<p>one of my friends in NUS gave me very valuable insight after she read the above posts … to help you make a more informed decision. </p>
<p>As someone said earlier, please don’t go on rankings. NUS may have beaten Upenn and Princeton in it’s rankings but you don’t know the conditions at all these places together so u can’t judge them on the rankings alone. </p>
<p>NUS is very selective in it’s selection - doesn’t take CBSE people below 95%, IB below 40 and min 3 A’s in A levels. But the type of education imparted here, is probably much like the indian/uk style. It’s definitely beocming more analytical and ca based, but till now - it’s studying through the books and getting your marks</p>
<p>have another question about NUS. how competitive are the students there? are most of them likely to be helpful with your studies or is it the opposite?</p>
<p>^ ehh i think that depends alot on your discipline…for med and law the competition is quite notorious…most of my frens in med are like mugging every single day, one test every 2-3 weeks</p>
<p>then again my HS form teacher told me during her honors year in NUS FASS, she got her notes stolen from her locker or sth and ended up in the bin heh</p>
<p>As for the question, NUS is a large university and there will be ample opportunities to have fun, be it partying, sports, or something else. Having no experience of American universities, I shouldn’t really be comparing, but if I were to make a tentative guess, at NUS you’d likely have a little more focus on academics and a little less focus on the fun side.</p>
<p>Of course there are factors other than college experience you might want to consider. NUS does have a good worldwide reputation for engineering, and this is especially relevant if you are planning to work in Asia in the future. On the other hand, American universities might be a better bet if you are planning on graduate study in the states in the future. Also be aware that in NUS, if you take the tuition grant, you will have to work in Singapore for 3 years after graduation, and it’s up to you whether you consider that an opportunity or a limitation. What else? There’s the financial aspect to look at-unless you’re getting dollops of financial aid, NUS will likely be cheaper than the average American university. There’s also the cultural aspect, since at NUS the culture shock (for someone from South Asia) will likely be less than in American universities. Once again, up to you whether you find that a good thing or a bad thing.</p>
<p>Sorry for another long post but I hope it will help you make your college decision. Good luck!</p>
<p>^thanks for the insight! glad you mentioned grad school. how well do NUS students do in getting grad school positions in the US? if i take the tuition grant that means i will have to work 3 years before i can go to grad school, right?</p>
<p>^I dunno if there’s the possibility of going to grad school before the tuition grant thingy… you should contact them… grad school prospects are great if you do really well there… which I think ain’t easy… like everywhere else…</p>
<p>You have the option of deferring your bond for grad school, which means you can go to grad school and come back to work for 3 years. Look at the link given above, it has all the info. </p>
<p>I am not really sure how well NUS students do in grad school admissions, most ppl I know seem to work for at least the first year after graduation and worry about grad school later.</p>
<p>hey to whoever needs an opinion (not advice), being someone who got into a top aero uni in the US with scholarship, rejected it and came to NUS, this is my view.</p>
<ol>
<li>NUS is not a **** uni … its pretty good </li>
<li>do NOT come here for the ranking</li>
<li><p>see engineering is a really large field … believe it or not … so it depends on what ur major is … for eg … for aero engg … even unis like purdue outscore some other well known ones … so any US uni in the top 7 is a viable option</p></li>
<li><p>many ppl are of the notion that a uni that is hard to get into … is a really good one …FALSE… i ve seen this wrt NUS … and wrt places like purdue … </p></li>
<li><p>if it is financially possible for ur parents to send u to the states without unnecessary strains … i d put my money on the states …</p></li>
<li><p>the tuition grant … if your planning to do an MBA … is really viable … this is coz if u plan to do an MBA in the states … u need 2 years work experience … ur literally killing 2 birds with one stone … reduced fees , work experience plus cash … ofc all this is presuming that u get a good job</p></li>
</ol>
<p>for engg … these uni s shud make the cut over nus</p>
<ol>
<li>caltech</li>
<li>Upenn</li>
<li>CMU - top comp engin</li>
<li>Michigan</li>
<li>Illinois</li>
<li>Purdue … 5 and 6 are damn good for aero</li>
<li>Rice</li>
<li>UT austin</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
</ol>
<p>and just FYI … u mite want to look at a couple of unis like IUB…see these european unis don t really market themselves … so no great rankings … but trust me they are fantastic !
hope i helped …
cheers</p>
<p>ok looking back i was skimming through a lot of posts regarding experience …</p>
<p>as someone who has tried his hand at a couple of inter varsity sports here…
extra curriculars are encouraged… but sometimes become a pain .
there is a CCA system by which u need to get a certain number of points to stay on campus beyond year 2 … this can be a pain as sometimes u end up doing things u don t want to…</p>
<p>academically … tutors and profs are not all that great … so nothing to look forward to there… except those educated at say cambridge or somewhere abroad… moreover … unlike the US … the 40 MC s of electives are streamed into singapore studies and blah … so don t expect great freedom in electing subjects. plus … u can t just get an elective u need to “bid” for this … a sometimes irritating process… </p>
<p>FYI… a further insight into the rankings … u ll find that NUS ranks top 3 in the world when it comes to FUNDING. … and NOT EVEN TOP 100 for student teacher ratio … so srsly kick rankings out of your mind.</p>
<p>the academic ethics are in question too … u ll find urself in a chinese language class. … with a decent number of chinese students there … who just come there t get an easy grade … there is a screening system bu there s no way you can prove that someone hasn t done it already… </p>
<p>so you might want to consider these before u land here … but whatever said and done … NUS is a really really safe choice … if you know what i mean …</p>
<p>Go to the states if you want to go somewhere that may change your life, somewhere that may provide the best four years of your life. Come to NUS if you want to study and get a glossy piece of paper.</p>
<p>hey … umm i remember this frnd of mine … who had registered with THES… so he showed me in the detailed rankings . this years… when NUS placed 33 rd overall … and btw… if ur cross questioning me … just in case u found out its wrong … my apologies …</p>
<p>shrug, yes, because every college in the US - down to UT Dallas (post #184), has fantastic student quality of life, intimate faculty interaction, cutting-edge research, premiere post-college opportunities, etc. cursed be the singaporeans, most of whom are without the opportunities to escape the clutches of the worst cluster of state universities in the world.</p>
<p>really guys, i understand where a certain degree of venting possibly emenates from, and certainly NUS (or SMU/NTU) isn’t the equal of MIT Sloan or Wharton -wink-, but can at least some effort be made to take off those USA goggles and avoid making sweeping and, worse, baseless statements?</p>
…</p>