<p>Hi there,
I’m an international student going to pursue undergraduate studies and I’ve applied to NUS and HKUST. I got into HKUST for Chemical Engineering and I got selected for Environment Engineering(my other choice) in NUS. I’m not sure which one to choose…The Chemical Engeering course offered by HKUST is only 3 years long and 120 credits which means I would have to work extra hard to pass with honours whereas the course(Environmental engineering) offered by NUS is four years long and 160 credits which means it would be easier for me to pass with honours…and having an honours degree is impoartant nowadays…also, I want to pursue a course with more chemistry in it…I think Chemical engineering and environmental engineering have both more or less the same amount of chemistry in them, if I’m not wrong…any advice?</p>
<p>hi…
i am going to pursue chemical engineering at HKUST as well…
i have applied to NUS but havent heard back from them yet…hopefully soon…
coming to your query,if you had received an offer from NUS for chemical eng then there would be no reason to think twice as NUS wins over HKUST hands down for engineering at the moment but it is very likely to change in the future …HKUST is also a great engineering school
i hope you realize that environmental engineering is an extremely limited field and is nothing as deep and broad as chemical engineering …
if you like environmental engineering then do go for it but if you are still not sure then Chem eng is the best choice as its extremely broad and skills are transferable to various fields including the environment…
I personally wouldnt choose environmental at a Beng level as its too narrow for me…
coming to the chemistry part-engineering is basically a lot of maths and chem is usually only covered in the first few sems…should be about the same for both of them…
Are you in the "future HKUST " group on fb??</p>
<p>thx for ur opinion…no i’m not on the hkust group on fcbk…i’ll join if I’m coming…</p>
<p>Hey, Veraila! Congrats on your offers from HKUST and NUS. Even I’ve got offers from both NUS and HKUST but both for mech engineering. Like Anand said, I think NUS is way above HKUST in many ways…although HKUST is coming up fast. So I think I’ll be going to NUS most probably…but I’m also having trouble letting HKUST go 
The Environmental Engineering course at NUS is probably more broadly based than the one at HKUST because its 4 years so I dont think you’ll have to worry about limitations in the field…</p>
<p>@Anand: Hey, you never told me about this thread!</p>
<p>Hey LordXXX, congrats on your offers too…,I’ll most prolly be going to NUS too I think…it is pretty hard deciding between those two unis…but yea, I guess I like the course offered by NUS more coz it’s four years long…eventhough if it isn’t the course I applied for…</p>
<p>@lordxxxxxxxxxxx- this thread started 2 days back…lol…we haven’t spoken since…lol</p>
<p>Alright, nice 
Okay, now I know atleast one person whos going to NUS…so where you from?
Yeah, even I prefer the course at NUS but not because its 4 years lol…dont think its gonna be easy just because its 4 yrs. We have to take a lot of modules outside our course and faculty at NUS and also CCAs if you’re living in halls 
I think you can appeal to have your course changed to chem eng if thats what you want…better to do it fast…</p>
<p>@Anand: lol I didnt bother checking the date…so whts up? Anything from NUS yet??</p>
<p>I’m from Sri Lanka. Wt about u?
Btw, which hall will you be selecting?
I heard some halls are really competitive…</p>
<p>Really?? I’m from SL too
Did you apply for accomodation yet? I applied to Eusoff Hall and then Temasek and kent ridge as my other choices but dont know if I’ll get it…its petty hard to get in
Well, it doesnt really matter which student hall you get…they are all pretty much the same…unless you get something other than a student hall.</p>
<p>I got into chem eng in NUS and chem and environemental eng in HKUST. Both courses were my first choice in each uni.</p>
<p>I’m having a tough time deciding too between them, but will probably take NUS, cuz it is better for engineering and I feel 4 year degrees would be better accepted by other countries for masters/ employment. </p>
<p>Plus the salary for starting engineers in HK is too low, less than 10K HKD a month. I dunno how an expat can live on that. Salaries in Sgpore are still decent at 3000 SGD, but can be problem if u have bond but can’t find a job. Nonetheless Sgpore is chemi hub, whereas HK is mostly finance</p>
<p>More Sgpore employment stats on:
[Salary</a> and employment rates for graduates in Singapore | Career and Job search Insights - Sandbox Advisors Singapore](<a href=“http://www.sandboxadvisors.com/insights/transition-job-search-strategy/salary-employment-rates-graduates-singapore]Salary”>http://www.sandboxadvisors.com/insights/transition-job-search-strategy/salary-employment-rates-graduates-singapore)</p>
<p>@Veraila: I suggest u look at the syllabus details for the courses you have been offered which could help you make a decision on what u would like to pursue, whichever interests u the most</p>
<p>@LordXXX: I think I’ll take Raffles as my first option since it is closest to engineering faculty. Less time to travel means more time to sleep . BTW I am Indian.</p>
<p>@pragmatist12: Congrats on your offers! Yeah, 4 year degrees are always better than 3 year ones because you earn around 160 credits maybe even more from the 4-yr course at NUS unlike 120 from the 3-yr at HKUST…only thing it takes an extra year. But I heard that you can finish your course in 3 or 3.5 years at NUS by taking more modules per semester…if you can handle that kind of workload :P</p>
<p>Thanks for the link…yeah, thats pretty good for starting salaries although I think UK grads get more…
I think getting jobs for engineering in singapore wont be that hard because there are lots of industries…although studying at HKUST can get you some good opportunities in China.</p>
<p>lol even I thought of taking Raffles for the same reason but thought it wont matter that much…it will be nice to walk through the campus But dont think you’ll get time to sleep wherever you are…
Did you take the Indian syllabus?</p>
<p>Btw, anyone planning to do a double degree or minor??</p>
<p>Me too, I thought of putting Raffles as my first choice for residence…though I think I like Kent Ridge more coz it seems more lively…but then again it’s pretty far…though there is a bus system within the campus…</p>
<p>@LordXXX…yea I’m gonna do a minor…though not sure which one…most likely something related to Chemistry…btw,will you be applying for the exchange programme if you’re going?</p>
<p>@pragmatist12…Congrats into getting into NUS!..btw if u don’t mind my asking,what were your results?..Did you follow the British curriculum? I also applied to NUS with Chem Eng as my first choice but I got into Env eng which was my second…also, do you think Env engineers have as many job oppurtunities as Chem eng?..coz Chem eng seems more diverse to me…</p>
<p>@Veraila: I might take a minor in tech management or even a major…but cant say now…have to see how the work goes first… The exchange programme seems interesting and you get to travel I might apply for it…but its really competitve I heard and you hav to take sum language courses…what abt you? There are actually loads of special programmes at NUS…like the University Scholars Programme and Global Engineering Programme…applied to any of those?</p>
<p>So are you guys definitely going to NUS?</p>
<p>Nice to see so many ppl coming to NUS! </p>
<p>A couple of pointers. Firstly, you should be quite sure regarding your primary major before coming to NUS. Once you have declared your major, it can be quite difficult changing it to something else. If you are not sure which type of engineering would be best for you, you can consider going into the Common Engineering programme, and then deciding your major at the end of your first year. Check out this link: [Faculty</a> of Engineering - NUS Bulletin AY 2009/10 - Registrar’s Office - National University of Singapore](<a href=“http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/nusbulletin/FoE/UGft/BEngprog.html]Faculty”>http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/nusbulletin/FoE/UGft/BEngprog.html)</p>
<p>On a different note, you should know that the shuttle bus within campus is actually pretty good. There will be a bus every 5-6 minutes (during semester time), and the campus is not overly large, so from most parts of campus it won’t take more than 10-15 minutes to get to your classes.</p>
<p>@NBZ: Hey, are you from NUS? Thanks for the link…is the common engineering programme also 4 yrs long? What do you think about doing a double degree or a minor or somethin like that? Is it difficult to handle?</p>
<p>Yeah I’m studying in NUS right now, double-majoring in Economics and Political Science. The Common Engineering programme is also 4 years long, if I’m not mistaken. </p>
<p>I think if you’re very committed, a double degree should be manageable. NUS engineering can be quite tough though, especially in the first year, so you might want to consider that when planning for your double major/degree. Luckily, while NUS can be quite stubborn about not letting you change your primary major, you have plenty of freedom choosing a second major/degree- as long as you have good grades you can design your own double degree. That means you can start off as a single major and decide later to do a double degree.</p>
<p>Btw, the distinction between double major/double degree/minor is not always obvious, so I have listed down the info below:</p>
<p>Minor- You’ve to do 6 modules (or its equivalent) in the subject
Double major- 12 modules in the second major
Double degree- 15 modules for the second degree
Double degree (with honours)- The equivalent of 25 modules in the second degree. This is the hardest of the lot, as you have to do two honours projects, and you’ll almost certainly have to stay in school for 5 years. The plus side is that you’re an expert in both your fields :)</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for that list! I really didnt know the difference between all those types of degrees…now I get it :)</p>
<p>Now since I am doing Engineering I might take a minor/ 2nd major/degree in business or tech management or somethin like that…I want to know what type of degree might be best. You’re doing a double major…how do you find it? Hows the workload?
Anyways, you choose the second degree or major in the 2nd year right? And there is another thing about choosing the modules…you have to bid for them or somethin right?</p>
<p>Btw, are you an international student?</p>
<p>@LordXXX: No I did not do Indian syllabus. I am doing the IB Diploma</p>
<p>@Veraila: I have not got my IB results yet. They will be coming on July 6. My predicted score was 42 out of 45 with 7s in MATHS HL, PHYSICS HL and CHEM HL. (7 is highest possible)</p>
<p>I was quite surprised I got admission before my actual IB results, and moreover my offer is not conditional. I know some other IB students who applied to chem eng too but r still waiting for their results.</p>
<p>I think NUS gave me admission before actual IB results because I have a consistently strong GPA above 3.95. I got full 800s on SAT Subject tests for Physics, Chemistry and Maths Level II. Also I have a good SAT Reasoning Score of 2240. TOEFL iBT of 116 out of 120. So they can see I am consistent across all these tests.</p>
<p>Another reason for admission could be discretionary admission for my extracurriculars. But I think the previous reason is more likely.</p>
<p>As for jobs in Enviro Eng, i really don’t know. Singapore really boasts on being a green city and it does a lot of water recycling due to limited natural resources. Did u check out the link I had posted previously? That website has other related links too, so look around.</p>
<p>@LordXXX…yea there are a lot of exchange programs, but I’ve still not decided…I think you can only apply for them after you’ve spent a semester in uni…as for minor programmes, I’m still not sure which one to pick…</p>
<p>@pragmatist12…yes, I did check the link you posted, but I couldn’t find any values for environmental engineering…just chemical engineering…but I’ll keep looking…so hv u decided on nus?</p>
<p>@pragmatist12: Your results are just amazing man! I did all what you did, except IB, and got way less than what you got for those and I’ve got no CCAs lol cant imagine how I got admission. So is NUS your final choice?</p>
<p>@Veraila: If your planning to go on exchange you have to apply for the Language Preparation Programme (LPP) now, before June 13 or somethin…you must have got a mail on that. I might take a minor or a double major maybe in business…
Btw, you did the London A-Levels right? Are you done with your exams?</p>