Comments on: Making most of university

By: WJ

WJ — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 09:38:37 +0000

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

By: sam

sam — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 08:54:46 +0000

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

By: Malleus

Malleus — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 15:28:04 +0000

“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!

By: Ned Stark

Ned Stark — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 07:49:14 +0000

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.

By: Elyza

Elyza — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 01:44:15 +0000

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.

By: CelluloidReality(s)

CelluloidReality(s) — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 17:12:43 +0000

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.

By: Dee

Dee — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:31:31 +0000

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.

By: Gerald

Gerald — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 14:25:23 +0000

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.

By: Kelvin

Kelvin — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 04:56:58 +0000

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.

By: boyying

boyying — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 19:15:28 +0000

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’ !