Tried before too and also found no difference. It cost many times more compared to other organic juice from the supermarket. IMO, not worth it.

I’ve been told you can get admission to some of the Australian unis with just N levels and a NITEC from ITE eg ITE nursing students can go straight to 1st year at Flinders U, even though their GPA can’t get them into any of the polys. Anyone can confirm this?


If so, ITE may be a good choice for some students. The time taken to complete a 1st degree is no different from those doing their A levels/ IB in 6 years after PSLE. The unis may not be top notch but are pretty decent, considering the academic achievements of these students.

Hotspurs68, noobparent


By top undergrad business schools, I meant those ranked within the top 20 by Business Week, US News etc. Examples would be Wharton, McIntire, Ross, Hass, Andersen, etc. Most of the Ivies don’t have an undergrad business school, apart from Penn and Cornell, though Cornell only offer hotel management courses. I believe these schools are more highly regarded than the UK unis for undergrad business courses. Oxbridge is not generally known for their business schools.

I’m not talking about postgraduate / MBA since many other factors can contribute to their success there, in particular, their undergrad results. A SP grad, Prof Shih (former NUS VC) went to Harvard this way.

There had been many reported cases of poly grads going on to top unis overseas, but from what I recall, all of them are from the science / engineering / biomedical. I don’t recall reading about anyone from the business courses going on to top undergraduate business schools, though the business courses (esp Ngee Ann) have some of the lowest COP.


Anyone know of those from the business courses making it to the top business schools straight after their diploma? I know of 2 poly grads who transferred to top private unis in the US (incl an Ivy League uni) after doing their general education at a community college. I hear that both uni didn’t even require their poly transcripts, basing their admission decision mainly on their GPA at the community college.

noobparent:

Yes, only if the overseas Unis are the prestigious ones, and better than local Unis.


Actually nowadays NUS is getting quite good and the international recognition of NUS has gone up a lot in the past 10 years.

That's the most ideal situation to be in - child can get into any course at any of the local uni or some of the most prestigious foreign uni.

But many may not find themselves in such an ideal situation.
For example, the child may not get into the course he wants in a local uni. And many very good students, including some with straight As, have found themselves in such a situation in recent years.

The other issue is prestigious unis. It's a little shallow to just look at the general ranking. You have to look at how the uni is ranked for the specific subjects and areas your child is seeking admission for. For example, none of the top US universities in the list by Pen88n has an undergraduate business school. And amongst business schools, some are renown for certain areas.

A third issue is time taken to obtain the first degree. If you send your child to US or Canada immediately after her O levels, she can get her first degree before 20. Things can be a little more complicated for boys due to NS, but he'll still be years ahead of his peers. For Australia (and I believe NZ as well), the child can start his / her foundation programme at the uni immediately after O levvels and start their undergrad studies within a year after that. Most would end up being a year or 2 ahead of their peers.

At the end of the day, I think it's really about providing the most suitable education for your child within your means. If it's within your means to help your child fulfil his / her ambition, and the child is responsible and passionate in his chosen area, I think it's good to do so. I've friends / relatives who're happy doctors / lawyers because their parents chose to support them through a foreign education when they couldn't get into the local medical / law school.

Really depends on how you do for all your subjects. And even if you fail a subject, it’ll still depends on how badly you fail.


Just to share that though he didn’t fail, one of my daughter’s friend had a C for Chinese some years ago. He had a T-score of around 255 (I can’t remember the exact score). He had A* for all the other 3 subjects.

d1s2:

DadOfGirl:

A-Level (JC) tution fee would be @ 4000/5000 Singapore Dollars per year. It will work out to be cost of 10000 SGd for two years.

Would you let go such opportunity to form foundation at reasonable cost? GEC-Alevel in sinagpore is defintely rated very well & if you score straight , you can save one semester in most Uni in US.

From what i've heard from students who've gone to American Universities, they can get 1 yr exemptions with A levels in most cases. A friend's daughter who went to Berkeley after her A levels is attempting to complete her undergraduate degree in 2.5yrs with course exemptions from her A levels.

Really depends on your A level subjects and grades as well as what you want to major in for your degree. A levels is only useful for science / engineering, but not for most other courses. It's quite pointless doing A levels if you want to major in, for example, liberal arts, accountancy or business. What you learn, whether Science or Humanities, wouldn't be of much relevance. Starting immediately on a US degree will definitely give you better exposure to a much broader range of subjects (ranging from law, accounting, psychology and philosophy) and allow you to better decide on the major after the 2nd year.

As for costs, the fees for a community college is usually no more than US$10k per year. I know of many parents who pay $1k or more per month for tuition for their JC kids. If you manage to establish residence after your first 2 years, you may qualify for the lower fees for resident in the next 2 years if you go to a public university in the same state. The savings can be very substantial.

autolycus:

DadOfGirl:

[quote=\"rosemummy\"]
Like to share where you got this info from? From what I know, the reverse is true. But whether A level or IB, you don't get much credit, probably just for 1 or 2 subjects, which would translate to 6 credits.

Actually, if you're planning to do a first degree in the US, the best option is to forget about both A level, IB or poly. Just do O level and SAT and apply for admission straight away. Alternatively, you can do the freshmen and sophomore years in a community college. Most students starting at a community college immediately after their O levels should be in their junior (third) year by the time those completing their A level / IB start their first year. Definitely faster and cheaper.

wouldn't it be more expensive to do 2 addtional year in US- community college & all that. Infact , it will be better to do A-level & finish first degree in 6-7 semester with great A level score & associated credits

That's the chepest for middle class family.

Erm, not cheaper. If a student does O-levels + SATs, he will end up graduating two years earlier than his friends. It's not two additional years. The Singapore system of education is based on the English system, which can take a very long time before university. The American system, however, takes a longer time for professional degrees.[/quote]It's definitely cheaper to start your US degree immediately. It's not 2 additional years in a community college - the 2 years is the general education part of the US degree, and had to be done whether you start with O level, A level or IB. After your community college, you transfer to the third year, while someone with A level or IB start in the first year. Cost wise, community college isn't that expensive. It'll work out cheaper than international schools and the fees would probably cost about the same as what you'll pay for tuition for A level students. You can do it accelerated and complete in about 1-1/2 years.

From what I know, you don't get much credit for A levels or IB. At the most, you'll save just 1 semester after spending 2 years doing it. For community college, you can almost always transfer all your credit, including to many of the Ivies and definitely to all the public ivies. You may also get priority to public universities in the same state, compared with someone applying straight with A levels / IB.

Yes, professional degrees can only be done after your 1st degree in the US.

Just to add, you'll graduate much faster if you skip your A level / IB if you intend to study in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The only advantage in doing A level / IB is that the student is older, more matured and better prepared for college, and will tend to do better than a 16 year old fresh out of O level, particularly for the Maths and Science subjects, and Econs (if they did all that in their A level / IB).

DadOfGirl:

A level get more credits in US undergraduate shools than any IB diploma..

Like to share where you got this info from? From what I know, the reverse is true. But whether A level or IB, you don't get much credit, probably just for 1 or 2 subjects, which would translate to 6 credits.

Actually, if you're planning to do a first degree in the US, the best option is to forget about both A level, IB or poly. Just do O level and SAT and apply for admission straight away. Alternatively, you can do the freshmen and sophomore years in a community college. Most students starting at a community college immediately after their O levels should be in their junior (third) year by the time those completing their A level / IB start their first year. Definitely faster and cheaper.

thebusybee:

daddy2007:

I still don't understand why a child need insurance (to cover death & critical illness). They might have forgot the original intent of insurance. My opinion is that insurance is to provide means for the dependents to continue to live if the insured passed away. A child will have no dependent to provide for!

My belief is that a good H&S plan for the child is good enough. Insurance is not required until probably the child turns to adult

That's exactly what my agent advices us, a child doesn't need insurance, it's us parents need more protections to ensure our child has enough money to live if (touch wood) anything happen to us.

Talking about H&S for child, which policy is the best?

Life insurance for young children may not be a need, but I think it's a good investment for the future. I bought quite a substantial amount of whole life policy when my child was very young. With the bonus and annual increase in coverage, the premium will work out to about the same as what you have to pay for a term policy at age 20+ (about the time when they start working and paying for their own insurance). What's more, the coverage amount will grow as they start a family, unlike a term policy, and there's also a good cash value should they need it then.