My Exchange at The National University of Singapore
Hi, my name is Jingtong, and the host university I went to is the National University of Singapore.
In my first semester at UOA, I found out about the 360 International exchange programme in a post on Red, where an alumnus shared her exchange experience on the platform. She introduced how nice the programme is that you can try living in another country for a few months while studying, learning about the culture you are interested in. The part I like the most is that only the credits are transferred; the GPA will not be recorded in the transcript. While I was talking about the whole programme with my friends, they were also interested, though the countries we wanted to go to were different. After consideration, we started our application at 360 International and tried to maintain a good GPA simultaneously.
Although I have been an international student at UOA, going to Singapore was the first time that I did not know anyone in the country, so I was a bit confused and scared, but at the same time, excited for the first couple of weeks.
However, the faculty orientation for exchange students was very well-planned and enjoyable! The students were broken into several groups to participate in games; two local students would be the tour guides. Each group’s accumulated score was compared in the end. Many of the games were Singapore’s traditional ones, and you can learn about the culture as it goes on. I specifically love how you can bond with other people without having to break the ice because everything was so spontaneous, I really recommend attending this event.
I lived in one of the school halls, so the rate was relatively low. The room was big enough for one person, and there were many activities and clubs for you to participate in halls. However, the rental rate will be higher if you prefer to rent outside, which should be higher than renting in New Zealand. You would not spend too much on food because there are so many choices in the school dining halls and they are at a good price! I believe you will enjoy Singapore as much as I did because there are not only spectacular city skyline views but also many great museums and art galleries, even in school! Having nothing to do is the last thing you need to worry about in Singapore.
Talking about campus life, I found the classes at NUS highly interactive, as the students always actively ask or answer questions. For business students, there are lots of group work opportunities for you to communicate with local students. One thing I found quite different from students in UoA was that when it comes to group assignments, students in NUS tend to do all the questions by themselves in the first place and then compare answers as a whole group. When the final answers are finalised, tasks are split accordingly. While in UoA, my past experiences with group assignments were always that we allocated the tasks at the beginning, and then each person worked on their own part. While going through all questions individually usually takes a considerable amount of time, it is a good way to keep everyone on the same page and gather more creative ideas!
In the end, I wish all the best in future UoA exchangers! Keep up the good work and hope you will enjoy your host universities!
Q&A
What were some of the highlights of the academic experience at your host university?
The first thing that made me proud was that I bravely answered the instructor’s first question in one of the finance classes’ first classes. That was something that I learned in UOA Level 2. I felt very happy that I could use the knowledge I had learned before at the host university; it brought me a sense of connection to knowledge at that very moment.
Another thing is that I have always known that NUS is a highly-ranked school, and after a period of class, I also found that the students here are smart. In my first formal group assignment, I was actually a little nervous because I had to learn to collaborate in the way they were used to; that is, everyone did all the questions on their own, proofread the answers, and finally voted to decide whose answers and ideas should be used for the problem. It took me a lot of time, and it was a lot of work for me at that time. To my surprise, the results of the poll showed that I received a large proportion of votes on most of the questions. At the same time, I also got some opportunities to exchange my thinking process and even have some academic disputes with my team members. In the end, we presented the group work completely, which gave me a very special feeling. I think all the students had a closer connection and experienced the charm of teamwork.
Would you recommend any particular activity/activities unique to your host country or university?
I would recommend the ‘Welcome Day’ for sure! It is the faulty-level orientation specifically held for exchange students! My welcome day of this semester was arranged on the Saturday of the first week of school. On the way there, I was still joking about how it would take a day.
Personally, I don’t like many orientation activities that make all the games very purposeful in order to break the ice. Before going to orientation, my impression of the orientation remained in playing awkward games and the campus treasure-hunting activities
However, this experience was a different thing! The whole orientation activity is based on a hygiene problem of a food court, and each group is assigned to a scenario where the owner needs to find a recipe for one dish (the actor who played the owner was very passionate). They have prepared a lot of games that Singaporeans would play when they were children, and each game was very interesting, such as sandbag grabbing, eraser battle, Singapore version of Q&A, kick the key, etc. Every game requires the participation of all members. There will be a chat during the walk to the next venue and lunch, and there will be a photo session at the end! I believe this is one of the best ways to make your first friend at NUS.
Don’t miss out this activity for the future semesters!
What are your top 3 tips for future students attending your host university or going on exchange to your host country?
- Get a portable fan with you, it’s very hot in SG
- Bring a good quality umbrella
- Your smile 😛
How much did you budget for your exchange? Was this enough? Were there any lessons learned that would help future students budget for their own exchange?
Depending on where you live and what you eat, the cost of living can vary from person to person. The on-campus accommodations generally range from 125 SGD to 280 SGD per week. A typical meal at food courts in Singapore is around 10 SGD.
Apart from the rent, I would say 1500 SGD per month should be enough for a comfortable living in Singapore, including leisure life.
What are your most significant takeaways from your experience abroad?
In this exchange experience, I learned how to get along with myself better. When facing the pressure of study and life in a completely new environment, you need to know clearly what the purpose of your exchange here is and always focus on that goal. My other friends and I have all felt homesick during the exchange program in a certain. Sometimes, there was also pressure from peers; it seemed that everyone was smarter than me. But the truth is, you don’t have to compare yourself to other people and to have this opportunity is something you should be really proud of. It is not easy to step out of your comfort zone to live and study in another country alone. I just want to tell all the students who are about to go on an exchange that when you feel something like this, it is 100% normal and I completely feel you. I can assure you that these feelings of loneliness are temporary.
Finally, please have much fun during the exchange and have a nice semester!
Do you want to share anything about travels you did outside your host city/country?
If you are exchanging to Singapore, Johor Bahru is a city in Malaysia where it’s connected to Singapore. It’s super easy to go to (taxi, bus, even MRT), and the price level is very friendly compared to what’s in Singapore, and Malaysian food is so good! It’s a good choice for a 1-3 day trip during weekends.
If you have some more days or for a mid-semester holiday, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia are all close to Singapore and nice countries for travelling.
