NUS guide: entering university! 🏫🎓💯

For freshies: Residences, Houses, or Halls? For the still undecided: One view, if you’re truly undecided, is to apply for halls because you could always apply for residences/houses as a senior after your first year in hall (if you do not hit enough points to stay another year in hall). The reverse (i.e. applying to a hall after having stayed in a residence/houses) is said to be much harder because most spots would already be given to those who stayed in the hall previously (through the hall point system, and likely most of the “Master’s List”). Obviously, if there are strong cultural preferences, then your decision between the three should be clearer. (For instance, if you purely want a place to stay but no interaction, some might point you towards the residences). However, if you’re unsure what sort of culture you’re looking for, you may also consider a middleground: e.g. although halls may have generally more activities/commitments than the other options, you could always pick halls with lower commitment. For instance, while some halls do not set a cap on the number of CCAs they look at in calculating hall points (which may end up with many people taking 7-8 CCAs or even more), some halls such as King Edward VII Hall and Raffles Hall have a policy of looking at only e.g. your top 4 best CCAs—this makes it easier opt to take up fewer CCAs, and yet continue hall stay. In any case, you could always go to a hall and decide not to take up too many commitments (although this may mean you won’t get another year of stay)! 👻 Other considerations may include whether you’d want a meal plan (or not), the general environment, and proximity to your faculty. If you found these useful, share our channel @NUSguide with your friends/juniors, including incoming freshies! 🙌🏻 (if you’re an incoming freshman in search of orientation camps/projects, you can also check out @NUSSUfop 📆)

For incoming freshmen applying for halls/houses, note that submissions close at 11.59 a.m. (17 June)—in the morning, not before midnight. (This timing change applies to all housing-related application deadlines, for seniors who may be applying in future too. It used to be at 11.59 p.m., but was changed this year to 11.59 a.m.) If you found these useful, share our channel @NUSguide with your friends/juniors, including incoming freshies! 🙌🏻 (if you’re an incoming freshman in search of orientation camps/projects, you can also check out @NUSSUfop 📆)

For freshmen: Note that the last hall rag sign-ups close tonight! Although no hall guarantees that joining rag will mean a spot in the hall, it is a popular view that joining rag might give you some edge (whether because you may get to know hall seniors who back up your application, or just because it may show that you’re truly passionate about being in hall). That said, plenty of people get into halls without joining rag, so it’s not a must—but if you’re looking for a way to spend your time this summer and make more friends (who may also be potential hall mates) ahead of time, this is certainly an option! Even if you’re not looking to perform 💃🕺, there are typically other subcomms in rag to join, such as being involved in making the set-ups (known as “floats”) or costumes, which are known to be rather elaborate! The rag sign-ups for the other halls have closed. The following is compiled by @NUSSUfop ! Do subscribe to them too to view more camp / other orientation project deadlines: ⭐️ Eusoff Hall RAG (Eusoff RAG) • Instagram • Sign up here (by 13 June, 2359) ⭐️ King Edward VII Hall and Pioneer House RAG (KE X PH RAG) • Instagram • Telegram • Sign up here (by 13 June, 2359) ———————————— If you found these useful, share our channel @NUSguide with your friends/juniors, including incoming freshies! 🙌🏻

For seniors: the updated transcript has been released (and can be found on edurec!) You can check whether you're on the Dean's List by viewing your transcript; a line would be written indicating this below last sem's results, if you are on it. ------------ "I have a 'Hold' on my record due to e.g. prior library fines and haven't been able to view my grades till now, because I am blocked! How can I view them?" For ethical reasons, we are advising the following on the assumption that you have e.g. paid the library fines, but due to technical reasons, there can be a delay in when your 'Hold' gets lifted (even after you have paid up). Although you are not able to view the transcript nor check your grades on univus, a "loophole" is that your grades are still shown on your graduation audit report. Steps: Edurec > Academics > Degree Progress > Graduation Audit Report. If you found these useful, share our channel @NUSguide with your friends/juniors, including incoming freshies! 🙌🏻

What if you did not get the course you want, or change your mind later? (For freshmen, the appeal deadline appears to be over, so consider the following!) For freshmen and existing seniors: A) Continue with the course you were given, and apply to transfer courses. It is possible to change courses. As a transfer applicant, while your pre-university score (e.g. A-Level) is likely still considered to some extent, doing well in Year 1 in university may also be helpful in proving academic merit to transfer to a course you could not enter. Depending on which faculty you transfer to and what courses you take in Year 1, you may be able to count credits towards your new course of study should you successfully transfer, such that there is less or no delay in graduation. This may work well for faculties that provide more leeway for unrestricted electives, or if the faculty you transfer to shares similar courses with your Y1 faculty. Note that there will be an increase in university fees payable should you have to extend candidature past the normal number of semesters as there would not be further MOE Tuition Grant. However, NUS subsidises the first and second semester past normal candidature such that the increase in fees is significantly mitigated. The first window to apply to transfer is usually in February. NUS Law, for instance, allows a transfer of 40 units from your previous course if you successfully transfer to law school (this means no delay in graduation if you transfer in after Y1, or only a one year delay if you transfer in after Y2). This is rare, with typically only 1-2 people per batch succeeding. From my observation, there has been a recent increase in the latest batch, with ~6 successful law transferees. ———————————— B) If you are not yet entering university this AY, you may consider retaking pre-university exams in NS/through a gap year, such as the A-Levels to either attain a better score or retake specific subjects to fulfill prerequisites. C) It is said that NUSC students get a special benefit of being able to transfer to any course they want within NUSC, with a supposedly 100% success rate; this excludes restricted programs (Refer to Page 4 here): “NUSC students have the option to switch into another major (not including Law, PPE, and Pharm Science) without further application, that is, they won't be scrutinized, approved, or rejected for reasons of fit.” D) Post-graduate options: Duke-NUS offers Medicine at a post-graduate level for those who have completed a bachelors degree in a different field. Similarly, NUS and SMU Law offer a "Juris Doctor"—where you can take Law for three years after completing a bachelors in something else first. However, this does mean that you will have many additional years of schooling, and these options can be very costly. It remains an option for those who still want to go into Law/Medicine after completing an undergraduate degree in something else, though! Hope this helps! Do share our channel @NUSguide ⭐️ with your friends as we continue to share more helpful tips/information! (if you’re an incoming freshman in search of orientation camps/projects, you can also check out @NUSSUfop 📆)

(For incoming freshies & seniors) Tip: NUS Interest-Free Loan for capital to invest with The MOE Study Loan (known previously as NUS Study Loan) allows you to borrow your university fees at 0% interest as long as it is returned by graduation. The hack/tip: Even if you don’t really need it, some financially-savvy students have found it strategic to take the 0% interest loan anyway—and then put the tens of thousands of dollars across their university journey into safe investments. To the risk adverse, this may include the Singapore Savings Bonds and Treasury Bills—where even a small % return on the amount invested (tens of thousands in uni fees) seems like free money. Others more proficient with investing may have funds put into alternatives with greater returns, but there are of course, more risks (the average annual return of the S&P500 is said to be ~10%). Note: Unlike financial aid grants/bursaries, the cap for eligibility for a loan is higher, at 2.7k monthly household per capita income for Singaporeans/PR. Want more NUS hacks/tips? Subscribe to @NUSguide and share us with your friends/juniors!📝🦁 Freshie in search of Orientation Camps/Projects & deadlines? Head to @NUSSUfop 📆🔥

Freshmen group chat compilation by @NUSguide This post is for incoming freshies! Seniors may ignore this post, but share with your juniors! NOTE: these are student-run groups. Only join your faculty! ———————————— NUS CHS: https://t.me/nuschs NUS Business Admin: https://t.me/+ahfP2noW2sYyNWUx NUS Medicine: (closed! most med freshies should have joined—ask your med school peers for an invite if you haven’t) NUS CDE: https://t.me/+wHFSLjAd-PdkZGQ1 (managed by CDE Prof) NUS Computing AY25/26: https://t.me/+uwuuHPYAimI2ZTQ1 NUS Class of 2029: https://t.me/+hPiAvo4hhDQ4MDg1 Bots for chatting w other students: @nuschatbot (quicker, but less safe!) @nusmatchbot (safer, opt for student verification) — ⭐️Useful NUS tips/hacks: @nusguide — ⭐️ NUSSU Freshmen Orientation Camps and other Orientation Projects tracker (make sure to subscribe to know of the key dates! ) @nussufop - Senior advice (click below!): • Computer Science • Business • CHS/Psychology • Pharmacy (More updated senior advice + other NUS tips/hacks will be posted @NUSguide 🦁)

Tl;dr from this reddit post on whether to S/U! Main takeaway is that you may want a temporary boost to your GPA for purpose of applying for e.g. internships/SEP, though it may not have as much effect by graduation. - SU actually matter very little especially at graduation - Expect about 0.005-0.02 increase in graduation GPA per module SU'd. Strongly recommend SU if there were special circumstances that led you to do badly this semester. - Short term volatility argument that many people preach is actually a good thing because it artificially inflates your GPA to open up more opportunities temporarily. Your GPA will eventually converge to your long-term average, so why not make use of the temp chance to secure an internship, or an academic program? To put things into perspective: If you SU'd a A- (4.5) by mistake in Y1S1 and your final grade was 4.2, don't be too upset; it's not the end of the world. Because if you hadn't SU that A-, your final GPA will be 4.208 or 4.21 after rounding; barely a dent. - Heck, even if you SU'd 5 A- when your actual expected GPA turn out to be 4.2, and somehow reversed the 5 misjudged SU declarations, it will only increase your GPA to 4.2375 or 4.24 rounded. Same result even if you narrowed your base of total graded MC by going SEP/NOC (4.243 rounded to 4.24). - there's no need to SU A- if you are aiming for FCH. Let's say if you have 4.49 and you SU'd 5 A- last time by mistake, if you reversed that 5 misjudged decisions, your new GPA will be 4.4912, basically still 4.49 rounded. SU-ing A- won't help you cross into FCH; you're better off saving and SU-ing other B+ if you are aiming for FCH classification. 🚨Final reminder that the deadline is 6 p.m. (less than an hour from now)! 🚨 If you found these useful, share our channel @NUSguide with your friends/juniors, including incoming freshies! 🙌🏻

If you didn’t do well for yesterday’s exam results release, here are your options. Pay attention to the deadlines bc these are v close (tmr, and at a specific timing— 6 pm!): For modules that can be S/U-ed (you should have identified this on nusmods or known whether these can be S/U based on whether the module has prerequisites): - You may use your S/Us (Total number of S/Us in uni: 32 units (“8 modules” usually, if each are 4 units). 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. - This excludes them from GPA computation, and as long as you had a D and above grade, it will be shown as an “S” on the transcript. - You may also now S/U Sem 1 results. - Deadline: 4 June, 6 p.m. 🚨 For all modules including those that cannot be S/U: - Results review aka appeal, though this is stated to only involve a recalculation/ensure all marks are included (deadline 4 June, 6 p.m. 🚨) - Request for late special consideration (e.g. illness that affects exam, etc.) (deadline was, by right, 13 May) - If there are any unique reasons, you may want to send an email. What else can you do? Your unofficial transcript only releases on 13 June! 🚨 If you had a GPA drop and are applying for interviews etc. that require a transcript uploaded, it may be wise to do so before the unofficial transcript releases which would include the latest sem’s grades. —- Dean’s List Typically, you’ll know whether you’re on the Dean’s list by the time the unofficial transcript is released (13 June). This would be reflected on the transcript itself. Whether a faculty looks at post or pre-S/U for Dean’s List selection may be dependent on each individual faculty’s policy (which you can find online). In fact, different faculties also have different requirements on e.g. the number of MCs of that faculty’s module you must have taken in the semester/total workload requirements to be eligible. If you found these useful, share our channel @NUSguide with your friends/juniors, including incoming freshies! 🙌🏻

Securing campus stay (as a current student): Here are some useful info on getting campus stay as a current student! Note that the application deadline for a "direct" application on UHMS, for the first round, is 25 March. Getting “Priority” 1. Resident Admission Scheme (mainly applicable to residences) > Various NUSSU, faculty and faculty sub-clubs have a certain allocated quota; they are able to nominate individuals to be prioritised for housing at PGPR/UTR via the RAS. > If you’re part of one such exco, you may want to check with your heads on whether the quota has been filled up. (Note: the deadline for RAS submission may be over for this round of applications, though!) 2. Hall Master’s List (for halls) > The option to apply for halls directly on UHMS (the nus hostel application portal) may be slightly "misleading". > For most halls, a separate “master’s list” process is often the predominant process used if you’re a current student (not currently in the hall) who wants to join the hall. This process may be used by students currently in the hall who do not meet the cca points cut-off OR students not even in the hall currently. This process typically occurs outside of the usual hostel application you find on UHMS, involving interviews and may require you to be nominated by existing hall resident(s) (note: different halls have different policies on masterlisting). It is noted that this may be quite competitive due to highly limited spots in hall, with those who are able to provide unique value to the hall often prioritised. > Thus, you would likely want to approach existing hall residents you know to ask for information on their master’s list process, and to get the required forms to fill (as a direct application through UHMS w/o going through master’s list is less likely to succeed if spots are already mostly/entirely be given to those accepted through the master's list). > P.S. You are only able to rank a limited number of housing options (3x) on UHMS for a "direct" application. Being aware that there is a separate process for halls which you can pursue concurrently at this stage (i.e. master's list) might suggest one could be more strategic in choosing what hostels to include in the UHMS submission ranking. Where else? Acacia College — if you’re an existing Y1 student (Y2 in AY 25/26), you can apply for the new residential college that is already accepting students for next AY! Normally, you cannot apply to join an RC midway through uni, but this is possible because it is a new RC. As an AI-focused RC, some have suggested that those in the field might have an edge in applications, though this is not confirmed. If you found these useful, do share our channel @NUSguide with your friends/juniors 🙌🏻

For those who missed the email, reminder that course planning exercise (this isn’t an official course selection; it’s just for NUS to estimate demand) ends tonight: https://nusmods.com/cpex (It’s one of the tie-breakers for CourseReg, giving you priority over someone who would otherwise have the same “priority score” as you) If you found these useful, do share our channel @NUSguide with your friends/juniors 🙌🏻

How to stop receiving emails from various NUS departments that you may find spammy: Step 1: Head to NUS groups and login Step 2: Click “Leave Group”. You will see a whole range of different “groups” that have been sending you emails. You may pay special attention to which “groups” have been sending the most emails, and unsubscribe to those if you find them irrelevant to you. If you found these useful, do share our channel @NUSguide with your friends/juniors 🙌🏻

^ for those who are curious about the Graduate Employment Survey! —————— On a side note, remember that you can still drop a course by 2 March and get a “W” grade. This is shown on your transcript but has no effect on your GPA. After this period, you can no longer drop a course. (However, it is not unheard of that exceptions have been made when people wrote in. These are considered rare. Instances have included when a student actually did not partake in all classes/submissions/assessments at all, and sought to drop after the W grade period (but of course, before finals). Other instances include mental health cases. Do share our channel @NUSguide with your friends/juniors 🙌🏻

PSA for Students (both pre-uni and uni)! 🎓 • The latest inter-university Graduate Employment Survey (GES) has just been released! This shows the starting pay for different degrees. For pre-uni students, this may help you set goals, and for current uni students, it may help you understand your prospects and negotiate salaries with employers. NUS: https://www.moe.gov.sg/-/media/files/post-secondary/ges-2024/web-publication-nus-ges-2024.ashx NTU: https://www.moe.gov.sg/-/media/files/post-secondary/ges-2024/web-publication-ntu-ges-2024.ashx SMU: https://www.moe.gov.sg/-/media/files/post-secondary/ges-2024/web-publication-smu-ges-2024.ashx SUSS: https://www.moe.gov.sg/-/media/files/post-secondary/ges-2024/web-publication-suss-ges-2024.ashx SUTD: https://www.moe.gov.sg/-/media/files/post-secondary/ges-2024/web-publication-sutd-ges-2024.ashx SIT: (to be updated) ------------ Other useful platforms and resources: Student deals/discounts (us! 🤩): @ThisCounted Forums for all students (you can also ask school-based or admissions questions): Reddit - r/SGexams , r/NUS, r/NTU, r/SMU_Singapore, r/SingaporePoly Telegram (academic/non-academic) - @sgStudentConfess Academic resources for pre-uni students (compilation by others): For school past year papers — "Holy Grail" for school papers: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gC6GQLgcuoHzwDXtEGzTwvzCz0YsYuwg For FREE notes — O Level (diff subjects): HERE H2 Chem: HERE H2 Physics: HERE General Paper: HERE and HERE Others: HERE - Poly: “Four Blind Mice” https://fbm.exams.sg - Forward this to your friends! By @ThisCounted 😇

Reminder that if you drop a module by this weekend, it won’t appear on your transcript at all. If you drop later than this but by 2 March, you’ll get a “W” grade (which still has no effect on your GPA but just appears on your transcript. Again, to most, this is fine and inconsequential although some fear that interviewers etc. might ask about it) You generally cannot drop a module after 2 March. If you found these useful, do share our channel @NUSguide with your friends/juniors 🙌🏻

AY24/25 Sem 2 GC UPDATES (view most updated list @nuschs ) Main CHS group: @nuschs ⭐️CHS 1k HS_ courses + FAS1101 will use “topics” within @nuschs; you may mute those that you are not taking, while unmuting those that you do take. GEA1000: https://t.me/+8HBmm8iC_uQxN2M1 DTK1234: https://t.me/+YvXHhqZmX4s2ZGY1 (reuse) ⭐️ for social sciences/humanities sem 2 modules Econs : https://t.me/+yaRCmqLTcQRjODhl (reuse) PolSci: https://t.me/+LBhjvpwgrP8yMDY1 (reuse) Psych: https://t.me/+OpStBtGuRbZhYzY9 (reuse) History: https://t.me/+UlbypYTj9tJiMzY1 (reuse) Sociology: https://t.me/+S-NNiEJ2uqphODY1 (reuse) Global studies: https://t.me/+xuLk6CE5RHk1Yjll (new) ⭐️ Math / Stats MA1100: https://t.me/+zjqDtzTRGTsxNTg1 MA1512: https://t.me/+ZVG9yGHNxe42MGRl MA1513: https://t.me/+LR6RkhbcnYEzNDll MA2001: https://t.me/+D3thWgF34EkwM2Fl MA2002: https://t.me/+6Fwb10ezI5lkZjFl MA2104: https://t.me/+JpLLSeDwmoU5YzQ1 MA2108: https://t.me/+duCRbsMAAfRmMjU1 MA2202: https://t.me/+CRyCbYez0yUzOWM1 MA2116/ST2131: https://t.me/+YPgxN8oF_bgwOWFl ⭐️ CS1010S: https://t.me/+afBfOiiKXDw2MGE1 ⭐️Physics PC1201: https://t.me/+Zh0MMgKKdL0wYmE1 ⭐️DSA: https://t.me/+p90zamuADHQ5NmY1 (reuse) ⭐️ FRESHIE/student tips: @NUSguide ⭐️ Bots for random anon chatting: @nuschatbot / @nusmatchbot | @simplymeetbot / @cupidsgbot ⭐️ Student discounts: @ThisCounted P.S. don’t mute the announcements channel—only impt info/academic info/compilations will be sent here!

there are some course groups here for those who need!

Re-sharing this: 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”: “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 (: “ —- If you found these useful, do share our channel @NUSguide with your friends/juniors 🙌🏻