Subject Combination in JC

[lizawa]

Zann:

Hi Lizawa, that sounds like in the past. But it seems like nowadays, especially, in top schools, the students are competing by the number of subjects and point they take.

Have not heard of point system(学分）. Duno how essential it is and how it works. :?

True. But still the uni will just look at 3H2, 1H1, GP or KI and Project Work. So total score is 90.

But I suppose when you get so many students scoring distinction for H2, then, the other form of comparison will be the other subjects you take + CCAs etc. Especially for scholarships and when competition is intense for a certain faculty. Eg. medicine. I know one guy who has perfect score, ie all distinctions and As. but still not able to get into NUS Medicine faculty. So he is doing his medical degree overseas now.

[Zann]

lizawa:

True. But still the uni will just look at 3H2, 1H1, GP or KI and Project Work. So total score is 90.

But I suppose when you get so many students scoring distinction for H2, then, the other form of comparison will be the other subjects you take + CCAs etc. Especially for scholarships and when competition is intense for a certain faculty. Eg. medicine. I know one guy who has perfect score, ie all distinctions and As. but still not able to get into NUS Medicine faculty. So he is doing his medical degree overseas now.

I heard of this case too. Some said if he has gotton a doctor parent, he would have gotten it? BTW, What is KI and how do you determine score 90?

[csc]

Hi all,


You may all want to access the following website for infomation pertaining to JC subject combination.

Quite a lot to digest though.

http://www.njc.edu.sg/education_subject.htm

[Zann]

csc:

Hi all,


You may all want to access the following website for infomation pertaining to JC subject combination.

Quite a lot to digest though.

http://www.njc.edu.sg/education_subject.htm

Wow! not simple ne ...

[lizawa]

Zann:

I heard of this case too. Some said if he has gotton a doctor parent, he would have gotten it? BTW, What is KI and how do you determine score 90?

If i am not wrong, each H2 subject constitute 20points, each H1 is 10 points. So 3 H2 = 60 points, 1 H1 + GP + PW = 30 points. Knowledge Inquiry (KI) is like \"higher GP\", so if you are picked to do KI, then it's a H2 subject, you don't have to do GP.

[micko07]

Lol let me clarify.

The new syllabus is now H1 (AO Lvl), H2 (A Lvl) or H3 (S Paper). Each H1 counts for 1 Academic Unit (AU), H2, 2 AUs and H3 1 AU (I'll explain why later). You need at least 1 CONTRASTING subject, Ie a science student must take a least one Arts subject like Economics, Literature, and a arts student must take at least one Science subject, normally Maths. Knowledge and Inquiry, which is basically Philosophy (or rather the philosophy of knowledge aka epistemology), is a H2 subject that is a contrasting for BOTH Sciences & Arts. Your contrasting subject can be a H1 or a H2, doesn't matter. (MTL does not count as a contrasting subject for Science students; likewise for H1 Foreign Lang)

The following subjects are COMPULSORY:
H1 PW
H1 Mother Tongue Lang (Unless you opt to do H2 Mother Tongue Lang and Lit)
H1 GP (Can be replaced by H2 KI)
So a normal student would already have 3 AUs.

Now the minimum number of AUs is 10, the maximum is 12 (actually there are people with 13 but you need approval from the ministry + insanely good grades and CCA record)

So the most logical choice would be 3 H2s, 1 H1 since H3 is mainly offered only at J2.
For example, my brother's combi:
PW, MTL, GP (H1)
Econs (Contrasting), Maths, Computing (H2)
Physics (H1)
Hence, 3 + 2(3) + 1 = 10 AU.
I offer what is called expanded curriculum, which is 11/12 AUs.
PW, MTL, GP (H1)
Geog, English Lit, Maths (Contrasting), Econs (H2)
3 + 2(4) = 11 AU

There are 3 main types of H3 modules:
Research-based (Eg Science Research Programme, Nanyang Research Programme, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Programme)
University Offered Modules (SMU Game Theory, NUS Economy and Space, NTU Semiconductors)
MOE Modules (H3 Physics, H3 Lit, H3 History)
*Note the list isn't comprehensive, MOE has a full list though

To offer H3, you CANNOT be offering 12 AUs already (unless you're really imba). So in my case, I can only offer 1 H3 since I have 11 AUs. To take a H3, one MUST be taking the relevant H2 subject (Eg Game Theory needs H2 econs and so on). Hence, H3 will only count as 1 AU

KI MUST be taken as your 4th H2 (Ie you cannot take say Maths, KI and Geog (H2) and Econs and Lit (H1)). Since KI replaces GP, KI-ers will have 1 AU less than the normally 4H2 student
Eg
PW, MTL (H1)
KI, History, Lit, Econs (H2)
2 + 8 = 10 AU

The same applies for Mother Tongue Lit and Language ... it replaces H1 MTL so you'll end up with 1 AU less. However, it need not necessarily be the 4th subject. You can take just 3 H2s, including MTLL and the rest of your AUs can be made up with H1 subjects
Eg
PW, GP (H1)
MTLL, Physics, Chemistry (H2)
Maths, Econs (H1)
2 + 6 + 2 = 10 AU

Hope that helps!

[Zann]

micko07:

The following subjects are COMPULSORY:
H1 PW
H1 Mother Tongue Lang (Unless you opt to do H2 Mother Tongue Lang and Lit)
H1 GP (Can be replaced by H2 KI)
So a normal student would already have 3 AUs.

Hi micko07, for those who pass their Higher CL, they won't have to do Mother Tongue Lang, right? In this case they will have short of 1 AU. Good or Bad?

[micko07]

Hmm I’m not too sure about this but for now, it’s a good thing IMO. I did well enough in HCL last year so I’m not taking Chinese now (ie I get to go home earlier and have one subject less worth of homework). However, according to my bro, if you score an A for MTL, you can replace your H1 subject in the calculation of University Score for admission with MTL. So in a sense, it’s less stressful because you need to focus on acing just three other subjects (ie your H2s)

I’m not very clear about this at the moment. But NUS says that they will include your Higher MTL grade in scoring, assuming you didn’t get As for everything else (ie 3H2s, 1 H1, PW, GP) So yupps I think you can still use hMTL to pull up your grades; it’s just that you can’t replace your H1 subject with it.
In any case, personally I’m quite glad I didn’t have to take Chinese in JC … it gives me more free time and also because the workload is really heavy (I still remember having 6 hours worth of chinese lessons everyday in school leading up to O levels -.-)

[daisyt]

micko07:

For example, my brother's combi:
PW, MTL, GP (H1)
Econs (Contrasting), Maths, Computing (H2)
Physics (H1)
Hence, 3 + 2(3) + 1 = 10 AU.

Hi micko07, thanks for your detailed explanation. Two questions
1) It is possible not to include Science (Bio, Chem, Physic) in H2 ?
2) I have heard of student must drop KI and take GP, if the results of the 3 subjects of H2 are not good. Is it correct ?

Thanks

[Ilovebeingkiasu]

hi there.

i’m a soon-to-be jc student and is struggling to find a subject combination that suits me.
i’m was thinking of taking up h1 physics…and h2 chem, econs and math.
since my first choice is getting into a science stream… h2 math is a must, i guess.
my sciences are okay, though my interest mainly lies in chemistry if i were to compare it with physics.
i’m a pure science student by the way.
since i hope to be in the business sector next time cause its more practical… maybe econs h2 would help a lot?
sooo. there isn’t a need to take h2 physics, instead i can just take h1 physcis?
any suggestions cause i heard that some jcs require their students to choose their subj combination on the first day of sch, meaning that i have got no time to lose.
also… if you don’t mind, is taking 4h2 subjects beneficial? to me its a complete waste of time because it requires more time and if someone can’t cope with one of the h2… they can opt to drop to h1 in the next year, resuting in a lost of time. my senior told me that taking 4h2 is like an insurance.
any advice??
thanks.