NUS guide: entering university! 🏫🎓💯

For those who didn't know, if you find NUS emails spammy (you may have also realised that you can't block these emails), you can actually unsubscribe from them here to stop particular NUS departments/groups from including you in their email list: https://groups.nus.edu.sg/NUSgroups/landing.asp 📭

P.S. this closest tonight!

Reminder that if you want to drop a course, doing so by 25 August allows it to not appear on your transcript at all. If you still need more time to consider whether you want the course, you may choose to continue on—you still have until 29 September to drop the module (but then it will show a “W” grade on your transcript to indicate that you dropped a module).

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If you (or your friends/siblings) are looking to get an iPad or MacBook in uni, this deal just returned which allows you to max out your student benefits! Using the link from @ThisCounted (a student-run channel that shares the best student deals), you get both the usual Apple Back to School Promo’s benefit (free AirPods when you get a MacBook/free Apple Pencil when you get an iPad) and a gift card/cash bonus valued at up to $30! Note that this bonus benefit is only available this week (closing on 22 August) and is the biggest student deal for Apple products! (Do share this with your peers too!) (You can view their FAQ for more info—the link used is an official Apple affliate link where your purchase is ultimately on the official Apple website and not a third-party platform)

Apple’s Back to School Promotion with ThisCounted Exclusive Bonus Cash/Gift Card  💻 🟢 Maximise your student benefits with ThisCounted’s exclusive partnership link — Get bonus gift card/cash on top of Apple’s bundle offer of AirPods with Mac or Apple Pencil with iPad 📒 Purchases must be through our unique link: bit.ly/ThisCounted 📘  Bonus gift cards or cash valued at up to $30 (with min. guaranteed value of $10) is on top of Apple’s bundle offer of AirPods with Mac or Apple Pencil with iPad! 📒 Ensure that you’re using ThisCounted’s link (bit.ly/ThisCounted) when making your purchase; after student/staff status verification, please re-enter our link again (UniDAYS may redirect you, so just re-enter our link after student/staff status verification, i.e., re-enter the link again when actually checking out). 📘 T&C apply (refer to image and Apple’s T&C) 🔴 Bonus gift cards/cash only for those who make verified purchases through ThisCounted’s link by 22 August Claim form (and to indicate preference of Apple Gift Card/cash) : https://forms.gle/P4aC7AzA4iN9mLN49 Questions? Reach out to us at ThisCountedBiz@gmail.com or @ThisCountedSupportBot View FAQ here

Reminder that Round 2 tutorial registration closes today at 5 p.m.! (Also, missed out on mentioning this for the freshies here—another thing some would do, besides trying to limit the number of school days, is that for those in faculties with “odd”/“even” week tutorials, one may choose to split these more equally to have a more manageable week)

As tutorial slots are getting released, one thing you may be looking to do is to swap slots with peers! Some students for e.g. try to put more modules on the same day to have fewer school days. Group chats are helpful for this! Here are some: NUS CHS (all modules) — @nuschs (view their announcement tab too for module-specific groups) Business — • Intro/core modules: https://t.me/+vEzkhIIwkoYyYzJl (newly announced group!) • All others/main biz gc: https://t.me/+FKJc1qwu4Qw3YzJh GEA1000 — https://t.me/+a-YQwZ0Q2MxkOTU1 DTK1234 — https://t.me/+YvXHhqZmX4s2ZGY1

Hi everyone! Reminder that tutorial registration is tomorrow (13 Aug), starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m. Below is a message on the balloting process which isn’t by us, but has been passed down by various NUS seniors! Note that “courses” used to be referred to as “mods” and this remains helpful/strategic! “Balloting process How to ballot like a senior (by sam chan) First, here is how the balloting works: - you rank up to 20 tutorial slots according to your preference, with the slots you want more ranked higher - you do not have to use all 20, and in fact you can just put one tutorial slot per mod - the system looks at your first choice, checks the tutorial class, and if there are vacancies, you're in! - the process then repeats for your second, third choice etc. until you have tutorials for all your mods, or you have no viable options left (i.e. all your preferred tutorials are full) - it's quite by luck in the sense that if you're the 26th person the system sees for a 25-person class, you don't get it, even if you put it as first choice. hence the term balloting. IT IS NOT FIRST COME FIRST SERVE! Now that you know how balloting roughly works, here are some pointers! 1. Plan for multiple timetables - needless to say we all have that one tutorial slot we want (for free day, with friends, both, etc.), however it would be terribly unwise to not have any backup plans/tutorial slots. having three choices per mod is a safe number, although you can go up to 4 per mod (equal distribution among 5 mods) or any number really (unequal distribution) 2. Know your preferences - even among your first choice tutorial slots for your modules, it's good to know which are the ones you want the most - generally you get your first three choices, while anything after that is more risky, so you need to priorities which are the ones you diedie must get, and hence rank first 3. Know that certain tutorial slots are more popular - generally tutorial slots from 10-4 are the more popular ones - likewise for those on the same day as the lecture for that mod - you might want to rank these slots higher - this is more for your knowledge, but if you plan to take this tutorial with say >5 friends, some of you might not get it Keeping these pointers in mind, you ballot! And here's now: (note: you don't have to follow this method but I find it really helpful. also, it's based on the assumption that one has 5 mods to ballot for) 1) Note down the tutorial slots you want on a piece of paper (virtual or otherwise) according to your modules, while ranking them at the same time. - you should have 5 columns of 4 tutorial slots each (assuming equal distribution), already in order of preference 2) Double check the timings and the tutorial number (eg. D3, E5, etc.) 3) Rank all your tutorial slots in a flop-table style (MOST IMPORTANT STEP). This might require some explanation, so bear with me. Let's say your 5 mods are called 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, and it's according to the mod which first-choice tutorial slot you want the most Each mod has 4 tutorial slots, called A, B, C, and D according to your preference. Here's how your ranking would look like then: 1A 2A 3A 4A 5A 5B 4B 3B 2B 1B 1C 2C 3C 4C 5C 5D 4D 3D 2D 1D Basically you "reflect" your mods. Since you're quite likely to get your choices for 1, 2, and 3, but less so for 4, and 5, your sixth and seventh choices should be the second-choice for mods 4 and 5 to increase your chances of getting what you want. 4) Finally, don't panic if you don't have any tutorial slots! There is always add/drop and online swaps, and worst case manual registration. It's all part of student life! But if you follow the above, it's less likely to happen (: “ Get your friends/juniors to follow @NUSguide for more tips/reminders!

Reminder that Round 3 ends soon, at 12 p.m.!

(This applies to seniors too): Also, if you drop a module before Week 3, there’s no record of it at all. Additionally, if you drop a module before recess week (the mid-point of the semester), you get a W grade which although reflected on the transcript, has no effect on your GPA. So if you just want to maximise your GPA but aren’t super sure where your strengths lie, there’s no real harm bidding for excess modules and then dropping what you don’t feel a penchant for. Dean’s List tip: for seniors (bc freshies aren’t eligible except for SOC) aiming for DL, it’s often more about being strategic with what mods you take in a semester. You’d likely want it to be a sem with only modules you are strong at. If you aren’t sure, that’s when bidding in excess to try out, and then later dropping those you aren’t confident in get A/A+ for, may be strategic. [share @NUSguide with your friends/juniors if you find these helpful! 🙌🏻]

Edurec > academics > view classes ^ by now, you should have got your courses from prev rounds out! For modules with different tutorial slots, you’ll only see their timings next time (after tutorial bidding). —- For freshies, y’all would probably may already hit the maximum workload. Some students do request for a waiver to be able to exceed the usual workload—you can appeal for this if you believe you can handle taking additional modules. If you want this, you may want to do this before the next coursereg round that’s coming up! Some students do this to try to graduate earlier (you could save on one sem of uni fees and graduate earlier by overloading in multiple sems), or to simply have a more relaxed y3/y4, or to take advantage of the S/U system. For the latter: Total number of S/Us in uni: 32 units (“8 modules” usually) Of these 32 units, 12 units (“3 mods”) can be used in y2 and onwards, while the other 20 units (5 mods), if you want to fully utilise them, must be used in y1. So for students who expect to S/U a lot, they intentionally take more modules which they find either hard or “useless” in y1, where they can S/U more modules, instead of taking these modules in y2 where they can only S/U up to three modules.

^ forwarded message! Especially for incoming freshies, you may be keen on getting this classic NUS shirt from this official student fundraiser!

The Classic ‘NUS’ Shirts in Collegiate font is finally back again🤩 A popular design and a ‘must-have’ for many, our annual shirt sale is a rare opportunity for you to get this limited-design shirt. Available in 7 different designs and Dri-Fit material, it is a shirt for every occasion. This shirt is a staple whether you are going for classes or for sports, you just can’t go wrong with this design. Funds raised will go towards student activities. If you'd like to pre-order these shirts, there are just 2 forms you need to fill together: a Microsoft Form and a FastPay Form! We will be conducting distributions in September at NUS King Edward VII Hall. ⏰Sales closes 31 July (OR EARLIER)⏰ Price: 3 for $36 ($12/shirt) 2 for $28 ($14/shirt) 1 for $16 Follow NUS Shirts channel for more info!

Reminder that coursereg closes in about 20 mins (1 p.m.)!

https://courserekt.vercel.app/ you can find past year demand/allocation info here which may be helpful when you want to strategise your course preferences! (typically, courses which often have excess vacancies don’t have to be as heavily prioritised during bidding—one may be able to afford to rank this lower).

**the deadline for acad plan declaration is 19 August (not July)! However, you are recommended to submit academic declaration ahead of time for module pre-allocation/module priority (since CourseReg Round 1 starts on 22 July) 🫡

P.S. MykeGuide will now be @NUSguide as we continue to share uni tips for NUS students (both current and incoming!) 🎓🙌🏻 Do share our channel @NUSguide with your friends and juniors!

CourseReg calendar: https://www.nus.edu.sg/CourseReg/docs/UGCPE_CourseRegSchedule.pdf Reminder that Academic Plan Declaration ends on 19 Aug (5 p.m.)! Here’s a tip applicable to some: - When “bidding” for courses later on, priority is given based on various factors, such as seniority. One factor that gives you priority over someone else for course selection is actually what your declared major/minor is, and whether that course is tied to it. Since academic declaration resets every semester, some students take advantage of this. Some see this as a loop-hole (i.e. declaring something as your intended second major just so you have priority for its modules—even if in truth, one hasn't decided to take that as a second major/minor) E.g. if you are from NUS CHS, and are planning to major in e.g. Sociology, but just want to take an economics module as a UE/for exploration, you would probably “lose” to students when trying to bid for the economics introductory module when you are competing against those who have declared themselves to be Economics majors or even those who declared they’d second major/minor in economics. In this case, some might take advantage of the Academic Plan Declaration by declaring “Economics” as one’s second major/minor to ensure they can get the introductory economics module, even though the truth is they just want to take the economics introductory module for exploration/as a UE. —> in fact, supposing that it is extremely easy to get the modules for Sociology (in the above example, where it’s one’s actual intended first major) compared to Economics (just an example), what has been strategic to some is to just declare their first major as “Economics” (the major with courses harder to successfully bid for) and the second major as “Sociology” (the one that e.g. is easier to bid for). This helps them to more likely secure the hard-to-get course whilst still getting the easy-to-get course. The above is just a guide for those who are still unsure about what they want to do—let the above be assurance that it’s entirely fine to declare something and then change your declaration in another semester! I.e. if there’s a module hard to bid for that you wanted to take just to try out before deciding if you want to second major in it, you’re probably wiser to just declare that you are first—you can always change your mind later when it’s acad plan declaration in the subsequent sem!

This closes tonight! Do find the bonus gift card/cash claims form in the channel: https://t.me/ThisCounted/1111