NUS High School of Mathematics and Science (Diploma)

[Wonderment]

It is common knowledge that the particular question referred to above is asked of almost all who attend the interviews.

[faithj]

Dear parents and students in NUSH, I have a few questions to ask as DS got a CO for nush. Hope to clarify some doubts as DS enjoys both Math and English very much and doesnt know what school to choose.


1) What’s the difference between ‘Special Programmes’ and ‘Subject Interest Groups’, there seems to be some overlap in the things they do. (Eg. Socrates Programme and the English Interest Group) And would you say this is similar to the ‘English Special Programme’ in Upper Primary?
2) Do the SPs and SIGs both fall under Enrichment Modules?
3) Do students need to be selected to join these SPs and SIGs? How many can they join? How many hours do they spend here?
4) How does NUSH’s English curriculum differ from the ‘A’ level’s GP/KI?
5) Does NUSH have any school team sports CCAs?
6) Where can I view the results for the past year’s NUSH graduates?
7) What is a rough % of students who move on to good overseas unis? (esp. US Uni)

Thank you!

[Curioustudent]

1. Special programmes teaches you more knowledge that may be out of curriculum. Personally, I have only heard of Einstein program (talented primary school children) and Da Vin Ci program (design, engineering and research, for all students). Socrates program may be added after my batch so I am not sure about that one. Subject interest groups usually plan school programmes such as food science for primary school children, open house and weekly activities in school. I am not sure what special programmes there are in primary school so I cannot compare.

2. Both of them are not counted as enrichment module. Da Vin Ci program(SP) is a core module while SIGs are not graded/taught.
3. The only special program I know so far is Da Vin Ci program (2-3 hours/week) and as I mentioned earlier it is compulsory for all students. SIGs are on a sign-up basis and the amount of time you spend is dependent on which SIG and how committed are you. You can just attend general meetings (once per 1-2 month) and decide not to plan for any activities.
4. I have never taken ‘A’ levels so it will be better to ask someone else.
5. We do not have very excellent sports cca, maybe with the exception of track, and as such you are likely to enter the cca of your choice. If representing school for competitions, most of the time each CCA will barely meet the minimum number of people to participate so everyone will get their chance. CCA are 2-4 hours a week.
6. Current year 6s (me) have access to a list of 2019 graduates university and scholarship applications (which our seniors compiled so it does not include results for the whole cohort). The list also contains some data which may not be updated for overseas university (accepted/rejected) so it mainly shows the number of applicants. If you have specific universities that you want to know more about, you can ask later. Will not be sharing the list since it contains personal informations.
7.
2 apply Amherst college
1 apply Brown University
1 apply California Institute of Technology
1 apply Carnegie Mellon University
3 apply Columbia University
1 apply Dartmouth college
2 apply Duke university
2 apply Emory University
2 apply Grinnell college
4 apply Havard University
5 apply MIT
2 apply Pomona College
5 apply Princeton University
7 apply Stanford University
1 apply Swarthmore College
1 confirmed University of Notre Dame
1 apply Williams College
3 apply Yale University
Some people apply but never update to confirm/rejected

[lucid]

Please refer to following for profile of Oxbridge recent acceptances.

Acceptances rates are highest (43-45%) among all Singapore schools. NUSH has a small graduating cohort of 180-200.
I attribute it to the high quality of candidates from NUSH and also that the applicants can showcase their strengths when applying to their respective faculties.

http://wwwdontmesswith6a.blogspot.com/2019/06/singapore-schools-oxbridge-applications.html

https://postimg.cc/FkmWvHMn

[Wonderment]

faithj\" post_id=\"1993601\" time=\"1599101261\" user_id=\"171285:

Dear parents and students in NUSH, I have a few questions to ask as DS got a CO for nush. Hope to clarify some doubts as DS enjoys both Math and English very much and doesnt know what school to choose.

1) What's the difference between 'Special Programmes' and 'Subject Interest Groups', there seems to be some overlap in the things they do. (Eg. Socrates Programme and the English Interest Group) And would you say this is similar to the 'English Special Programme' in Upper Primary?
2) Do the SPs and SIGs both fall under Enrichment Modules?
3) Do students need to be selected to join these SPs and SIGs? How many can they join? How many hours do they spend here?
4) How does NUSH's English curriculum differ from the 'A' level's GP/KI?
5) Does NUSH have any school team sports CCAs?
6) Where can I view the results for the past year's NUSH graduates?
7) What is a rough % of students who move on to good overseas unis? (esp. US Uni)

Thank you!

The school’s programme of studies is published on its website. It is slightly different for each cohort. Do take the time to review it as it is detailed, and has information on course curriculum, and enables you to assess re A Levels.
This is the link to the POS for Class of 2025:
https://www.nushigh.edu.sg/qql/slot/u744/POS_Class%20of%202025_final.pdf

[macflashpay]

faithj\" post_id=\"1993601\" time=\"1599101261\" user_id=\"171285:

7) What is a rough % of students who move on to good overseas unis? (esp. US Uni)

Class of 2017 university destinations and courses taken:
https://wwwdontmesswith6a.blogspot.com/2020/05/snapshot-of-nush-class-of-2017.html

Class of 2013 university destinations and courses taken:
https://wwwdontmesswith6a.blogspot.com/2017/10/snapshot-of-nush-class-of-2013.html

You may be interested in this too. NUSH has a good representation at the Intl Math & Science olympiads despite her small cohort:
https://wwwdontmesswith6a.blogspot.com/2018/05/singapore-schools-representation-at.html

[faithj]

Dear curioustudent, Wonderment, lucid & macflashpay,


Thank you for your invaluable sharing. It certainly is a lot of information to digest. I’m assuming the teachers will explain them all to the students as they progress, and that parents may not need to know everything, am I right? I’m only familiar with the A levels.

For the olympiads, do all students get a chance to participate or do they select based on performance/grades?

[lucid]

All the students get to participate in Olympiads. The hardest hurdle is to get into the school. Thereafter, everyone is on equal footing.


I like the ethos of the school which is to encourage the kids to explore , experiment then excel. The school principal acknowledged to the parents during our orientation talk that every kid is different - not all are Olympiad material. Some find it boring , others will excel in research , building , design etc
It is very positive that the school recognises one size does not fit all, it just provides the right environment and support for each student to find their competitive niche. And if the student happens to be building the strengths in math and science then the center of excellence is in NUSH.

For core subjects : if you are strong in one subject , you can opt to go to a diagnostic test and if you pass that, you can skip a year or two say in Math. If you did not take higher chinese in primary school and now want to take HCL in NUSH, you can also request for a diagnostic test to qualify for HCL.
For Olympaids: training is in the form of electives where the kids can elect from first semester Year 1. Subsequent terms or years will require a strong A in your core subject to qualify as the electives is not meant to take your focus away from doing well in core Math or science subjects.

However, you can also apply to participate in the Olympiad without having joined the electives. Many of the kids do not attend the subsequent Math O elective but they go for lower years Olympiads for “fun” and exposure. Mine says it’s just to have a go at the questions which are quite interesting. The kids exchange notes to keep updated independently. And there are some who do not want to participate in Olympiad, so be it.

You will be asked to drop the Olympiad elective if you are getting just a B or A- in the core subject ie
Physics Olympaid elective pre-requisite is A or above for core Physics. If the students want it badly then they hv to pull up their core to re-qualify for Olympiad class the next term. This is how the school demands excellence in their culture.

It is impossible to do all Olympiads at higher years so you start to see the kids focus on 1-2 Olympiads into higher years.

[CMMom]

Hello,

NUSH has been DS’ dream school and he received his CO.
While waiting for curriculum briefing in October, can I ask some trivial questions:
1. Is laptop allowed in class? Wifi?
2. For schoolwork, any recommended spec?
3. We’re staying quite far from school so I wonder if the above mentioned olympiad training, is it done during curriculum time or after school hours?
Thank you so much.

[worryingmum]

Hi parents with older kids in NUSH, what is a good CAP in NUSH? is it right to thik that most students will score close to 5 or at least 4.5?