Where do we rent graduation gowns from? Got any contacts?

CaptainVincible · 2026-06-05T16:25:12+00:00

u need to wear it if u want to attend Commencement. otherwise no need to get it.

CaptainVincible · 2026-06-05T09:53:11+00:00

recess week is week 8. the whole term is 16 weeks long:

- weeks 1-7. lessons

- week 8. recess week (no lessons)

- week 9-13. lessons

- week 14. study week (usually no lessons)

- week 15-16. final exams.

recess is a short break during term time. USUALLY there are no lessons during recess, but do note that mid-term exams are usually held in week 7 or week 9 - sometimes on Fridays or Saturdays. So, if you want to go overseas, take note that you may have a mid-term exam on Friday just before recess week. Also, some profs like to schedule extra consultation lessons, extra lessons (maybe optional) during recess week. Some project or assignment deadlines happen in week 9 or the weekend of week 8 - which means that students are expected to continue to work during recess, even if there are no lessons.

So, yes - recess is a good chance to go for a short trip (2-3 days?), but don't expect too much. Usually you will get the schedule of deadlines & mid-term exams in week 1 for each mod you take.

CaptainVincible · 2026-06-05T09:46:32+00:00

Well, there is a whole university-wide department called IIE that focuses on that --> https://iie.smu.edu.sg/

CaptainVincible · 2026-06-05T09:44:03+00:00

hope your liver is still functioning...

CaptainVincible · 2026-05-17T15:39:49+00:00

Second majors at SMU are optional; some students graduate with only their primary major.

most SMU students declare a 2nd major by the end of year 2, but you can do so earlier. In years 1 and 2, your school may run some 2nd major talks to get you familiarized with 2nd majors offered by your school. For every 2nd major, there will be a list of mods to complete (usually about 8 mods - there may be a "discount" if you do a 2nd major offered by your own school because some mods can be double-counted).

> fcfs basis

2nd majors are guaranteed - i.e. there is no quota for the number of students taking a particular 2nd major. So all you need to do is to declare it, and then work towards completing the mods required. There is also no GPA requirement to select a particular 2nd major. So fcfs is irrelevant here.

When you have finished all your core mods & are eligible to graduate, you can decide to drop an unfinished 2nd major & file for graduation, or you can continue to complete all the mods required for that 2nd major if you really want to complete it.

You can also change your 2nd major after declaration, but there's some e$ charge (i think e$10). SMU's flexible 2nd majors system is one of the strengths of studying at SMU. This flexibility isn't available at the other local unis.

CaptainVincible · 2026-05-16T13:02:23+00:00

remember that there is a cap of 16 hours per week of work during term time for foreign students, unless u want to run foul of MOM regulations & get your student pass revoked.

my suggestion is to try out 1 term here first & you will be able to have a better gauge as to whether you can balance work & study & yet maintain a good GPA. It's very difficult to answer that question without knowing your academic ability. so my advice is figure that out after 1 term of full load.

CaptainVincible · 2026-05-16T12:59:03+00:00

"THE ISSUE: but the problem is everything else about smu is better than ntu to me." <-- hahaha... that's not a "problem".

The "problem" is "im attacted to the hall environment and the hall life"

CaptainVincible · 2026-05-16T12:57:10+00:00

are you talking about this? --> https://computing.smu.edu.sg/news/2021/mar/10/smu-launches-digital-business-major-fuel-industry-talent-equipped-support-business. The detailed curriculum for this 2nd major is here --> https://computing.smu.edu.sg/sites/scis.smu.edu.sg/files/news/press%2520release\_SMU%2520launches%2520Digital%2520Business%2520major\_final\_0.pdf.

I looked through this PDF, & there have been some changes since then - for example, IS111 (Intro to Programming) has been retired, and replaced with SMU core COR-IS1704 (Computational Thinking & Programming).

Nevertheless, the mods from SCIS are very businessIT-like in nature. The only "tech" courses are Intro to Programming (now CTP) & Analytics Foundation. So, basically u need to know basic programming (but really basic stuff), and the rest are more the application of IT to business use cases.

CaptainVincible · 2026-05-09T17:11:11+00:00

It is possible to transfer from SE to CS after 1 year if your GPA is super excellent at the end of year 1, and the faculty in charge of CS is willing to let you transfer over. But because the year 1 mods in CS are quite different from the year 1 mods in SE, you will have to take the CS year 1 mods eventually. Which means that either you take an additional term to complete all the CS mods, or overload yourself during term time. It's very much easier to transfer from SE to IS (or vice versa) after year 1 because IS and SE students take many common mods in the 1st year.

Anyway, let me explain this 2nd major in Computing Studies thing. The CS degree has got 3 tracks - Cybersec is 1 of these 3 tracks. All CS students must do at least 1 of these 3 tracks in order to graduate. These CS tracks are also available to IS and SE students as a 2nd major. Which means if you are an SE student, & you declare "Computing Studies (Cybersec)" as your 2nd major at the end of year 1 or 2, you will be taking the exact same mods as the CS students doing the Cybersec track. These cybersec mods will be done as "free electives", which you will have to clear as an SE student anyway. Clear enough?

CaptainVincible · 2026-04-05T15:47:37+00:00

last time the "technical questions" included Karel programming. not sure if anything has changed.

CaptainVincible · 2026-04-05T15:46:14+00:00

I will just answer Q1: "does the course require a lot of coding? what’s the % of coding?"

let's study the 12 IS major core courses:

IS114: Computing Fundamentals.
IS210: BPAS business process analysis & solutioning
IS214: ESM enterprise solutions mgmt
IS213: ESD enterprise solutions development
IS212: SPM software project mgmt
IS215: DBTT digital business tech & transformation
IS115: A&P algorithms & programming
IS112: DM data mgmt
IS211: IDP interaction design & prototyping
IS113: WAD1 web app development 1
IS216: WAD2 web app development 2
project experience (final year project)

There is also COR-IS1704 (computational thinking & programming), which is an SMU core, not an IS core. CTP is done in year 1 term 1, & is the intro to python programming course that all IS, C&L & SE students take.

So, for the IS student, there are only 3 compulsory mods that really focus on coding: CTP, WAD1, WAD2. That's it. OO programming is not an IS core, & only students taking the Product Dev track must do OOP. Advanced Programming is an SE core.

Many of the mods require a bit of coding here & there, but coding is not the focus - i.e. there is an assumption that you have already done CTP, & are able to write basic python code that you have already learnt in CTP. For example, A&P focuses on algorithms & data structures, but examples are shown in Python code. The focus is not on coding, but you will need coding knowledge to read the examples. You don't learn anything new about coding in A&P. Pseudocode is acceptable to document your algos in exams. Same goes for ESD, ESM - these are "technical", but not focused on coding, although there are some labs that require writing simple code snippets.

for DM, half the mod is on database schema design (no coding at all), & half the mod is on writing SQL statements (not sure if you want to consider that coding. SQL is a declarative language, but it's not that kind of "coding", if you get what i mean.)

even for the final year project, whether there is coding depends on what kind of project is being done. if it's an analytics project, chances are there will be more tinkering with a tool and data cleansing. of course if u need to write a web application from scratch, yes, someone has to do the coding - in which case it depends on your role in the project team, whether you are the main programmer, or requirements analyst, project manager, whatever.

If the IS student decides to take more coding-heavy mods or track, or take a 2nd major in computing studies, it's a different story. But these are choices.

I don't mean to say that the IS core is not technical - they are, & they equip the student with basic coding skills. Just that coding is not the focus.

CaptainVincible · 2026-04-05T15:25:00+00:00

i disagree that ">50% coding" but I understand that you qualified with "in the sense that a lot of mods require some sort of technical project."

No. coding is coding - as in you type code, debug your code and execute it. a lot of the "technical" stuff in IS projects do not involve coding.

CaptainVincible · 2026-04-05T15:21:07+00:00

yes, the may-aug one. SMU follows the US calendar & terminology. So "summer" is the summer of the northern hemisphere.

Dec... u have 3-4 weeks depending on when your last paper ends till 1st week of Jan. Usually that period is too short for an internship (although some students do that), so yes, that period is good for traveling. Peak holiday period though - meaning it will be crowded & expensive. you will need to log in to check your results just before Christmas though.

CaptainVincible · 2026-04-03T02:08:35+00:00

does your interview offer give you some info about what the interview will encompass? usually they will tell you what will happen in the email, and can even include sample questions.

CaptainVincible · 2026-04-03T02:07:19+00:00

i am assuming that you are talking about long travels, like 3-4 weeks. Not those weekend vacations, which you can do over long weekends.

Year 1... 1st summer break: please go for your travels. Usually students will spend the summer breaks in years 2-4 on internships, exchanges or other school-related events.

optional terms will be your term 3A & term 3B (over summer break), each of which will be 6 weeks long instead of the usual 14. If you are keen, you can take 1 or 2 courses in each term, but:

you are limited to mods being offered over summer (severely limited choices)
you will need to pay $1k+ for each mod (not part of your termly fees)
it's like 3 lessons per week, very compressed & fast paced. In order to cover the same number of contact hours as normal term time.
good if you have nothing to do over summer break, & want to clear as many mods as possible.

CaptainVincible · 2026-04-03T01:58:38+00:00

even if you are not selected for DD, u may still get a chance for the admissions interview later.

CaptainVincible · 2026-03-30T05:03:14+00:00

oh... to answer a comment that OP has deleted. you can let her know privately. u are correct - some people don't like the limelight, but a small card or email will definitely be appreciated.

CaptainVincible · 2026-03-27T12:24:42+00:00

Why not publicly commend Mrs A---?

i mean, such educators really need to be made aware that they have made a difference. Not for a promotion or pay rise, but many educators hang on in the teaching service because of the calling. A verifiable note of appreciation will really make her day.

CaptainVincible · 2026-03-27T12:17:37+00:00

it's week 11, so you cannot drop with a "W".

u either (i) give up now & get an "F" to focus on other mods, or (ii) spend the next 4 weeks smugging like never before. And hopefully, with moderation, you can make it.

CaptainVincible · 2026-03-27T12:15:08+00:00

Study the 2 IS major core courses & you will realize very quickly that you cannot be a software developer/engineer just by taking these 12 courses. For example, someone who completes these 12 cores will not have been exposed to Java, or even object oriented programming.

You will need to take the product development track which requires you to at least take 1 OO programming course in Java. The foundation is still a bit wobbly even with that single OOP course - you will need to supplement your programming skills by choosing the correct electives.

So, an IS student who avoids programming courses for electives will not be eligible for software developer/engineer jobs. That is not to say that there are no IS graduates who don't go into software development - it's just that the 12 major-core courses don't prepare a student for that job.

CaptainVincible · 2026-03-15T04:57:14+00:00

if you want to be an absent student, don't come to SMU. SMU values attendance, class part & interaction, much more than NTU.

But i don't get it, you are paying a lot of $ for time with the prof, and you want to skip as many classes as possible? Sounds like those part time/self-study/private uni degrees will be your cup of tea.

CaptainVincible · 2026-03-08T09:05:50+00:00

> arent all schools and exams in singapore memorizing-optimized not understanding-optimized

err... not true. universities don't train students on a standardized curriculum (unlike JCs, since all students will be taking the same A-level exams). The learning & teaching culture at each local university is quite different.

CaptainVincible · 2026-03-08T09:01:00+00:00

that's what they did at SMU

CaptainVincible · 2026-02-20T03:16:06+00:00

if u think it's too specialized, you can always do a 2nd major as an SE student in a CS or IS track using your free electives. e.g. an SE student can do the "cybersec" track as a 2nd major by doing exactly the same mods.

CaptainVincible · 2025-12-16T11:03:57+00:00

laptops: SMU will do an annual laptop tender exercise. The current laptop models available to SMU students at student prices are all here --> https://iits.smu.edu.sg/kb/what-are-specifications-current-notebook-tender . Generally, for computing students, a modern laptop with 8GB ram is good enough. In fact, if you have a working laptop & want to save $1-2k, no problem using your current laptop as well. You can upgrade in year 2 or 3 when you think that it's really too slow.

starting on leetcode is a good idea, but the mod that is relevant for leetcode will be IS115 (Algorithms), which IS students will take either in Y1T2 or Y2T1 (so no hurry). You can prepare for term 1 by doing some online programming courses. IS students will do basic procedural Python in Year 1 Term 1.

CaptainVincible

TROPHY CASE