My Exchange at The National University of Singapore
I found out about the exchange from a friend, who was planning to go overseas himself but wasn’t able to due to COVID.
It was a great feeling to be overseas. I feel I acclimatized quite quickly; there were a large number of other exchange students who were the only ones on campus at that point, and I made a lot of friends in those first few days. The city itself is amazing – there’s a lot that’s more convenient than anything we have in Auckland, and the public transport system in particular stood out as something that we really don’t have at home.
The accommodation was decent; nothing special, but I had a room with a bed, desk, AC, and a ceiling fan. There were bathrooms on every floor of my residence, and a kitchen and laundry room on every third floor. There were also study spaces on every floor, which had free AC and were quite comfortable (we used them often to play PS4 games after exams). The floors were grouped into houses, which each house having a male-only floor, female-only floor, and a mixed-gender floor.
There was no real orientation, but all the students were super friendly, and I was shown around by people multiple times.
The courses are definitely done to a higher level than Auckland University; much more is expected of the students however. I didn’t pay as much attention to them as I usually would at home (I spent a lot of time traveling), and I showed in the final exams. There seemed to be a bit more of a focus on learning as much as possible (i.e. lectures would cover a bit of information and then you were expected to read the corresponding textbook chapters and actually know them) rather than the critical thinking and problem solving skills that are often prized at home. It’s definitely a different experience for an exchange student as compared to a regular student there though, as most of the students are very diligent in their studies and it’s a lot more competitive.
Singapore was great, and I’d say I prefer it over Auckland. Everything is a lot more convenient, especially getting around the city with the public transport. It’s also very close to Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, and a host of other travel destinations that can be reached on $80 round trip flights, giving you a lot of stuff to do in the weekend or other breaks.
I’d say the cost of living is cheaper than Auckland. Student accommodation there cost around $200 NZD including two meals a day for 6 days a week. Food itself is significantly cheaper; expect to get a good meal for around $5-7 on campus, and even cheaper elsewhere. Because of this, barely anybody cooks, and I personally didn’t touch any cooking equipment for my entire time on exchange (and most people I know did the same, both international and regular students).
I travelled a lot; this was probably one of the best parts of the journey. It’s much easier to leave the country than NZ since flights are so cheap, and accommodation in nearby countries can be as low as $10 for three nights, assuming you’re willing to stay in a hostel. The whole South East Asian region is beautiful and I’d happily recommend it to anyone who wants to travel around, regardless of budget. I particularly liked Indonesia, but Vietnam was almost as good, and Malaysia was also fantastic and even cheaper to visit (you can take a bus across the border for $5). Overall, I’d definitely suggest people travel if they were going on exchange to NUS. I also played for my residence’s basketball team in their inter-college games, which was fun (the standard of play is a lot lower than in NZ), and also tried netball for a while. The residence I was in hosted a number of events throughout the semester too, which were fun and helped me meet others living where I was (by the end of the semester, I’d say I was friends with at least 70% of the people on the three floors that make up a house in the residence).
Campus life was great. It’s a very different feeling being on a massive campus as opposed to being in Auckland University’s semi-city campus (it was around a one-hour walk from one side of campus to the other). There’s always things going on there, from cheerleading practice right outside the food court, to football games in the middle of the University Town green, to just relaxing in one of the pools.
The best thing about the food wasn’t actually how good it was, it was how cheap it was. While it’s definitely good food, you’d expect some of the things they sell for $4 to be $25 in New Zealand. There’s a massive variety of everything, and heavy influence from nearby regions. It’s not like New Zealand has significantly worse food or anything, it’s just that the good food here isn’t something you could get every day for lunch, whereas there it’s expected that all the food is good and cheap.
The main highlights of my exchange were traveling and hanging out with friends while I was there. I can give a more detailed explanation if you want, but there’s not that much more to explain.
I didn’t really face any major challenges while I was there; I made friends quickly, had people show me around the campus and the city, didn’t get into any trouble with anyone, never had flights cancelled or anything like that. I’d say the biggest challenge was forcing myself not to go completely broke by skipping the occasional trip, and also the fact that it was hard to decide where I actually wanted to travel to because there were so many amazing places nearby.
Do it! It was a great experience, cost me less than what it would have cost to stay in Auckland University accommodation and study at home (including my flights), and you’ll be able to see more of the world that’s a bit harder to see from New Zealand!
Q&A
What were some of the highlights of the academic experience at your host university?
The academic experience at NUS is more competitive than at home. The students are held to a higher standard, grades are harder to achieve, and there’s generally more of a drive in students to perform better. As an exchange student, however, you don’t have the same pressure as them (grades are bell curved, so it’s hard to do super well, but it can also be hard to fail). I spent a lot of time travelling and managed to do reasonably well despite doing worse than I would have normally wanted at Auckland.
On the flip side of that is everybody is willing to lend a hand; because study is prioritised more, if you ever need help with a course, you’ll easily find a few people willing to answer some questions. All of the tutors were fantastic, and the lecturers were available at reasonable times if you just sent them an email.
Would you recommend any particular activity/activities unique to your host country or university?
I’d definitely suggest traveling outside Singapore. Singapore is situated in an amazing spot between a number of extremely cheap but beautiful countries that you can visit easily. For context, I spent about $700 on a week-long trip in Indonesia (total cost including four flights), and I could have easily done it for less if I was only visiting the main areas like Bali.
Aside from that, there’s not that much actually in Singapore if you live there for a while; eat a ton of cheap food, maybe visit some of the tourist locations, or go cycling around the city.
What are your top 3 tips for future students attending your host university or going on exchange to your host country?
1: Travel around outside Singapore.
2: Do your best to meet new people there; everyone’s super friendly, and especially at the start all exchange students just want to meet other exchange students, so there’s nothing to be worried about.
3: Make the most of being overseas; there’s a lot more to offer once you’re out of New Zealand, particularly job opportunities that pay higher than anything NZ has to offer. NUS also has a lot of connections you can access while you’re there, so take advantage of them.
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?
Honestly, I have no idea what I budgeted, but I started with around $3000 after paying for my tuition and accommodation and also had the $300 weekly student living cost payment. It was enough, but I wasted a lot by not eating the free residence dinners (since I usually worked late at night after the dining hall was shut).
It would have been nice to have a little bit more to travel around with, but the main limiting factor on that was time rather than money, seeing as you could easily spend a weekend overseas for as little as $100.
What are your most significant takeaways from your experience abroad?
Mainly I just learned that I want to be out of New Zealand; I love our country, but it’s so disconnected from everything due to its location. The exchange has sparked the idea that I can finish university and go and live somewhere else and has given me the confidence that I could make friends overseas and settle down somewhere foreign pretty easily.
Do you want to share anything about travels you did outside your host city/country?
I’ve said this a bunch of times already, but traveling in SE Asia is cheap. My favorite destination was Indonesia, both because of the natural beauty and because of the people I met while I was there. Across my travels, I stayed in both nice hotels and cheap hostels, and I would definitely say the hostels were more fun; everyone there wants to meet new people, so if that’s you too, then I’d say go for those.
I also spent time in Vietnam and Malaysia (both mainland and Borneo), and would suggest going to see some of the native animals they have over there. Seeing wild otters, monkeys, and orangutans were some of the highlights of my time in Malaysia, while places like Ha Long Bay and Ninh Binh were my favourites in Vietnam.
My instagram has most of my travel photos if you want those: https://www.instagram.com/joewuthrich/ (if you want high-res versions I can provide those too).
Is there anything else you’d like to highlight?
Not really; if you have people who are thinking of going to NUS or are going and want someone to discuss it with I’m happy to do so however.
Tags: 2023, Computer Science, Report