Local Vs International School
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I also heard about the reverse being true, but then again, there are different A levels all around the world, so I’m not sure a comparison can truly be made. I suppose it depends on the universities. But for IB, it’s uniform worldwide, so it’s easier to obtain the statistics for credit transfer. That’s what I heard.
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twilight:
I also heard about the reverse being true, but then again, there are different A levels all around the world, so I'm not sure a comparison can truly be made. I suppose it depends on the universities. But for IB, it's uniform worldwide, so it's easier to obtain the statistics for credit transfer. That's what I heard.
The Singapore-Cambridge GCE A-levels are acknowledged by the few universities who know the difference to be amongst the toughest in the world. Such universities will give a bit of extra credit. However the IB is considered better than -other- A-level qualifications in general.
Some universities don't bother with the difference between SCGCE and other A-levels. Those will consider the IB better. -
autolycus:
Erm, not cheaper. If a student does O-levels + SATs, he will end up graduating two years earlier than his friends. It's not two additional years. The Singapore system of education is based on the English system, which can take a very long time before university. The American system, however, takes a longer time for professional degrees.[/quote]It's definitely cheaper to start your US degree immediately. It's not 2 additional years in a community college - the 2 years is the general education part of the US degree, and had to be done whether you start with O level, A level or IB. After your community college, you transfer to the third year, while someone with A level or IB start in the first year. Cost wise, community college isn't that expensive. It'll work out cheaper than international schools and the fees would probably cost about the same as what you'll pay for tuition for A level students. You can do it accelerated and complete in about 1-1/2 years.
wouldn't it be more expensive to do 2 addtional year in US- community college & all that. Infact , it will be better to do A-level & finish first degree in 6-7 semester with great A level score & associated creditsDadOfGirl:
[quote=\"rosemummy\"]
Like to share where you got this info from? From what I know, the reverse is true. But whether A level or IB, you don't get much credit, probably just for 1 or 2 subjects, which would translate to 6 credits.
Actually, if you're planning to do a first degree in the US, the best option is to forget about both A level, IB or poly. Just do O level and SAT and apply for admission straight away. Alternatively, you can do the freshmen and sophomore years in a community college. Most students starting at a community college immediately after their O levels should be in their junior (third) year by the time those completing their A level / IB start their first year. Definitely faster and cheaper.
That's the chepest for middle class family.
From what I know, you don't get much credit for A levels or IB. At the most, you'll save just 1 semester after spending 2 years doing it. For community college, you can almost always transfer all your credit, including to many of the Ivies and definitely to all the public ivies. You may also get priority to public universities in the same state, compared with someone applying straight with A levels / IB.
Yes, professional degrees can only be done after your 1st degree in the US.
Just to add, you'll graduate much faster if you skip your A level / IB if you intend to study in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The only advantage in doing A level / IB is that the student is older, more matured and better prepared for college, and will tend to do better than a 16 year old fresh out of O level, particularly for the Maths and Science subjects, and Econs (if they did all that in their A level / IB). -
rosemummy:
It's definitely cheaper to start your US degree immediately. It's not 2 additional years in a community college - the 2 years is the general education part of the US degree, and had to be done whether you start with O level, A level or IB. After your community college, you transfer to the third year, while someone with A level or IB start in the first year. Cost wise, community college isn't that expensive. It'll work out cheaper than international schools and the fees would probably cost about the same as what you'll pay for tuition for A level students. You can do it accelerated and complete in about 1-1/2 years.
Erm, not cheaper. If a student does O-levels + SATs, he will end up graduating two years earlier than his friends. It's not two additional years. The Singapore system of education is based on the English system, which can take a very long time before university. The American system, however, takes a longer time for professional degrees.autolycus:
[quote=\"DadOfGirl\"]
wouldn't it be more expensive to do 2 addtional year in US- community college & all that. Infact , it will be better to do A-level & finish first degree in 6-7 semester with great A level score & associated credits
That's the chepest for middle class family.
From what I know, you don't get much credit for A levels or IB. At the most, you'll save just 1 semester after spending 2 years doing it. For community college, you can almost always transfer all your credit, including to many of the Ivies and definitely to all the public ivies. You may also get priority to public universities in the same state, compared with someone applying straight with A levels / IB.
Yes, professional degrees can only be done after your 1st degree in the US.
Just to add, you'll graduate much faster if you skip your A level / IB if you intend to study in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The only advantage in doing A level / IB is that the student is older, more matured and better prepared for college, and will tend to do better than a 16 year old fresh out of O level, particularly for the Maths and Science subjects, and Econs (if they did all that in their A level / IB).[/quote]A-Level (JC) tution fee would be @ 4000/5000 Singapore Dollars per year. It will work out to be cost of 10000 SGd for two years.
Would you let go such opportunity to form foundation at reasonable cost? GEC-Alevel in sinagpore is defintely rated very well & if you score straight , you can save one semester in most Uni in US. -
DadOfGirl:
A-Level (JC) tution fee would be @ 4000/5000 Singapore Dollars per year. It will work out to be cost of 10000 SGd for two years.
It's definitely cheaper to start your US degree immediately. It's not 2 additional years in a community college - the 2 years is the general education part of the US degree, and had to be done whether you start with O level, A level or IB. After your community college, you transfer to the third year, while someone with A level or IB start in the first year. Cost wise, community college isn't that expensive. It'll work out cheaper than international schools and the fees would probably cost about the same as what you'll pay for tuition for A level students. You can do it accelerated and complete in about 1-1/2 years.rosemummy:
[quote=\"autolycus\"]
Erm, not cheaper. If a student does O-levels + SATs, he will end up graduating two years earlier than his friends. It's not two additional years. The Singapore system of education is based on the English system, which can take a very long time before university. The American system, however, takes a longer time for professional degrees.
From what I know, you don't get much credit for A levels or IB. At the most, you'll save just 1 semester after spending 2 years doing it. For community college, you can almost always transfer all your credit, including to many of the Ivies and definitely to all the public ivies. You may also get priority to public universities in the same state, compared with someone applying straight with A levels / IB.
Yes, professional degrees can only be done after your 1st degree in the US.
Just to add, you'll graduate much faster if you skip your A level / IB if you intend to study in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The only advantage in doing A level / IB is that the student is older, more matured and better prepared for college, and will tend to do better than a 16 year old fresh out of O level, particularly for the Maths and Science subjects, and Econs (if they did all that in their A level / IB).
Would you let go such opportunity to form foundation at reasonable cost? GEC-Alevel in sinagpore is defintely rated very well & if you score straight , you can save one semester in most Uni in US.[/quote]From what i've heard from students who've gone to American Universities, they can get 1 yr exemptions with A levels in most cases. A friend's daughter who went to Berkeley after her A levels is attempting to complete her undergraduate degree in 2.5yrs with course exemptions from her A levels. -
d1s2:
From what i've heard from students who've gone to American Universities, they can get 1 yr exemptions with A levels in most cases. A friend's daughter who went to Berkeley after her A levels is attempting to complete her undergraduate degree in 2.5yrs with course exemptions from her A levels.
The reason this is possible is because A-level exams (grade A, B/C) will give you varying exemptions from taking prerequisite courses.
For example, a typical A-level H2 Chem, Bio or Maths C will give you 8 course credits and fulfil the requirements for the equivalent courses you will otherwise have to take at the School of Engineering at UC Berkeley. Note however that A-level Physics won't do this.
Also note that the S'pore-Cambridge is taken to be roughly equal to the HK, Oxbridge and London A-levels.
For the IB, UCB gives about 2/3 of the credit, but sometimes the full exemption. This differs from undergrad prog to undergrad prog.
You need a good college counsellor to tell you what exemptions you will get for your combination. -
d1s2:
Really depends on your A level subjects and grades as well as what you want to major in for your degree. A levels is only useful for science / engineering, but not for most other courses. It's quite pointless doing A levels if you want to major in, for example, liberal arts, accountancy or business. What you learn, whether Science or Humanities, wouldn't be of much relevance. Starting immediately on a US degree will definitely give you better exposure to a much broader range of subjects (ranging from law, accounting, psychology and philosophy) and allow you to better decide on the major after the 2nd year.
From what i've heard from students who've gone to American Universities, they can get 1 yr exemptions with A levels in most cases. A friend's daughter who went to Berkeley after her A levels is attempting to complete her undergraduate degree in 2.5yrs with course exemptions from her A levels.DadOfGirl:
A-Level (JC) tution fee would be @ 4000/5000 Singapore Dollars per year. It will work out to be cost of 10000 SGd for two years.
Would you let go such opportunity to form foundation at reasonable cost? GEC-Alevel in sinagpore is defintely rated very well & if you score straight , you can save one semester in most Uni in US.
As for costs, the fees for a community college is usually no more than US$10k per year. I know of many parents who pay $1k or more per month for tuition for their JC kids. If you manage to establish residence after your first 2 years, you may qualify for the lower fees for resident in the next 2 years if you go to a public university in the same state. The savings can be very substantial. -
kiasuest2:
I dont think so as there are no extra marks given for being a non-Chinese taking it as MT. Since the majority of students taking Chinese are Chinese, Just a few non-Chinese would not make much of a difference to the average but if the score is less than the average, it would make a big difference to the overall T-score as the MT T-score could actually be \"negative\"
my understanding is that by having non-Chinese pupils taking Chinese as MT should actually raise your child's T-score for Chinese as your child will be seen to do better as there will be a lowering of the average mark used in the T-score formula no?david1947:
There are non-Chinese primary school students whose parents opt for Chinese as MT. While this will serve them well in future, it can lead to lower T-scores. For instance my child obtained A's in all subjects except MT where she got a B...so her T-score is lower than expected and she cant get into a good school of her choice.
While not wanting to start a debate on the merits of the scoring system, I am now faced with a difficult choice - whether to send her to a B-grade school under the same system or switch her to the IB program at one of the 3 local international schools - SJI, ACS or Hwa Chong.
Does anyone have recommendations on the merits of these three? -
ycpang:
Many say children learn better through play. It is perhaps true that in the early years of international secondary school, the pressure is less. From what I understand, during these years the emphasis is on improving expression , out-of-the-box thinking and and inter-personal skills rather than just academics.. But at IB level, i,e the last 2 years, the program is extremely rigorous - and certainly comparable to JC & the pressure is very much there - its just a different sort ...the kind that you may encounter in real life.I think most of them who go to international schools are happy, and one of the reasons is there is no pressure from school. This can be a good as well as bad thing, depending on what you want.
I remember when my DS was 6 yo, I sent him for computer enrichment. Every weekend he looked forward to go there and I was so pleased. Until one day I fouud out that for the past 6 months, the teacher had been letting them to play computer games on their own throughout the lesson instead of real teaching. I got so pissed and pulled my DS out of the center immediately.
Was my DS happy there? Yes of course he was. So you see my point?
I also remember what our MM LKY said, if there is no pressure, you will never improve. -
pupilview:
International school is expensive.Academically may not be on par for Maths.International schools encourages students to think out of the box.It has a good culture and nationality mix.Proficiency in languages are better.
This topic has been discussed extensively on various expat's forums. From most expats' point of view, Singapore eductaion system is of rote learning while International schools provide all rounded education. Personally I don't agree. My view is basically you got rip-off of by paying $25K to $30K school fee per year in most International schools. Discipline is somehow lacking and you also need to be aware that their academic level is much lower than the mainstream schools. If I were you, I will put her in the mainstream school. Just my 2 cents.ycpang:
[quote=\"david1947\"]There are non-Chinese primary school students whose parents opt for Chinese as MT. While this will serve them well in future, it can lead to lower T-scores. For instance my child obtained A's in all subjects except MT where she got a B...so her T-score is lower than expected and she cant get into a good school of her choice.
While not wanting to start a debate on the merits of the scoring system, I am now faced with a difficult choice - whether to send her to a B-grade school under the same system or switch her to the IB program at one of the 3 local international schools - SJI, ACS or Hwa Chong.
Does anyone have recommendations on the merits of these three?
Local schools syllabus is good but parents stress up the child more.It does not allow the playful and late-bloomers to come-up.It makes students adher to follow the rules from step1.... step n.Teachers fine-tune the students to do things in a single track way.So if MOE puts a difficult question in P6 or other mile-stone levels, parents shoot letters to newspapers complaining.[/quote]
Actually I have a fair idea of the differences between the two systems and the relative merits and demerits. Certainly the local system produces word class students - but these generally come from the elite schools though there are isolated exceptions. But then the elite schools only take in the best and the brightest from the PSLE crop. Excellence in, excellence out - not too difficult an equation. Which leaves the 2nd and 3rd liner schools which I believe enjoy less assistance in every way - whether it be finance, facilities or teaching staff. And with a larger cohort, the teacher/student ratio does not permit individual attention...nor does the system allow late bloomers. However, this is not to say that the latter band of schools cannot produce brilliance - they do ...I'm just talking about the \"norm\".
I think MOE is aware of the relative merits of the international schooling system and I understand that the designated \"future\" schools are adopting many of the teaching methods practised. under the international system. I think recognition of the merits may have influenced the MOE to accord licenses for commencement of the \"Local\" inernational schools only to 3 of leading insitutions in Singapore - HCI, ACS and SJI
My original question was to ask if anyone had any personal knowledge of these three \"local\" international schools in terms of the quality of overall quality of education provided in each ( and also in terms of discipline)
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