Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)

[carcar]

autolycus\" post_id=\"2127434\" time=\"1705639134\" user_id=\"16143:

The total inflow from ACS(I) Y1-4 is a bit difficult to estimate since students change path and some come in later, but it is about 300+ with some variance, given a IB cohort of 450 students or so. Some of the remaining places are earmarked for MGS IP students. This leaves maybe 60(?) students from all over the place. I no longer have access to official data at a micro level.

The original plan was to reserve about 2/3 of the places for ACS(I) IP — so when we started at ≈360 (graduated 356 in the first year) about 240 were from ACS(I) IP or O-levels. In the first couple of years we accepted a fair number from other IP schools, but people weren't happy with that and the option was suppressed.

Generally, popular programmes tend to expand wildly. Original school size for ACS(I) was 1200 (S1-4), original IB cohort was supposed to be 120. Less than a year before implementation we were told to jack it up to 360. You can imagine the chaos. I believe further changes will come down the road.

Just came across the ACSI FAQ page that there are usually about 100 vacancies for the JAE intake
https://sites.acsindep.edu.sg/FAQ/index.php

[carcar]

autolycus\" post_id=\"2127847\" time=\"1706058034\" user_id=\"16143:

Yeah, but we don't know the subject distribution for those 38 points, including 0-3 bonus points. We don't know if they qualify for medical school, considering many UK medical schools like triple-science candidates and the IB doesn't normally allow those. Apples, durians. We do however know that the vast majority of JC students are double-science and can technically qualify for a local medical school (chemistry plus one other science). The JC distribution is much larger, you will see a kind of regression to the mean; the MOE IB schools (SJI, ACS(I)) and SOTA are pretty selective.

Maybe it just means that HCIS (per your example) has a lot of breadth in its educational offerings, or that these kids are scoring amazingly well at their SL subjects (sort of equivalent to acing your H1s but stumbling a bit in your H2s).

Actually I too have the same doubts, what's the success rate of 36-38 pointers from the international applicants' pool of getting into UK medical schools. However, by just looking at the entry requirement for IB (36-38) vs. Sg/International A level (AAA), it does make a difference in term of advantage.

[manorway]

Qualified to be considered does NOT mean they are successful in their applications to medical schools.


All the 36-38 pointers I know are in local Uni doing courses that are not very popular. Those who are in European and US uni are again doing courses that are usually not popular with Singaporeans.

[manorway]

SL Langlit, Chinese, Econs - 7 points each

HL Chemistry, Physics, Math - 4 points each
TOK/EE - 3 points

PCME is a popular combination. The above gives 36 points but this graduate will NOT have a chance to be shortlisted for Med school at all. So like autolycus pointed out, it matters where the 6 and 7 points are. It is very clearly stated on some Uni admission sites that students must score 6 or 7 in the HL subjects to be considered.

[carcar]

manorway\" post_id=\"2127911\" time=\"1706093775\" user_id=\"9303:

SL Langlit, Chinese, Econs - 7 points each
HL Chemistry, Physics, Math - 4 points each
TOK/EE - 3 points

PCME is a popular combination. The above gives 36 points but this graduate will NOT have a chance to be shortlisted for Med school at all. So like autolycus pointed out, it matters where the 6 and 7 points are. It is very clearly stated on some Uni admission sites that students must score 6 or 7 in the HL subjects to be considered.

this makes sense... the ranges for required HL subjects are 666 - 776

[lee_yl]

Of cos there are pre-requisites to meet before one can apply for certain courses. RP90 BCME student without H2 Bio also won’t qualify for local med course. So what is new about it?

[autolycus]

lee_yl\" post_id=\"2127915\" time=\"1706102206\" user_id=\"17023:

Of cos there are pre-requisites to meet before one can apply for certain courses. RP90 student without H2 Bio also won’t qualify for local med course. So what is new about it?

Actually, you can. H2 Chem + H2 Physics meets local requirements.

Link: [ https://medicine.nus.edu.sg/prospective-students/nus-medicine-pre-requisites/ ]

[lee_yl]

autolycus\" post_id=\"2127916\" time=\"1706102512\" user_id=\"16143:

Actually, you can. H2 Chem + H2 Physics meets local requirements.

Link: [ https://medicine.nus.edu.sg/prospective-students/nus-medicine-pre-requisites/ ]

BCME with H1 Bio would not qualify for med course. We are digressing as the main point is that IB’s inherent advantage is that Singapore students are pitting against international students.

[manorway]

lee_yl\" post_id=\"2127842\" time=\"1706055170\" user_id=\"17023:

If we take HCIS for example, looking at their website, more than half the school cohort scored at least 38 points at IB. Which means an average kid inside international school student can meet most UK medical schools’ entry requirements of 36 points. Not something we can claim for most JCs.

So I would think an average kid, or those who didn’t do too well in PSLE and O levels, would benefit from IB

Not digressing. Pointing out the inaccuracy of the above statement that an average kid can meet most UK medical schools' entry requirements of 36 points. Meeting requirements means one must also meet the pre-requisites of HL grades and NOT just looking at the number of IB points.

From HCIS's website:
... average score of 37.7 points. A noteworthy 54.2% of the graduating cohort attained at least 38 points or higher, with 35.9% achieving a score of 40 points and above and as many as 8 students excelled with 44 points.

HCIS had cohort of 148 in its 2022 batch, assuming same size in 2023, then 5% scored 44 points.

I fail to see how that means it is very easy for average students to just go HCIS and score 45 points.

HCIS also offered scholarship to PSLE students with single-point AL. Why don't they go to other IP schools? Perhaps their scores did not qualify them for ACSI, SJI or MGS and they wanted to graduate with IB instead of A levels. Perhaps they love the environment of international schools. Perhaps they were lured by the scholarship and to be known as a scholar. Two of my kids' classmates took this route scoring AL7 and AL9. It is MORE likely for these kids to emerge one of the top scorers than an average student who scored AL20. Not impossible for the latter to do so, just less likely. There can always be late bloomers of course.

[autolycus]

lee_yl\" post_id=\"2127917\" time=\"1706103076\" user_id=\"17023:

BCME with H1 Bio would not qualify for med course. We are digressing as the main point is that IB’s inherent advantage is that Singapore students are pitting against international students.

It's not that much of an advantage in those terms: remember that there are a lot of excellent IB candidates in the May exams who apply to the same overseas universities as SG students do. The main advantage in many cases is that it is seen as a broader preparation for a university education. This is reflected in the way some universities use the UCAS tariff system or equivalent (UK) and in the way universities in other countries view the full IB diploma.

I guess the most important thread in this discussion is that students taking the IB in SG have chances that are at least as good as those taking the SG-Cambridge A-levels, but for different reasons and in different contexts. Truly talented kids should probably aim for a specialist institution (SOTA, NUS High etc), but the academically bright should choose something they are comfortable with.

One thing I've learned over the last few years since we introduced the IB as a mainstream element in SG education is that parents really need to ask someone with detailed curricular and experiential knowledge. A lot of misinformation goes around, and this leads parents to make choices for their kids that may be less helpful than intended. Sometimes the choices are counterintuitive, you might need to make a tougher choice to give the student better options, for example.