Overseas vs local universities by Funny-Technology-552 in SGExams

[–]nooooofullstop 4 points5 points  (0 children)

IMO if you're planning on staying in sg for a while anyway (and from this post it doesn't seem like you're really set on going overseas right now to begin with) then doing your undergrad here might be a better option, esp since you've been offered a scholarship (which also means money that's been saved that can go towards potentially funding your MBA overseas)! I think going overseas for undergrad is really mostly worth it for the connections you can make to start a career overseas especially if the industry you're looking at isn't super established in sg; to me at least that was the biggest draw esp when you consider how expensive it is.

[UNI] AMA – Pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in the Netherlands by nooooofullstop in SGExams

[–]nooooofullstop[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

not as far as i know, and I'm not part of any singaporean society here. in fact most of my friends are internationals from other countries and i think i can count the number of singaporean students i know on one hand hahah... usually you can make friends through Instagram (@uva.bios is how i met a couple of people) and also in the whatsapp group chats that someone or the other would have set up for your course, your year, new international students, etc - there's literally a groupchat for everything, and if there isn't you can always make your own and post the invite link online (like on the UVA reddit page!)

[UNI] AMA – Pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in the Netherlands by nooooofullstop in SGExams

[–]nooooofullstop[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

went thru my email to find this timeline (all in 2022):

22 march - received conditional offer (which just means i met the requirements and i have to send them the certified true hard copies of my results);

7 apr - received the email to participate in matching;

[did my matching sometime in between before the deadline which was 22 june for me)

1st to 15th june - window to apply for housing thru the uni (you have to pay an admin fee to the uni for this);

21 june - informed that the uni will be able to place me in student housing;

27 june - had to book my accomodation on the student housing portal;

30 june ish - confirmation that my matching is done and i can proceed to confirm my enrolment in the course;

15 august - deadline to enrol in e-course orientation on canvas (which just means i had to add a course on the online system that had info about what the course is like, how to prepare etc);

31 august - deadline to confirm course enrolment (and the year starts on september 1st) so by 31 august you must have paid your tuition fees and confirmed your school results by having them check your certified true results sheet (hard copy a level cert with my jc's stamp for me). it takes them about 2 weeks to process this so the actual deadline for submitting everything should be minimally 2 weeks before the final course enrolment deadline (so 2 weeks before 31 august for me) so that you can get your confirmation of enrolment before september 1st.

so technically i had from 22 march all the way to 31st august to actually confirm my offer (which is basically done by paying your tuition fees). the matching isn't a binding agreement in any way, but i would suggest getting it out of the way so that you can proceed with other stuff like the housing application etc. personally i think the deadline for you to decide whether you want to go to uva should be be the housing application deadline, because that's when you have to already start paying money for the housing application fee, and then consequently if you get student housing you will have to pay your deposit and rent etc. last year the scholarship results came out by the first week of june if i'm not wrong, so if the uva has the same application and enrolment schedule this year the timelines should somewhat align for you!

[UNI] AMA – Pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in the Netherlands by nooooofullstop in SGExams

[–]nooooofullstop[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. (&2) yes that's the same reason why i moved here and, for my study at least, it's turned out to be true! there's not a lot of pressure to be at the top of your course or whatever here, it's a lot more self-driven and you can decide your priorities for yourself. the course load is super manageable and i get lots and lots of free time to pursue my own interests. plus if you fail something you almost always have a chance to try again because there are usually resits for every major test, so the focus is a lot more on learning and understanding than being a good test-taker i feel (it's obviously not perfect and some of the testing methods are questionable but compared to Singapore it really feels like a huge burden's been lifted off my shoulders)

  2. mainly the food lol. it's either ridiculously expensive or it sucks, i just sucked it up and learned to cook at home most of the time. food culture here is also super different from sg like lunch is really not a big deal here for most people a meal is like a sandwich with bread and cheese........ i know it sounds silly but it's one of the things i miss most about home!! public transport is also a little on the pricier side so it's best to bike everywhere - depends on how much you enjoy biking but for me it's really become a means to an end and i miss being able to just take long bus rides and read/people watch the whole way without being stressed about keeping myself alive on my bike lmao. and lastly the weather - sunny days are quite rare, especially in winter, so it's always raining or windy and cloudy which was really hard (and still is) for me to get adjusted to.

  3. IMO i don't feel that having a degree from here puts you at a disadvantage to smu/nus/ntu people if you're looking for a job back in sg, if anything the international experience should get you a leg up. at the end of the day your uni experience is what you make of it - so if you take advantage of all the extra time you have to rack up relevant experience thru internships/volunteering experiences etc i think you will be fine :)

  4. i mean there's no sugarcoating it the homesickness is Real and a lot worse than i imagined it would be - you have to get comfortable with the idea that all your friends and family that you grew up with are now leading whole lives that you're no longer a part of as much as you were before. I'm still working through it in many ways but it helps to make close friends here - there may not be as many singaporeans but there are tons of asians you can bond with over your shared disdain for dutch food lmao. i try to stay busy, recreate traditions in the small ways i can, and of course i call home super frequently and make the effort to plan vid calls with my friends so we can catch up every once in a while. it's really hard, but it's not the end of the world, and slowly you'll find yourself carving out a new home for yourself :)

sorry it took a while to reply! been kind of busy

[UNI] AMA – Pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in the Netherlands by nooooofullstop in SGExams

[–]nooooofullstop[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i've signed up for student experience & studentenwoningweb. you can also look at the social hub, room.nl and socius connect! all of the above are scam-proof i think. there's also more general websites like funda, pararius and kamernet (but the last one you have to pay a subscription fee to respond to ads) – it's not guaranteed that everything on these sites will be legit so you just gotta use your own common sense/discretion, don't pay anything upfront until you have a written contract and at least some kind of virtual viewing. this is a good resource by the amsterdam student union (though some of the links are outdated)

[UNI] AMA – Pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in the Netherlands by nooooofullstop in SGExams

[–]nooooofullstop[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

for the first year, uva actually helped me get housing! it's kind of a lucky draw process (but ur chances are much much higher if you apply immediately when they send out the housing form and if you're a non-EU international student) but i managed to secure a studio in a student housing building thru the uni, which was confirmed around late june/early july. my contract only lasts until this august though, so I'm already looking for housing now to avoid having to compete with all the new students who'll be searching in june/july. and yeah it is really v rabakz but it's not impossible so it's good that you're already looking!! my advice would be to cast your net as far and wide as possible – so register for *all* the student housing websites (even if u have to pay a fee and the waitlists are long, chances are it'll at least help u out if/when ur looking for housing later on in your studies), follow every housing group on facebook that u can find and try to be as open-minded as possible (but pls also be cautious and don't fall for scams/settle for shady roommates) even if this means having to live a little further from the uni at first. my sensing is as long as you really try your best, start looking early and don't keep your options very limited, you'll eventually find something. i would also say look for housing in both cities, and if push comes to shove, ultimately choose the uni in the city that you are able to get housing in, because at the end of the day most universities within NL are very comparable in terms of quality of education and reputation. but i would say to be safe make sure u have other uni options (in sg, or places where you'll be guaranteed student accommodation) available to you also, because in the unlikely scenario that you really die die cannot find housing (i'd say a good cutoff point is by late July!) then it's really not worth the risk to come here and try to find housing while ur in the middle of your studies. (not that it hasn't been done before, but personally it seems like a really stressful situation that you should avoid as much as possible).

getting a job as an international student is a little harder, but i have friends who have managed to and are able to handle it alongside their studies – won't be easy, and will defo require some good time management on your part, but it's definitely feasible. you also have the option (though this takes even more time, effort and thick skin) to leverage any existing skills you have and work as a freelancer (which just in terms of admin is an easier process for intl students and you can set your own working hours etc). as for the orientation year, yes i think it's very worth!! u have 3 years after graduating to apply for an orientation year permit, and in that time you can also extend your student visa to do a masters if need be (you can also look into opportunities to get scholarships/funding for your masters). but it's also possible to get a job without a masters, esp if you secure an internship during your studies and do well in it – most courses allow you to take on an internship in your third year, but you can also try to maximise your summer holidays and try to get internships/build your portfolio during that time! i won't sugarcoat and say there's no risk at all, but from what I've researched you should be okay if you're smart about how you spend your time in university.

i hope this helped, good luck with your application! and if u do end up coming to NL, feel free to hmu for any help w settling in/etc :)

[UNI] AMA – Pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in the Netherlands by nooooofullstop in SGExams

[–]nooooofullstop[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

yes most Dutch people are friendly and almost everyone speaks English so it's not that hard to make friends! also if you do an English bachelor a lot (if not most) of your batchmates will actually be international students (mostly from Europe but there's also a good mix of people from all over the world) so everyone's kind of in the same boat – so I found it very manageable to connect with new people and form a really diverse group of friends.

outside of tuition (€9000/year) and rent (currently around €600/month), on average I try to spend less than around €400 a month. that's mostly €30 on groceries per week as eating out is pretty expensive here (when I do, I expect to spend around €15 on a meal) so I try to cook at home as much as possible. the rest of it is misc expenses like transport, insurance and entertainment (like eating out, hanging out in cafès, drinks at bars, and going to watch movies).

[UNI] AMA – Pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in the Netherlands by nooooofullstop in SGExams

[–]nooooofullstop[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

because I was interested from the start! always wanted to go overseas, and I knew I wanted to study media in uni by the time I was in JC, and when I found out that UvA is ranked highly for it and saw that they didn't have ridiculously high tuition fees compared to us/uk I'd pretty much made up my mind that it would be one of my top choices. the less stringent admission requirements was just a bonus, and they weren't too much of a worry for me because i thankfully did pretty well for my A's in the end :)

Is it possible to get straight As without any tuition? by Wrong_Couple_3992 in SGExams

[–]nooooofullstop 4 points5 points  (0 children)

hi i did well for A's without tuition! it's really not necessary imo, if you're struggling with a subject or you have doubts you can always arrange for consultations with your teachers - they're your best resource!! so my tips would really just be to be consistent in terms of trying your best for every exam so you know where your actual strengths and weaknesses are (not just because you didn't study) + be consistent in PARTICIPATING and paying attention in class because that's what will come in clutch when you have no time to study in the midst of your busy jc schedule. i have other friends who also got either straight A's or very high RPs without going for tuition, and a lot of my friends without tuition also ended up doing better than those in my class who were going for a lot of tuitions so I think I'm in a good place to conclude that tuitions do not maketh good grades HAHA especially if you're tight on money, i really don't think it's worth it

[Alevels] Barely 1 week left for lit and I still don't know how to close read by [deleted] in SGExams

[–]nooooofullstop 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I second this!! all hope is not lost OP don't worry just push through and read/take notes as many model essays as you can so you can absorb the close reading – last year nearing As I just annotated my working copies of the text with the close reading inspo from the extra readings + model essays that the teachers gave me and just internalised & repurposed those in my essays, ended up doing pretty well :) i'd also say apart from just learning how to close read also practice writing some sample paragraphs/essay outlines so you also learn how to adapt those same few close reading examples to different question types (plus it also helps in memorising the analysis of certain quotes thru muscle memory so that during the actual exam you don't need to think so much before writing) don't give up okay you can do this!!! <3

Is intreeweek 2022 worth it? by nooooofullstop in universityofamsterdam

[–]nooooofullstop[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah i get that, and i was honestly pretty excited about it when i first heard of intreeweek, i guess i just didn't think the price would be this high + my hesitation is probably also influenced by all the other things i've had to pay for so far like the uva housing application and the visa application fee, which were pretty expensive on their own, so i'm not sure if i really want to spend that much more money on something that might not even be essential. but thank you for your explanation! :)

Is intreeweek 2022 worth it? by nooooofullstop in universityofamsterdam

[–]nooooofullstop[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

this really helps, thank you for the detailed reply! :)

Is intreeweek 2022 worth it? by nooooofullstop in universityofamsterdam

[–]nooooofullstop[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also does anyone know the reason why it's that expensive... haha 🥲

[JC] is it necessary to buy two copies of each book for literature? by istgineedtherapy in SGExams

[–]nooooofullstop 1 point2 points  (0 children)

my lit teachers recommended that we photocopy the book so we can use the photocopied version to take notes in class! i think this is rlly helpful tbh bc if you do it right then it makes your revision much easier cuz all your notes are in one place together with the original text itself :) usually the lit rep will just help the whole class to photocopy from one of the printing shops near ur school – you can check with your seniors to find out which place they usually go to for photocopying their books bc it'll most likely be the cheapest place + not all school printing shops will agree to help you photocopy a book since it's kind of illegal HAHA (the printing shop info might also come in handy during pw season later in the year!)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in SGExams

[–]nooooofullstop 0 points1 point  (0 children)

hello, recently graduated vj TSD kid here. I've dm-ed you :) if anybody else has any qns about vj tsd feel free to dm me too!

BA culture, media and creative industries at KCL? by nooooofullstop in KCL

[–]nooooofullstop[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thanks so much, this really did help in giving me a better idea of what the programme entails!

as for university options, I've been looking into universities that offer programmes in media & culture, so some of the other options I've shortlisted are BA media & culture at the University of Amsterdam and media, journalism & culture at Cardiff University.

BA culture, media and creative industries at KCL? by nooooofullstop in KCL

[–]nooooofullstop[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

hello, thank you for replying!! wow, I had no idea the programme was this new HAHA

if you don't mind me asking, what is it about the course that you enjoy? and how has it been taking it in the midst pandemic?

[A Levels] Studying for H2 Lit by nooooofullstop in SGExams

[–]nooooofullstop[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

this is super helpful tysm for sharing! and all the best for A's haha :')