Singapore Universities: NUS, NTU, SMU

[eileen85]

hi people..i need help! after applying for NTU, i went to check my status, they say no documents need to be submitted until further notice which will be send to my email.. anyone encounters the same problem? For NUS and SMU, they require me to send the relevant documents like results, cca records etc..

[elita]

hi! maybe u should call the admin ofice over at NTU. im sure they will help u

[eternity]

Politely butting in. I have a diploma in Telecomm and after working for 1 year, i got into NTU to study engineering. But that was 3 years ago, not sure of the entry system now. But i regret studying full-time, because schoolwork alone was enough to "kill" me, not to mention cca. Part-time is better. Just my .

[eternity]

Hi, I find it strange too. Call NTU admin to check on your application status.

[qian]

hey saphiration!! i'm in the same situation as u right now! LOL. can't decide which uni to go!! ***. quite confirm i'll be going to take business because have interest in that since young. but still can't decide which uni is better.

interested in NTU because of their direct honors. (but can anyone explain to me what it exactly means? means everyone that graduates from NTU business will get honors no matter what their results? and having an honors is it a HUGE advantage over others? and whether i can get honors from NTU and NUS as long as i got good results? and is it just that NUS and NTU i may need to study one more yrs for honors?? SORRY. really have no idea how this honors thing works.. ) and heard that NTU got higher starting pay than the other 2 unis.

interested in SMU because of their new style of teaching. but quite scare about having to be super vocal because i'm super quite in school. but thinking of going there so that maybe i can train up my courage to speak up in future, esp in the wokring life. and heard that now many employers are looking for SMU students because of their new way of teaching. and that SMU provides more internships and projects so that it will be much more useful when you step into working life as compared to NUS because you gain more experience?? (are they true?)

interested in NUS because obviously it's the most prestigious school among all 3. and i think it's degree is also the most recognised one. but heard that is more on theortical rather than practical as compared to NUS and NTU. something like always "du si shu." (does it means that it's more like useless in my working life? because what i learn are theories but does not exactly knows how to apply?)

wants to find out more about their curriculum too from the 3 unis.. but got the phamplets and booklets.. but what they write are quite brief.. and some i don't even really understand.. haha..

so now totally in a dilema.. and oh dear! i don't even know how to apply or when is the deadline to apply!! haha..

[fwlin89]

It depends on what you really want for your education as well and what courses you want to take. Not planning to "sell" the school (that's up to the mega rich corp comm haha) but from a current student point of view, SMU does take in alot of students from top JCs as well but prepare yourself to be involved in alot of project work. Although they're time consuming, you get to work with companies and gain alot of hands-on experience. Internships are compulsory in SMU which I think is probably the most useful thing for a Business course.

The class participation bit is overrated and I think people put TOO much emphasis on it but it does build up your confidence in speaking publicly.

I believe the student culture differs in all 3 unis so just consider what you really want since you'd be spending the next 3-4 years of your life in that uni. HTH =)

[superstar]

Hihi..

I just graduated with an NTU business degree. So here to help answer some questions.

Basically, at NTU we do general business modules like marketing, corporate finance, business law, accounting, organizational behaviour, statistics, etc in the first year. Then in the second year, we have to choose to specialize in either:

1. Actuarial Science (U will need very good results to get into this specialization, usually only about 20-30 biz students will be doing this. Starting pay for students from this specialization is usually very high - maybe about 5-6k? Career prospects are also, usually very good cos these students are very much in demand. Have to be very good with numbers to do well in this specialization.)
2. Economics
3. Banking and Finance
4. Marketing
5. Information Technology

For direct honours at NTU, this will be based on your overall results with more emphasis on the 2nd and 3rd year results. From what i know, about half (not all) the business and accounting students from Nanyang Business School will get an honours (2nd lower, 2nd upper and 1st class). 1st class.. maybe about 20-30 students will qualify, then the rest of the bulk would be 2nd upper and 2nd lower, i think. The system is not very transparent so nobody really knows how it works but it is something like that. If you are planning to work with the government sector (eg: MAS, EDB, CAAS, MINDEF and organizations like these), they usually include "a good honours degree" as their prerequisite and this means a 2nd upper honours, at least. Usually a BBA with 2nd upper honours (and above) would command a higher starting pay of a few hundred dollars difference.

Saphiration: Yes, NTU does offer language classes, including Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Malay in basic, intermediate and advanced. However these are part of the general elective subjects offered, so it's up to the student which module they want to do, and if they want to do it at all in the first place.

Hmm.. think that's about all. Hope I have helped with some of your queries!

[Enteaq]

Originally posted by bliss_ang

Anyway, Cowdung, you from SMU too? which year you in quite a pleasant surprise to see a SMU cotter! Nice to meet you.

yup. am in year 1.

[qian]

thanks lots superstar!! you answered most of my qns!

but actually i have more doubts about NUS biz.. know nothing about it basically because i miss the biz tour and didn't go for the talk during NUS biz.. anyone here for NUS business school?? hope to find someone to help me.. need to know more about their school curriculum etc.. something like what superstar has provided.. (thanks lots again!!! )

[qian]

btw.. no offence.. just want to ask whether NUS or NTU business school is more recognized?? heard that NUS is more recognized for their science fac.. but NTU is more for engineering and biz.. is that true??

[superstar]

From what I know.. NUS is on a higher ranking than NTU for business schools around the world. I guess NTU is gaining more recognition now in the international competitions that the NBS students take part in. For example, the L'oreal Bizplan competition where the NTU team came in 1st and 2nd respectively in the past two years and other stuff. (Not very sure about what NUS has achieved).

[yellowrachie]

Which is the most popular course in SMU? How's the people like? Are the classes slacker than well, say NUS or NTU cos its more project based? Or does it make it more competitive?

How are the accountancy courses like? If someone like me who obviously can't make up her mind, should I go for business or go for accountancy? .. Or stick to Social Science cos I've been in arts all this while?

Anyone from the Social Science Dept? Is it any good?

Sorry for so many questions, I never thought of applying to SMU but someone told me to give it a shot, so I'd love to have some feedback!

[bliss_ang]

hi yellowrachie,

i personally think business is more popular there, because when people think of SMu usually Business comes to their mind first? Just my opinion though.

I was from business. Maybe people think SMU is slack because there may not be exams for every module. But the projects are really hectic! Especially if you have uncooperative team mates.. guess the project-based nature sets us very far apart from NUS and NTU.

You also need to make lots of presentations. Depend on whether you like it. Think almost EVERY module in SMU has a project

[yellowrachie]

So u did say! I'm okay with presentations but projects... sigh. how big a percentage of the grades are the projects? How about other departments? Also a lot of projects?

[Boatgal]

im from NTU accountancy.. 3 years back, i was faced with the same set of questions thats puzzling u now... i got accepted to both SMU and NTU accountancy.

the smu offer came earlier and they confirmed my seat.. i was tempted.. pros- good cirriculum, small class means undivided attention.. speaking up was not a problem to me because i enjoy it.

HOwever, the cons was also evident. SMU's 4years degree as opposed to NTU's 3 years direct honours along with the lack of a hostel life in smu + the lack of a graduating batch to show how the employers value smu students made me turn towards the more establish NTU.

The accountancy cirriculum in NTU also offers a good variety of subjects/ modules for u to take on. like for example, my passion is also in law, thus i took on extra law modules (like my current elective on law of information technology).

I have business friends who are taking on mass com modules too! you can do an extra minor too... thats what we are advocating!

some of my friends have taken on 2 languages just for the kick of it (japanese and french). be prepared to face tough competition in NTU too. we do lots of presentations and particularly for audit, we'd have to do a case presentation on a real life company. find a company yourself and do an analysis of their controls and recommendations. these give you great exposures too. if you're one of the finalists, you get to present to one of the audit firms that support this programme and be offered a job. imagine being offered a job thanks to a project.

now as im graduating, im also grateful that i got offered jobs from all the big 4s. 4 job offers before i graduate has really set my heart at ease.

i won't have to scramble for a job like the other faculties. Most of my fellow peers have also secured a job. i think employment rate before graduating for our batch is as high as 80%. so you have no worries about being employed.

the teachers are also very friendly and willing to help out with answering queries. of course we have some undesirable teachers too, those we just groan and say, "cannot make it" *shakes head* but those are the minority.

the quality of lecturers and tutors should be as good as others since we also have a stringent hiring process. NTU wont allow such a vicious cycle such as: teachers feed crap, students absorb crap and finally, churn out crap.. to happen. Be assured the school wont want to take a gamble on that.

NTU business has also often churned our winning loreal groups. these students are offered dream trips and jobs with loreal. i think business students (especially marketing students) set their hearts on loreal.

Hip/ unhip... its all u make out of it. personally i know ntu has an unhip image... but to me, u can be a nerd in school and be hip out there. so its your personality that counts. not what the school is all about. so look at the school for what it offers in terms of cirriculum and how does it fit your personal goals. analyze them, talk to people who have gone through it. im sure they'd love to share. just like i do.. PM me if any of you have queries.

what a long post... think its the longest post ive ever made. haha

its the passion that keeps me going... the hunger to succeed.