It's not in the league of top scholarships but to get it is
another matter. Pretty tough in fact.
From what I know and what I have gone through myself, anything
less than 4 As in A levels is sure not to qualify even for SMS
board interview. Only if you are Sword of Honour in your course
will you be given special consideration (even then you need at
least 3 As).
For the only poly grad that I know who was awarded, his GPA was
a perfect 4.00.
To be more precise, SMS is more like for people who can't
qualify for SAFOS but are still academically inclined.
I think you keep trying hard to convince us that it's difficult
to get because you said you got it but the truth we all know is
that it's a farmer scholarship. From your post here, I can see you
define "difficult to get" purely on one basis- as long as it has
rigorous academic requirements. The truth is because of the
proliferation of 4As now, having 4As is considered nothing. Dun
even need to talk about now. Even back when SMS was much easier to
get in the late 90s when most of the its holders are merely 4As
with no S papers, it's already considered nothing to have 4As. I
mean look at the number of people with 4As nowadays for A levels.
More than 2000 per cohort get 4A and above if you read the news.
Having 4As doesn't even get you a stat board scholarship, so using
"anything less than 4A" to claim that SMS is "difficult to get"
doesn't convince me at all. In fact I'd be surprised if you told me
that less than 4A now can get you the SMS. In my post in Oct 23,
1.01pm, I already said "4As would get you an SMS because I know
many with only 4As". To get only 4As and no S
distinction is considered very bad results for an overseas bound
scholar. This was the situation more than 5 years ago, I
think it's even more so now with the ubiquitousness of 4As.
Considered 'normal' now.
Among my friends who have 2nd rate scholarships (defined as stat
board or private organisations' scholarships aka non PSC
SAFOS/OMS), all have 4As and at least 1 S distinction. Most, as in
90% of 2nd rate scholars have 4As and at least 1S distinction and 1
S merit. Pls note that only overseas scholars are considered
scholars by the government (with the exception of the odd PS who
wants to do med here). So the criteria you speak of isn't even good
enough to qualify for a 2nd rate scholarship = stat board and
private organisation eg SIA, SPH, Keppel types.
I heard from my SAFOS friends that it's often the "army/military
performance" bit that does them *the SMS holders* in. Many of my
SAFOS friends said that they had JC schoolmates who were also doing
quite well grade-wise, but after enlisting their BMT and OCS (Delta
coy) performance weren't good enough and did them in, bumping them
down.
There was a guy in my sec school class, among a handful of less
than 7 that were groomed for the skies by their teachers. In top
schools like RGS, RI and TCHS, teachers of the top class would pick
out about 5-10 students that they think have the highest potential
for the skies to groom. Unfortunately when it came to the crunch,
he couldn't even get an OMS and only became a navy SMS!! My friend,
not among the 'selected potential hotshots' when in sec school got
the SAFOS! Apparently it was BMT/OCS that did the other guy in. The
other 6 got NOTHING. As in NOTHING!
As we all know, SAFOS are OMS calibre guys who are also top
militarily. To be SAFOS, a guy must already have an OMS offer in
the bag. SAFOS, SPFOS and OMS are the top tier of scholarships in
Singapore. All 3 are conferred by PSC. But in many quarters, people
think that OMS can't even be compared to SAFOS. And its impossible
to "fashion" yourself to get the desired scholarship because it
doesn't work on a fixed formula. PSC often chooses all rounded
people and not just people with perfect grades. For example. most
PS have 4A, 2A1, 2 SD, not a perfect grade-this is a 'normal' grade
among all scholars. Yet the 4A, 2A1 and 3SD person won't even get
an OMS! He ends up getting some crappy nonsense like DSTA or Astar
scholarship or some lau sai teaching award. In fact i know at least
2 PS that didn't get A1 for GP, considered the holy grail subject
for a top scholarship (that with PSC).
Contrary to popular belief of people outside the system, PSC
chooses all rounded people and NOT people with perfect grades. To
give an example, most PS or SAFOS have 4A, 2 SD or 4A, 1 SM, 1SD.
But the TOP SCORER 4A, 3SD NEVER gets a top
scholarship (SAFOS, SPFOS, OMS). Going by the consistent historical
record of the past decades, these top A level scorers all end up
with lower rung scholarships like some lau sai teaching award or
Astar scholarship. This is true. Ask any teacher or top student in
RJ or HC.
Another popular misconception is that the top PSLE or O level
scorer (that 1 top person with the highest PSLE score like the
malay girl last yr) go all the way as top and end up as PS after A
levels. In fact the reverse is true. The top PSLE or O Level scorer
often end up, like the top A level scorer, mediocre. With either 1)
some crappy teaching award 2) a lau sai Astar/DSTA/Firefly
scholarship (where they rot in a stat board for eternity with no
exposure outside) 3) rejected for all scholarship applications but
got into top foreign university and there on own pocket or 4) in a
local university with nothing.
That's why for people in the know (the scholars), they'd say "this
person by odds, will probably fade into oblivion after JC" when MOE
announces the top PSLE and O level scorer. People outside the
system don't know this too, and many tend to think that the top
graders are the people who make it by government's standards. But
the opposite is true.
The people who make it are NOT the 3S distinctions people. They
have the 'mandatory' 4As, 1-2 S distinctions, and 30 other
qualities that can't be typecast or hothoused. In other words, PSC
always chooses the 4A, 2S, OCS calibre, captain of debate team, in
JC represented S'pore in science/math/humanities in a top US/UK
university exchange programme, marksman and sportsman over the 4A
3SD person with nothing else. Between a 4A 1S with all those
qualities and a 4A 3SD with none, they always choose the
former.
The PSs I know represented Singapore in Yale, Caltech, MIT when
in JC. They're not the mugger toads with 4A, 3SD. Then the 4A, 3SD
people I know ended up in one of those 4 outcomes I described
above.
The main diff other than that SAFOS is the top tier scholarship
and SMS's equivalent is SGS, is that SAFOS is administered by PSC
so their performance and AO calibre are monitored by PSC all the
while during their service in SAF. They also get plum staff tours
in J5, DPO and FSD. SAFOS are also auto-MAs so they are rotated in
ministries as MAs and future AOs. But SMS is strictly under SAF
only and within the SAF is always seen as second fiddle.