8228:

naggo-nitemare:

[quote=\"verykiasu2010\"]
Some jrs who perform v well in the Open category, will join SIMO training at NUS on national team level. A couple who are really really outstanding get to convert their math club merit CCA into Core CCA status, ie, they can leave the other earlier core to train in math 3 times a week.

So, merit CCA can be converted to core CCA. Who is the one who can decide?

[/quote]heard they only offer 1-2 a year. very exclusive. one of my DS's friend there. he says that offer comes from teachers. parents must approve also. generally those students who have done very well in the SIMO training at NUS. there are a few RI teachers also involved in the SIMO training so they would probably have a clearer picture.

Intermezzo:

francbat:

look at http://sms.math.nus.edu.sg/Competitions/SMO2011.aspx for example. the top 6 positions in open go to singaporeans. look at senior. the top 6, except for possibly no 3, are singaporeans.

just curious, how do u figure that out? from the names (local / foreign sounding) or you know the students?

2 sons. elder one in NUSHS, younger one in RI.

friendship:

In the end where are the top cream that being skimmed off in primary 4 har? How abt those being awarded with EESIS or something like that? They can't even compete with the foreign talent at the age of 15 years old onwards. Failure in our education system. Tuition centres laughing their ways to the bank.

how do you know they can't compete? don't make sweeping statements without evidence to back them up. if you look at the various local olympiads (mathematics, science) you will find singaporeans leading the pack.

look at http://sms.math.nus.edu.sg/Competitions/SMO2011.aspx for example. the top 6 positions in open go to singaporeans. look at senior. the top 6, except for possibly no 3, are singaporeans.

and again, PSLE unfortunately doesn't paint the entire picture. you can hot-house your kid to get a high PSLE score, if he/she slacks off after getting into a top school, of course they can't compete with the foreign talent... they can't even compete against their own peers.

not sure what you define as by influx, but from my knowledge, there are around 20 scholars per level (from year 3 to year 4), with each level (year 3-4) around 500? there are also returning singaporeans, DSA transfer etc.


you will however see more scholars in year 5-6, esp since you can’t stop them from joining RI via JAE (i think).

tiggermum:

The fact that the girls carried on and didn't quit the sport says a lot about their resilience.

Compare that with stories from the top schools who expect themselves to win at everything, which one teaches the child more about resilience?

lol. how do you know the top schools don't teach resilience? your argument is flawed. at least we know the top schools aren't losers

and i have no respect for this school's authorities/corp comms given how the incident was reported on 18th Jan in the Straits Times \"NUS High School student in coma after falling 6 floors\"

It was totally distasteful how the 2nd last paragraph went
\"Students from the school last year ended a 14-year gold drought at the International Mathematical Olympiad\"

- what does this even got to do with the student falling 6 floors?
- and to my knowledge, it was 2 students from RI, 1 from ACS(I) and 1 from NUSHS that got gold medals last year at the International Mathematical Olympiad.

can't believe ending a gold drought at the International Mathematical Olympiad is more important than a student who was in a coma (now dead). says much about the school.

No. The raffles diploma is more sophisticated than just top x%. there are 5 domains and must satisfy some min requirement in each of the 5 domains to have the basic diploma. Then merit and distinction I think requires merit or distinction in the specific domain.


http://www.ri.edu.sg/files/Year_5_2011_Level_Briefing_Raffles_Diploma_26_Feb.pdf

Triple science useless for medicine. Tell that to half of the medicine faculty who are from ri. I have a son who wanted to go to nushs over ri. But like you mentioned, it is too early for our kids to specialize. 6 years is a long time. I would prefer a holistic education that offers more opportunities for my ds. I sat him down and we just had a nice talk. Even showed him how ri had a better programme. I think you can find out more about rgs to help convince your dd.

biiyeo:

For one thing, the majority of NUS High students who apply for scholarships restrict themselves to selective and competitive scholarships such as A*STAR and DSTA scholarships, and tend not to apply for others. Consequently, the acceptance rate looks relatively low, but only because a large number are competing for a limited number of scholarships, not just with students from other schools but also within the pool of NUS High applicants.

Also, many NUS High graduates choose not to apply for scholarships. As an example, a recent graduate was offered a PSC scholarship to study at MIT, but decided to fund themselves rather than take up the government’s offer instead. Confidence in ability to obtain good career prospects after university is another factor to be taken into consideration, when NUS High alumni choose not to apply for scholarships because of the bond.

well i certainly hope for the sake of my elder DS this is true. But like I said, the top students will still get their share of scholarships and university admissions. the student offered admission to MIT is a top student. However, given NUSHS is supposed to be the school for math and sciences, the admission to top universities worldwide pale in comparison to RI or HCI. Yes, you have that one going to MIT, one going to caltech etc, but at the opposition schools they have like droves.

10 out of 220 NUSHS graduands going to NUS medicine is embarassing compared to 130+- out of 1200 RI graduates. of course, we don't have numbers for those who actually applied, but what about ivy league and oxbridge?

I think I should stop comparing. it's frustrating.

I think the concern is not with the top students in each cohort. We know that there are students who will, with minimal guidance, continue to excel. A school winning awards in some isolated competitions which only requires a select few to shine does not reflect the overall picture. A school is as good as its weakest student and teacher. Of course that may be a bit heavy, but you get the idea.


And for interviews, we are not concerned with awards for essay writing as an indicator. Scholarship offers are what counts. How one manages to impress the panel with his or her CV (substance) has to be backed up with a solid interview (selling oneself with substance). For me, it is clear that in general, RI and HCI students win hands down in this aspect. This year's scholarship numbers from various websites indicate so.

I think we should look closely at what a school can do to value add to an average/above-average student, not what the top students in each school are already capable of producing.

This may sound like a frustrated parent venting at a school for not being able to develop my DS the way I wanted, and of course, I take responsibility as well, but I think I have heard quite enough from the principal and the management during PTMs. In the last 6 years, I have heard enough talk, but not seen enough action.

I will tell you 6 years later whether I am pleased my younger DS's development. A bit too late to send my older DS to RI, but I have heard of a top yr 2 boy last year who went to RI after being disappointed with NUSHS.

I know it is unfair and impossible to compare a school with less than 10 years of existence against a tradition of excellence reaching 200, but with all the hype during its introduction, there is still certainly a long way to go.

And here is how to sell a school:
http://www.ri.edu.sg/files/PRI_-_RI_Founders_Day_Institution_Report_23.7.11.pdf

i have an elder son who is in NUSHS and during one of the PTMs a couple of years ago, one other parent (whose son represented Singapore in the IMO) brought up the disparity between content covered In English lessons vs GP in RI/HCI.


I personally find the language/dialogue skills lacking in my elder son as well, which I think will put him at a disadvantage when it comes to interviews for scholarships, etc.

If you have been to the open houses of the 3 schools, you will certainly find that when interacting with RI/HCI students, they were able to convey their passion as well as love of their school much better than NUSHS students.

It is for this reason that I have decided to place my younger son at RI. Despite my younger DS being interested in mathematics, I believe that RI/HCI will provide better all-rounded character development. In addition, I have also noticed RI sweeping 9 out of 10 SMO Junior results as well as doing better in various science competitions compared to NUSHS. But this is going off tangent.