One of my favorite Springs @ National University of Singapore Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The students at this university are very studious and competitive. Thus, the university is very academically intense and rigorous. However, the school provided a lot of resources for students to be successful. Be aware that this school is heavily exam based, almost every course including Computing courses are around 80% to 90% exam based. With that being said, discussion sessions are very important to attend.

On-site administration of your program

I personally thought the exchange student didn't have too many resources and could use more administration in this matter.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I was not given a lot of options as other students from other school were given. it was a little unfair. I was placed in graduate housing which gave me less opportunities to participate in some activities that some residential colleges offer for students, and to meet many local students. I also lived on the 17th floor with no air conditioning, it can be unbearable during some months. Especially during the exam season in May, it was very difficult to sleep and can be detrimental to attention and focus needed to do well on exams that are about 50% - 60% of the grade.

Food was really cheap and good. It cost around 2-4$ per meal on campus in food courts.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I personally didn't get too many opportunities to meet many local students since they all lived in undergraduate housing and they form their own communities based on where they lived. Otherwise, I feel pretty integrated with the local culture since it had many similarities with my own cultural background. Singapore has a very interesting mix of eastern and western culture. I spent half of my life so far in Asia and the other half in the Americas, I thought it was a good mix of eastern and western culture, very similar to my own.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

There was an on campus hospital and clinic, we have a pay small fee for healthcare. However, it was easily accessible and there wasn't prevalent health issues.

Singapore is one of the safest cities I've been in,. Locals were very polite and the city is super clean.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Food was very cheap on campus - $10 a day for all three meals. Commuting was pretty cheap. Everything else was really expensive (e.g. daily essentials). If you want to travel, that may increase the budget by quite a bit.

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• Dorm

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• International Students

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

• Traveling
• Meeting people
• Flexibility with courses

• Housing
• Integration with the local students

The Avid Adventurer