A Forum Tutorial
Hi all, a warm welcome to the BrightSparks Forum! It might seem a little hard to understand at first, so here’s a brief tutorial for you:
Before posting, READ the
Forum Policies & Regulations.
The reputation system has also been launched. Please read about it over
here.
If you want to post about or read the various universities, please go to the
Local forum here.
For more specific questions, there are the
NTU,
NUS, and
SMU forums. In it, there are individual threads dedicated to each school or faculty. If you’re trying to choose between different courses, try looking through the
Comparison forum here.
If you would like to research on overseas universities, you could try looking at the
Overseas forum. From there, you can narrow your search to the
Australia,
UK, or
US.
If you would like us to Rate Your Chances, go
here. Posts that ask about your chances anywhere else will be moved or deleted. If you would like to buy/sell/anything with monetary transactions or the like, check out
the Marketplace.
If you would like to ask about scholarships, look
here. Note that it has been subdivided into
Government and
Private scholarships. More specific questions and answers about scholarship application can be found
here.
Questions regarding careers go
here. Anything else – introductions, discussion of the headlines, whether you should retake A levels, NS life – goes into the
BrightSparks Café.
Frequently Asked Questions on Uni:
1) What is IGP?
Please look at
this thread.
Basically, the Indicative Grade Profile shows the grade profile of those who got into a particular course the previous year. The one on our forum shows the 10th percentile - that is, the lowest grade of those who got in purely through academic results. (10% of an intake will be through discretionary admission.)
Note that the grade profile assumes that the GP and PW grades will be C - thus, your grade profile may not match up exactly to the posted grade profile.
2) What is Discretionary Admission?
Basically, Discretionary Admission is for those whose grades do not meet the academic mark, but are admitted due to non-academic achievements. You could check out
this post for more info.
Also, note
this post/thread specifically on Discretionary Admission, and how you apply.
3) Which course/school is better?
Please define “better” – everything will have its own merits and weaknesses. What are your interests like? What do you plan to do? If you wish to ask for the forum's opinion, please check out the
Comparison forum. Do mention your options and your considerations if you do!
4) What are my other options if I have not done well for A levels?
Check out
this thread.
5) What career options do I have with my degree?
Please look through the individual course threads or in the
Career Issues forum for more information. If you cannot find the degree you have in mind, you may start a new thread. When asking for advice though, note that what you do with your degree is entirely up to your individual preference, so we suggest that you mention your interests or any considerations you have.
Posts of note
On IGP for 2009 and 2010, please check
this thread out.
On local vs. overseas considerations
Why study overseas?
Overseas
On writing the personal essay: try reading
this post.
NTU Non-Acad Assessment
NUS CORS guide
NUS FASS matriculation
SMU Student Life
We hope you enjoy your stay at the BrightSparks Forum! And if you have anything you’ll like to share, or just want to seek advice, feel free to register and post!
The BrightSparks Team