NUS High School of Mathematics and Science (Diploma)

[BeContented]

Thanks all. I forgot all about the other test centers

so after camp, another nervous wait :).

Anyone know how many kids to a group during the camp?

[DVL]

leelimc:

Yeah, I heard from the Principal as well that each year, they have approx 2000 applicants, local plus overseas. They will select 400 for the Selection Camp and about 150 will be offered. I have not heard of the above, but if it is true, it would mean that about 100 or less slots will be available for the other 350 selected for the selection camp? That would work out to be about 1 out of 4, ie, 25% chance for each child? I suppose we should be realistic that our DS/DD have 25% chance of getting in?


I did heard my DS said something that his fren seemed to have a CO from NUSH, though not confirmed and this fren of his scored extremely well in the Maths Olympiad comp.

Intended yearly enrollment for Y1 is 170, out of these 170, 10% will be kept for S1 posting. For the last few years, the final enrollment for Y1 hovered around 140. If you factor in the S1 postings, you are talking about 120+ made it via DSA. I do not know if the school would do this special tea reception this year but they definitely had it in the past few years. I think the criteria would be top 30 in NMOS, Platinum winners in SMOPS or Gold in SMO Junior. In one such tea reception, the P actually asked : \"do you all find each other familiar?\" when addressing the invitees, guess he was referring to the kids meeting each other in final rounds of MO competitions.

[leeven]

DVL:

leelimc:

Yeah, I heard from the Principal as well that each year, they have approx 2000 applicants, local plus overseas. They will select 400 for the Selection Camp and about 150 will be offered. I have not heard of the above, but if it is true, it would mean that about 100 or less slots will be available for the other 350 selected for the selection camp? That would work out to be about 1 out of 4, ie, 25% chance for each child? I suppose we should be realistic that our DS/DD have 25% chance of getting in?


I did heard my DS said something that his fren seemed to have a CO from NUSH, though not confirmed and this fren of his scored extremely well in the Maths Olympiad comp.

Intended yearly enrollment for Y1 is 170, out of these 170, 10% will be kept for S1 posting. For the last few years, the final enrollment for Y1 hovered around 140. If you factor in the S1 postings, you are talking about 120+ made it via DSA. I do not know if the school would do this special tea reception this year but they definitely had it in the past few years. I think the criteria would be top 30 in NMOS, Platinum winners in SMOPS or Gold in SMO Junior. In one such tea reception, the P actually asked : \"do you all find each other familiar?\" when addressing the invitees, guess he was referring to the kids meeting each other in final rounds of MO competitions.

I did hear from a parent that 2011 IMO 12 students are already given CO. Y1 = 180 (this I heard from the talk ) and in Y3 another 180 joins so total it is 360. 10% of Y1 = 18 is via PSLE. so 180-18-12 is avail for DSA I think .I didnt hear any special preference given to top 30 science+top 30 maths from any.

[GLMLJLK]

This year there are only 150 students in Year One, 6 classes. This information is absolutely correct.

[GLMLJLK]

There are about 200+, (<220) students in Year Six, how come there are 360 students in Year Three. Please provide accurate figures.

[DVL]

leeven:

DVL:

[quote=\"leelimc\"]Yeah, I heard from the Principal as well that each year, they have approx 2000 applicants, local plus overseas. They will select 400 for the Selection Camp and about 150 will be offered. I have not heard of the above, but if it is true, it would mean that about 100 or less slots will be available for the other 350 selected for the selection camp? That would work out to be about 1 out of 4, ie, 25% chance for each child? I suppose we should be realistic that our DS/DD have 25% chance of getting in?


I did heard my DS said something that his fren seemed to have a CO from NUSH, though not confirmed and this fren of his scored extremely well in the Maths Olympiad comp.

Intended yearly enrollment for Y1 is 170, out of these 170, 10% will be kept for S1 posting. For the last few years, the final enrollment for Y1 hovered around 140. If you factor in the S1 postings, you are talking about 120+ made it via DSA. I do not know if the school would do this special tea reception this year but they definitely had it in the past few years. I think the criteria would be top 30 in NMOS, Platinum winners in SMOPS or Gold in SMO Junior. In one such tea reception, the P actually asked : \"do you all find each other familiar?\" when addressing the invitees, guess he was referring to the kids meeting each other in final rounds of MO competitions.

I did hear from a parent that 2011 IMO 12 students are already given CO. Y1 = 180 (this I heard from the talk ) and in Y3 another 180 joins so total it is 360. 10% of Y1 = 18 is via PSLE. so 180-18-12 is avail for DSA I think .I didnt hear any special preference given to top 30 science+top 30 maths from any.[/quote]Not sure where you get your figures. Total intended Y1 enrollment is 170. Less 10% reserved for S1 postings, you are left with 153 and this is the figure the school always talked about. However, in the last few years, the final Y1 enrollment was not even close to 170. Because of the laboratory facilities, class size is limited to 24 per class. This year, there are 6 Y1 classes and 6 Y2 classes, so one may assume that the enrollment is about 140 for the past 2 years. Also, in Y3, the school would normally enrol another 70-80, mainly overseas scholars, making a total enrollment of 220 per cohort from Y3-Y6. As for tea reception, it did happen 2 years ago, DS was invited with a couple of his school mates and the common denominator appeared to be good performances at various MO competitions.

[matadorepy]

Intended yearly enrollment for Y1 is 170, out of these 170, 10% will be kept for S1 posting. For the last few years, the final enrollment for Y1 hovered around 140. If you factor in the S1 postings, you are talking about 120+ made it via DSA. I do not know if the school would do this special tea reception this year but they definitely had it in the past few years. I think the criteria would be top 30 in NMOS, Platinum winners in SMOPS or Gold in SMO Junior. In one such tea reception, the P actually asked : \"do you all find each other familiar?\" when addressing the invitees, guess he was referring to the kids meeting each other in final rounds of MO competitions.[/quote]


I did hear from a parent that 2011 IMO 12 students are already given CO. Y1 = 180 (this I heard from the talk ) and in Y3 another 180 joins so total it is 360. 10% of Y1 = 18 is via PSLE. so 180-18-12 is avail for DSA I think .I didnt hear any special preference given to top 30 science+top 30 maths from any.[/quote]

Not sure where you get your figures. Total intended Y1 enrollment is 170. Less 10% reserved for S1 postings, you are left with 153 and this is the figure the school always talked about. However, in the last few years, the final Y1 enrollment was not even close to 170. Because of the laboratory facilities, class size is limited to 24 per class. This year, there are 6 Y1 classes and 6 Y2 classes, so one may assume that the enrollment is about 140 for the past 2 years. Also, in Y3, the school would normally enrol another 70-80, mainly overseas scholars, making a total enrollment of 220 per cohort from Y3-Y6. As for tea reception, it did happen 2 years ago, DS was invited with a couple of his school mates and the common denominator appeared to be good performances at various MO competitions.[/quote]

What DVL said is absolutely correct. The intended yearly intake is 170 (DSA 153, PSLE Posting -17). My DD is now in Y2. Her 2011 batch intake was only 139 (29 girls). Assuming all 17 PSLE posting are taken every year at least 30 CO/WL are not taken up yearly. NUSH does not \"top up\" placings not taken up by the 30 vacancies. It means that they played absolute trust in their 2 rounds of selections.

[leeven]

there was a DSA talk in the school from where I got the total no.Speaker also told not always they get to fill it 100% as their selection criteria is very strict and they just dont want fill in any how. I didnt really capture any slides to recall back though.

[tiggermum]

Flowermonaster:

Tiggermum, can share if your gal likes the school? Teachers caring? How is the culture like? Do you think it's better than the conventional IP/Sec schools? Do the kids have equal opportunities or only those few good ones are being chosen for competition or overseas trips or any exposure? Anything that you think is good in A level track but lack in NUS and vice versa.
Sorry for asking so many questions as I am in a dilemma now - DS keen to go this school & I am not sure if he is able to make it, should I let him. Pm me if possible if it's not convenient to speak here. TIA.

[/quote]

Hi \"Flowermonaster\",

sorry i took a while to reply, i wanted to think it over before posting.

A lot of parents don't know much about NUSH, so we're often asked about how it compares with other IP schools. To be fair, DD is my eldest, so I have no experience with other IP schools, and what I know of other schools are only 'heresay', so i may not be making a fair comment.

I can't say I'm perfectly happy with the school, no school is perfect, and I do have some issues. But knowing how DD is like, I think it suits her fine.

What I can say is, if your kid is going to NUSH, be prepared for a very different system and culture. DD came from a so-called 'branded school', so there was quite a lot of exam pressure, a lot of homework and she was always busy with work given by teachers and hardly had time for herself. But in NUSH, the school gives students a lot more space, and they are expected to be independent learners, so teacher-driven work is not as heavy as in primary school. To do well in NUSH, one definitely must be independent and very disciplined, and that is something DD is still working on. Sure, you can be slack and have a lot of free time, but the results will show. Some parents may not like it and think the school is 'too relaxed' , but I'd like to think that it's really up to the student read up and explore deeper into topics on their own. Frankly, I'm still adjusting to the school too, and often feel insecure when DD has free time. (kiasu la!)

Maybe you can talk to your kid and draw up a list of why he/she wants to choose a certain school, his/her and your expectations of the school and see whether it matches up.

I would say, NUSH is not advisable if your child:
1)Needs a structured environment with a lot of hand-holding
2)Needs a competitive environment to thrive
3)Is choosing NUSH because it's a six year program and there's no A level exam (remember, the student still needs to do well enough to be admitted to Uni, if he/she doesn't do well, not having to do A levels will not be of advantage to him/her anyway)
4)Not particularly good or interested in Math and Science (math lessons can be 2 hours long!)
5) He/she and the parent has aspirations for him/her to be scholar material (nothing wrong with that, I aspired that for DD too, until I finally accepted the fact that she's just too 'bo-chap' to be scholar material)

But if he/she:
1)Likes and is good in Math and Science
2)Enjoys exploring stuff on his/her own
3)Can grasp concepts quickly

Then NUSH may suit him/her.

Areas I think the school should do more:
1)Community service and character development
2)Strengthen the school spirit
3)Cultivate a reading culture (I don't know why, there aren't' many readers, which is very different from DD's primary school)
4)Moral values

The above are my personal opinion. For those not happy with my post, please don't flame me! I would be happy to read other parent's perspectives.

[KiasuClown]

A great post! Thank you!