Networking Group - JCs General

[sharonkhoo]

Teacher Aaron:

jtoh:

Unfortunately, since 2006 all students must take at least one contrasting subject so the option of triple science + math at H2 level are no longer available to most students. That is the reason why the most common subject combinations these days is BCME and PCME, Econs being the contrasting subject.

I know about the contrasting subject requirement, but the contrasting subject can be offered at H1 level. You can still take triple science and math at H2 level and take, say, Economics at the H1 level, which the result will be of no consequence to university admission.

Triple science and math at H2 level is the best subject combination based on my knowledge of university admission requirements. Of course, the question is whether JCs are willing to offer such an option. Maybe parents can try to pressure JCs to offer this option?

That means taking an extra H1 subject on top of 4 H2 subjects? That's only for the most able students then. Many are already struggling with 3 H2 + 1H1. I'm not sure all students will be permitted to take the extra subject even if they want to.

Your analysis is good for students who have no idea what their passions are or are purely pragmatic in their outlook. For students who have a passion, it would be best to follow their passion (at least the broad area) rather than do sciences just because they can. They are likely to be more interested in their studies and will probably derive more intrinsic satisfaction from their work. I was one who qualified to do the triple science+maths combination in the days when it was allowed, but I chose to do humanities as I couldn't face the prospect of 2 more years (or more) of sciences. I have not regretted that choice.

[dohmisoh]

Teacher Aaron:

jtoh:

Unfortunately, since 2006 all students must take at least one contrasting subject so the option of triple science + math at H2 level are no longer available to most students. That is the reason why the most common subject combinations these days is BCME and PCME, Econs being the contrasting subject.

I know about the contrasting subject requirement, but the contrasting subject can be offered at H1 level. You can still take triple science and math at H2 level and take, say, Economics at the H1 level, which the result will be of no consequence to university admission.

Triple science and math at H2 level is the best subject combination based on my knowledge of university admission requirements. Of course, the question is whether JCs are willing to offer such an option. Maybe parents can try to pressure JCs to offer this option?

From NUS website.
Computation of University Admission Score »
The University Admission Score (UAS) is computed as follows:


the best four content subjects (i.e. 3 H2 and 1 H1 content subjects, with at least 1 content subject to be from a contrasting discipline) either GP or KI grade taken in the same sitting
H1 Project Work

:evil:

[jtoh]

The 4H2 + 1H1 combination is really for the very strong students and you will need special approval to take it (if the school even offers it in the first place) because the school has to be sure you can cope with it. Unless you’re a really strong student, I would prefer to go with 4H2 which you are good at and have an interest in. No point forcing yourself to study Physics or Biology if that’s not your cup of tea. Why would you want to go into an area of study in university and eventually career if you don’t like that subject to begin with?

[Teacher Aaron]

jtoh:

The 4H2 + 1H1 combination is really for the very strong students and you will need special approval to take it (if the school even offers it in the first place) because the school has to be sure you can cope with it. Unless you're a really strong student, I would prefer to go with 4H2 which you are good at and have an interest in. No point forcing yourself to study Physics or Biology if that's not your cup of tea. Why would you want to go into an area of study in university and eventually career if you don't like that subject to begin with?

Yup, I agree that if you already know it's not your cup of tea. Interest should be the top priority for sure. I'm offering my view on a purely pragmatic standpoint of having the most number of options.

If you can stomach giving up one H2 and living with 3 H2 subjects, I suggest spending the time on beefing up non-academic achievements to try for discretionary admission as a spare parachute.

[Teacher Aaron]

dohmisoh:

jtoh:

Unfortunately, since 2006 all students must take at least one contrasting subject so the option of triple science + math at H2 level are no longer available to most students. That is the reason why the most common subject combinations these days is BCME and PCME, Econs being the contrasting subject.

My 2 cents worth that I tell my own kids.

Logic by which you choose your subjects.

1) Choose subjects that you like (chances are, you will be good at it)
2) Choose subjects that you are good at (can score)
3) Choose any subject (boh pian)

:boogie:

:goodpost:

[Teacher Aaron]

slmkhoo:

Teacher Aaron:

[quote=\"jtoh\"]Unfortunately, since 2006 all students must take at least one contrasting subject so the option of triple science + math at H2 level are no longer available to most students. That is the reason why the most common subject combinations these days is BCME and PCME, Econs being the contrasting subject.

I know about the contrasting subject requirement, but the contrasting subject can be offered at H1 level. You can still take triple science and math at H2 level and take, say, Economics at the H1 level, which the result will be of no consequence to university admission.

Triple science and math at H2 level is the best subject combination based on my knowledge of university admission requirements. Of course, the question is whether JCs are willing to offer such an option. Maybe parents can try to pressure JCs to offer this option?

That means taking an extra H1 subject on top of 4 H2 subjects? That's only for the most able students then. Many are already struggling with 3 H2 + 1H1. I'm not sure all students will be permitted to take the extra subject even if they want to.

Your analysis is good for students who have no idea what their passions are or are purely pragmatic in their outlook. For students who have a passion, it would be best to follow their passion (at least the broad area) rather than do sciences just because they can. They are likely to be more interested in their studies and will probably derive more intrinsic satisfaction from their work. I was one who qualified to do the triple science+maths combination in the days when it was allowed, but I chose to do humanities as I couldn't face the prospect of 2 more years (or more) of sciences. I have not regretted that choice.[/quote]I understand that feeling. I made myself do science in JC, and life was crap for two years, and I swore off science after receiving my \"A\" level results. I am sure if I continued in the sciences, I would have never been able to become a valedictorian.

[micko07]

DadOfGirl:

If you don't take Lit or ELL as one of the humanity subject , you don't need read Literary novel. Subject combination is varied for Humanities program. MOE Humanity centers (Top 7 JC) & ELEP scholership program Warrants English language as mandatory H2 subject. Obviously i was assuming either of english subject would be must to be considered at Humanity student.

Econ , though considered officially as Human subject is informally considered as Humanity & Science stream. My DD was forced to take Econs over history because her good grades in A & E maths. JC doesn't know those grades were with tution in A-maths at O-level. :roll:

As a side note 2 human & 2 science subject is considerd as Science stream , hence you have to compete with better cutoff. Because of this, you have to take Econ + 2 human subject once admitted in Arts programs.

Unless the syllabus has changed drastically, H2 Lit only has 5 texts (2 for paper 1, 3 for the optional paper). You really don't need (and in my opinion, shouldn't) read one text per week. You'd be much better off going through each text more carefully, making notes as you go along. Quality is essential to doing well in lit. I didn't do ELL so I don't know what that involves.

You're right in that people in the Humanities Programme must take H2 Lit. For the general Arts student, it isn't mandatory though.

Econs at JC level is really more of an Arts subject than a Science subject. It's incredibly qualitative (eg describe how the price mechanism works, explain what sort of macroeconomic policies the government can use to boost an economy). As far as I can remember, there's virtually no maths involved (unless you did H3 Game Theory, which involved advanced probability). Your daughter's grades shouldn't be impacted by how good she is at Maths. Obviously, university-level Economics is a totally different ball game and some schools are notoriously maths heavy (eg Chicago)

[phankao]

Teacher Aaron:

dohmisoh:

[quote=\"jtoh\"]Unfortunately, since 2006 all students must take at least one contrasting subject so the option of triple science + math at H2 level are no longer available to most students. That is the reason why the most common subject combinations these days is BCME and PCME, Econs being the contrasting subject.

My 2 cents worth that I tell my own kids.

Logic by which you choose your subjects.

1) Choose subjects that you like (chances are, you will be good at it)
2) Choose subjects that you are good at (can score)
3) Choose any subject (boh pian)

:boogie:

:goodpost:[/quote]this is what I tell my kids too bc none of them are genuises. None do well particularly academically. So I only tell them to avoid doing subjects that they are poor in.

So in the case of one of our children, it means humanities - cannot help it. Force to do 2 H2 sciences, I'm sure he'll sink really deeply. He is suitable only to do 1 H1 Science! On the other hand, Our eldest is so poor in humanities, the 1 constrasting subject she had to do for A-levels, she did very badly for it. So the MOE's rule of \"contrasting\" subject requirement is not advantageous for her. From all the years in secondary school, can see she excels in the sciences and fails the humanities for some reason despite tuition (only time passed was at O-level exams itself).

Sadly for the one that is good in humanities, even at upper secondary, they are FORCED to take 2 pure sciences even though they apply to do pure humanities as well. The \"infamous\" school that professes to have students that excel bc they allow them to \"take any\" subjects they like... geee... only within the \"fixed combinations set by the school\", lah!

[micko07]

bakababa:

@micko07, grateful thanks for your encouragement and suggestions. Will look into subscribing to some of these magazines. If you had to pick one, which would you choose? You are right about the practice. Will get her to speak with her teachers.

The Atlantic, BBC and the Guardian are free I'm tempted to say New York Times because I really enjoy their articles, but it's a personal preference. I think NYT might have broader coverage compared to the Economist (which obviously focuses more on economics-related issues). In any case, some articles are free so maybe your DD can have a go at those first and see which one she prefers? For example, this is an excerpt from an article in the Economist on democracy: http://www.economist.com/news/essays/21 ... -can-be-do

I'm not really sure if writing every week is necessary to be honest (although I can see why it would be helpful) - in my case, reading a lot and having discussions with my classmates worked out just fine. Perhaps your DD can ask if her tutor is willing to mark additional essays? She'd be getting good practice and feedback in that case, and you wouldn't need to send her to tuition.

I've always found doing well in Lit to be significantly harder (and more unpredictable) but it might just be me. It's not just contingent on how well you write, but more importantly, your analysis of the unseen poem/ prose and set texts. I never really found a \"magic formula\" to doing well in Lit, but having notes and thinking about major themes/ characters/ ideas helps for the set texts. Possibly more practice for the unseen bits? Don't know really.

[sharonkhoo]

micko07:

Econs at JC level is really more of an Arts subject than a Science subject. It's incredibly qualitative (eg describe how the price mechanism works, explain what sort of macroeconomic policies the government can use to boost an economy). As far as I can remember, there's virtually no maths involved (unless you did H3 Game Theory, which involved advanced probability). Your daughter's grades shouldn't be impacted by how good she is at Maths. Obviously, university-level Economics is a totally different ball game and some schools are notoriously maths heavy (eg Chicago)

It may not involve maths per se, but it does require mathematical thinking. I floundered in Econs because I found it so hard to understand all those graphs, equations and things that went up when other things went down! And I had got As in Maths at both O and A levels (by dint of lots of practice, but gave up trying to understand some of the pure Maths bits).