DSA 2024

[floppy]

0limshs\" post_id=\"2134271\" time=\"1716705151\" user_id=\"192176:

Hi, needed advise here, between SCGS and RV, which is a better school? If comparing EJC and RV A level result, seems like SCGS better. But I might be wrong.

EJC is a combination of 1) SCGS 2) SNGS 3) CHS 4) Others.
RV is only RV.
Even if EJC result is better than RV, it's not reasonable to draw the conclusion that SCGS is better than RV.

[0limshs]

Thank you all for the reply, we more or less know which school to eliminate.

[skii]

few more days to deadline …


submit first think later
submit already still can edit (or even withdraw)

[revils_ling]

Hi parents,


My DS is keen to try HCI via DSA Maths as one of his 3 choices. He is a Gepper and Maths fanatic (for background info). I was wondering what difference will there be in terms of opportunities available to him if we compare him getting into HCI via DSA Maths vs PSLE. Is there a significant difference between those 2 pathways for the individual students? In addition, will there be any difference between Geppers and mainstream students in terms of class/program allocation (iSpark etc)? Please share your thoughts on this. Thanks in advance! 🙏

[tambourina lee]

Anxious irene\" post_id=\"2133689\" time=\"1715330720\" user_id=\"45759:[quote=\"Anxious irene\" post_id=2133689 time=1715330720 user_id=45759]
Hi parents,

DS is super interested in Maths/Science. Looking at DSA into NUSH. He says he wants to give it a try.

Looked through the website, it mention something like submit portfolio, may i know what is this portfolio that NUSH is looking for?

Also DS is a prefect and Vice-captain for his track and field. Looking at DSA leadership as well. Can any parents enlighten us, is DSA through leadership tough? DS looking at VS. Any idea what VS is looking at for leadership?

Thanks all in advance.[/quote]

Hi anxiousirene, regarding the NUSH portfolio, I believe your son should include anything that helps to show that your child has a passion for math and science. That's what the school is looking for, individuals who have an interest and passion in math and science.
If your child has no olympiad/math science competition related results /certs to include in the portfolio, do not worry either. If he is interested in NUSH, just go ahead an apply. It is a myth that NUSH only takes in geppers or olympiad medalist. So just apply, see how he fares at the selection test(s).

My child was from a neighbourhood school, we did not send him for any competitions or olympiads, and his cca was a sport 😅. He had nothing to upload for his portfolio, so we uploaded all his edusave awards just to upload something rather than nothing. With nothing much to show portfolio wise, he only had the selection tests to go for, I'm not sure how the school identifies the students during their selection process but in the end he received COs from both NUSH and SST.

Hope this information helps.

All the best to your son in his DSA applications and for his PSLE as well.

[Sheena_1]

Hi,


Am I right that the DSA application doesn’t require us to upload anything. Just type information. No Certificates, documentary proof etc??

Thanks

tambourina lee\" post_id=\"2134378\" time=\"1716903541\" user_id=\"95687:[quote=\"tambourina lee\" post_id=2134378 time=1716903541 user_id=95687]Hi anxiousirene, regarding the NUSH portfolio, I believe your son should include anything that helps to show that your child has a passion for math and science. That's what the school is looking for, individuals who have an interest and passion in math and science.
If your child has no olympiad/math science competition related results /certs to include in the portfolio, do not worry either. If he is interested in NUSH, just go ahead an apply. It is a myth that NUSH only takes in geppers or olympiad medalist. So just apply, see how he fares at the selection test(s).

My child was from a neighbourhood school, we did not send him for any competitions or olympiads, and his cca was a sport 😅. He had nothing to upload for his portfolio, so we uploaded all his edusave awards just to upload something rather than nothing. With nothing much to show portfolio wise, he only had the selection tests to go for, I'm not sure how the school identifies the students during their selection process but in the end he received COs from both NUSH and SST.

Hope this information helps.

All the best to your son in his DSA applications and for his PSLE as well.[/quote]

[mystique_j]

revils_ling\" post_id=\"2134357\" time=\"1716865470\" user_id=\"136480:

Hi parents,

My DS is keen to try HCI via DSA Maths as one of his 3 choices. He is a Gepper and Maths fanatic (for background info). I was wondering what difference will there be in terms of opportunities available to him if we compare him getting into HCI via DSA Maths vs PSLE. Is there a significant difference between those 2 pathways for the individual students? In addition, will there be any difference between Geppers and mainstream students in terms of class/program allocation (iSpark etc)? Please share your thoughts on this. Thanks in advance! 🙏

Geppers will be posted to iSpark. There will also be high scoring mainstream kids posted to iSpark. For DSA math/science, it appears that MOST (not all) of them were posted to iSpark as well but I'm not sure if this applies to every batch. From what I know, DSA math/science kids will do olympiad trainings, at least in S1/2, I'm not sure about S3/4, have not reached there yet. However, the training is also open to other kids, the just need to sit for tests to be selected.

[TC_Parents]

dxb625\" post_id=\"2134063\" time=\"1716164966\" user_id=\"105208:

I attended the talk at SJI this past weekend. The principal mentioned that it is very common for parents to apply to VS, RI, ACSI, HCI in addition to SJI. He did not say they would not give a CO to students who also applied to one of these other schools but asked for parents to be considerate and call SJI to let them know ASAP if they decided to take up the CO from RI/VS/ACSI/HCI. He explained that getting a CO means your child will be guaranteed a place at the school and parents do not need to fear this place will be given to someone else (unless your child scores 23 points or higher). He has a long waitlist every year and if parents can call to let them know their DS are going to RI/HCI/ACSI/VS, then they can give the CO to someone else on the waitlist sooner.

Thanks

[Prislga]

Sheena_1\" post_id=\"2134423\" time=\"1716993700\" user_id=\"45423:

Hi,

Am I right that the DSA application doesn’t require us to upload anything. Just type information. No Certificates, documentary proof etc??

Thanks

You can if you want eg. External showcases, testimonials, school awards and related achievements outside of school. We have done it twice in our applications. Upload to cloud and share the link in your cover letter.

From our experiences, some schools will look at them before calling for audition/interview. Some don't - they only ask when during audition/interview.

[revils_ling]

mystique_j\" post_id=\"2134424\" time=\"1716996516\" user_id=\"39431:

Geppers will be posted to iSpark. There will also be high scoring mainstream kids posted to iSpark. For DSA math/science, it appears that MOST (not all) of them were posted to iSpark as well but I'm not sure if this applies to every batch. From what I know, DSA math/science kids will do olympiad trainings, at least in S1/2, I'm not sure about S3/4, have not reached there yet. However, the training is also open to other kids, the just need to sit for tests to be selected.

Thanks mystique_j for your response. I also wanted to ask about the boarding program in Year 1. I heard that it isn't compulsory and is on a FCFS basis. Has your DS experienced it before? In addition, do you have any insight on the cohort size for DSA Infocomm at HCI?

My DS is now leaning towards DSA Infocomm for HCI instead of DSA Maths after doing some online research on this domain today. But he doesn't have much to show, except for the HCIC results he received today. I was wondering if it's worth trying since his Infocomm achievement will just appear as a 1-liner in his DSA submission. 🤔 A part of me being a parent is wondering if he will have a higher chance in this domain as compared to Maths. He's not dying to get into HCI, but I think he wants to have this option if possible. His 2 other options are NUSH and SST. Would appreciate any advice on this. Thanks!

Some background info:
The results for HCIC 2024 were released this morning, and to our amazement, my DS did surprisingly well. He doesn't have a background or any prior accolades in coding/programming so it was really out of the blue. So far, he has only dabbled in HTML on his own on rare occasions, and for this competition, it was meant as a try for fun activity since he doesn't attend any coding classes and was never particularly keen to. To prep, we borrowed some Python- and robotics-related books from the library for him to read up about 2-3 weeks before the competition. We didn't expect much because most of his afternoons were spent on attending MOs and revising for school common tests. I think he only spent less than 8-10 hours in total reading the books, and about 2 hours trying out the codes on the computer. So when we saw the results this morning, we were dumbfounded and it made us wonder, is this area another strength of his that we didn't know about? His almost 12 years of life has mostly been about his love for Maths only, so we naturally thought that he would just try for DSA Maths when the time comes and that would be it. Now we (including my DS) are not so sure anymore. 😅