Singapore Mugger University?

[callingmedog]

Allow me to rant for awhile. As I near the completion of my third year in SMU, I think I have the right to at least give a short commentary on the evolution of the SMU student. If I could make a guess, I think my seniors, those that are about to graduate as well as those who have long graduated, would shudder at the current quality of students entering SMU. Back when SMU first started out, it was more or less viewed as a dumping ground. I have a lot of respect for the people that chose SMU over the other local universities when it first started. They were risk-takers, with the hope that the different teaching system that SMU offered from the other universities would provide them with an edge. Now that the success stories have been plastered over every form of media available, the entrance criteria has skyrocketed to insane levels.

The irony is that the students they take in now may be academically strong, but it is their academic strength that goes against the very ethos of the SMU education system. I am of the opinion that a lot (and I don’t mean everyone) of the students now view SMU as some success-making factory that owes it to them to make sure they land some awesome job with a nice fat paycheck. Basically, they’re here to be spoon fed. Over the past semester, I’ve actually been able to observe that first hand with a class of first year students and believe me, it was a rather disturbing thought. Was the system meant to be one in which muggers thrive and excel? No. Go to NUS if you must. I do think my batch of 2005 did bring in the mugger culture that is so prevalent now in SMU, but things have just really gotten out of hand. Students asking for the course text book (for LTB!!!) before term starts so they can “read up”?? I can just about hear all the seniors gagging and holding back their vomit right now.

http://beatmastermark.wordpress.com/...biggest-brain/

[callingmedog]

It’s the week before exams right now, and I have done maybe 5% of the studying that needs to be done. Why? Because I’m sick of the system. Since when did our library open 24 hours for all of these freaks to stay over and study?

You know I can fully appreciate the fact that if you’re on the verge of getting a C, you are studying your butt off to move it up. But if you’re getting an A-, do you really need to invest an additional 60 hours to push it up to an A+?

How did this all happen? Very simple:

1) The shift in student population.

As Mark rightly notices, SMU used to be a dumping ground. I may be in the 2005 batch, but our enrollment was in 2003 or 2004. Of my 6 SJI friends who are in SMU now, only 2 of us, Johnny and myself, applied for SMU from the get go. Only when it was becoming more established did the rest jump on the bandwagon, and that’s been happening since.

Awhile back it was possible to get Bs and maybe Cs and get into SMU. Now? Everyone’s from a top JC and a straight A student. And quite honestly, that has sucked the life out of what used to be fun about school.

Every September-ish for the last 2 years SMU asks me to go back to CJC to pitch SMU to them. Why the hell are they still coming to me? Because there’s little to no new blood from the non-top JCs. So they have to make do with me.

2) The school system encourages this.

Despite our claims to want all-rounded graduates, our own system pisses on people who bother to do CCA or other things because at the end of the day for selection purposes, they go by grades. Sure, it’s practical (or maybe lazy), but tell you what, how about we tell the new year ones that exchange applications are settled predominantly by your GPA and your CCA matters less? Don’t lie to them. Just tell them straight. Let’s see what “vibrant” student life you get.

If you want a school that has “student life”, then reward student life.

And recently, we had news that the school wants to increase intake to 2,000 students in 2 years. Really? Do we have magical buildings that I don’t know of to house all these students? Are our teaching staff numbers growing at the same rate?

Let’s look at one of SMU’s original USPs (unique selling points): Small class sizes, which means more interaction between student and faculty thus enhancing class discussion and value. That was with classes of 30-40, now we have freaking 50 students in one class. It’s ridiculous.

So, now when everyone is getting your acceptance letters into SMU, ask yourself if you want to be part of this incredible system, or if you’re better off elsewhere.

For those who’re already in this incredible system, are you sick and tired of it? Do you want to change it? Do you even care? Or do you need to get back to your books right now at 1:45am because your exams are on Monday?

http://daryltay.wordpress.com/2008/0...ink-carefully/

[callingmedog]

And when applications for universities opened once again, SMU found itself inundated with applications, and by the best and the brightest, no less.

Soon enough, as these things do, things started to change.

The grade criteria for entry into the different schools suddenly became way higher than ever, and took more precedence.

Class participation became a dirty word, and everybody knew (and hated) that guy who “talked for the sake of talking”.

Competition between students became the norm. Everybody tried to top each other in everything, and the dreaded “bell curve” made things even worse.

The library became a second home to most students, “break week” was a misnomer, and going to school on a Sunday became the norm.

And the school suddenly became way.too.crowded.

Suddenly, “being different” started looking like exactly the same.

——————————————————————————–

To answer the question I posted in the title of this post, yes, I do believe SMU has become a victim of its own success. There was a time I was truly proud of being from SMU. These days…not so much. Sure it’s a business school, but the level at which the rat race has crept into university life is truly something a lot of us find hard to believe. Some say it’s because of the city campus, some say it’s the marketing, some just say… hard luck, that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

Call me idealistic, but I think SMU had something special in the beginning, and somewhere along the way, it lost the plot somewhat. I think I’ve been luckier than some in that I got to do something I truly believe in, something beyond getting the perfect grades, and I truly hope that everybody gets to experience this in some form or another. Life is not all about that perfect presentation, that A+ that you spent all your time in the library for, or that ungraded presentation that for some reason became yet another game of one-upmanship.

Don’t get me wrong, I know some of the most talented and intelligent individuals in this school, but most of us agree that things just aren’t the same anymore.

SMU, revisit your ideals once more. Then ask yourself, am I shortchanging those that believed in me from the start? If the answer is yes, then let’s change the situation. It isn’t too late.

http://allquirknoplay.wordpress.com/...s-own-success/

[callingmedog]

I’ve been in this institution three years now it was a decision I chose of my own accord, instead of going away, instead of going to law school, instead of everything I saw for myself I chose you. You’ve been alright to me, and so far my highest praise is: I’d rather be here, than any other institution in this bloody country. Which is not very high praise at all, and you’d be right.

I am not interested in working for Merrill Lynch. Nor JP Morgan. Nor Goldman Sachs. Not a bank either. I don’t think I’ll be working in anything involving Excel spreadsheets, so count me out from 99.8% of the jobs you think I should be doing.

So when you stick me in this stupid conference room threatening not to recognize my internship until you’ve put me through a thorough brainwashing session full of business school jargon; like: pedagogy and elevator speech and being different and value-added. Like profit-maximizing and corporate innovation, your corporate spiel takes us nowhere.

Fuck you for all the days you stuck me in a suit and heels (every presentation, and sometimes every other day), fuck you for all the times you tell me I’m going to be stuck in a low-end job because I’m studying something that “won’t make very much money”. It’s not that I don’t like money. I like money very much. I just happen to think I have a better way to make it, and no, I won’t tell you how. Because I’m already making that money, and/or on my way there, doing the things I love, doing things I give a damn about. And you know what? The 3 out of 1000 people who get in to (namedrop another MNC) isn’t that impressive a statistic. There are harder battles to fight, and win at.

Because I’m doing so much more with my life than you can imagine: and no, a person’s degree at university is not the be all and end all, but a mere tool. And you wonder why I’m in such a hurry to get out before you stick me in another suit.

If I sound bitter and spiteful, I am.

http://popagandhi.com/480/dear-smu/

[callingmedog]

Everything else. The coerced corporate culture, with our compulsory resume/interview/etiquette classes; the narrow ideas of success. You can’t sit down anywhere in SMU without hearing have you applied for the Citigroup job, how much is Merrill offering you, what they’re offering you JUST FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS. You can’t sit down anywhere in SMU without having SMU tell you 100% of our students got jobs before graduation! x% of them have a starting salary of $5000! y% of them have a starting salary of $10 000! Big, hairy deal. If you don’t like it, I hear you say, why don’t you just ignore it? You can’t: it’s shoved down your throat every chance they have. Even if you hardly go to school, and go with blinders on and ears closed (as you would, after all that listening to inane, pointless class participation. side note: one year in etiquette class, somebody said, “prof, what’s the maximum number of peas I can put on my fork?”)… there’s no escaping.

...

The tragic part is, as most of the seniors would agree, the school never used to be like this. Something changed dramatically, around the same time (1) we moved to the city campus (2) we drastically expanded the intake. The SMU I knew once was enough to make me voluntarily become a SMU Advocate when I was asked to (don’t laugh); I now feel sorry I put countless people through this, this ridiculously competitive I’m doing so badly at school, my GPA is only 3.9, I’m so different because I come from SMU environment. I’m not elated to leave, but it is definitely bittersweet.

http://popagandhi.com/636/end-of-an-era/

[callingmedog]

It is the exam week, and everyone has been in a mad rush for the library, gsr, and for some, home, so that they can keep on mugging and mugging, and mugging till they die.

Two weeks ago, my Comms professor gave a farewell speech to commemorate the end of the module. In his speech, he shared with us what the seniors thought of us. To paraphrase what he said - you freshmen are tarnishing the image of SMU. If the freshmen keep on their chao mugging ways, then that will be the end of SMU. SMU will just be the same as NUS and NTU, no difference. 'Coz when SMU first started, they accepted the "not so good" students, students who weren't able to get into NUS or NTU. However during their time in SMU, they excelled and earned SMU her reputation. They managed to show Singapore that they were different from the mainstream universities and that we were special. But alas, the kiasu-ism of Singaporeans has crept into the culture of SMU freshies. Instead of focusing on the whole, we focus on part. So, what are we going to do about it?

http://rachyangg.livejournal.com/3469.html

[callingmedog]

Nus Versus Smu Econs. Please Discuss!
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/sh....php?t=2155828

[Alex]

Thanks for insider information! Very good information for juniors like us who are not in University yet!

I am just wondering, why do such insider (bad repute) information not be in the newspapers for SMU? All of us always have the impression that SMU is best best and best from the newspapers. Never thought that SMU can have such bad issues.

[callingmedog]

Originally Posted by Alex

I am just wondering, why do such insider (bad repute) information not be in the newspapers for SMU? All of us always have the impression that SMU is best best and best from the newspapers. Never thought that SMU can have such bad issues.

Don't wash your dirty laundry in public

[terencet]

That's an interesting consolidation of posts about SMU, really gets one thinking.

I'm also a student from SMU, in my second year now. I'm sorry to hear and read about all the negative comments about SMU. I think most of the points brought up were extremely valid. I have also gone through similar situations but I'm still very much appreciative of everything that SMU has given me.

My experiences, whilst not reflective of the entire student population, will show you a different side of SMU.

I'll just share my thoughts on some of the more comment points mentioned by my fellow students.

Competition
SMU is competitive. Competition is tiring. Everyone is tired. But honestly, where does competition not exist? My peers from other universities all face similar levels of competition. My personal view is that competition pushes us to surpass our own limits and if that's not what makes you happy, take a back seat.

I've tried it. I've been in exco of a CCA, organised an event in school, taken part in competitions, external projects, the works. All of that in year 1. I'm tired now, so I've chosen to take a back seat and have a breather. Am I losing out to the competition? Probably, but I am okay with it. At the end of the day, it's about the standards you set for yourself.

Corporate culture, obsession with high paying jobs etc.
We are a business school. I've managed to have a chat with a couple of my friends studying in business schools across the world. It's like that for everyone! Business schools know that they need their graduates to stand out and pretty much all reputable schools put their undergraduates through resume/interview training, etiquette classes etc. The corporate world is evolving and so is SMU. I'm guessing they can take away our FT classes and such but the only one who really loses out is us.

GPA & Mugger Culture
Awhile back I was also hung up on GPA. I felt really pressured to maintain a high one. This was until I tanked 1 term, getting C+s & B-s. I got pretty depressed but someone said something to me that really stuck. He told me that he doesn't care about GPA because he knows what kind of job he wants. He's not looking to banks and is happy with a 3.0 because the sector of work he's going into looks beyond his GPA.

The truth is, top-level jobs want the best of the best. Them using GPA as a cutoff will probably never change. I personally work on finding out what I want in life and work towards that. If you choose to enter the rat race, study for your GPA. Complaining about it will not help because the choice was made by you. Similarly, if you see the value in not being a part of it, then work towards what you want and all of a sudden, GPA might not matter that much.

I am a member of the SMU Ambassadorial Corps. This might lead some to think that I am duty-bound to "promote" SMU. I assure you, I call a spade a spade and never hide my feelings about SMU. Do I think it's tough? Yes. Do I sometimes wish I was elsewhere doing something else? Maybe. Do I regret my choice? Never.

When I bring prospective students or guests around school, I never have a lack of things to tell them about our school culture. From our CCAs, to school events to various opportunities for students to pursue their interests, I've never once had to struggle for examples of how our students get involved in school. SMU culture & spirit, it's out there. You just have to open your eyes and mind to see it.

In conclusion, everything said previously is not wrong. I probably agree with most of it sometimes. But I dare wager that if I were to approach any SMU student and ask them whether they would rather be somewhere else, none of them will say yes.

I write at terencetblog.blogspot.com. Feel free to contact me for any clarification on anything I've said =)