Poly student wanna take Private A level

cutepanpan SG

Hi there!
I am thinking of taking A level as a private candidate, and I have not been in the mainstream JC befoRE.
And my greatest wish in life is to be ableto get into a local University.
No matter how long it takes, or how tough it gonna be, i will make sure that i get into local university.
'A' Level is my only hope.
Hoever, i worry about being disadvantaged as if u are studying by yaself, there is no one- no teachers to assist u..
hmm....

any thoughts on it..? is it really tough and stupid to choose this route? but i am seriously considering it as i think that when we are young n have the active brain cells , all the more we shld invest all the time n effort into education ...(instead of dating n stupid stuff like that) haizz

i totally rule out private degree as i forsee there is huge disadvantage to it-too many private degree holders..nowadays

only nus, smu, ntu - the best choices..? hahahaaha

i admit because i come from lower middle income family b/g

i really want to have a good education for a better career prospects. .haizz :(

YoUwRonG™ SG

Do well in your polytechnic and get a diploma with merit. And you will be able to get into local university.

cutepanpan SG

i am waiting for my final results lol..

but i am someone who always plan for the worst..

but i am not giving up no matter what i wanna pursue my D.R.E.A.M ...

YoUwRonG™ SG

I see. So you are a year 3 student? I presume. Which polytechnic are you from?

cutepanpan SG

I see. So you are a year 3 student? I presume. Which polytechnic are you from?

Nanyang poly...the sch does not really matter

what matters is the diploma...but erm a degree surely is more valued that the latter...haha..

that is y i am in hot pursuit of it..ahahah

my dreams!

YoUwRonG™ SG

I’m from Nanyang Polytechnic too. If nothing goes wrong, I will be officially graduating on 25 May.

cutepanpan SG

from scl??

the sch never tell us when we getting results n when is the grad ceremony de :(

hey catch u another time okay? gonna slp now!

cheers :):)

UltimaOnline SG

Hello pansquare aka cutepanpan,

Perhaps if you can let us know which subjects (and specify which subjects you're intending to take at H1 levels and which subjects at H2 levels) you intend to take, then it's easier to give you subject specific advice.

Also, it may be helpful if you stated your poly course of study (for instance, if you wanted to take H2 Chemistry, it'll help if you're from Chemical Engineering in the poly), as well as your intended course of study in NUS / NTU / SMU.

The Aldric SG

Hi there, I can totally understand where you are coming from. Like the above said, do well and get a Diploma with Merit. Getting that would most likely mean that you did well in your cohort and got in first 10%. Get GPA of 3.5 and above, the higher the better, it increases your chance of getting into local uni.

Frankly speaking, I'm not in favour of recommending you to take private A levels. The reason being, private candidates enrolling in private schools (other than JCs) are expensive. You have to understand those JC students, they are drilled daily from 7am to 6pm for 2 years before they sit for A levels?

I have seen many of my friends withdrawing from JC and going to polytechnics because they are not up to it. Let's say you successfully took your A levels, if but you barely make it to local uni, the chances are that you will use your diploma to apply for uni. If not, you may only have options to go into some courses which you may not enjoy studying. So you wasted 1-2 years taking A levels.

Unless you are very confident and very determined to do well, then go ahead. Because there will be many factors that affect your studies, your friends may have already entered local/overseas uni, some may start working, whereas you are still taking your A levels. If you are a guy, you still need to serve NS, afterwhich you take your A levels, you may enter uni very late.

Conclusion: Take serious considerations before enrolling as PC for A levels. There are many options after diploma to get your degree. A level is only the "traditional" way.

Hope this helps.

cutepanpan SG

Thank you ,... u are very helpful.

:):)

but i understand the only way to go into local uni is to get a level?

i am determined that is y i am considering all the options after my diploma..

eagle SG

You can go uni with good poly grades as well. And depending on the course you want to take, you might need only 3 years to get the honours (after 3 years of poly), instead of 4 years like JC students (after 2 years of JC). You won't lose much time.

The Aldric SG

There are many poly graduates in NTU, SMU and NUS, although majority are from JCs.

Like eagle said you can apply for subject exemptions if you study a related course in poly. So there is a chance that you need not take certain subjects, or better still, you proceed to uni year 2.

So basically, it's the same number of years as JC students.

JC= 2 years JC + 4 years degree

Poly= 3 years poly + 3 or 4 years degree.

The very most you study one more year for your diploma, not much difference. But I can see that you are actually more concerned about getting into local uni now. If you have a good GPA in poly, then there should be no problem applying for local uni. If not, you can try overseas uni or private Uni in Singapore such as SIM, they offer distance learning degrees too.

Ya lah, it's true that being able to enter into local uni is still the best, much cheaper and more sought after by employers lol. But most importantly is to know what you want to work as after degree. You may study engineering in poly, but you may take a management degree in uni. The one which matters most is your degree, afterall you will be applying for jobs using your degree right?

If you can get into your choice of course in local uni, then congratulations. If not, don't just enroll into a course which you have no interest at all just for the sake of entering local uni, because you will regret during the years in uni and also your career.

In polys there should be "Academic Advising" whereby they recommend your path after diploma, you should try visiting them for professional advice.

Cheers :)