NUS High School of Mathematics and Science (Diploma)
-
happymum8:
Wow, thanks happymum8 for this piece of information. I think many of us parents have no idea. NUS High certainly needs to put out some of these information out there to strengthen its attractiveness.
Yes confirm is 10 succesfully got in Medicine out of 220+ for last year graduated batch!!
They already went for their matriculation and finally 8 stay in the course with 1 went to Hong Kong Uni to read Medicine and 1 chose to read Dentistry.
This is really an impressive number! Understand that those got in are not really the top top ones. But I believe there will be more admitted to Medicine in the coming years! :xedfingers: -
happymum8, thanks for your post. My DD is very keen to get into NUSHS. She has been working consistently to get there. She has not shown an interest to consider any other school for DSA up till now & it would be terrible for me to dissuade her from aiming for NUSHS due to the ‘language skills’ perception.
-
As NUS High students, we feel beholden to clarify certain misconceptions which have cropped up here.
The standard of English in NUS High is reflective of the standard of Singaporean English amongst the student population in the country in general. True, there may be less appreciation for the subject in the cohort, compared to enthusiasm for other academic subjects. However, you’ll find that our showing on this front is comparable to other top schools nationally. Some have mentioned presentations at the Pre-University Seminar; you will find that for all the years we have participated, teachers and other observers responded favourably towards the quality of our presentations.
In addition, NUS High students have won numerous accolades in speaking and writing. From the original Gavel Club members (Class of 2008) up to now, NUS High has acquitted itself well in public speaking competitions, including Champion in the YMCA Plain English Speaking Awards, and the Gavel Club, which includes the debate society, remains active on the local oratorical scene. Moreover, NUS High regularly obtains awards in the Royal Commonwealth Society Commonwealth Essay Writing Contest, including first place globally in 2009. Locally, we have had champions and award-winners in the Stanford University-NJC Creative Writing Competition and the A*Star Institute of High Performance Computing Science Chronicles fiction competition. NUS High students have also published work in magazines from smaller places like 14:59, to the Quarterly Literary Review Singapore and Ceriph magazine. At the Straits Times School Newspapers Competition, we have obtained the Best Writing award two years running, and also came in second last year. A quick check with NUS High productions such as Journal Watermark (http://journalwatermark.wordpress.com) and the College Talk blog (http://nushscollegetalk.posterous.com) should further dispel any doubts as to the capacity of NUS High students and graduates.
Another correction: the graduating class of 2010, which comprised the original 2005 Year 1 cohort and the 2007 Year 3 cohort, was 177 students. This year, the Class of 2011 has produced 209 graduands. -
walterp:
To get into NUS medicine, the most important thing is to convince the panel during the interview why you are suitable to be a doctor, or rather why you are a suitable candidate to read medicine at NUS.
I can boldly say that those NUSHS students who did (advance) research in life sciences including medical related areas would clearly have an advantage over their \"A\" level counterparts in seeking medicine or dentistry in NUS or NTU. That's the obvious advantage of NUSH over others.phtthp:
hi happymum8,
can students from NUSH enter Dentistry ?
Knowledge/results are not that important.
As for Dentistry, the most important is similarly to convince the panel that you are a suitable candidate and shows that you have the dexterity to do it.
Dentistry really depends a lot on your hands.
There is no point if you have the knowledge but you hands are just not skillful enough. -
I think the concern is not with the top students in each cohort. We know that there are students who will, with minimal guidance, continue to excel. A school winning awards in some isolated competitions which only requires a select few to shine does not reflect the overall picture. A school is as good as its weakest student and teacher. Of course that may be a bit heavy, but you get the idea.
And for interviews, we are not concerned with awards for essay writing as an indicator. Scholarship offers are what counts. How one manages to impress the panel with his or her CV (substance) has to be backed up with a solid interview (selling oneself with substance). For me, it is clear that in general, RI and HCI students win hands down in this aspect. This year's scholarship numbers from various websites indicate so.
I think we should look closely at what a school can do to value add to an average/above-average student, not what the top students in each school are already capable of producing.
This may sound like a frustrated parent venting at a school for not being able to develop my DS the way I wanted, and of course, I take responsibility as well, but I think I have heard quite enough from the principal and the management during PTMs. In the last 6 years, I have heard enough talk, but not seen enough action.
I will tell you 6 years later whether I am pleased my younger DS's development. A bit too late to send my older DS to RI, but I have heard of a top yr 2 boy last year who went to RI after being disappointed with NUSHS.
I know it is unfair and impossible to compare a school with less than 10 years of existence against a tradition of excellence reaching 200, but with all the hype during its introduction, there is still certainly a long way to go.
And here is how to sell a school:
http://www.ri.edu.sg/files/PRI_-_RI_Founders_Day_Institution_Report_23.7.11.pdf -
francbat:
On the subject of scholarship acceptance rates, we do concede that NUS High produces fewer scholars compared to other top schools, but this does not reflect on interview skills.And for interviews, we are not concerned with awards for essay writing as an indicator. Scholarship offers are what counts. How one manages to impress the panel with his or her CV (substance) has to be backed up with a solid interview (selling oneself with substance). For me, it is clear that in general, RI and HCI students win hands down in this aspect. This year's scholarship numbers from various websites indicate so.
For one thing, the majority of NUS High students who apply for scholarships restrict themselves to selective and competitive scholarships such as A*STAR and DSTA scholarships, and tend not to apply for others. Consequently, the acceptance rate looks relatively low, but only because a large number are competing for a limited number of scholarships, not just with students from other schools but also within the pool of NUS High applicants.
Also, many NUS High graduates choose not to apply for scholarships. As an example, a recent graduate was offered a PSC scholarship to study at MIT, but decided to fund themselves rather than take up the government’s offer instead. Confidence in ability to obtain good career prospects after university is another factor to be taken into consideration, when NUS High alumni choose not to apply for scholarships because of the bond. -
For scholarship numbers, we may also need to look at size of cohort to have fair comparison. For example, PSC scholarship for 2011:
RI: 35 out of 1500?
HCI: 18 out of 1500?
NUSH: 3 out of 177?
Percentage wise, not a great difference actually. -
Yes, looking at percentage rather than relative numbers (and taking into consideration that several applicants who successfully obtained PSC and other scholarships decided to reject the offers) is more helpful in assessing how NUS High has produced graduates of comparable standard nationally.
ETA: Upon discussion, we recalled that the internal figure provided is that approximately one third of each graduating cohort is awarded a scholarship. This does not take into account the students who ultimately reject the scholarships. (Not sure whether this figure includes the students who are offered merit scholarships from their respective universities rather than a local scholarship body.) -
biiyeo:
well i certainly hope for the sake of my elder DS this is true. But like I said, the top students will still get their share of scholarships and university admissions. the student offered admission to MIT is a top student. However, given NUSHS is supposed to be the school for math and sciences, the admission to top universities worldwide pale in comparison to RI or HCI. Yes, you have that one going to MIT, one going to caltech etc, but at the opposition schools they have like droves.
For one thing, the majority of NUS High students who apply for scholarships restrict themselves to selective and competitive scholarships such as A*STAR and DSTA scholarships, and tend not to apply for others. Consequently, the acceptance rate looks relatively low, but only because a large number are competing for a limited number of scholarships, not just with students from other schools but also within the pool of NUS High applicants.
Also, many NUS High graduates choose not to apply for scholarships. As an example, a recent graduate was offered a PSC scholarship to study at MIT, but decided to fund themselves rather than take up the government’s offer instead. Confidence in ability to obtain good career prospects after university is another factor to be taken into consideration, when NUS High alumni choose not to apply for scholarships because of the bond.
10 out of 220 NUSHS graduands going to NUS medicine is embarassing compared to 130+- out of 1200 RI graduates. of course, we don't have numbers for those who actually applied, but what about ivy league and oxbridge?
I think I should stop comparing. it's frustrating. -
Possibly the disappointment stems from the expectation that NUS High will produce Medicine and other science students. Certainly there are always students who aim to read Medicine, but you will find that the majority of NUS High graduands and graduates do not intend to do so, nor do they preferentially apply to Ivies and to Oxbridge. We here are all High Distinction diploma candidates, for instance, but none of us want to pursue science-related subjects. Consider that of the PSC scholarship-holders from NUS High for 2011, only one is taking a pure Science course; the others are reading Law and Economics. If you measure the school’s quality by the number of Medicine candidates, the number of Ivies and Oxbridge students (when many NUS High students are either content with reading the well-respected courses at NUS, or applying to liberal arts colleges), and the absolute number of PSC scholarships, then of course disappointment will set in. Because the culture here is wildly different from that of your average ‘top school’, students’ own academic and career plans tend not to follow conventional expectations as well.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login