Very urgent!!!Should i transfer school?

cupcakes1 SG

hi everyone, i am new here :) please help me with my problem:)

i am a student from a top secondary school in singapore(just graduated in november) it has an integrated programme, which leads to JC 1, a top jc in singapore that only admits 3 pointers. However, the problem is, i am the bottom 5 percent in my top school. When i entered the school, i was borderline cutoff only. Throughout the years, i struggled with my grades. i even repeated a year of secondary 4 because of bad grades. Now, i am not those ah lian type that don't study. I study quite a lot and get adequate help from my parents(they are quite smart), very focused but still got bad grades in my school.

Now that i have graduated, i am thinking of transferring to another jc(not a neighbourhood jc, but a 9/10 pointer jc). the reasons are as follows

1. the jc i want to transfer to is near to my house. There are 3 JC i am considering. They are all at most 30 minutes away, unlike the jc i am supposed to go(one hour away). i feel location is very important to me. jc is going to be quite hectic and every minute counts, so i don't want to spend so much time on transport

2. the top school i went to often stressed me out. one year, i felt very depressed and moody every single day, but my parents told me to "just deal with it" . i feel an average jc would be easier on me. Sure, it will still be stressful, considering i have A levels, but the change in enviroment/culture will make me not so stressed?

3.the top jc i am supposed to go to said i can't take economics, which i'm keen on taking. this is because i did not meet the grade requirements to take economics. I feel taking a standard PCME course will be better for me to enter UNI

4. i am very afraid of being asked to repeat another year in jc.

so the abovementioned are my reasons. as you can see, I am NOT the superficial kind who look at uniforms etc, i am concerned about my future.

However, here are some drawbacks in transferring:

1. what if the when i apply to a local uni(i'm planning too) and i'm the borderline case and the admission officer sees two applications, one from me and one from someone from a top jc, like rjc with same grades and decide to admit the rjc person because of the top jc status?

2. will it affect my job prospects? ie the boss deciding to hire the person from a top jc even if we have similar qualifications.

3. i am not so sure about the percentage of people who can get into uni from the average jc i am thinking of transferring to. they won't tell me....

so, what do you think? please help me as its very urgent!!! i am thinking of writing the

Summer hill SG

Frankly speaking your employers doesn't care if you repeat or not. What matters is that you go to a high ranking university, etc Cambridge. Even if an ITE graduate got a Cambridge degree, his employers will probably think forget about his history, he made it to Cambridge, wow I am impressed.

SBS2601D SG

That is not true.

If you repeat, and still get cui grades, the employer will want to know what the heck you are doing with your life.

***

Transferring to the 9/10 point school makes sense if you really feel like you are out of sorts in the current school.

The biggest advantage from that is that if you become the big fish in the small pond, the school will channel resources to you that you would otherwise have lacked in the big pond.

That would allow you to fight back at the later stage.

***

Questions 1 and 2 are irrelevant. Your job is to do your job well, period. If you fail to make the cut, you fail to make the cut. If you want something badly, you will work badly for it.

Question 3: Of course nobody knows. Again, irrelevant question. If you want something badly, you jolly well get your act together, and do it.

In case you wonder, getting into local uni is usually not a problem, especially 9/10 pt school.

Its what you get at the local uni that is another story.

If you want to know more, dont bother, just learn.

And enjoy your learning.

When you understand the fun part of learning, doors will open for you.

FireIce SG

writing the........................... wat?

Samsun SG

seriously. you shld discuss this with your parents and teachers....not seeking help in forums.
from all that you have written. you will get killed in any top jcs.
your psle results only gotten you that far....into an IP school.
from sec and jc, you need more brains than hardwork.

the bottom 5% of the top jc or IP sch may not be smarter than the top 5% of neighbourhood jc. where do u belong?

go to a jc you are comfortable with and learn.

so what if top jc has 95% eligible for uni? you may be that bottom 5%.

so what is a normal jc has only 70% qualifying for uni? you may be that 70%.

most important thing is. enjoy your learning.be comfortable.

EmilyMinty SG

You should talk to your parents about it and maybe chaing to another jc that suits your needs and for a new environment.

Acx1688 SG

Traveling time is a factor in determining JCs,

You should not be spending an hour to get to your place of study

By waking up later, you will be more refreshed and able to concentrate more...

Employers look at how you adapt at work and whether you can contribute to the organisation...

If you are exam smart and get good results but cannot contribute to the well being of an organisation, it is pointless, just look at how the brainy people

1. built the MCE and created problem after problem?!
2. The unsolved and increasing number of Dengue cases
3. Hospital bed crunch in SG

Studies can only get you to a point in life...

Speak to your parents...

CaiHongRainx SG

Do discuss with your parents about this.

Qn 1: Not sure, but I don’t think it matters. But if you want to think about it, the uni make take the neighbourhood jc student instead, simply because if a person from the neighbourhood jc can get the same result as the top jc, then what for take the top jc student. But then again, if you don’t make it for the cut, u don’t.

Qn 2: JC cert only allow you to enter uni, nothing else. It’s the uni qualifications that matters.

Qn 3: Don’t worry about the % . If you really want to know, I’m from a neighbourgood jc, 14 points and above (Not telling which jc i went to), and it’s around 50% – 60%. However, the reason why student in my jc dont make it to uni is they are lazy. So I come to the conclusion that no matter which jc you go, so long as you work hard, you can still make it to uni. Just that for hot courses like medicine and law, simply working hard may not be enough.

About transferring, you perhaps should. Transfer to a jc that is nearer and perhaps doesn’t stress you out too often. Not sure about a 9/10 pointer jc though, but I think they don’t stress their students as much as a 2/3 pointer jc.

For subject combination…depends on which uni course you want to go. Sometimes the standard PCME combination isn’t the best, which depends from person to another person.

Summer hill SG

That is not true.

If you repeat, and still get cui grades, the employer will want to know what the heck you are doing with your life.

***

Transferring to the 9/10 point school makes sense if you really feel like you are out of sorts in the current school.

The biggest advantage from that is that if you become the big fish in the small pond, the school will channel resources to you that you would otherwise have lacked in the big pond.

That would allow you to fight back at the later stage.

***

Questions 1 and 2 are irrelevant. Your job is to do your job well, period. If you fail to make the cut, you fail to make the cut. If you want something badly, you will work badly for it.

Question 3: Of course nobody knows. Again, irrelevant question. If you want something badly, you jolly well get your act together, and do it.

In case you wonder, getting into local uni is usually not a problem, especially 9/10 pt school.

Its what you get at the local uni that is another story.

If you want to know more, dont bother, just learn.

And enjoy your learning.

When you understand the fun part of learning, doors will open for you.

The employer seriously doesn't give a shit. Why would they care if the student repeat or what? So what if the student is lazy then? They have made it to Cambridge, and this shows that they have changed. The most important thing is that they MUST perform well in their job and to get a foot in the door, a nice university degree.

I don't know where you get your infomation from, but this is from my HR uncle.

Even if you go to RI then NUS (or whatever good univerisity) and you perform badly during the job interview (not confident, can't speak clearly, weak in public speaking) out the door you go. If a previous ITE student is able to present well, speak to the public confidently, able to get along with people and made it to etc, NUS, no doubt he will be hired. If an RI student performs badly in public speaking, too shy to interact with people/customers/cilents, who the hell cares if he's from RI? He's not going to perform well in the job.

SBS2601D SG

I don't know where you get your infomation from, but this is from my HR uncle.

Exactly my point. If you make it to Cambridge, good for you! But what if you dont?

And I make clear once again that if you fail to justify the extra year, you will be hard-pressed to present yourself in good light.

***

You asked where do I get my information from?

From having been employed and accepted by 7 different employers for each vacation that I had before my current full-time employment?

What do you have to show since you asked?

Moreover, it is also incorrect to assume the ITE fellow will be employed as per your scenario. There is a distinction between hard and soft skills.

Do you hire a bus driver for the defense of a supposed law suit against you because he looks better and speaks louder?

cupcakes1 SG

hi everyone, thank you for you replies:) i have discussed this matter with my parents since last year and they are supportive of it. i am sending out the transfer letter tomorrow. Only problem is whether i will get accepted or not. after all, 9/10 pointer schools are good schools!

also, may i know if anyone who is a student /ex-student of anderson/nanyang/catholic jc who can tell me the percentage of people retaining in year one?

eagle SG

I entered JC with the lowest of L1R5 grades throughout the school.

I graduated with almost perfect score (except for GP :( )

Seriously, I think JCs throughout Singapore are about the same. But if you intend to graduate from JC, stick with your current JC, and seek help if you need for the topics.

My advice is, ask yourself what you want. Having a graduation cert from a "branded" JCs will help you much more in future than you know. Ultimately, everyone from all JCs will still take the same National Exams anyway.

If you cannot meet the requirements for Economics, try appealing. State your reasons, and ask the principal.

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When you go NUS next time, will it be one hour as well?

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You can be bottom of the school, but still emerge among top few percent of the national cohort.

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Not true. Economics is not necessary for most uni courses.

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Not for Uni applications
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Yes, a little. A lot still depends on the interview. When you are shortlisted for an interview, your grades and school does not matter anymore. It's how you carry yourself.

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They won't. It is still the same national exams.
Since you are already in, why not stay? Work hard at it. And like I said, seek help when you need it. Not necessarily tuition, you could post in this forum and ask for help too. I will help when I have the time, so will other moderators and fellow students. Education is meant to be shared!

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Summer hill SG

Exactly my point. If you make it to Cambridge, good for you! But what if you dont?

And I make clear once again that if you fail to justify the extra year, you will be hard-pressed to present yourself in good light.

***

You asked where do I get my information from?

From having been employed and accepted by 7 different employers for each vacation that I had before my current full-time employment?

What do you have to show since you asked?

Moreover, it is also incorrect to assume the ITE fellow will be employed as per your scenario. There is a distinction between hard and soft skills.

Do you hire a bus driver for the defense of a supposed law suit against you because he looks better and speaks louder?

bus driver is labour job. not much brains and interaction needed

cupcakes1 SG

Hi guys , I have discovered another problem while trying to transfer :(

The top JC I am supposed to go to retains 7 students last year

JC1 (which i wanna transfer to) retainns 50 students last year

JC2 (which i also wanna transfer to) retains 50-60 students last year

JC2 (which i also wanna transfer to) also retained 50 plus students last year.

I DO NOT wanna get retained...Why are the average 9/10 pointer jc retaining more people than the top jc? I told my dad this statistics and he said maybe the average JC want to improve their A level results by only allowing the people with good grades to take A levels.

Which Jc do you think is less stressful for me? Stress for me is usually caused by the idea of having to repeat the year due to bad grades.

SBS2601D SG

Look.

Just study hard and understand what you are doing.

If you dont like the thought of having to stand the competition at this stage, dont take A levels.

Summer hill SG

Hi guys , I have discovered another problem while trying to transfer :(

The top JC I am supposed to go to retains 7 students last year

JC1 (which i wanna transfer to) retainns 50 students last year

JC2 (which i also wanna transfer to) retains 50-60 students last year

JC2 (which i also wanna transfer to) also retained 50 plus students last year.

Which Jc do you think is less stressful for me? Stress for me is usually caused by the idea of having to repeat the year due to bad grades.

The most important thing here is distance. If you near it, you won't waste time commuting back and fro to it

qdtimes2 SG

SBS is right that you study hard and understand what you are doing can alr. Dun need to fear getting retained. Even if you have difficulty coping with ur studies in any jc, there are alawys many ways which you can use to improve e.g. getting private tution, or get consultations with ur jc tutors often.

If mjc is one of ur mentioned jc, u dun need worry that they are trying to purposely retain students who are not doing well for the sake of good show. They don't, and i noe as i graduated from there 2 years ago =). the requirement to get promoted back then was at least get 40% on overall and a pass in GP (back then everyone was failing badly and the school also considered the average). even if u dun meet the requirements, there are some certain additionnal test for you as an extra opportunity to see if u are suitable to pass on to JC2. Afterall, retaining 1 year may not be such a bad thing if you are really struggling to understand the topics and to cope with the tiring schedule in JCs.

It was very common to see most ppl in various JCs failing this and that, and passing a certain content subject is actually very wonderful. Well, in the end many of people still can get gd results in A lvls. One very common reason is that they like to slack in 1st year for example, then later chiong during 2nd year and the "catch-up" result will then finally show in like, during their midyears or prelims.

Lastly, there may be something important for you to know. these 9-10 pointer jcs' exam papers may be no easier than RI/ HCI papers. For example for H2 Chem, I've always felt that difficulty of tjc/mjc/ri/hci/cjc/njc/vjc/ maybe nyjc papers are on par with each other. For H2 math papers and H1 Econs, RI/HCI are usually more manageable than most other jcs'. There was even one jc (AJC if i rmb correctly) who likes to release hellish qns for their h2 math papers. Give an average guy twice the amount of time to do and i doubt he can finish half of it.