Applying to NUS & NTU - Subjective (+UEE)

[updated 2 Jan 2016]

Hey there! As promised in my previous post about general info on this subject, this post will tell you my personal experience in enrolling to these (insert own adjective) universities in Singapore.

There are three parts to this post: the application story, the UEEs and reasons why I think I really am an average student.
The second part is intended to lift you up if you intend on applying but feeling discouraged. Just jump ahead to the latter section as you please.

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Part 1: Application Story

First off, I was interested in neither of the universities.

What, seriously??? Everybody says 'if you graduate from NUS/NTU, you'll get rich! My parent's friends told them that their children and relatives that went to NUS/NTU will blablablabla (good things for a human's future, I suppose)'. I didn't care.

And yes, I really didn't. Lots of my friends had already taken A Level courses since the beginning of 12th grade. These courses last for roughly 7 months (July-January). Every weekend, when I'm just being a couch potato and having my incorrigibly lazy me time, they study A Levels. Hmmm.

Three months had passed, and my homeroom teacher asked us more than once whether we had set goals for university studies in the future. I didn't have any, unlike some of my classmates. I started to feel like I should panic (a little). The thing is, I attended educational fairs and whatnot, but none of them stood out to me.

It was the first week of October when I heard from a friend that NUS/NTU UEE were coming up soon, in January and February. Still not interested here. But then I started to think. 'Maybe it's a good idea to join an A Level course now. If I don't want to apply, it's okay. If I end up applying, then it's also okay.' So I joined a course and also ended up applying to both universities in mid November. I had nothing to lose.

The following months until mid January was.... really something. I was 3 months late, so catching up was a priority. My agenda was: school - A Levels - sleep - school - A Levels - study for tests - sleep, you get the picture. Thankfully a friend of mine (who is also a classmate) also went through the same thing and we managed to pass it together :') Oh, I must add that my December 2014 holiday was spent in the "smartest" way possible. (Albeit sounding diligent, I didn't understand A Levels at all. Read more in part 3.)

Mid January was a decisive moment - the revelation of shortlisted candidates for the UEEs. You can make an appeal if you're not shortlisted. I was lucky enough to be invited to attend both UEEs, so of course I attended both (NUS on Jan 31st & 1st Feb, NTU on Feb 7th-8th).

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Part 2: UEE

If you read my previous post, I meant it when I said to take all try-outs regardless how you score. The actual test was very similar to the try-outs; in fact, some of them were totally the same. So how was the UEE?

NUS UEE was just plain ridiculous. If your mentor told you that NUS UEE is not that difficult, never trust them again. Seriously. A Levels everywhere.
- MCQ for maths was easy (considering you bring your calculator and know how to use it), but the essay was just insane (I didn't study statistics which was the major chunk of essay that year :/).
- Physics consisted of 50 MCQs, none of which was doable for me.
- Oh, the chemistry papers? Be prepared to memorize everything about organic reactions because essay #1 was 'this compound mixed with another compound creates a yellow precipitate. If the compound blablabla (2 paragraph compound story). Question: a) Suggest a catalyst and its reaction.' An then.... bcdefghijk. Yes, it was a to k. I do not exaggerate, I only had two choices then: laugh or cry. I had no energy to do either one though HAHA. The MCQs? The honor of touching the test sheet should make you feel smart *sob :'

NTU UEE was more doable. A Levels? Not much of those made an appearance.
- Maths was 100% essay, no MCQs. So you can't just take numbers and push buttons on your calculator randomly. Nothing unusual here, really, as long as your mind do not wander. The questions are similar to previous NTU UEEs.
- Physics was a little bit better than NUS'. A little. The essay was..... counting rains (I'd rather be counting stars HAHA) and other daily things that you never thought of doing (and will definitely not do in the future).
- Chemistry was waaaaaaaay more approachable than NUS'. You'd do well if you understand electrons, concentrations and gas laws & co.

Best of luck! Remember that luck is also a winning factor, don't underestimate it!

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Part 3: Average Student

My standard for average is really..... average. I was never on the top of my class. In fact, top 10 in my class is the highest I ever reached in high school. Last semester, I was not even in the top 15 in my class. Doesn't sound average yet?

I did terrible at A Levels try-outs.

From 38 students, my rank falls between 24-27. Yes, my maths try-out scores were 24, 16, 32, 26, etc, with a median of 30.7 and 52 being the highest. (I was moved to tears when I received 52 while the girl sitting next to me got 90). Hmmm. Physics try-outs? Never got more than 24.

The only thing that made me optimistic was English, for my friend and I made a postulate stating 'Smart (Indonesian) people are terrible at English.' (Oops! Sorry, no offense, smart people! :P)

NTU, the university which only admits totally smart kids (that's how it is prejudiced here in Indonesia), accepted me, a normal student who is probably just like you.

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So don't get discouraged! Not being the best doesn't mean NTU is not in your grasp.
Also, remember that NTU is not everything.
There are many worlds and possibilities to explore, and the one you end up getting may not be your first pick.

Just look forward to life's unpredictable surprises!

Applying to NUS & NTU - General

[updated 2 Jan 2016]

Applying to National University of Singapore (NUS) and/or Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is considered prestigious by many (maybe because they're both one of the best universities in the world, let alone Asia). Admission is said to be difficult: there's the University Entrance Examination (UEE), interviews for certain programs, and your competitors have great qualifications.

So, you could say only the 'chosen ones' can go to these universities. But then this whole thing looks fishy to me. Maybe they rank high because their students are smart by nature, not by nurture. Hmmm. Oh, that was just a point to keep you thinking.

By the way, I applied to both of them this (last?) year, and my next post will be about applying to NTU and NUS from an average-student's-point-of-view.

You want to apply? Keep in mind that there are two stages here: document selection and UEE, plus one bonus stage: scholarship interview (if you're lucky).

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Stage 1 - Document Selection

How to unlock: default

What to do:

1. Maintain good academic scores in your report card. THIS IS IMPORTANT! The higher your scores are, the higher the chance you will go to the next round. Try to get at least 88 out of 100 in your report card for your subjects of interest just to keep you safe. (Doesn't mean that an average of less than 88 should keep you from applying).

2. Certificates of participation in activities are good to have. The point is, it will be advantageous to make them believe that you're active outside school and don't just study 24/7.

3. Apply to the university online when admission is open, usually around early November to late December. Don't forget to apply for scholarships (NTU), the scholarship application is separate from undergraduate application. Don't forget to pay for your application.

4. Wait patiently, check your e-mail regularly.

AY 2015/2016

You will receive an e-mail stating whether you're shortlisted to take the UEE from both universities on the first week of January. In Indonesia, around 300 (NUS) and 500 (NTU) applicants are shortlisted to take the UEE.

AY 2016/2017

NTU UEE invitation was sent on 31 December 2015.

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Stage 2 - UEE

How to unlock: pass Stage 1

What to do:

1. Prepare yourself well for the UEE held in late January to February. The subjects are English, maths, physics, chemistry and biology, all in A level (except for social sciences programs, O Level maths). Check which paper you are required to sit for on their website. Note that there is no biology test for NTU.

2. If you join A level courses, take all the try-outs available, don't be discouraged by bad or terrible scores. That's what try-outs are for ;)

3. Sleep a LOT the day before test days. Lack of sleep is your worst enemy here, believe me. At this stage, they only care about your UEE test scores.

4. Come early, stay focused, don't panic! Again, your luck is tested here as well :P

5. Wait patiently, check your e-mail regularly.

AY 2015/2016

(NTU) The decision of your application UEE was sent on 12 March 2015. If you do not pass, you can send them an appeal letter.

If your faculty requires an interview, you'll have to do it to receive your application outcome.

(NUS) The application outcome was sent on 13 May 2015.

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Bonus Stage - Scholarship Interview

How to unlock: unknown; probably based on luck.

(NTU) It is said that scoring high on the UEE, especially English, may unlock this.

If you get this bonus stage, you will receive an invitation email from the scholarships division to attend an interview. The e-mail should come to your inbox the day after you receive the application outcome e-mail.

Interview is held in late March. I read from another blog that the outcome was announced in two weeks. This year they announced the outcome of the interview in one to two days after the interview.
Around 50 people are invited for the interview, only half of them will be given the scholarship.

(NUS) Incredibly good report card (like maybe an average of 95?) may unlock this.

Yes, another reason why maintaining a good report card is very important. The e-mail should come to your inbox around one week after you receive the UEE e-mail.

Interview was held on the last day of the UEE, after the UEE had ended.

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Okay, that concludes the general walkthrough for the NUS/NTU application.