JC or Poly?

[6thisnthat9]

Jc is lecture-tutorial class format like uni. No more teachers monitoring whether you did your homework or … copy from friends. You gain more independence, … from long ago, not sure if it’s still the same… some kids lost their way from their new found freedom, and did badly in first year, but managed to catch up by A level, but some kids didn’t.


Jc teaches concept, more abstract. At least for 2 maths it was like that then. You may want to ask yourself, do you grab concept easily?

I was told it is more true now than before, the two, jc and poly, no longer differ by rate of success in life.

I note that those from poly and later join uni will be very savvy in their course of work in terms of application. But as they rep the top of their cohort, these are correlated. In some courses, some topics in their first year in uni is just refresher for them. However, by 1 year or so, many jc students will catch up.

To note: i m not from medicine course and no experience in poly.

[ChiefKiasu]

Yes, JC is really the precursor to university and there is a tendency for students to get caught up with the "new-found" freedom and lose themselves. Some wake up by Year 2 to start catching up and others just give up. I spent 10 years in the same Primary and Secondary school, but I still remember my 2 years at JC because it is so fun and memorable.


During my time, we have little to no disrespect for polys, but going from poly to University is very tough (less than 5% of poly students make it to the University). Poly education is almost like University education for most students that go there. It is seen as the more down-to-earth option for students who prefer to work during their work lives while University tends to be more for those that prefer a more academc approach. Not sure if that view has changed from my time.

[zac's mum]

interestedstuchd:

Hi! I am a Secondary 2 student who is stuck when it comes to choosing jc or poly because my school stresses the importance of planning post-secondary . My subject combination that I will be doing in Secondary 3 is triple science a math and combined humanities and basic subjects .


I want to go to jc after my olevels because from what i heard, it is an easier path to pursuing medicine, but i dont have any family members who are familiar with the jc route so they usually have no advice as to where i should go. Can anyone tell me how jc is like?

I would not mind going to poly but ive read some articles about the number of poly intakes into local universities or specifically medicine which is about 1 student!!

Please do help me weigh my options! TIA :idea:

I was in very similar subject Combi as you - 25 years ago.

To have been given this subject Combi, it means your lower sec Science was very strong. However, beware that u only have 1 humanities (combined) which you MUST count in your L1R5 score. I took pure Geography (which is the closest to science) and ended up with a B3 (below my expectation) I was forced to count that and it dragged down my overall score. I’m not sure how easy combined humanities exam will be.

Also beware that one of the science may drag u down, eg my Bio and Chem were good but Physics not so good. Again it dragged down my score.

BUT I think the main factor whether u go to JC or Poly is your English and Mother Tongue!!! How good are they? If they are bad, then u are destined for Poly, sad to say. It happened to my hubby. He’s good at studying, but unfortunately English and Chinese are poor. So he went to Poly and studied Biotech. Worked very hard in Poly and topped his cohort - it is a very hard slog to break thru and get those top results to enter Uni after that. You are right it is doubly and triply hard for Poly grads to enter Uni Med courses. If your languages allow to get L1R5 to qualify for JC, definitely go to JC (where u do either double Science or triple Science Combi to qualify for future Uni Medicine).

Both JC and Poly lesson formats are big mass lecture + smaller tutorial classes. It’s just that JC has a tighter reign on school discipline (attendance especially) and compulsory CCA too. JC only has 2 short years for u to adapt while Poly has 3 years and modular topical format more similar to Uni.

[jtoh]

interestedstuchd:

Hi! I am a Secondary 2 student who is stuck when it comes to choosing jc or poly because my school stresses the importance of planning post-secondary . My subject combination that I will be doing in Secondary 3 is triple science a math and combined humanities and basic subjects .


I want to go to jc after my olevels because from what i heard, it is an easier path to pursuing medicine, but i dont have any family members who are familiar with the jc route so they usually have no advice as to where i should go. Can anyone tell me how jc is like?

I would not mind going to poly but ive read some articles about the number of poly intakes into local universities or specifically medicine which is about 1 student!!

Please do help me weigh my options! TIA :idea:

If you're keen on medicine, then go the JC route. NUS and NTU medicine are taking in more poly students now but the latest figures are still only 11 poly students and that's for the entire intake for both universities last year. JC life is not too different from secondary school. Just that it's lectures and tutorials, versus classroom setting, and the curriculum is a little more intensive because they have just 18 months to cover the A level syllabus.

[floppy]

1. If keen on medicine, take the JC route. Even if you fail to clear the hurdle for the local universities, there are many other options for overseas universities ($ notwithstanding).


2. There is no point in a triple science combination if A Level is the next step. It’s an extra subject with very little added value, apart from gaining additional knowledge (which may not even be useful in the long run). I’ll drop one science and replace it with another humanities or forget about the third science subject to better make use of my time / subjects combo. That said, if sciences are your strongest subjects (which means securing 3x A1 for L1R5), go for it. Also, if you are aiming for scholarship, you will most definitely want to do at least 9 or 10 subjects for O Level.

[zac's mum]

Just to add: if anyone has a Bio background and has to go the Poly route (for whatever reason), it’s worthwhile to note that the best return on investment is the Optometry course. Hubby says his peers who graduated with Optometry diploma, their starting salaries are very high and equivalent to a Uni grad’s salary! It’s also an easier job than slogging away in a government hospital working shift work as a Medical Doctor.

[janet88]

for those ‘hot’ courses, the entry level are single digit COP.

i’m hoping & praying my daughter will buck up and do well for her N levels so that she can get a foot into the poly via PFP.

she has a friend who just received N level results. 7 points. the results are really stunning! that friend is going on to take o levels next year.

[starlight1968sg]

janet88:

for those 'hot' courses, the entry level are single digit COP.

i'm hoping & praying my daughter will buck up and do well for her N levels so that she can get a foot into the poly via PFP.

she has a friend who just received N level results. 7 points. the results are really stunning! that friend is going on to take o levels next year.

Janet
Is your princess keen in Early Childhood Education? A colleague’s daughter entered via PFP to poly and on a scholarship doing such course.

[janet88]

starlight1968sg:

Janet
Is your princess keen in Early Childhood Education? A colleague’s daughter entered via PFP to poly and on a scholarship doing such course.

I don't know what's in her head now. the brain is floating somewhere. I let her float for a few days more before bringing down to earth to make her think for her future :spank:
my former neighbour's daughter got into NP to do early childhood.
there are 3 NA classes. as she is exempted from MT, the first NA class offers only 5 subjects which is too risky. the next 2 classes would have 7 subjects (for her, it will be 6) but there will be E math offered at O level as well as compulsory POA and A Math.
earlier a teacher asked her to consider going to the class which offers E math at O levels...she turned it down because she didn't want to take A math as well as POA. hubby and I couldn't do anything because she will be the one studying she is not a Math/Science person.

[starlight1968sg]

Janet

my dd isn’t a math/science person too; unlike her parents.

Nevertheless, yes, it is your dd studying and have to drill into her to think carefully before making any decision. As we grow old, there are impacts on the decisions we make, unlike when we were young.

To me, it is up to the child to decide whether JC or Poly. At the age of 16, he/she can make the decision. Going to Poly doesn’t mean no hope to go U.