Guest Post: Study Abroad and life in Singapore

As my study abroad semester at the National University of Singapore comes to a close, I want to briefly recap my experience and give advice to other students about if and how they should study abroad in Singapore too.

Singapore as a City

Singapore is not like Manhattan, it’s not like Hong Kong, it’s not like Tokyo.  Singapore is more like American suburbia than I would ever have imagined.  First though, the CBD—Central Business District—is relatively densely packed with 30-story high-rises and large malls.  The buildings aren’t as tall or crowded here as in other major world cities, but there are crowds walking outside, taxis jockeying and blaring horns, and hawkers selling tourist goods.  There seems to be a pulse here.  If you know Mandarin or Tamil you can fit in easily, but even otherwise, this part of the city is enveloping and welcoming.

But as a study abroad student, you don’t spend much time in the CBD.  Outside the CBD, the city is as quiet as any American suburb.  Traffic thins (except on the expressways), children play in playgrounds, life goes on.  But the pulse of a city is gone.  Imagine that you, a 20-some year-old young adult, work in some American suburb and live in some non-descript apartment building there.  The mall is a few miles away, there is no movie theater nearby.  There are limited social outlets for young adults.  Your lifestyle can get really boring really fast.  Suburban life is quiet and quaint, but it doesn’t provide the fast rhythm that young adults and college students desire.  If you study abroad in Singapore and live off-campus—like most study abroad students—this describes your probable living situation.

The CBD, and a few other neighborhoods like Holland Village and Clarke Quay, have a city-pulse.  But outside these spots, I felt that the norm was atomistic alienation.  When walking down the sidewalk, there are people all around you—hundreds in the elevated trains above, heavy traffic on the roads, construction workers working on the ever-present construction sites.  But there are few others who will be on the sidewalk with you.  The average sidewalk is just plain empty.  This contrasts with Manhattan, where you’re bound to run into somebody every 30 seconds if you don’t watch where you’re going.  It turns out that outside isolated districts like the CBD, people just don’t walk around that much, especially outside.  They walk around train stations, they walk around supermarkets, they walk around shopping malls.  Just not outside.  This gives the city a surprisingly hollow feel—there are large buildings, traffic, buses, trains…just no visible people outside.

During my first week in Singapore, I mentioned to some fellow European study abroad students that I admired the wide roads and efficient transport systems in Singapore.  They scoffed.  Their point was not that these systems were subpar—few would argue that (though take a look at this great YouTube video).  But highly efficient transport means that Singapore is strangely un-dense, with relatively squat buildings and large stretches of empty land—if people can get around, why build densely?  This, of course, only strengthens the perception of Singapore as a suburb and as a place that doesn’t encourage walking.  Going place-to-place involves “large” distances—a few miles—but none-the-less means that walking is unfeasible.

Moreover, in the pursuit of efficiency, Singapore has lost any semblance of style or personality.  My accolades were on the roads, but that was because I had failed to notice the bland (let’s call it “neo-Soviet”) architecture.  Any building that wasn’t a big bank headquarters or a new gleaming mall was just another multi-story reinforced concrete structure, invariably painted in beige.  And those buildings that broke from this montage—they didn’t fit into any architectural scheme or plan, they just wanted to stand out.  The lack of architectural vision means that Singapore is a hodgepodge collection of individual buildings and nothing more.

Living in Singapore

An American study abroad student’s quality of life in Singapore is similar (though perhaps a bit lower) than back at home.  On the plus side, a wide variety of food is available at reasonable costs.  Medium-sized grocery stores line neighborhood blocks and make shopping particularly convenient (though if you want particular Western brands you may have to take a trip downtown).  A number of canteens—which are cafeteria-like buildings that have multiple stalls and vendors selling a variety of different foods—dot the roads, meaning that cooking on your own is generally unnecessary: hop by a canteen, enjoy great ethnic food, and pay on average $2 (US) a meal.  It’s a great deal, especially for students.

The solid transportation structure means that students can get around campus and the island with ease.  Give yourself a half-hour cushion, and you can be downtown watching a movie or in Little India having dinner.  Sentosa Island, Singapore’s resort enclave, provides a great weekend getaway—you can visit the two new casinos (yes, I know that one of them is not actually on Sentosa) or the recently-opened Universal Studios.  Take a ride on the massive Singapore Flyer Ferris wheel, and don’t miss out on the world-famous Jurong Bird Park and the botanical gardens.

I can’t finger one “big” downside to the living experience here in Singapore.  The suburban lifestyle is a valid concern, but for those who grew up in a suburban environment Singapore is both familiar and comfortable.  What I noticed, though, is that a multitude of small annoyances do add up.  The beds are too short.  There are too few outlets in a room.  The desks are tiny.  There is no AC in the common rooms.  No dryers mean that you have to line-dry your clothes—and you have to make sure they don’t get soaked by a passing rain storm nor get covered in pigeon poo.  Loud European techno parties down the hall will keep you up on weekend nights.  Malls and lecture halls blare AC and are as cold as mortuaries.  Finding groceries is pretty easy, but there is no Walmart—so where does one get other essentials, like underwear and power strips?  Chewing gum is (technically) illegal.  And the internet always slows down or fails when you need it most—Singapore is an advanced country, but the internet infrastructure is weaker that one would expect.

Lastly, I’m not sure how to characterize these cats.  Just like Princeton has an abnormal number of squirrels on campus, Singapore has an abnormal number of feral cats.  They’re small, cute, and seemingly harmless.  The locals feed them scraps and scratch their bellies.  But the meowing at night can be infernal.

Academic Experience

The National University of Singapore is by far the strongest undergraduate institution in Singapore.  For local Singaporeans, admissions to NUS is extremely competitive.  The university offers a full-range of degree programs in all academic fields, including music (the university has a wonderful conservatory), law, business, medicine, and public policy.

NUS has a unique dual-structure that borrows from both the United States and British higher educational systems.  In the US, law and medicine are largely post-graduate or professional degrees, but in Singapore students can elect to study those fields at the undergraduate level.  This mirrors the British system.  Also like the British system, course evaluations are largely based on the final exam—usually 60-80% of final grades are based on exam results.  However, like in the American system, most degrees at NUS are four years in length, and students can choose to take courses in any department they wish.  In the UK, degrees are three years in length and students are generally locked into a single department and have few opportunities to take courses outside.

The first thing to note at NUS is that though the student body is large, classes are manageably sized.  My classes ranged from 12 – 124 students, which is similar to what my class sizes would have been back at Princeton.  Classrooms are well appointed, with good seats, desks, whiteboards, and projectors (some even have Bose sound systems).  Students are attentive in lecture and ask a similar number of questions, maybe a bit fewer, of professors.

Professors are well-prepared.  Most had full sets of lecture notes ready to go (mini-textbooks, really) and either used the lecture notes or PowerPoint slides in class.  The downside, though, is that lectures did move a bit slowly at times, and since the lecture notes were available online many students found it convenient so skip class occasionally (I plead the fifth).

Homework was a bit less frequent than it would be back at Princeton or other American universities.  However, the paucity of homework doesn’t mean that students don’t get to practice solving problems.  Most courses have weekly tutorial sessions (called precepts or recitations at other universities)—including, significantly, the math and science courses.  Each tutorial section has roughly twenty students and is led by the same professor who conducts lecture.  In these one-hour-a-week sessions, the professor reviews 10-15 problems that were assigned previously.  Students are supposed to have tried these problems at home (many student don’t fully solve the problems but instead try to make sure that they can follow the general concepts) and can be called upon to give their solution.  Usually, though, the professor will go through all the problems himself.

Depending on the professor, homework is returned 1-2 weeks after submission.  There is usually no place where students can check grades online (some professors have online gradebooks, but most don’t), so students have to keep track of their own performance throughout the semester.  Exams usually take much longer to return; for example, finals are returned one month after they are taken (by which time most study abroad students are long gone).

Lastly, no discussion of academics is complete without explaining the grading system.  The standard A+, A, A-, … system is used at NUS.  However, grades are assigned based on relative performance instead of absolute performance.  Each class has a secret quota (believe me, professors were really circumspect when discussing this quota—the most info I got was that in most mid-level math classes the quota is that somewhere between 20-25% of students will get an A-range grade; no professor would tell me the exact number), and this quota is strictly adhered to.  If the quota says that 16 students will get grades in the A-range, and you are the 17^th student, then you will get at best a B+—even if your percentage grade is 0.01 points lower than the student ahead of you.  These quotas are set by departments and take into account the number of students who take the course, the average GPA (called CAP here) of these students, whether the course is a required or elective course, etc.  In general, lower numbered courses have lower quotas; higher numbered courses have higher quotas (I’ve even heard that fourth year courses don’t have quotas).  I understand that professors can break the quota, but they would have to justify why to the department, and I don’t know how many professors would do that.

Extracurricular Activities

NUS has an extremely vibrant fabric of extracurricular activities (though not really student journalism…the press is highly regulated in Singapore, and I suspect the government here does not condone student journalism), and study abroad students are encouraged to get involved with any clubs or activities they find interesting.  Sports clubs and intramural competitions are very popular and offer some sports that are missing back in the US, like rugby and cricket.

One thing to note is that leadership within clubs can be fierce.  Don’t join a club thinking that you might get a leadership position or get to organize an event or something.  Your participation is welcome, but you won’t be given the opportunity to rise up the ranks.  Having leadership positions on resumes is highly valued and students are loath to share these positions with others.

Another point to keep in mind is that some level of extracurricular and sports activity is mandated for all full-time students.  Participation in these activities lets students accrue CCA (co-curricular activities) points.  CCA points come in handy later when students bid for dorm rooms or for popular classes—you can wager more CCA points and move up in the line.  Thus, while most students are legitimately interested in their activities, some may be doing so simply to collect the points.

Lastly: go to events!  Different clubs, departments, and organizations host a multitude of events on campus.  These events are advertised on bulletin boards around campus and on the IVLE website.  There are free performances, at least twice a month, at the Conservatory, and students can take part in a number of workshops and seminars.  I actually haven’t come across just plain-old study breaks, but the number and variety of other activities and events that students can attend is wonderful.

Housing

NUS has a number of dorms on campus.  Most of these dorm buildings are arranged in a small number of colleges (similar to Princeton’s), like Kent Ridge and Eusoff.  There is one set of dorms that is not in a college, called Prince George’s Park (PGP).  PGP is a huge housing complex with over 2000 dorm rooms (each college might have only a few hundred rooms).  Most housing on campus is non-AC, though a small number of AC rooms are available in all the colleges and PGP.  As a study abroad student, your best bet is to find housing in PGP, followed by housing in the colleges.  However, a number of study abroad students (maybe a little under half) are unable to be housed on campus and instead are provided housing in off-campus hostels.  These hostels (which are just converted apartment flats) include yo:HA @ Commonwealth, where I stayed.

Study abroad students don’t have much say in where they are housed.  When you apply for your study abroad program here, you check a little box saying that you would like to stay in a university dorm or hostel.  After a few weeks, you will learn what your assignment is.  Each dorm has its pluses and minuses.  If you live in an off campus hostel, the pluses are that the cost is lower and that your bedroom will have AC.  The minuses are that since you are off-campus, you will miss the social interaction with other students.  If you live in PGP, you will have the social interaction but you likely won’t have AC.  There is not a spectacular variation in the quality of rooms, so you can be content with what you get.

As a note, the housing office requests that you prepay for your room before you arrive in Singapore.  They send a set of inscrutable instructions about wire transfers, special checks, and whatnot.  If you have contacts in Singapore who can go to the office and pay the fee for you, then great.  Otherwise, don’t sweat it.  Contact the housing office (via their website) and get written approval that you can just pay upon arrival.

Social Life at NUS

The social environment at NUS is open, and students will be able to find ways to have fun.  BUT NO ILLEGAL DRUGS.  Alcohol and tobacco are legal in Singapore, but drugs like marijuana are illegal.  But unlike in the United States, punishment for illegal drugs is far more severe here.  Users will be punished with lashes and years in jail; those convicted of trafficking illegal drugs (including bringing drugs into Singapore in luggage) will be executed.

I did not encounter any fraternities or sororities here in Singapore, and I just don’t think there are any on campus.  Similarly there are no “social organizations” like eating clubs.  What that means is that there is no central location for partying or socializing on campus.  However, dorm parties do occur (though smaller and not as rowdy as back home), and you can get invited easily enough.  Most of these parties are BYOB—bring your own beer.

In general, though, social life does not revolve around the campus.  Campus is where academic work takes place, but students generally go downtown to have fun.  Movies, shopping, and nightclubs are all popular destinations.  Because the drinking age in Singapore is 18, American students will find that they have many more social outlets off campus (like nightclubs and bars) than they might have expected.
It is important to note that NUS is a commuter campus.  Most students, being Singaporean, live at home and commute to campus each day (recall that Singapore is essentially a 10 mile x 20 mile rectangle.  This means that students are at most 20 miles from campus, or roughly a one hour drive).  Some, of course, choose to live in the dorms.  However, most of the students who live in the dorms are from outside Singapore, including significant numbers from China, India, and Malaysia.  The number of students living in dorms is a small minority of the entire undergraduate student body.

The hardest part of social life at NUS is trying to make friends with full-time students.  NUS usually houses study abroad students together, so you won’t meet full-time students in your everyday social interaction in your dorm or hostel.  Your best bet is to meet local students through classes and extracurricular activities.   Study abroad students tend to clump together (the European students hang out together by country, and the Canadian and American students generally hang out together), but students can take the initiative to reach out to local students too.

Should I Study Abroad at NUS?

Would I recommend studying abroad at NUS?  YES.  There are certain caveats to studying here, and NUS will not be right for all students.  But I believe that most would enjoy and get a lot out of the experience.

First, NUS is a large school with a large number of students and professors.  That means that there are a wide variety and large number of courses offered each semester, so study abroad students can get their pick of what they want to study.  In my case, I was able to take several applied mathematics courses that weren’t offered back at Princeton.

Second, because NUS has undergraduate degrees in law and medicine, American students who are contemplating postgraduate degrees in those fields can get a preview by taking classes in these faculties.  This way students will know if they really want to pursue degrees in these fields.  Moreover, these classes can give students something to talk about during admissions interviews and may generally improve admissions prospects to postgraduate programs.

The downside, though, is that some courses are particularly popular and thus extremely difficult to get into.  Study abroad students have the lowest priority for signing up for classes, which means that students don’t always get what they want.  I know many students who wanted or needed to take certain introductory business courses but were unable to get into the classes.  While business courses are often oversubscribed, this is a problem that could occur for any class.  Thus, it is important that you have backups in mind in case you are unable to sign up for a class.

Another downside is that research opportunities are limited for students.  I’m not even sure if study abroad students can conduct laboratory research, but in any case research will have to be set up on an individual basis between students and professors.

Lastly, studying abroad at NUS is expensive!  Everyday living expenses are pretty low (food, housing, transportation) and textbooks are reasonably priced.  But American study abroad students are expected to pay American-level tuition bills.  In my case, I came to NUS through a program at the University of Miami, and I had to pay the nearly $18,000 tuition bill for UMiami.  There are no direct study abroad programs where students apply to NUS and pay the local tuition bill—all students must come through official partner programs and must thereby pay that program’s tuition bill.

What To Watch Out For

Studying abroad at NUS is not a painless experience.  There are a lot of nuances to the ins and outs of navigating the bureaucracy at NUS and in Singapore generally, so students will find that sometimes things are just frustratingly difficult to get done.

• No centralized website for course information.  Unlike most American schools, there is no one central “Registrar’s” website where you can get course info for all courses offered.  Instead, you have to navigate individual department websites to figure out which courses are offered and at what times.  Sometimes there are no course descriptions given, meaning that you have to email professors to find out what will be taught.  There is also no way to check feedback or find out if a course or professor is any good.  However, students can swap classes during the first week so you’re not stuck with a bad course choice.
• Immigrations and Customs Authority (ICA).  The ICA has certain rules dictating student visas, but these rules are nearly impossible to understand.  I’ve summarized the process below.

In short, students have to apply for a student visa after they have been accepted by NUS but before they leave the US.  This application should be made online (on a website called eSOLAR that is linked from ICA).  Make sure you print everything out.  Once you arrive in Singapore, you will go through Customs at Changi Airport; if you have an American passport, Customs will give you an entrance card, stamp your passport, and let you in.  Once in Singapore, you need to go to ICA downtown and get your official student visa and ID card.  First make an appointment online for when to go to the ICA offices.  Then take your entrance card, your printed eSOLAR application, your airplane tickets and boarding passes, and your passport to the ICA offices for your appointment.  At the offices, you will have to buy passport pictures from one of the stalls in the office building itself (don’t get the pictures anywhere else because the ICA officials will find something wrong with it and will make you retake it).  If all goes well you should get your ID card after a short wait.  This ID card makes leaving and entering Singapore quite easy.  However, the kicker is that you have to surrender this card within seven days of the end of the semester at NUS.  You’ll need to troupe back down to ICA and hand the card over.  You can stay on in Singapore as a tourist, but you are no longer an official student.

• Secret deadlines.  The NUS bureaucracy is masterful at hiding deadlines from students.  If you need to extend your dorm room for an extra week or two after the semester ends, you have to make sure that you apply for this extension within the deadline for summer housing requests.  Deadlines like these are not posted anywhere (even online), so if you need something from NUS make sure you inquire about what the deadline is for making the request.  Also, make sure you check the MyISIS website and pay any fees that you may have.  NUS doesn’t inform students of the fees that it assesses, but then it does tack on late fees if they aren’t paid on time.  Check MyISIS (which is NUS’s central administrative website like SCORE) regularly to make sure that you have no outstanding bills.
• Waiting.  Sometimes it seems that all you’re doing is waiting, especially at the end of the semester after finals.  You don’t get finals results until the beginning of June, more than a month after taking the exams.  Just don’t stress it—while you’re waiting, go enjoy some other activities in Singapore.
• Don’t believe the students.  If you need help with something, you should turn to the professors.  I have heard from some study abroad students that they have been led astray by locals—perhaps the locals wanted to improve their chances for a good grade by making sure that other students got low grades.  I personally haven’t had this problem, but I mention it because it is something to watch out for.  Professors are happy to help and are very open; for essays or other more subjective assignments, make sure that you ask for clarification early.

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