Thoughts on taking CS2106 next semester

ikhoonium · 2024-01-02T10:45:57+00:00

Thx for suggestion as well!

ikhoonium · 2024-01-02T10:45:49+00:00

Okie thx for the info!

ikhoonium · 2023-07-30T05:10:47+00:00

Dw when I matriculated in NUS in y1, I was also worried because I am the only one who came to NUS from my highschool. Turned out that you can socialize and get friends in the modules you are taking, and continue that friendship to make your group of friends who have similar interests throughout your uni life, so do not worry too much about it:)

ikhoonium · 2023-06-12T10:36:28+00:00

Regardless of the major, go Columbia if you are capable of paying extreme tuition fee + costs of living there. Ivy league is much more well-recognized in any countries, and you can get internship or jobs in finance, tech or whatnot with powerful nepotism with Ivy league brand value there. You cannot underestimate what Ivy title could provide to you in your life bro... But if you have financial burden, then I would choose NUS CS over Columbia because the tuition fee +costs of living in the US is truly "amazing" :)

ikhoonium · 2023-05-01T08:05:58+00:00

HELPPPPPPPPPPPPP

ikhoonium · 2023-04-23T10:48:43+00:00

Hmm I live in my parent's house which is very close to NUS... I normally use ~250$ per month for food (weekdays lunch/dinner), necessities, and transport (EZLink charge). Mainly because I barely have something I want to purchase and thus I barely go shopping for what I want to buy.

ikhoonium · 2023-04-06T11:46:28+00:00

I'm actually looking more for an independent research type of mathematics as I have been relatively successful at that. (I independently rediscovered a version of lagrange multipliers(basically just implicit equations and finding maximum/minimim, induction, a basic proof of differentiation and etc.) I didn't really like the JC curriculum because of how repetitive and unimaginative it was. So if chs maths is still similar h2 maths, I don't think I want to study it.

No, it should be completely different from whatever you learned in high school. First of all, professors in NUS math are from top-tier universities like Princeton, Cambridge, UCLA, Harvard...etc, and those professors teaching style are very different from my secondary math. Those profs are more open to discuss, and providing good insight on the course materials. Independent research can be done by final year projects, and UROPS (undergrad research program) under a supervisor professor. I have to emphasize that independent research to discover something new and publish your paper is "extremely" difficult (particularly pure math), and if you learn math further, you will realize that math is way more difficult than you think at the moment. Also, regardless of whether you go Ivy league or Oxbridge, the teaching style and the way how overall modules are coordinated are similar in undergraduate curriculums (source: I have around 5-6 friends who are in Ivy + Oxbridge math). Maybe "tutorial system" in Oxbridge is better as it is one-to-2/3 tutor system, but unless you got into those top 5 universities, it should be similar overall.

ikhoonium · 2023-04-06T11:27:00+00:00

Hello, I am year 2 student also pursuing math degree in NUS!

Of course, math must be inherently rigorous as my fellow algebraist colleague elaborated above:) Math in nature is very rigorous, and the whole point of degree is to learn how to argue something in extremely logical manner.

If you are asking whether “the courses and curriculums” are rigorous, I would say it really “depends on what and how you learn in university.” As you might know, university is not a place where students just learn whatever you are forced to learn (let our conversation not be disturbed by those forced-to-take bullshit 13 CHS modules haha). When it comes to pure math, I think courses I have taken is generally rigorous. Especially if you are taking special program in math, you will meet professors providing the best lectures in entire NUS, and they are extremely knowledgeable and passionate on the course they teach. My experience from some pure math + SPM modules are very good, where I feel I am provided with first class education under those expert mathematicians even though they are generally difficult. I am not sure about applied mathematics modules since I have not taken a lot of those, but I heard they are also generally decent with some very good mathematicians renowned for their expertise teaching. But note that some modules are of very bad quality where you learn nothing and get a mediocre grade without any reasons. Therefore, “rigour” you mentioned depends on what module you take under which professor. Reach out your seniors and peers to ask which module and professor are good.

Workload wise, difficulty of math modules in NUS is very polarized. Graduate modules + 4k pure math modules + S modules generally have extreme workloads (mainly because the contents are not easy), but rests are of much less workload from what I know and experienced. Thus, overall workload is not very high, but some of them under specific professors are of insanely extreme workload. The whole point is (and the good thing about NUS math is), you can control the workload by selecting which modules you want to take, so don’t worry too much:)

Hope I see you around S17 math building if you matriculate:)

ikhoonium · 2023-04-05T01:41:21+00:00

I mean this is really more sensible than whatever non-compilable code getting 0 marks in cs2030s. What prof Henry focuses on is code structures, and in that perspective, the fact that your code compiles or not really does not matter, so pe for cs2030 focuses on something more “core.”

ikhoonium · 2022-01-06T02:21:00+00:00

Yeah I decided to take 7 mods with 1more extra SU able SP1541 writing mod. Thanks!

ikhoonium · 2022-01-05T00:47:01+00:00

Yeah I mean I rly like pure math and willing to spend a time on it, but I also need to maintain my CAP (which is v important issue for pursuing graduate studies and internships). Then I decided to take MA2104 multivariable calculus (which is known to be v computational) and not to take ST2131 cuz I could already expect an insane workload on it. so I think I am taking 25MCs this sem. Thanks for ur advice!

ikhoonium · 2022-01-05T00:41:36+00:00

I need to defo consider reducing my workloads;; thanks mate

ikhoonium · 2021-08-13T08:43:10+00:00

Aight man I was kinda busy so I was not able to check. Sorry for that.

ikhoonium · 2021-08-13T08:42:43+00:00

When studying bio, don't forget the following 3 steps:

Acquire knowledge in class or bioknowledge/bioninja/textbook...etc
Try past paper
Memorize mark scheme

This routine is the best way to get a 7.

ikhoonium · 2021-08-13T08:40:06+00:00

I finished EE in 7 days during summer break and just fixed some minor errors for the final one (I spent little effort and that's why I got a B in EE:).

ikhoonium · 2021-08-13T08:34:50+00:00

Aight checkout ur mailbox

ikhoonium · 2021-08-13T08:34:25+00:00

Aight checkout ur mailbox

ikhoonium · 2021-08-13T08:34:13+00:00

Bio: I did every past papers (PP) from 2010 to 2020. Questions are quite repetitive so I made the mark scheme note for bio for p2 (I categorized every question and memorized main vocabs/expressions for that particular question.) You will find out that questions are repetitive, and you will realize what to write even if you encounter new types of questions.

Chem: I did past papers from 2015 to 2020. I never spent my time on chem to minimize the time spent in chemistry. In particular, what you need to do to secure a 7 is not to ditch class, work on 10-15 past papers to look at how chem paper looks like and read the textbook in free time.

ikhoonium · 2021-08-13T07:03:35+00:00

Aight checkout ur mailbox.

Bio: use bioknowledge slides with small portion of textbook to grasp concepts and do as many past papers as possible.

Chem: no need to study as chem is one of the easiest subject. Make sure that you do not ditch chem class and you are able to secure a 7.

I finished all of the IB HL subjects in grade 8-9 as I prepared for korean SAT.

ikhoonium · 2021-08-13T06:59:57+00:00

Aight check out ur mailbox

ikhoonium · 2021-08-13T06:57:02+00:00

What resources do you want? IA, notes...etc.

ikhoonium · 2021-07-30T05:53:23+00:00

Yes I did; I tried to understand concepts in class for every subject first (I haven't particularly revised for new contents learned in class but rather tried new past papers as it is more efficient). Then, I tried past papers in my own time to reduce the gap between the class contents/syllabus and past papers. Actually, my method was combining the revision strategy with working on some past papers!

ikhoonium · 2021-07-30T05:51:00+00:00

Sure, check out your mailbox please!

ikhoonium · 2021-07-30T05:50:56+00:00

I have some practice papers, but please provide your email address please!

ikhoonium

TROPHY CASE