DSA 2012

[KS4Son]

I heard from a parent that her DS got CO from HCI already even before HCI DSA starts. Is this possible? :? If so, wouldn't this be unfair?

[Pen88n]

leeven:

ks2011:

Leeven, If your ds gets 230 in psle and the cut-off is 260, he will still get into the school by DSA. In ACS, he might be offered the O-level instead of IP program

thnx. sorry for late reply was out of town. Then ACS will be :sad: no no to me. I want IP program. But recent talk from RI and NUSH was they should get above 200 which is Express qualification... bit confused. let me go to Open house for ACS to check

Schools like RI and NUS High do not have O level programme. All students they accept in will go in IP. For ACSI (note: not ACS), there are 2 tracks IB and O Level. ACSI do not segregate their IB and O level tracks COP at MOE PSLE school allocation. They only have 1 COP, and internally they have a higher COP for their IB programme. For the past few years, their internal IB COP is ~255+/-. In this case, if your kid is accepted for DSA and didn't make the internal COP for their IB, they will just place your kid in the O Level programme.

Actually it doesn't quite matter whether the kid is in O level / IP / IB programme. More impt is the suitability of the character of the kid to the programme. IP / IB requires a lot of independent learning, research and project work initiative from the kid. Some kids are just not matured enough for that type of syllabus and if placed in such programme, they will suffer and not perform well. The same kid when placed in a O level programme might shine with more structure syllabus and more teaching from teachers. These kids will fare well in O Level and by then maturity sets in and they get ahead to JC and uni.

Most impt for parents is to know your kid and choose the sch that fits his / her character. Forcing a square peg into a round hole is an up-hill task and not maximising the space (potential).

[verykiasu2010]

KS4Son:

I heard from a parent that her DS got CO from HCI already even before HCI DSA starts. Is this possible? :? If so, wouldn't this be unfair?

is it verbal or written CO ?

please find out and update us

thanks

[Augmum]

verykiasu2010:

KS4Son:

I heard from a parent that her DS got CO from HCI already even before HCI DSA starts. Is this possible? :? If so, wouldn't this be unfair?

is it verbal or written CO ?
please find out and update us
thanks

i think i ever read in this forum from some of the postings stating that some P5 students
had successfully DSAed to their choice schs,
though i cant recalled which is/are the school/s.......

[marvic]

Hi, can anyone please enlighten me about DSA? What is the actual purpose of having this DSA while children still have to go through the PSLE? What are the pros and cons? And should it be a good thing to go ahead and apply for DSA? Is this only for P6 pupils?


Thanks in advance.

[verykiasu2010]

Augmum:

verykiasu2010:

[quote=\"KS4Son\"]I heard from a parent that her DS got CO from HCI already even before HCI DSA starts. Is this possible? :? If so, wouldn't this be unfair?

is it verbal or written CO ?
please find out and update us
thanks

i think i ever read in this forum from some of the postings stating that some P5 students
had successfully DSAed to their choice schs,
though i cant recalled which is/are the school/s.......[/quote]i know, they never give out in writing an offer until the DSA season is over and all DSA forms submitted, even if the kids 'qualified' from program run by the sec school (usually at end of pri 5). the sec school would normally say 'if you apply you will get it'

i would be interested to know which school started to say in writing an CO in such early stage

[jtoh]

verykiasu2010:

i know, they never give out in writing an offer until the DSA season is over and all DSA forms submitted, even if the kids 'qualified' from program run by the sec school (usually at end of pri 5). the sec school would normally say 'if you apply you will get it'

i would be interested to know which school started to say in writing an CO in such early stage

What I've heard is the same as you. The schools don't give out COs in writing in P5. They just give a verbal 'if you apply you will get it.' It's usually the parents who go around saying that such and such a school has given his son a CO in P5, which sends other parents into a state of wonder and envy.

Just to share there was this one parent two years ago who went around saying that her dd had a CO from NYGH because she had SMOPS Gold and was invited to apply for NYGH DSA. I told her to check her letter carefully because it just said that her dd was invited to APPLY. She still had to sit for GAT and go through interviews etc. So her dd applied for DSA, sat for the first stage GAT test and was rejected. Didn't even make it through to interview stage.

[KS4Son]

jtoh:

verykiasu2010:

i know, they never give out in writing an offer until the DSA season is over and all DSA forms submitted, even if the kids 'qualified' from program run by the sec school (usually at end of pri 5). the sec school would normally say 'if you apply you will get it'

i would be interested to know which school started to say in writing an CO in such early stage

What I've heard is the same as you. The schools don't give out COs in writing in P5. They just give a verbal 'if you apply you will get it.' It's usually the parents who go around saying that such and such a school has given his son a CO in P5, which sends other parents into a state of wonder and envy.

Just to share there was this one parent two years ago who went around saying that her dd had a CO from NYGH because she had SMOPS Gold and was invited to apply for NYGH DSA. I told her to check her letter carefully because it just said that her dd was invited to APPLY. She still had to sit for GAT and go through interviews etc. So her dd applied for DSA, sat for the first stage GAT test and was rejected. Didn't even make it through to interview stage.

The parent said it is a written letter. But I guess it is only invitation to apply and the DS will still have to go through the GAT test and such. This school in the west apparently has very close ties :grphug: with HCI.

[verykiasu2010]

KS4Son:

jtoh:

[quote=\"verykiasu2010\"]

i know, they never give out in writing an offer until the DSA season is over and all DSA forms submitted, even if the kids 'qualified' from program run by the sec school (usually at end of pri 5). the sec school would normally say 'if you apply you will get it'

i would be interested to know which school started to say in writing an CO in such early stage

What I've heard is the same as you. The schools don't give out COs in writing in P5. They just give a verbal 'if you apply you will get it.' It's usually the parents who go around saying that such and such a school has given his son a CO in P5, which sends other parents into a state of wonder and envy.

Just to share there was this one parent two years ago who went around saying that her dd had a CO from NYGH because she had SMOPS Gold and was invited to apply for NYGH DSA. I told her to check her letter carefully because it just said that her dd was invited to APPLY. She still had to sit for GAT and go through interviews etc. So her dd applied for DSA, sat for the first stage GAT test and was rejected. Didn't even make it through to interview stage.

The parent said it is a written letter. But I guess it is only invitation to apply and the DS will still have to go through the GAT test and such. This school in the west apparently has very close ties :grphug: with HCI.[/quote]may I hazard to guess it is Nan Hua Pri Sch.

in fact HCI has close ties with most SAP pri schools like NH, NY, RS, TN, etc where their top boys are invited for various activities and those activities count as part of DSA - IF - they apply through DSA in pri 6 TOGETHER with good results. The P of HCI and teacher i/c of DSA (for the category) will tell you mostly likely no problem in granting the CO, and parents and child are usually invited for lunch with the P around March and tour the school, given all the marketing brochures ...... they are just short of giving a written CO - which they can't because the DSA process has not commenced.

this scheme from HCI started in 2009 with a trial batch of 42 boys, with a few eventually received the CO but not all took up the offer

parents need not be envious of this because the top boys are selected by school. if you want your kid to qualify in this round -- make sure be a top boy. but then if you are a top boy, why fret ? every school will welcome you with your rather high t-score eventually.

it was a clever marketing strategy from the school but they should have been more forthright with assurances. many eventually applied DSA elsewhere and did not take up the offer from this school because they did not feel secure just relying on one non-committed \"CO\"

[Fretting]

marvic:

Hi, can anyone please enlighten me about DSA? What is the actual purpose of having this DSA while children still have to go through the PSLE? What are the pros and cons? And should it be a good thing to go ahead and apply for DSA? Is this only for P6 pupils?


Thanks in advance.

I think it depends which school your kid plans on applying to. For boys, places like RI, HCI, ACS, NUSH you will generally find the DSA is for the atheletes or the GEP boys, and for the GEP applicants, even then, it depends what their grades are, whether the primary school has been preparing them for DSA - i.e whether they have been attending competitions, taking on leadership roles, accumulating all the other things that will make their application look good. Blur me, when my DS applied last year, we realised so many things we hadn't done, and not sure why DS didn't know or we were not informed by pschool. So like taking part in competitions, getting at least 80% for p6 half year, having show piece project work , etc DS didn't have. We then found that his cohort of pschool, only a handful in GEP made it through DSA to some of the choice schools, compared with other schools where almost the whole GEP class got through. So its all about preparation for DSA. The whole expereince was nerve wrecking, and worse than applying for uni. Looking back, we wish we had known that we needed to prepare from as early as p4 (which is what other parents seemed to know). Then there is the disapointment of not getting into the school of choice during DSA, and accepting what is not your first choice, because you have a CO from that school. After PSLE they are cases of boys who regret having accepted the CO they are given even if its not their ideal choice, since they could have made it to their school of choice with their PSLE results. But by then, cannot change.