my interview date pretty late as I was not in town, and was scheduled for the last day for all interviews - around end April. Then came the day where we were supposed to report at 8.30am, which you can actually don't really need to be on time on, but don't be late as well. All the applicants started to register with their NRIC and were given a slip of paper to know which interview group we are in. We were led to holding rooms and shortly after, at about 9am, we had to take the English tests.

The components for the English test includes a comprehension section that was the standards of a GP paper which we have to complete in 30 minutes, yikes. The passage was about 2 pages long, and my topic was something along the lines of how social media is evolving and that makes people feel more insecure and scared to step out in the real world. Following of which we had to sit for a composition paper where we were given topics/discussion questions and tasked to pick one and write on for 45 minutes. Both papers were back to back with only about 5-10 minutes break in between. I feel that you honestly cannot prepare much for the test as language is not really something that you can work on at the very last minute. We were also informed that the grades of the test does not really affect your overall application results, the interview is the main component.


When you are all done with your papers, you would be given an article to read and then discuss among your interview group mates. The article was on how technology is advancing so much that machines and robots are taking over jobs. The interview would go along the lines of the article. Groups were given about 15-20 minutes to discuss on possible questions that the interviewer might ask or just be awkward.. Which is how most of the groups were because everyone is just vying for that spot.

When the time is up, you will be escorted to your interview room and everyone will sit in the first row with a name placement card in front of you. There will be an interviewer and an assistant in the room to note down who have contributed to the discussion and how often etc. My interviewer was a Caucasian, whom I cannot remember who. He asked many questions relating to the article that we have read and everyone would just voice out their thoughts or lead the group discussions in directions that answers the professor's. The killer question that the professor asked was,"If technology is taking over our jobs, what kind of jobs that are not yet created are there left for us in 10 years time?" The room was for once dead silent. 

The overall experience in short was that everyone was literally biting each other's heads off. It might just be the case for my group, my raising hands to answer questions was just useless, my group mates just shouts the answers out. It just felt like hungry wolfs kept in an enclosure and everyone just fighting for that one piece of chicken when its thrown into our grounds. (Its a tough world out there)

Tip would be to just say whatever that is on your mind and make contribution to the discussion, that's what SMU is looking for - they are after all known for having more outspoken students. Also, you do not really need to wear full formal for the interview, just look smart and neat. Good luck!


But all was well after being nervous about it for 2 weeks, the results were out and I was accepted! Which I was really pleased about because SMU was my first choice. (So my post might be more SMU biased)

Other than the frustrating BOSS bidding system which freshmen need to chill with their e$ and stop inflating the module prices.. Those e$ need to last you till year 4, so SMU students if you are reading this, please don't spoil the market. 

I was very reluctant to go for my FTB (Freshmen Teambuilding Camp), but it turned out great and I was slightly regretful of being unable to make it for the other camps. So if you ever get a chance to go for camps, go for it! It was so much fun and it was great to be able to meet new people before school starts. Other than networking reasons, it just makes you feel more prepared for school and just have better head start for a new chapter in life. 

I shall end off here before I get more philosophical. I guess I have learnt to not take life too seriously, it's okay to not do as well as you thought you would - despite giving your best. Life have a mysterious method of always working out for you. Just believe in yourself, love yourself and others. 
x Sharleen.

2 comments:

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  2. Thank you for your article!! I found it really relatable. Similarly, I also applied to NUS, NTU and SMU Biz and decided to go with SMU in the end. Will be starting school this July haha. Was wondering about your 4 years experience in SMU? :)

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