Secondary 2 Streaming

[Ichigokun]

Hi Everyone, just spoke to family members about my choice to take Humanities instead of Science. Everyone was very unsupportive of the idea of taking Humanities instead of Science and they said its very hard to 進軍 to China and try to take a job as a translator since there are like 7 million + university graduates in China annually.


I said that it's better to do Humanities - which is something I like and I'm good at - compared to Science; and they told me to just take Science & Math. :gloomy:

They were talking about how humanities required people to write a lot of essays full of words and about what jobs I'll be able to take in the future with Humanities.

I told them about politics and sociology but they told me \"What can you do with sociology in the future?\" And how politics requires Management skills (requires the use of Math) etc.

All this is super confusing but I have to submit my streaming choices by 17 Oct (which is a ridiculous date given by my school; considering I haven't gotten back any results yet) :imconstipated: :sick:

[iFirefly]

starlight1968sg:

firefly38:

[quote=\"starlight1968sg\"]May I ask what 3rd lang your kid is taking?

Thanks.

Hi starlight1968sg.. DS' 3rd Lang is Japanese..

Hi firefly38,
Thanks for your reply.
Is ds going to continue his 3rd lang in sec 3? Mine is struggling with french and unsure if should just throw in the towel.
Thanks.[/quote]Starlight.. Does your DS enjoy his French lessons? Has he been doing fairly well in French? If the answers are NO, then it may be wise for him to drop 3rd Lang in Year-3..

DS enjoys his Japanese lessons very much, and has been doing fairly well so far.. I just learnt that DS can only take 1 Elective in Year-3.. So, between 3rd Lang & CEP (Computer Elective Program), DS will most likely give up CEP in Year-3..

Seems like the 3rd Lang classes have shrunk more than half from the beginning of Year-1.. Many students have already dropped their 3rd Languages mid/end of Year-1/Year-2..

[sharonkhoo]

Ichigokun:

Hi Everyone, just spoke to family members about my choice to take Humanities instead of Science. Everyone was very unsupportive of the idea of taking Humanities instead of Science and they said its very hard to 進軍 to China and try to take a job as a translator since there are like 7 million + university graduates in China annually.


I said that it's better to do Humanities - which is something I like and I'm good at - compared to Science; and they told me to just take Science & Math. :gloomy:

They were talking about how humanities required people to write a lot of essays full of words and about what jobs I'll be able to take in the future with Humanities.

I told them about politics and sociology but they told me \"What can you do with sociology in the future?\" And how politics requires Management skills (requires the use of Math) etc.

All this is super confusing but I have to submit my streaming choices by 17 Oct (which is a ridiculous date given by my school; considering I haven't gotten back any results yet) :imconstipated: :sick:

Show your family the websites I listed earlier?

[sharonkhoo]

zbear:

Hi, need advice from experts here. Surprisingly my ds did pretty ok for EOY so I think he can either choose Triple Science or Double Science/Double Humanities. But the problem is he is not sure what to take. He doesn't like Biology becos its heavy content n he is very lazy. He also doesn't like Geography.


Everyone seems to go for Triple Science (and I don't know why - maybe its more atas to do so or is it easier to score for Science subjects rather than Humanities)?

Based on feedback from my kids, its more difficult to score for Humanities becos its very subjective n content heavy. However, my concern is that if you don't take 2 Humanities but just 1 and if you do badly for the 1 subject for O Levels, wont it affect yr L1R5 score becos 1 Humanities subject is required?

I've just been through this discussion with my Yr 2 daughter, so I'll share our thoughts. My daughter is neither very science nor very humanities inclined, and has no strong preference for any subjects so far. So we were initially inclined to a 2S/2H combination, probably dropping Bio (thinking that it was something she could mug up quickly if she decided to take it later) and Hist. However, we have been told that if she drops a science now, she cannot take that science at 'A' levels, and since she cannot be sure whether she will want to take 1 or 2 sciences and which ones then, the safest choice is for her to take all 3 now. That same restriction doesn't apply to humanities. So she has opted for 3S/Lit. We know that it's supposedly harder to score for humanities, but we think that it really depends on the student's ability in that subject. Someone like me would definitely get a higher grade in Geog than Physics, for instance.

[sharonkhoo]

Ichigokun:

By the way, is taking up Law a humanities course or a Sciences course?

In terms of the way it is studied and the skills required, it's a humanities course. It's definitely not a science. But since universities have it as a separate faculty (and lawyers earn lots of money), it is typically not regarded as 'humanities' subject.

Just a note: in US universities, law is a postgraduate degree and you have do some other degree first.

[reddiechan]

Ichigokun: show your family members ‘Dead Poets Society’ and scare the wits out of them. I got my blu-ray DVD copy from NLB @Esplanade.


Their objection to your choice is most likely due to prejudice and their lack of exposure in this area.

[zbear]

slmkhoo:

I've just been through this discussion with my Yr 2 daughter, so I'll share our thoughts. My daughter is neither very science nor very humanities inclined, and has no strong preference for any subjects so far. So we were initially inclined to a 2S/2H combination, probably dropping Bio (thinking that it was something she could mug up quickly if she decided to take it later) and Hist. However, we have been told that if she drops a science now, she cannot take that science at 'A' levels, and since she cannot be sure whether she will want to take 1 or 2 sciences and which ones then, the safest choice is for her to take all 3 now. That same restriction doesn't apply to humanities. So she has opted for 3S/Lit. We know that it's supposedly harder to score for humanities, but we think that it really depends on the student's ability in that subject. Someone like me would definitely get a higher grade in Geog than Physics, for instance.

Thanks slmkhoo for your views. It makes a lot of sense for yr dd to take 3S/1H as she is not taking her O levels.

In the case of my ds, I am concerned that if he only take 3S/1H n don't do well in 1H, it will pull down his L1R5 score since 1H is required in the R5.

[koguma]

Hi Ichigokun, I suggest you have a good talk with your parents about your preference. Beside showing your results and tell them how tough it will be for you to cope with Maths & Sciences, you may also want to do some homework on what courses scholars usually apply to study in University.


One example is the Singapore Public Service Commission scholarships .

You can show them this website from Oxford,
http://www.ox.ac.uk/international/oxford_around_the_globe/asia_south_east/singapore_people.html

It is reported that \"More than half of the Singaporean undergraduate students at Oxford study courses in the Social Sciences and the next largest cohort studies subjects related to the Medical Sciences\".

You can also seek your teachers help. They may be able to explain to your parents on your strength and weakness.

[Ichigokun]

koguma:

Hi Ichigokun, I suggest you have a good talk with your parents about your preference. Beside showing your results and tell them how tough it will be for you to cope with Maths & Sciences, you may also want to do some homework on what courses scholars usually apply to study in University.


One example is the Singapore Public Service Commission scholarships .

You can show them this website from Oxford,
http://www.ox.ac.uk/international/oxford_around_the_globe/asia_south_east/singapore_people.html

It is reported that \"More than half of the Singaporean undergraduate students at Oxford study courses in the Social Sciences and the next largest cohort studies subjects related to the Medical Sciences\".

You can also seek your teachers help. They may be able to explain to your parents on your strength and weakness.

Hi Koguma,

I just gained knowledge that I failed Math again this term (around high 40s; what a pity!) but I haven't gotten the exact results back yet. Neither have I gotten back any of my results (my school system is strange. They ask us to select our subject combinations by 16/17 October but they keep mum about our results and we have post-exam activities for these few days).

For some reason I got really worried; just wondering if my confidence that I will do well for English, History and Geography this term was just a delusion. If I get 300/600 or less overall for Sec 2, I will be moved to N(A) stream and out of my current school.

It's surprising that there are more humanities undergraduates from Singapore going to Oxford though Thanks koguma, I will show these to my parents and ask for opinions again.

Thanks slmkhoo also for your links. It shows that people who study humanities can also be as successful as science students. Probably some of the most influential would be the ex-Disney CEO and ex-HP CEO (the few brands that I know)

I tried searching for Multilingual studies on the NTU websites and the description of the courses are quite fascinating to me :drool:

[Ichigokun]

reddiechan:

Ichigokun: show your family members 'Dead Poets Society' and scare the wits out of them. I got my blu-ray DVD copy from NLB @Esplanade.


Their objection to your choice is most likely due to prejudice and their lack of exposure in this area.

Hi reddiechan;

It's true though, my family members are either inclined towards Math and Science or not inclined towards either. I'm probably the first that emerged to be more inclined towards Humanities so they probably don't know how to deal with my streaming.

Even for my extended family, my cousins are also quite science inclined instead.

Let this be an eye-opener for them then