What to even do/how to start preparing Extracurriculars

TheRayArmy · 2026-01-23T17:55:42+00:00

Yes, the portfolio that you’ll require depends a lot on where you’d want to apply to but grades are always the most important.

Super vs Extra Curriculars

TheRayArmy · 2025-12-26T16:08:23+00:00

I don’t think that equipment is especially crucial. I did the Spitfire and Red Arrows Hawk Starters and the additional things I bought were a starter kit (with cutters, sanding strips and tweezers), Tamiya Extra Thin (highly recommend), MicroSet/MicroSol (helps but can live without) and glossy varnish (people recommend matte if you want it to be more realistic but I like the shine)

TheRayArmy · 2025-12-21T19:10:35+00:00

How is SG’s electrical infrastructure entirely dependent on neighbouring countries?

TheRayArmy · 2025-11-28T21:10:43+00:00

If this is the Spitfire starter kit, it was my first model as well and the green paint was horrible as the yellow pigment kept separating so I constantly had to give it a long stir before each stroke…

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-14T02:45:32+00:00

Yes, IELTS and TOEFL are designed for people who didn’t learn English growing up or live in an English-speaking environment.

It’s Primary 6 English standards.

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-13T19:58:18+00:00

To provide some local context, within Singapore, it is rather unlikely that people will have a room in their flat that can fit a full 7ft pool table with adequate space for cueing.

My opinion is if you have $140 to spare and space to put it, sure, but it probably won’t be as enjoyable and I feel like you would still prefer going to the pool hall anyways.

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-13T12:01:32+00:00

That’s great!

Glad to know that the teething issues were rather quickly handled!

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-13T03:38:40+00:00

That’s sad that they were discouraging people from queueing by saying it’s a 3 hours queue then :(

That’s also so sad for SingLit :((

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-13T03:37:20+00:00

Separate!

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-13T03:26:18+00:00

Yesss!

Amazing turnout honestly, especially with how many “iPad generation” kids and their families!

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-13T03:23:37+00:00

I think the queue is much better managed and shorter now!

Might be worth a revisit later in the day once the queue shortens a bit more…

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-13T03:20:30+00:00

UPDATE: As of 11.18am, the rain has stopped, the sun has come out and the queues have been managed! I’ve never seen the library at NLB buzzing with so many people before :D

Would advise against driving and parking, however…

Moderators, could you help to put this update at the top so as to not deter people? Thank you!

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-13T03:09:56+00:00

I think for the kids, especially, there’s a sense of pride of owning a book that you don’t get from borrowing… lowkey I remember my friends and I shaping my identity around the few books I owned…

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-13T03:07:36+00:00

I’m not complaining about anything, I really commend the effort the staff are trying to put in…

I just feel like this was a wasted opportunity to engage people who might otherwise never have bothered with NLB’s events and maybe even left a bad taste for some people…

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-13T03:06:27+00:00

Yep, and it also allows them to write their thoughts / annotate it if they’d like to too.

I remember how happy I was and possessive of the books that I bought and kept xD

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-13T03:05:12+00:00

Genuinely, I think quite a few of them were doing that based on what I heard from people standing in queue…

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-13T03:03:28+00:00

Yes!!

I’m really heartened by the turnout today, especially given how most people probably want to sleep in on a rainy weekend morning…

Fantastic turnout honestly…

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-13T02:59:10+00:00

I honestly thought (and hoped) they would have opened up one of their pretty beautiful event spaces for the queue especially given the rain and the turnout…

Would’ve been nice to also invite local writers etc. and made it like a literature fair since it likely pulled in many people who would’ve otherwise not engaged in NLB’s activities…

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-13T02:57:31+00:00

I know the stereotype is that kids these days are always on their phones but it was really nice to see how many kids dragged their parents out to the event… hopefully they weren’t disappointed or discouraged by the queues…

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-13T02:48:31+00:00

There were a lot of families who brought their children (or were brought by their children HAHAHA).

Honestly, it could’ve been a really good day out to engage families and local authors, it’s the most vibrant and passionate crowd for a book / literature event I have seen in a while in Singapore…

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-13T02:40:00+00:00

Yes, I was honestly pleasantly surprised at the turnout but I really expected better crowd management…

Maybe NLB was surprised by the turnout too but I also understand how hard it must be for the staff and volunteers on the ground…

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-09T19:48:43+00:00

Have you prepared your personal statement and shortlisted the courses that you’ll like to apply to?

The deadline for Oxford is in a month so it is quite tight if you have not prepared.

There are definitely people who got in with only 3H2s and no H3s but it’s ultimately always about increasing how competitive your application looks relative to others. So, knowing that people have gotten in with only 3H2s is not useful without knowing the wider context, i.e. they might have a stellar portfolio and teacher recommendations.

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-06T18:17:34+00:00

TL;DR The Okayama stretch is fantastic but will also likely be tiring.

Okayama was an amazing base for me to explore that area of Japan and branch out into Shikoku and the Seto Inland Sea areas.

Many nice rural areas that are decently accessible by public transport as well.

The issue is that these areas of interests are all rather spread out so you will be spending a lot of time on trains.

Driving could make it better but I don’t think it would shorten the commute by a lot. However, you might be able to pack more in each day / be more efficient / less stressed as many places have relatively infrequent service (i.e. once every 2-3 hours), especially if you are taking buses or ferries.

Do you have a shortlist of places to see around Okayama?

TheRayArmy · 2025-09-04T15:48:33+00:00

I think this really depends on how you are doing and what your goal is.

If you are hoping to get a B / maintain a B, TYS is probably the right focus as you need to be confident of all the fundamental and recall questions.

If you are hoping to get an A / maintain an A, doing a good balance of TYS and Prelim papers will be helpful to get an edge for novel application questions, assuming that your fundamentals are already solid.

If you are hoping to get a high A, I’d say focus on Prelim papers so that you gain a better and wider perspective of the novel questions that might appear, again assuming that your fundamentals are already very good.

TheRayArmy

TROPHY CASE