DECISION MAKING
Were you from JC or Poly, and what subjects did you take?
I was from JC – I took Chem, Math, Econ and China Studies in Chinese (CSC). So it’s a hybrid combination – that’s also one of the reasons I chose PPE, because as you can tell, hybrid people usually cannot make up their minds. laughs.
Though I’m not really a Science student, I believe that for Science as long as you practise, you will be able to do well. But I can’t visualise myself pursuing a career in Science, working in laboratories and everything, whereas I enjoy the thinking process & the questioning of Humanities.
What was your thought process when you made the decision to take PPE at NUS over your other choices?
I actually applied to many different universities at the start. They included Tsinghua University in China and 5 schools in the UK (Oxford, Warwick, KCL, UCL, LSE). Other than Oxford, I got into all the other 4 schools! Also, I applied to NUS and NTU. As for my choice of subject, I chanced upon PPE when browsing through Oxford University’s course catalogue. I thought it looked really cool. Ever since then, I never really looked at any other course for university. Maybe Political Science, but that’s not half as attractive an option.
I think for UK, part of the reason that I applied is to be safe and perhaps admittedly for the prestige. Personally I didn’t really like UK and its culture though, knowing that I would only be able to speak Chinese or eat Chinese food on very rare occasions. This sounds very trivial, but it’s something very important to consider if you’re going to stay there for 3-4 years. And the cultural difference can be quite large!
So then the decision was between China and local unis.
For China, a few primary considerations: As an international student, I wouldn’t be able to do PPE, because PPE is reserved, I think, for local students. I’m not sure if they relaxed the rule. So I could only take Pol Sci if I went to China, and that wasn’t a very attractive option. For Tsinghua University (THU), you also have to take a physical fitness test to graduate – consisting of a 1.5km run, sit ups, swimming if I remember correctly, and other stuff. So if you’re not good enough at sports, you technically can’t graduate!
For Singapore, NTU & NUS both offered me bond-free scholarships. But for NUS, there’s PPE; NTU doesn’t. So naturally, the choice became between NUS PPE and THU.
Actually, I was very bent on going to THU at first. I knew that going to China would make me very happy because I love the Chinese culture; I love Taobao; I love the food; I love everything over there. But staying in Singapore had its perks as well, in terms of family, friends and my church community.
I sought the advice of many. One of the first turning points was actually a very chance conversation with my senior pastor. He cautioned against me, a non-government scholarship holder, going to China to study Chinese Politics, considering the sensitivity and risk surrounding that. Moreover, finding an international church there would also require quite some effort. Eventually, I settled on studying in NUS.
Academic Pressure / Competition in China
I also have some friends studying in China now. Some of them are enjoying it but –it’s hard being an international student. You do take quite a bit of time to adjust to the culture, and even then, it can be quite tough. I think some of them were a bit disillusioned because of the expectations mismatch.
The people there are really really smart. So if you really don’t fare well under pressure, don’t go there. If you’re someone who struggles with comparison and inferiority (even now before entering uni), if you go, chances are that it’s only going to get worse. You will struggle quite a bit.
A couple of my friends who were previously top students in school also struggled a bit there. The thing is, the students that enter these China universities are like the top 3 students from each province, top students of China’s national pre-university exam (the 高考), and the top scholars in Arts or in Sciences. So the competition is really intense. I think some of my friends are struggling just to pass.
What other considerations did you have in making your decision?
Flexibility
Flexibility. In NUS, we really have a lot of freedom! They are really accommodating and try to make sure that you’re in the place that suits you best. For example, even if you did direct-admission into a course, if you realise that the course is not for you thereafter, you still can transfer out (between courses & even faculties).
If you’re going to Tsinghua’s liberal arts college, you need to take Math & Science in Chinese. That was also something that I didn’t want to do. laughs. Do keep in mind also that China’s liberal arts colleges are harder to get into than if you applied directly for a specialised major. A lot of my friends who applied with me, and also myself, didn’t get into the liberal arts college.
Cost
Another factor I considered is cost, which is another reason I preferred Singapore over the UK for PPE. This is partly because I wasn’t on a government scholarship. By the time the scholarship application period came, I was already quite tired because I had been doing many applications – for universities, for internships, for an academic prize. So I didn’t want to go through the mental & emotional turmoil of applying for another scholarship. You could say it was partly because of jadedness.
Good Programme
I think another turning point was actually the interview for NUS PPE! What the prof said really convinced me. He said because we were the first batch of direct entry Year 1 PPE students, if NUS moots a new module (in this case for PPE), they would ensure they did their research and incorporated the best elements of the PPE course from other schools, including the UK, and even the NTU Global Studies major if I’m not wrong.
Hmm, did you ever consider Yale-NUS and also maybe the US?
Oh, not US laughs. The culture is a no-no for me.
Yale-NUS I did consider; because I was interested in the liberal arts curriculum. However, I ultimately decided that I wanted to spend more time on my major instead. If you go to Yale NUS, you will have to take about 6-7 fewer major-specific modules, since you need to complete the core liberal arts curriculum.
Also, rather than the small, cosy college environment that Yale NUS offers, I preferred NUS’s large cross-faculty environment which offers more opportunities to interact with students from other faculties.
What made you apply to Tsinghua over Peking University / Beida?
I went for the Tsinghua summer school program and because I did my interview there already, I just decided to go ahead with Tsinghua. Also, I like Tsinghua’s architecture more. Beida’s is more Chinese-style. What I mean is it’s a less modern type of architecture, with red bricks and all. Beida is generally more known than Tsinghua for social sciences. Tsinghua is more established in sciences & engineering.
ADMISSIONS
What was the admissions process for the PPE course like?
You have to do a writing test (untimed) and submit it through a portal, where you read a passage and answer 2 questions relevant to it afterwards.
In my opinion, the rationale for this writing test is that you (direct entry PPE students) will be exempted from the mod—FASS 1101, which is the academic writing module. So the professors probably want to make sure that you have a good writing foundation and are able to cope with academic writing. The second objective is perhaps to make sure that you have basic knowledge & interest in these 3 disciplines, and if you’re directly suited for the PPE curriculum.
Take note that they may change the format for the next few batches of students though!
TEACHING CURRICULUM
How many people are there in your cohort?
There are currently 30 members: 20-21 Year 2s and 8-10 in my batch (before the incoming batch of students in AY2020/2021.)
This is not because they set any quota. It’s just that they screen the applicants and admit whoever’s suitable. Those who consider PPE also tend to consider overseas universities, and other courses such as law and medicine.
Can you tell us more about your course structure?
What’s really good about the NUS PPE curriculum is that most of the modules we take are the same ones that Politics, Philosophy and Economic (P,P,E) majors themselves take. The uni doesn’t just create entirely new modules from scratch for PPE students – they want to make sure they’re offering the best modules from each of the 3 subjects. They don’t want to shortchange you i.e. just because you’re a PPE major, they don’t give you the actual specialised Econs modules?!
But there are also a few specially curated modules for PPE students, for instance the PE coded modules – they are philosophy modules but more meant for PPE majors. So they go a bit more into interdisciplinary thinking.
The NUS PPE curriculum is also very structured. This is unlike the UK which is a lot more buffet style- you can pick whatever modules you want to take. You can even drop some of the P/P/E pillars. Whereas in NUS, the curriculum is tailored in a manner that captures the key overlapping parts between P, P and E.
In NUS, you must fulfill ‘non-specialisation’ modules for all P, P and E pillars. Then, you choose one out of the three (P/P/E) to specialise at the end of Year 2 or in Year 3, and take additional modules to fulfil that specialisation. You can also choose to do a double major. For example, you could be a PPE major + Econs major. This is quite easy to do because you have already done some of the modules under the ‘non-specialisation’ requirement.
In the last year, there are also some interdisciplinary capstone seminars. In these you have to think about how the 3 pillars relate to one another, and propose a project or presentation that is related to at least 2 of the 3 pillars, or if best, all 3 of them.
So it’s basically you do everything, zoom into one, then go back to do everything after you’ve gained more knowledge in that particular one pillar.
Is the PPE major under a particular department or just managed by a select group of professors?
This PPE course is kind of jointly managed by all 3 departments, with a few key profs in charge of this entire program – we have 1 Philo prof, 1 Pol Sci prof, and 1 Econs prof. Together they actually came up with the PPE modules and ironed out all the details.
What is the grading system (weightage, academic structure) and examination style like?
NUS uses a continual assessment system. The grades for each module are not 100% determined by one final exam only. Other than exams and papers, there could be group projects, and some assignments here & there. The distribution of assessment type varies from module to module–basically depends on the professor! Your tutorial attendance/participation will also be marked – that constitutes 10-15%.
Exams-wise, you typically have both midterms and final exams. The exams can be MCQ-style, or it could be writing essays. Both of these are usually conducted online. NUS has a specific software which we use for it!
When you’re planning your mods, go to nusmods.com! It shows your timetable for the term, the course synopsis, and the format of assessments – whether there’s a final exam or not, so that you can choose your modules wisely to avoid having too many final exams at one go.
What are some of your most or least favourite modules?
Hmm I’ve only completed one year… I wouldn’t say I have any most or least favourites.
But you do have to take note that within PPE, the nature of each discipline is actually quite different. For PolSci, it’s a lot of essays & argumentation. For Philo, the challenge is that you’ve to understand the logic pretty well. Also, you may have to come up with a brand new argument. So it’s not just understanding the present arguments, but also thinking & critiquing those arguments, which can be really tough…But it is also quite refreshing, since it’s something that you likely would not have experienced in JC.
For Econs, there is a LOT of Math. So you’ve to get used to that also, and the Math is quite tough!
How does the workload compare to that in JC?
You have a lot more free time, and a lot of freedom to plan out your schedule and decide what to focus on. Some want to focus on studies, some want to focus on their CCAs or hall life.
BUT… a huge but! The pace of learning is much faster in uni than in JC. For example, within 1 lecture, they covered graphs — all the shapes, transformation — and stuff that we hadn’t learnt before like continuity, differentiability of graphs. In another lecture, we covered the entire of what we learnt for Differentiation in JC and more! And interspersed between all of these are still some Economics applications.
This means that you need to have a lot of self-discipline.
CAREER PROSPECTS
What do you plan to do after university?
Personally I’m considering the public sector! Though I’m not sure what field yet. I guess PPE majors do have some advantage in certain jobs as the students are trained to think in a variety of logical ways, and in both qualitative and quantitative skills.
STUDENT LIFE
What extracurricular activities did you take part in?
The university offers a wide range of CCAs! For me, I was in the PPE club in my first year, while focusing on other activities outside school including tutoring.
What is your accommodation like? Do you live on-campus or off-campus, and what is the experience like?
I didn’t stay on campus; I stayed at home, about an hour away.
Around 50% of Year 1s stay on campus I think. Whether you should choose Halls, Residential Colleges (RCs), or Residences really depends on your interest in the activities offered. Are you big on social life, CIP, or a more broad-based & interdisciplinary academic education?
Oh there’s a good thing about not staying on campus! 🙂 For my friends who stay on campus, when they decide to eat out and miss their meals in accommodation, they can carry forward their meal coupons. I think the maximum no. of coupons that can be brought forward is 11. Especially for girls, it’s actually quite hard for them to eat double portions, so the meal coupons brought forward aren’t really useful. So most of the time, they give away meal coupons to their friends. So there were quite a number of times I used their meal coupons! Non-residential students also get to use the campus facilities, such as for studying with their course mates in the study rooms.
You mentioned that you really liked the Chinese culture & China. Is there anything that you’re doing right now to continue pursuing that interest?
There is a Chinese Politics course, but I don’t have specific plans to take that as of now. Reading the news helps me to gain knowledge on foreign affairs and foreign policy perspectives. Also, I talk to my friends who are in China and watch Chinese variety shows. I’m thinking about going to China for the Semester Exchange Program.
Any advice for juniors who are entering university soon?
Don’t make your decision (especially for choosing your course) based on what people expect you to. It’s really not worth it.
You really have to go in depth into a specific subject matter. I have friends that are very brilliant but ended up really disliking their course and struggling, or even close to giving up on assignments. This is really heartbreaking to watch.
Ideally, know your passion and what gives you energy, what makes you light up. For me, I know I want to help people. And that’s why I’m studying PPE to bring me to a place where I understand and can help people better.
Lastly, I left my contact details with the team so really feel free to contact me if you have any questions!
Additional Info: Tsinghua Summer school
How did you get into the summer school program?
I applied… and I got in. Hehe. For my year, they offered it specifically to CSC & CLL students as well as special program students (i.e. HP, SMPT) if I’m not wrong, because those were the profiles of the students I met from our school on the program. The application process & criteria for each school may be different or may have changed after my year, so check with your school!
Could you describe the summer school program?
Oh it was very hot. It was so bad! Once you get out of the room, you’ll be sweating non-stop. It’s much worse than Singapore weather. It’s like Singapore’s hot spells plus another 5, 6 degrees. It was terrible – I actually really wanted to skip some of the activities because of that.
The program lasted 1 week and you’ll get to experience some trial lessons. So we were attached to the 国际班 (international class) – comprising 6 of us: 1 guy from Indonesia, a few girls from Korea, me, and the rest were Malaysians.
One of the lessons I particularly enjoyed were the philosophy lessons, when they examined a case study: I think it was about a group of people voting that who gets a short straw would be murdered. Generally, the program was centred around interactive activities more than the actual academic lessons.
So as a class, we had to come up with a performance. We had to go for some competitions – there were some sports day competitions, and also some academic competitions – obviously, all the China students won those. We didn’t stand a chance at all because we didn’t study what they had already studied. We also got to tour the school quite a bit.
We had quite a lot of free time as well so I used that to study because that was actually before Prelims. Yeah timing wise, it was a major tradeoff.
Regarding cost, I can’t remember but I think the accommodation was probably subsidised by the school. If I’m not wrong, we only paid for the flight tickets and other than that, a very minimal cost for the duration of stay in Tsinghua.