Making most of university
Not too long ago, there was an online brouhaha that was sparked by my anti-protectionism stance towards higher education in Singapore. While I sympathise with parents whose kids got good grades but cannot make it into university, even after getting into university, based on my experience, I can tell you that there are more to complain about.
I just completed the requirements for a second class (upper division) with honours in social science, narrowly missing the first by 0.04. In NUS, at least in the arts and social sciences, in order to get a first class honours degree, one needs to maintain a minimum score of 4.50 and get an A grade for the Honours Thesis. Even if one gets almost perfect score but gets a B grade for the thesis, the student will only be awarded a second class (upper division) honours.
For me, there isn’t much to complain because I narrowly missed the cut-off. However, I know of a number of cases where the score was well above the minimum grade but they ended up with second class (upper division) anyway because they were given B grades for their honours thesis. To me, if these people can consistently achieve a score well above 4.50 (which translated into more than an A- average for all modules taken), it’s highly unlikely that they are capable of B grade theses. So, even if one is able to get a place in a local university, you can end up not receiving the top class of degree.
Being actively involved in student activities, I have seen a few batches of students, and most of them were fire and brimstone in when they just enter university, all wanting to get first class honours in whatever discipline they were intending to do. It’s not a bad ambition to have, really, but the thing is that first class honours is not guaranteed at all, due to the extra requirement of an A grade for the honours thesis, which can easily negate all the extra hard work that was put in to ensure that one maintains a score of above 4.50. In view of this, I have come to the conclusion that it might be better to lower down expectations one notch and aim for a second class (upper division) honours and build up a strong CV.
A good class of honours typically refers to at least a second class (upper division) or its equivalent. Therefore, a second class (upper division) degree is enough to fulfill the requirements of most jobs. After the paper qualifications, the recruiter is likely to look at your CV, and I think this is where it makes the difference. If your CV is empty, you are in trouble. I just came back from a networking session where I got the chance to talk to a number of recruiters and they all said they want to hire people who are desk ready, but institutions unfortunately somehow produce people that are not desk ready.
By desk ready, it means that you have to be able to write well, speak well, be able to give presentations well and work in teams. Some of these things can be taught in classes, but some of them cannot be taught in a lecture. You can only learn them from working in student organisations, grassroots organisations or internships. If the recruiter is able to see that you have some out-of-classroom experience in your CV, at least the recruiter is assured that you are somewhat desk ready. Of course, I don’t recommend faking a CV because it shows in the interview whether you have such experience or not. Unless you are a master storyteller, it is hard to fool the interviewers.
I pretty glad I completed university not just with a good degree but with tons of great experience from joining various organisations. I tried for the icing on the cake but unfortunately I just narrowly missed it. I wasn’t upset (my mum was much more upset than me) because it was a good attempt right down to the line and I’ve had many great experiences (and not-so-good ones of course) which I will not exchange for anything else. I guess I can say that I had fun and came out with a decent degree, so my advice to would be freshmen is to try and strike a balance between having fun and getting decent grades.
** I will be away from Singapore from today until end of next week, so I won’t be able to respond to any comments. I’ll read them (if any) when I’m back.
I completed my NUS education with a 1st class hons. It only helped me to get a job a shade fast thats all. My study buddy who squeeze in to get a second lower is doing alot better than me and deserving so, he works damn hard has alot of EQ and doesn’t spend his time blogging all day.
I don’t understand why students get so worked up about what honours they get. You start work, 2 months later it nobody cares. Nobody cares if you got 10 A1s or 4 As for A levels or whatever. I have been doing appraisals of people for the last 7 years never once did a person’s honours ever crop up or help him to get ahead.
Well, I’m not so certain about getting my honours. Been too busy with other pursuits at the expense of being grade and exam-smart.
But the exposure I got at national level in my pursuits should make up for that lack of honours. Perhaps when I leave as well, I can say that although I have not scored, I have spent my free time very productively.
Perhaps I shall be one of those who get a BA in Political Science, bugger off and do a Masters in Int’l Relations or Strategic Studies. That to me, is more worthwhile.
*ouch* I feel your pain. I missed 1st class by 0.01 and the FASS administration was so rigid that they refused to entertain any appeals (although I had a few professors willing to vouch for me). The response I got: “sorry, it’s a numerical grade point system and you missed the cut off. there’s nothing we can do.”
Honestly though, a 2nd uppers is pretty much good enough to get you a decent job in the public service. It does make a difference when you apply to graduate school though. trust me on that. *sigh*
Btw, it’s an A- for the Honours Thesis, not an A. =) And yes, I’ve heard those horror stories. My friend graduated with a 2nd uppers even though she had a 4.8 CAP, just because she got a B for her thesis. Think somehow they use the thesis requirement to cap the number of first class honours degrees they award.
Anyway, very impressive blog! Came across your blog whilst googling for something and I’ve been hooked ever since!
“I completed my NUS education with a 1st class hons.” ? No wonder you called yourself Lucky Tan !
Let face it. What’s the point of getting excellent grade if one end up living much the same life as others ? I will say ambition, passion and ability to make a great difference to the society is much more importance of self-centered approach of getting good grades just to make oneself a good life.
I see majority of academic excellents ended up nothing useful as a rat. A rat will go where the food is, nothing more and nothing less.
Make a difference in your life because grades is just an end not a mean. I see more moron having excellent grades and still ask themselves ‘WHO AM I’ and ‘WHAT I DOING WITH MY LIFE’ !
Yeah. But I guess it’s natural that students will always attempt to pursue the best grade they can achieve. Extracurricular activities is difficult to quantify and more often than not, neglected.
Well, I better get ready for the surprise change in mindset when I start working. Heh.
You know what made me “desk ready” for my first job? It was a part time job that I took up during my school term doing programming for a dot.com startup. Parents told me to just concentrate on my studies and get my A’s. Well if I didn’t take up their job, I’d have never gotten that first job, and I probably won’t be doing what I’m doing now. For me, a uni education was more about learning about life. I don’t recall much useful I learned in the classroom.
I think it really depends on what your priorities are. If you are (as I am) interested in pursuing graduate school/ academia, getting a first class honours is really important – ultimately, other academic institutions are inevitably going to look at your grades when they consider your application. I wouldn’t say the pursuit of good grades is selfish per se. It really depends on what you want to do with your life.
Dee,
I used to think that a first class hons was required for graduate school, but it’s not essentially so for some fields of study.
In Singapore at least, the class of honors does make a difference. In the civil service especially, your class of honors will even determine how much your starting pay will be. Progression wise, priority is likely to be given to someone with a better class of honors since the person doing the assessment probably has good honors himself and is thus less disposed to someone without one.
Gerald,
I concur with your point. In fact the novel To Kill A Mockingbird deals with this theme of informal v formal education, where the protagonist learns nothing useful from school and much useful stuff from her father Atticus. That is not to say that uni education is a waste of time; it is a means by which one should broaden one’s mind. Unfortunately it appears that in the pursuit of As, this is forgotten.
to whom it may concern,
a 1st class is important, as per what Elyza said, with regards to the civil service. If i remember correctly to become a Justice Law Clerk one needs to get a first class for Law.
“To me, if these people can consistently achieve a score well above 4.50 (which translated into more than an A- average for all modules taken), it’s highly unlikely that they are capable of B grade theses. So, even if one is able to get a place in a local university, you can end up not receiving the top class of degree.”
You’re firmly stuck in the era where you think grades means everything. I could read your statements as also saying “If a student gets 10A1 for O levels, it is highly unlikely that they are capable of getting 3As and 1Bs for A levels”..
Your statement implies inference.. which means
10A1 -> 6As for A levels -> First Class Honours.
This is a fallacy in itself! Students who manage to get 4.5, may not necessary possess the ability to do a research well! Honours thesis usually entails some kind of research! Studying smart for exams != Good Researcher!
in every space that you live, there are goals. so it isn’t shameful to chase the grades.
aaron, maybe the 1st class or distinction will come during postgrad. so it’s only a matter of time before you get it.
school is the best place to say the darndest things, believe in the darndest things, and stand up for it. you get respected a lot more than outside school, where people will think you’re crazy and detached.
singapore is a performance-based industry. if you can perform well in specific tasks in a specific time (like during exams), they’ll want you. singapore defines this as “talent”. if you can’t excute the task effectively and efficiently, maybe you’re “not so talented”. singapore is not tailor-made for inconsistent performers, even though they may possess sparks of brilliance; it is preferred you be dedicated, consistent and compliant and meet ever goal set for you within a timeframe – that’s how it has been and will continue to be working.
the singapore dream is to succeed in the system and be praised/rewarded by the system, not to top or leave or beat the system. the juiciest carrots are grown by the system for those who fit the description of “talented”. *munch *munch
hey, was searching through the net and found your blog. It’s a very well written blog. But i was just amazed that u were in the dean’s list for 3 years but missing first class. I got rather disappointed with my performance for the past 2 sem for not achieving the min of 4.50. Was rather sad as First class has always been my dream. I still got 3 semester to go, and currently having my IA