<p>just curious what ECs you guys had?</p>
<p>I think you probably can’t go wrong with basically any major you pick in the top 5 or 10 universities in the US anyway.</p>
<p>Valour - My profile: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/409766-international-chances-penn-ed-stanford-columbia-cornell-nyu.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/409766-international-chances-penn-ed-stanford-columbia-cornell-nyu.html</a></p>
<p>“Hmm, Im also considering the upcoming LAC in singapore too. Any opinions?”</p>
<p>Details about the upcoming LAC is still sketchy. But somehow I’m skeptical about a singaporean interpretation of an american system. Just look how SMU has turned out…</p>
<p>Valour, if you want to know more about the upcoming LAC, I can discuss with you on MSN. I participated in the focus-group about it. Right now, the feasibility study is being conducted - nothing’s firmed up. Email me your questions.</p>
<p>And to Valour/preciouspurple: The upcoming LAC is going to be another campus of a renowned consortium of LACs. Unlike SMU, which is wholly run by the government, the new LAC would be jointly administered by the consortium plus the LAC’s own administration. The affiliation to NUS is unclear. However, if either of you have questions, I believe I’m well-placed to answer them.</p>
<p>Preciouspurple - I just said those universities are not that well-known in Singapore (for god’s sake, most Singaporeans only know Ivies. I’ve yet to meet a true-blue Singaporean who knows Harvey Mudd) Which is true. What did you interpret as my opinion?</p>
<p>i know harvey mudd lor!</p>
<p>Alright, alright, alot of people know Harvey Mudd. Like, frankchn, J e z, m y f, the almighty screw, yes yes, the whole of Singapore.</p>
<p>-eyeroll-</p>
<p>eh why u nvr include me</p>
<p>ok thanks fiona! :)</p>
<p>frankchn i hardly see you in hwz… anyway im an active member there but rather not reveal my identity :D</p>
<p>i mean, the average joe on our streets probably wouldn’t know rice, brown, dartmouth etc, so you can’t blame them for not being acquainted with foreign unis…</p>
<p>yeah it’s more accurate to say that ppl know about HYPSM. most will give suspicious looks at mentions of upenn dartmouth columbia :(</p>
<p>Some dont know princeton too :o</p>
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<p>The only details I have about the LAC is over here: <a href=“http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/files/2008/08/ceus-final-report-and-exec-summary.pdf[/url]”>http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/files/2008/08/ceus-final-report-and-exec-summary.pdf</a></p>
<p>To be really, really honest, an LAC within NUS scared the **** out of me (Yes, biased, over-reacting…). And the recommendation was to have a PARTNERSHIP with a US LAC. There is a big difference between a partnership and offshore campus. How much a school can gain from a partnership is debatable. SMU used to advertise about its “partnership” with Wharton too 
And SMU is supposed to be autonomous… they used to pride itself for not being wholly run by the government ;)</p>
<p>Then again, everything stated here were recommendations dated Aug 2008, I’m not sure if there have been any developments since then. fiona_ you mentioned you are in a position to comment more about this issue. Are they really bringing in another campus of a renowned LAC?</p>
<p>About a “true-blue” Singaporean not knowing about Harvey Mudd, hmmm… really depends how you define “true-blue”. I’ve never been away from Singapore for more than one month and have lived in a HDB apartment for about half of my life, do I qualify for the privilege of “true-blue” Singaporean? Well, I do know about Harvey Mudd. Then again, does my presence in this forum exclude me from this exclusive club? Food for thought.</p>
<p>What I see as a problem here is that this thread seems to promote a very narrow range of colleges. Its great if you have the grades to stroll into any of the ivies, public ivies, top LACs etc… But for the rest of population with average grades (or what some here might call sub-par), an affordable, quality, overseas tertiary education is still within reach and european/asian choices are just as good.</p>
<p>As to whether Singaporeans know the colleges which were pointed out earlier by Valour… I’m just saying it shouldn’t be brushed aside so quickly. Many Aussie universities like RMIT, Curtin, James Cook are very well-known in Singapore, but the colleges that Valour had pointed out earlier would possibly provide a more rigorous education than these “well-known” Australian universities (warning, drenched with my personal biases). As with many other things in life, popularity is a poor indicator of quality.</p>
<p>btw, just in case anyone took offense, the sub-part comment was made in reference to this post: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1059811949-post29.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1059811949-post29.html</a></p>
<p>ps: I’ve re-read my previous reply to fiona_ and it does seem like I might have misconstrued her opinion. My apologies. Yes, I agree with her that not many Singaporeans have heard of the european unis, and of many top american unis. But when choosing a school, choose it for yourself, not for others. </p>
<p>I try not to bring in the issue about employers for fear that <em>ah-hem</em> someone would slam me for being too concerned about jobs and salaries. But just to point out… the international nature of the human resource market in Singapore means that very often, employers select applicants based more on their skills and work experiences than the college that they have graduate from. Employers just don’t have the time and resources to find out more about universities of every country. I work in Singapore and have colleagues from Japan, PRC, Philippines, Turkey and India and I can say for sure that the hiring manager is clueless about the universities in these countries. In other words, what Singaporeans (or non-Singaporeans for that matter) think about your future university is really not as important as what sort of opportunities, experience and knowledge you can get from it.</p>
<p>Ack. Sorry also for the multiple posts heh.</p>
<p>@Valour</p>
<p>MIT has the no. 1 ranked Economics program in the US.</p>
<p>Anyway, do note that Economics at the undergraduate level is highly quantitative so it’'ll be good if you’re comfortable with math.</p>
<p>Hm. Anyone know if the mobile phones we buy in Singapore will be functional in USA?</p>
<p>About using the phrase true-blue: I retract my adjective of true-blue, what I actually just meant is the majority of Singaporeans. You guys are pretty unique Even my PSC scholar-friend who graduated from Stanford has never heard of Mudd.</p>
<p>
On the Singapore side now they’re being pretty hushed up. The focus-group coordinators refused to positively confirm that it was Claremont consortium. But anyway, on the California side, the issue has appeared on the front pages of college newsletters, so hey! I guess it should be fine. The college would be the sixth member of the Claremont consortium. Read the link below for more information:
[claremontportside.com</a> - The Sixth College](<a href=“Bringing a Positive Change to Your Community”>Bringing a Positive Change to Your Community)</p>
<p>About the European universities? I acknowledge that good quality of education can be found in lesser-known universities. </p>
<p>However, prestige and recognition can be, and are, issues - seeing as I’m J2 I don’t know alot about obtaining employment. </p>
<p>As a fresh graduate from a somewhat-unknown-in-Singapore university, possibly (?) employers might not bother to look up the university - there’s lots of NUS graduates anyway? Is this fallacious, please correct me.</p>
<p>Convincing parents to pay for an overseas education at some uni that they don’t know might be difficult too. Ha - depends on your parents… XD</p>
<p>Plus, you’ll have to explain to everybody you meet where you’re going to university. Geez. For my JC, I’m like, I’m from NUS High. Other person: NUS High? Me: Scripted response (6-year IP focus on Math & Science…) It will be different. Haha.</p>
<p>And it takes courage to depart from the norm, too, to go to a foreign country where most people don’t speak English, and you’ll find nary a Singaporean, or Asian for that matter. Just something to consider, Valour.</p>