JC or Poly?

[Clar06]

zac's mum:

Clar06:

My dd juz got her o levels results,16 pts for L1R5 and 11pts for L1R4 without the 2 bonus points. She wanted to choose the JC route but hardly any choices for her grade, probably juz CJC if the COP is the same as last year. Shld we encourage her to go to poly? But there isn’t any particular course that she like.. probably juz business studies since she will be eligible with 9 points.

Sorry I can’t advise much about Poly if she doesn’t know which course she likes. What are her stronger subjects? That will give a clue as to which general direction she can go...

Have you had a look at the booklet?
https://i.postimg.cc/xdZZ5Jhr/FF7-A7-BFD-6613-447-C-A6-D1-5-B3074828148.jpg\">
If u wanna try JC (to keep her area of specialization more open for the next 2 years), she can try CJC (Arts or Science), or Jurong-Pioneer JC (Arts or Science), or Yishun-Innova JC (Arts or Science).

For the recently merged JCs, the low COP may not be an accurate reflection of the quality of the school and teachers. I believe it just reflects last year’s poor demand because of the new merger (very few people want to join a newly-merged school). So if you live in the far North or far West, u may want to head down to the open house and take a look for yourself, how the school culture is really like.

I am afraid that if she chooses the A level route, she might not be going anywhere after that, coz her weaker subjects are math and science. And to get into business studies in the Uni seems quite tough. Especially she has tuition for math for the last 4 years. Worried she might not be able to cope.

[floppy]

Clar06:

My dd juz got her o levels results,16 pts for L1R5 and 11pts for L1R4 without the 2 bonus points. She wanted to choose the JC route but hardly any choices for her grade, probably juz CJC if the COP is the same as last year. Shld we encourage her to go to poly? But there isn’t any particular course that she like.. probably juz business studies since she will be eligible with 9 points.

Too many probably.

L1R5 - 16 pts but L1R2B2 - 11 pts indicate a weakness in some particular subjects or areas since she cannot siam and leave out one subject with a C5 result. Unlikely to be EL, so what is it? In addition, her O Level subjects combo will give an indication of her strength and weakness. Schools are quite good in strategizing and offering good scoring combinations but may not help the student in the longer run, esp for A Level. Assuming pure sciences, one or two math and the C5 came from a humanities subject, she should have no problem in JC.

If she chooses the A Level route, her choices of JC are fairly limited. Is she happy with any JC as long as she gets to do A Level? The next question would ‘probably’ be, what comes after A Level? Is there a university course she has in mind?

She should keep an open mind and maybe visit the polys open house this weekend. Poly courses are similar in some ways to university courses, so even if she’s ultimately not interested, she has an idea of the areas she may want to pursue in come university.

For poly, she is close to being a top pick for some courses. She would need to know what she wants to do, otherwise, it won’t work out.

[floppy]

Clar06:

I am afraid that if she chooses the A level route, she might not be going anywhere after that, coz her weaker subjects are math and science. And to get into business studies in the Uni seems quite tough. Especially she has tuition for math for the last 4 years. Worried she might not be able to cope.

My post just before was meant to highlight the pitfalls. I’ll suggest you take a hard look at her scores for specific subjects and not the overall. Poly uses L1R2B2 and not L1R4, hence the scores may differ.

Business courses in local universities will require nearly a straight A (maybe one or two B ?) I think. If she’s struggling in science, that’s ok. Ignore it unfortunately, Math is a requirement and cannot siam. If she’s struggling for 4 years, expect more of the same and worst for the next 2.

The advantage of poly is she can pick nearly any course. She may not have the option to pick and choose in univeristy if her results aren’t outstanding. However, it won’t work out for poly or university if she doesn’t know which to pick!

[zac's mum]

Clar06:

I am afraid that if she chooses the A level route, she might not be going anywhere after that, coz her weaker subjects are math and science. And to get into business studies in the Uni seems quite tough. Especially she has tuition for math for the last 4 years. Worried she might not be able to cope.

If math and science are her weak subjects, then she should avoid them. Finally she doesn’t need to deal with them anymore! Take Arts course in JC, or Poly courses such as media studies etc etc (yes go to the Poly open houses to see what they have).

[floppy]

zac's mum:

Clar06:

I am afraid that if she chooses the A level route, she might not be going anywhere after that, coz her weaker subjects are math and science. And to get into business studies in the Uni seems quite tough. Especially she has tuition for math for the last 4 years. Worried she might not be able to cope.

If math and science are her weak subjects, then she should avoid them. Finally she doesn’t need to deal with them anymore! Take Arts course in JC, or Poly courses such as media studies etc etc (yes go to the Poly open houses to see what they have).

Unfortunately, with this contrasting subject thingy, she cannot siam both math and science. She will have to face one of them, and math being the most likely due to it being a core requirement for business courses.

[jtoh]

Clar06:

I am afraid that if she chooses the A level route, she might not be going anywhere after that, coz her weaker subjects are math and science. And to get into business studies in the Uni seems quite tough. Especially she has tuition for math for the last 4 years. Worried she might not be able to cope.

If she still wants to take the A levels, then go for Arts stream with math at H1 level. She should be able to manage it with tuition.

[pirate]

Clar06:

I am afraid that if she chooses the A level route, she might not be going anywhere after that, coz her weaker subjects are math and science. And to get into business studies in the Uni seems quite tough. Especially she has tuition for math for the last 4 years. Worried she might not be able to cope.

If she prefers the A-level route and is eyeing business studies in the Uni, I suggest seriously considering MI. MI also has commerce stream (with Principles of Accounting and Business Management) which is not available in JCs, which can potentially put her in a good position for business studies at U. Take H2 Principles of Accounting, Business Management and Economics, and bump Mathematics which she is not strong in to H1 (if she has already done Additional Maths at O-levels that's almost like not having to do anything for maths). If she does well, may even qualify her for Accountancy! So, she takes 1 year more than JC, that's not a big deal.

http://bba.nus.edu/entry-requirements

PS. Principles of Accounting is ridiculously easy to get an A in once you get the hang of it. Best part is, most of it is like riding a bicycle: once you get it, you won't forget. A long time ago, it took me the whole of 1 hour to revise for my A levels in PA, and after decades, it is the A-level subject I have returned the least of back to my teacher. It is also something all business studies students in Uni must learn.

[Clar06]

floppy:

Clar06:

I am afraid that if she chooses the A level route, she might not be going anywhere after that, coz her weaker subjects are math and science. And to get into business studies in the Uni seems quite tough. Especially she has tuition for math for the last 4 years. Worried she might not be able to cope.

My post just before was meant to highlight the pitfalls. I’ll suggest you take a hard look at her scores for specific subjects and not the overall. Poly uses L1R2B2 and not L1R4, hence the scores may differ.

Business courses in local universities will require nearly a straight A (maybe one or two B ?) I think. If she’s struggling in science, that’s ok. Ignore it unfortunately, Math is a requirement and cannot siam. If she’s struggling for 4 years, expect more of the same and worst for the next 2.

The advantage of poly is she can pick nearly any course. She may not have the option to pick and choose in univeristy if her results aren’t outstanding. However, it won’t work out for poly or university if she doesn’t know which to pick!

Understand your point. She got A1 for Lit, A2 for both Eng n Chinese, B3 for both E Math and Chem, C5 for A Math and Bio,C6 for combine humans. What I am really concern is her A Math, coz the few kids fm the same tutor managed to score As.. So it seems to be an indication that she has no flair for math.
The only courses she doesn’t mind is probably business studies, coz it’s most general. Optometry, Pharmaceutical all not interested.. sigh. Just feel that she wanted to go JC because most her friends are in that route..
Sorry for all the ranting :offtopic:

[pirate]

Clar06:

Understand your point. She got A1 for Lit, A2 for both Eng n Chinese, B3 for both E Math and Chem, C5 for A Math and Bio,C6 for combine humans. What I am really concern is her A Math, coz the few kids fm the same tutor managed to score As.. So it seems to be an indication that she has no flair for math.

The only courses she doesn’t mind is probably business studies, coz it’s most general. Optometry, Pharmaceutical all not interested.. sigh. Just feel that she wanted to go JC because most her friends are in that route..
Sorry for all the ranting :offtopic:

In that case, definitely consider going the MI Commerce route towards business studies or accountancy in Uni. Can drop Mathematics altogether since got A Maths C5 at O-levels.

PS. Apparently even Law is not an impossibility. :shock: So no need to get discouraged.

[zac's mum]

Clar06:

She got A1 for Lit, A2 for both Eng n Chinese, B3 for both E Math and Chem, C5 for A Math and Bio,C6 for combine humans. What I am really concern is her A Math, coz the few kids fm the same tutor managed to score As.. So it seems to be an indication that she has no flair for math.

The only courses she doesn’t mind is probably business studies, coz it’s most general. Optometry, Pharmaceutical all not interested.. sigh. Just feel that she wanted to go JC because most her friends are in that route..
Sorry for all the ranting :offtopic:

C5 for Biology should not consider Optometry or Pharmacy or Biotech at all dear.

A1 for Literature! She can do Literature for A levels (Arts course). I agree that H1 Math is still survivable with tuition. But Business studies (or Accounting) is IMO really not a good idea for those weak in Math.

Play to her strengths and interests. How about Mass Comm? Marketing? Or even Hospitality or Culinary Arts? Visual design?