Note that the conditional admission does not mean direct entry to nus, it means that you get into the program given that your A level results make the cut to NUS.
So for those who are new to USP or USP Conditional Admission,
-it is a multidisciplinary programme (pretty vague isnt it?)
Means you study stuff not related to your main field of study, eg. humanities such as political science.... DIVERSE MUCH
-Conditional means give you a spot in NUS? Yes, but specifically NUS USP. Means your As must make it to NUS then you can get your Major+USP. NOT BACKDOOR.
-The only thing I liked is you dont have to vomit out what you learn during exam time limit, means you got more than enough time and effort to do your research and get your A. I never liked to vomit what I learn in that 2 hrs and forget all about it afterwards.
-STUDENT INITIATED CIP (Those who really have the heart to give back to society will look forward to this, those who only wanna beef up their portfolio, I can only say perhaps USP can change you a little)
-Exchange Programmes exclusive only for USP students means you gots lots of chance to go overseas (CIP also have exchange programme,but not all)
-COMPULSORY 2 years stay in USP residence (3000+ per semester-->1 year = 2 semester including meal plans, if you dont have the financial means you can always apply for bursary,scholarship)
ROUND 1: THE ESSAY (500 words)
A theory that interest you/applicable to real life
I wrote about how normal distribution is largely useful and a form of irrefutable piece of evidence when needed. For confidentiality, I will not reveal about the exact details.
You got to be creative on this!!! I wont grab your rod and help to fish. Instead, my advice is CREATIVITY, some people got the interview with the following topics "Sleep, Kpop, Politics, Adam Smith Invisible Hand, Music, Food". You can tell that there is really no benchmark on politically accepted topic, it boils down to how interesting and creative you are. For me, I go for security so I chose a textbook topic.
Round 2: THE INTERVIEW
I got an alumni and a professor,
This is the entire interview that took 20-25min. NOTE THAT NOT ALL INTERVIEW USES THE SAME QUESTIONS. IT IS JUST FOR YOU TO GET THE GIST OF THE FLOW OF THIS INTERVIEW. SOME QUESTIONS MAY NOT BE ANSWERED ON THIS BLOG.
Which course are you looking at in NUS?
I am looking at business.
Why is that so?
I love numbers and the career path leads to finance, and
since finance is part of business. Reading that bar charts or statistics could
actually allow a rational person make an informed decision. For those who don’t
really like this, might just be another drawing to them. Then I smile.
Why is it that you love finance? (I thought I just
answer that?)
Personally, I went to youtube and know more about finance,
when people working in that industry started telling me about their job, I got
really interested. I realized that it is beyond calculation and analyzing bar
chart?
Im aware of the risk of finance industry. Even lehman
brothers could collapse retrenching about 250,000 employees at that time. Even
if so im still interested in finance!
Besides, I said that I love numbers, but it could also lead
to accountancy and finance. So why not accountancy? My sis is an accountant so
I seen how she works and she told me about her job and it didn’t interest me.
So I eliminated accountancy.
So, Why USP?
USP provides a multidisplinary programme and CIP programme
and its student initiated. There is another part of my dream that want to help
those with humble background but wants to learn..........
How can you contribute to USP:
I hope that my creative way of dissecting information can
help to make learning more interesting.
In school, you know fleming right hand rule? (The prof not
very interested in physics hahahah, but I still continue)
Prof: Explain how it works?
(Begins explaining)
I used to get U for physics because I memorise the book, but
I realize to do something well you got to love what you do.
Prof: Why do you need that?
Personally, I need to understand things or not I wont really
remember it.
So what do you do during this holiday to show your
inquisitiveness?
(I blanked out, totally didnt expect that.)
I am currently working very hard to earn for my uni fees.
They nodded, as if to give some approval.
(I couldn’t answer them that immediately but I brought it in
afterwards, since im out of point, they changed the question a little)
So what do you do during your free time?
(Talked about cycling and gaming)
I moved on and say:
I also give private tuition.
Professor interrupts: Which subject?
I give math tuition to sec 2 and p3.
I notice that they are really different. For the P3, she is
really interested in learning no matter what I said, it is really fun for her.
But for the sec 2, she isn’t as interested, no matter how hard I try, she will
always ask “how long more to lesson end ah”
So I realized that teaching takes more than passion, so I
eliminated that out of my list.
Just last year, we had SG 50, what do you think of
Singapore.
(Trying to answer the inquisitiveness question now)
From what I read.......
What do you think Singapore can do to resolve?
(Shit, how I know man.)
Gimme a moment to think about it.
Alumni interrupts: You can actually say there is no solution
But I want to try solving it.
(Professors gave condescending look)
After 45 sec: (I can seriously hear the clock ticking, and
they were evaluating me on the paper
during this time)
I think cant solve it cos.............
(I don’t know why the alumni look abit shocked)
Do you see any problems in Singapore, socially or …… (Sorry,
this is quite personal so..)
Yeah, socially............
So how do you think the government should solve them?
I think that the government should do .........
So if you could travel back to any part of the history where
will it be?
Joseon Dynasty. (Both looked shocked, esp the prof)
...........you want to know more
about them, you start searching the web for it (Trying to answer the
inquisitiveness question)
I want to meet King Sejong. (they gave the ??? look)
I don’t know if you know but
He is the one who created the Korean alphebets, creating a
language is not easy I want to know how he did it.
Prof: So what will you say to him when you see him?
..............
Do you have anything to ask us? (TOTALLY didn’t expect that)
I want to know more about USP, from what I know you study a
diverse range, but I want to know more.
Then the prof talks for 5 min.
I asked:You get to discuss your opinion??
Then I asked: is it like a debate?
Is there any more questions?
No. Thank you for your time!
THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS DIFFERS, THAT IS WHY I DELETED MOST OF MY ANSWERS.
THE FINAL ROUND: THE WAIT TO ACCEPTANCE THROUGH EMAIL/CALL.
This takes about 1 month from your interview.
From essay to invitation for an interview takes about 1 month as well.
