By Zhi Yi
JC2 was a rather packed year – university applications, school events and preparation for A-levels. I started contemplating my university choices rather early in the year, around April-June, so that I would be able to focus on my academics later on instead of fussing over applications. Deep in my mind I had always wanted to go overseas to pursue my university studies but I was also worried about not being able to qualify. Hence, I felt that it would be safer if I applied to both UK and Singapore universities in case my first choice did not work out.
I am Zhi Yi, a Year 2 student studying BSc in International Relations in the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). My UK university choices were King’s College London (KCL), Warwick University, LSE, University of Glasgow and University of Edinburgh. I only applied to Singapore Management University’s (SMU) Business course as my local choice but I will elaborate why later on. Here were some of my considerations when deciding between UK and SG:
1. Nature of Course
My case is a rather unusual one as I was in the science stream in JC (Physics, Chemistry, Math and Economics) yet now I am studying a purely qualitative course (which means there is no math!). However, I knew from rather early on that I wanted to pursue something along the lines of social science due to my aptitude for the humanities. With some research, I found out that international relations (IR) was the course that encompassed what I wanted to study but it is rarely offered in Singapore (note that political science is not the same as IR) even in the arts faculties of local universities. Hence, I decided to apply to a different course locally. Due to the niche nature of the course, I was worried that job prospects were limited in Singapore due to our country’s tendency to focus on STEM and business. Hence, I chose to go with the generic route of Business at SMU, which happens to have high employment rates among graduates. Hence, choosing between UK and SG is highly dependent on what type of course you intend to study.
2. Funding
As many of you know, studying overseas will definitely be more expensive than to stay local, with the additional living costs and much higher school fees for international students (plus if you are a travel bug like me you will definitely spend even more hopping around Europe). I did up an excel sheet to compare living and schooling expenses, which illustrated that a year in the UK could cost the same amount of 4 years of university in Singapore. Staying in Singapore would mean less uncertainty as we are used to the cost of living here and accommodation would not be a problem (you can always go home). This was an important factor so I considered applying for a scholarship in order to lighten the burden on my parents if I were to study in the UK.
Thus, I applied for scholarships from Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, Changi Airport Group and Singapore Tourism Board – mostly government statutory boards that were open to accepting applicants studying IR. However, I did not end up getting any of them. Interestingly, I managed to secure the Lee Kong Chian scholarship under SMU which did make me reconsider going to the UK, especially because SMU also offers overseas exchange programmes which are paid for by the scholars’ programme. However, my longing to have an overseas university education led me to eventually choose LSE over SMU since I already knew that I had an offer in the school.
3. Student Life
Staying in Singapore would definitely be more comfortable since majority of our friends and family members are here. We are also used to the way of life in Singapore – cheap food, efficient public transport, variety of shopping malls – so it would not make much difference. Since the hall culture in SMU is not as strong as those in NTU and NUS, Singaporean hall life was not much of a determining factor. However, since I had already spent my entire pre-university life in Singapore, the thought of going through it again did strike me as rather mundane, so I considered the prospects of an overseas student life. I knew that I would be able to make more international friends if I went overseas and immerse myself in an environment vastly different from Singaporean culture. Additionally, hall life overseas sounded more exciting yet uncertain due to the fact that we are actually far away from home and have to look after ourselves (and UK is obviously less safe). Studying in the UK also means that there are more opportunities to travel – be it domestically or regionally. However, in view of COVID-19, leisure travel may no longer be a thing for students for the time being, but you can make most of out it! My friends who are in the UK now are able to focus on their studies with minimal disturbances compared to before as there is no need to head out as often (for activities, social events etc.).
4. Academics
The UK and Singapore education systems do not differ much, since both require you to choose a specific course for your undergraduate degree instead of allowing you to pursue a liberal arts education (with the exception of Yale-NUS). For UK universities, they are highly dependent on a final summer exam (May-June period) that would determine your grade for the year. There are continuous assessments along the way, but what matters most is usually the final exam (which can have 100% weightage like some modules in my course). This has pros and cons – less stress in the earlier terms so students tend to take advantage of this and travel/have fun, but the real stress lies in the fact that the exam is literally an accumulation of everything you’ve learnt that year. It differs from course to course but majority works that way. In Singapore, every semester would mean a final exam, coupled with assignments, group projects and presentations along the way. The “kiasu” culture in Singapore also means that one would likely spend a lot more time studying compared to studying in the UK (students there are relatively more chill). Additionally, SMU has a graded class participation component so as someone who did not really like speaking up in class, it was a no-factor for me. Singapore universities tend to have more contact time, so that means spending more time in classes and lectures, compared to UK universities which highly encourages independent learning. From experience, I currently only have 8 hours of lessons per week, compared to some Singapore students’ 8 hours per day (haha).
Views may differ from person-to-person but here’s my take on UK vs SG university applications! Thank you for reading and good luck for your future endeavours!
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