There is a thread similar to this, but it was more than a decade old, so I think it’s time for an update.
I’m very interested in attending NUS Business School, but I’ve heard that it is pretty “stiff”, with lessons that involve less class participation and more listening and taking notes. Other than learning how to start and manage a business, one of my goals in attending a business school is to make connections that will last. Will I achieve this in NUS?
Other related questions:
How are student clubs there? Examples of interesting clubs?
Are the lessons more theories than practice?
Is it easy to make friends there?
Are there other business schools in Singapore that would be better in activities and networking? (SMU and NTU perhaps?)
As a Singaporean (studying in the UK for university though), the observation tends to be that NUS is the most traditional in terms of teaching style. So you are right that they are a little ‘stiff’, while SMU definitely encourages and relies on much more class participation and group work. NTU should be in the middle of these 3, though close to NUS’s style than SMU’s. Business students, I might add, are all likely to be career focused (like yourself apparently), so as long as you seem like the sort of person that might be a useful friend, making lasting connections shouldn’t be an issue
NUS (and NTU) definitely has many student clubs and the like given its huge student numbers and extensive facilities, and most of your more conventional interests should have their corresponding clubs. SMU correspondingly is likely to have fewer clubs given that it’s campus is located in the CBD and hence does not have much in the way of facilities and its smaller student numbers.
Can’t say too much about the lessons other than what I already mentioned in the first paragraph, and making friends will certainly mostly depend on your own social skills. Singaporeans (like people from most countries tbh) shouldn’t be too hard to make friends with.
I would consider that NTU’s programme is 3 years while NUS’s is 4 years* (unless you are not pursuing honours which would allow you to graduate in 3 years) and SMU’s is 4 years without exception.
The networks won’t be vastly different, though it is likely that NUS’s programme will have slightly better students on average due to it’s slightly higher entry requirements. The difference however is likely to be minute, and given that ‘birds of the same feather tend to flock together’, I would say you need not be worried about the average student quality around you; you will find your own.
Anecdotally and from stereotypes, it is said that NTU has a noticeably higher immigrant population (Indians and Chinese mostly) and also that SMU students tend to carry themselves better and be more social. Wouldn’t pay too much attention to this though
Lastly, people have mentioned to me the relative locations of these schools as factors in their choices. Consider that SMU is located right in the business district while NTU is the furthest away. Not sure how important that is really, but people I know have factored that into their decisions so…