Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)

[DadOfGirl]

autolycus:

centralpark:

DS is more interested in Human Geography than Physical Geography. He has always enjoyed long museum visits. A trivia buff. He is too careless in dealing with numbers in Physics. Biology has less room for careless mistakes. I think what suits him at university will be PPE. Are there overseas universities that offer a good PPE? Other than Oxbridge?

Wow... PPE will kill him if he's not able to construct and sustain long and careful written arguments. He doesn't sound like he's quite PPE-ready type yet, so he'll need to prepare to use those trivia-buff skills to retain a lot of reading material, and to structure it for appropriate use.

PPE is really an Oxford thing; you won't find it at Cambridge, and it's not commonly found elsewhere as a degree course. But an education in one of the small and exclusive liberal-arts colleges in the northeastern USA might suit him well. Dartmouth (NH), Swarthmore (PA) etc — and then off to Harvard for postgrad studies!

What is is PPE degree?

[centralpark]

Hi DadOfGirl,


PPE is politics, philosophy and economics. A very flexible combination. Well balanced education.

[centralpark]

Hi autolycus,


Thank you for your early warning!

The numerous projects in term 3 have been very useful in honing the skills in presenting ideas. Hopefully by end of year 6, DS can construct and sustain long and careful written arguments.

I will be elated if DS can get a place in one of the top liberal arts colleges. He has to work hard for it. I don’t dare to dream of postgrad studies in Harvard. The kickass cupcakes sold outside the campus are certainly out of this world though. DS does not adhere to rigid rules and formulae. He survives better in the working world. I think schooling for him is just to instill self discipline and learn critical thinking.

Thank you once again, autolycus! Have a nice day.

[DadOfGirl]

centralpark:

Hi DadOfGirl,


PPE is politics, philosophy and economics. A very flexible combination. Well balanced education.

Thank you Centralpark. Will Yale-NUS graduate program offer it in some form?
We are looking for suitable degree in Arts for my DD.. appearing for O-level this year with Humanities based subject combo...

[centralpark]

Hi DadOfGirl,


Yale-NUS does offer PPE. The website shows the different majors available.

[DadOfGirl]

centralpark:

Hi DadOfGirl,


Yale-NUS does offer PPE. The website shows the different majors available.

Thank you CentralPark.

[twilight]

Song22:

centralpark:

Hi Blessedmommy,


Welcome to ACSI! It is indeed a great school. My year 2 boy enjoys sec school much more than pri. Think it's because the teachers and principal at ACSI treat the boys like gentlemen instead of talking down to them. Autolycus is right. It's important to know which system suits your boys. Not every student is suitable for IB. From what I have observed so far, a student who is strong in Maths and Sci but weak in Languages might do better in the A levels and enjoy his learning.

Thanks for the feedback.

I think many parents who are thinking between IB and A level might be concerned about the comment underlined above. Hope to hear more about this from existing ACSI parents, thanks!
:thankyou:

I agree that someone stronger in math and science should do A levels, but that's assuming they want to pursue math or science or engineering subjects in university because I think IB curriculum for math and science are very shallow. I encountered some difficulty when preparing for tests or interviews for universities, in that I had to do extra reading and preparation for them, while my A level friends said the test was so easy, it's just the normal stuff they do in school and some questions were even easier than what they do in school.

I think language is about the same because GP in A levels isn't easy either. But I think someone strong in math or science would be more likely to do better in GP than in lit because a mathematically inclined person is likely to be better in logical and systematic thinking than the stuff that they ask for in literature. This is a gross generalisation of course. It's just my personal experience.

[autolycus]

Having taught both A-levels and IB classes, I would say that the great myth of modern education is to think that the humanities and sciences use different amounts of logical and/or systematic thinking. What they do is use different kinds of logical and/or systematic thinking.


My learning and teaching experience in Computing, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics has proven generalisable to scoring in TOK, GP, History, Econs and English Lit. It's all about defining your terms clearly and then developing a personal response that answers the question in a way that employs the appropriate syntax/grammar/vocabulary.

If anything, the required range of rational communication in mathematics is narrower than that required in the humanities. It's just that it's hard work for sloppy thinkers — in both cases, and in two different ways. Having suffered through the A-levels (in an earlier and tougher age), perhaps the problem is that the A-level subjects are taught independently of any context outside themselves — they are 'siloed', as the literature says.

[breezy]

Sharing a funny but heartwarming video by the ACSI students council for today's Teachers' Day celebrations.


Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evFaBrUxJFI

[J K Teo]

I congratulate your C Division Under-14 rugby boys for a most spectacular show of grit, tenacity, teamwork and relentless drive to excel in the finals. We watched how a group of tanned, toned and athletic youths, barely 14 years old, who refusing to concede defeat, pounced attack after attack intensively, demonstrating great composure and determination to chase the score from 0 to 13 after St Andrew's blistering lead of 14-0. It was a very tight game fought between two highly skilled teams. Although your boys missed the title by one point, they have won many hearts in the spectator stands.


And by the way, I am not an old ACS boy