'So hip' NUS the choice for most JC students
Almost two-thirds of 833 polled say they will opt for it, over SMU
and NTU
By Sandra Davie
Education Correspondent
THE advertisements would have you believe that the new kid on the
university block is hip and appealing.
They award that label to the almost 100-year-old National
University of Singapore (NUS), not four-year-old Singapore
Management University (SMU).
UNI CHOICES
In a Straits Times survey of first-year junior college students, it
emerged that many students don't see much difference in the three
local universities.
Indeed, NUS is just about the best place to get a degree, say the
17-year-olds. It attracts quality students, is established and
prestigious and has the most well-regarded qualifications.
a cross-section of JCs that took part in a Straits Times survey
last month, say they will opt for NUS.
Only 10 per cent picked SMU while 8 per cent ticked Nanyang
Technological University (NTU) in the survey questionnaire. The
rest say there is no difference among them.
The 20-something NTU also stayed at the bottom of the 'hip' scale,
with only 5 per cent of the votes.
NUS, in topping the scale, got 41 per cent, while SMU trails with
27 per cent. About one-quarter of the first-year JC students can't
see any difference.
The one big advantage SMU has over the others is its city campus in
Bras Basah, which it will move into next year. That's its main
attraction for almost 30 per cent who want to go there.
These findings seem to underline the fact that recent developments
have yet to make a mark on the young ones.
The Government, in the past three years, has been pushing the three
universities to shape their own identity, by letting them hire
their own staff and set their own courses and admission
criteria.
It's part of the overall education strategy to provide diversity,
so that students of different talents can thrive in different
learning cultures.
But for the moment, the majority from the eight JCs surveyed
believe 'old is gold'.
It did not surprise Andre Tan, 17, from Victoria JC. He said: 'It's
a no-brainer. NUS is obviously the best because it is the oldest.
For universities, the older they are, the better their
reputation.'
But the two younger varsities have their champions too.
Zeng Wei, 19, from Hwa Chong JC, hails NTU for its many inventions
in information technology, engineering and biomedicine.
The university's inventions make the headlines regularly. The
latest is a project on a new computational method that allows
bio-imaging scans to measure tumour sizes more accurately.
Sophia Tan, 18, from Anderson JC, sees SMU as a trailblazer. 'SMU
has, from the start, taken a different path. For example, its
admission policy includes interviews and personal essays. NUS and
NTU are followers.'
Her view strikes a chord with SMU's president Howard Hunter who
said: 'It is encouraging that SMU's unique pedagogy and broad-based
curriculum are already being recognised.'
NUS was naturally thrilled and its provost, Dr Tan Chorh Chuan,
vows to continue to give students 'even more diverse opportunities
both in Singapore and overseas'.
NTU president Su Guaning is not fazed by the survey results. He
prefers the evidence from the mound of applications NTU received
this year. It got about 40 per cent more top A-Level students and
about 150 per cent more top polytechnic students than last
year.
'This shows that our target audience, the students making the final
choices, recognised the difference,' he said.
Also, NTU revamped its programmes last year to offer students more
choices and greater flexibility, as well as the chance to round off
their education with a work or study stint in the United States,
China or India.
No less significant to him is NTU's garden-like campus in Jurong
which he said is a 'well-kept secret'.
To which, Catholic Junior College student Alicia Tan, 17, said with
a wry smile: 'Well, maybe that's the problem - that it's a secret.
NTU should advertise itself better, especially as it's tucked away
at one corner of the island.'
