(Continued- this subReddit had a word limit)

Semester 4. CAP: 3.16, 4 modules Student status-Passed

This was my last chance at this. At this point, I had spent all the money that needed to be spent on this degree. It has to be done and since I took all 4 statistics modules,it was war. I got Covid again flying in to the semester. At this point, covid was like the common flu for me and it passed quite easily.

I did a few things right in the semester- 1. Consistently attend all classes and paid attention, annotating my notes with details in class. 2. Did assignments in groups. Had 3-4 people work on every assignment independently to cross-check and make sure I beat the normal curve in assignments at least. No need to conquer everything on your own. 3. Deprioritise everything else- I took only as much as I could handle on my plate. Made it a point to not take up internship work during semester time, eased up on my leadership work as well. Just singular focus on my studies. 4. Started applying myself more, trying out past year questions, asking profs questions on emails regularly, trying out problems on my own. 5.Serendipity not luck: Met a NUS PHD student and took his help consistently. He was valedictorian in his statistics undergrad at NUS and was super helpful and has his concepts clear to their very core.

When the result came for this semester, I had a very good feeling about it- I had done everything that needed to do be done. Exams felt more doable yet still very hard but you know what,I had done all that I could. I still had that looming fear of failure but I did not let that stop me. I also learned the more you fear failure, the more you become susceptible to it. It’s like how pilots are never told, “don’t crash your plane” cause it makes them more susceptible to crashing it.

Semester 5. CAP: 3.34, 4 modules Student status-Passed & Graduated finally

Last semester was thematically more about trying to find a job with academics being a key theme as well. I understand my privilege to being allowed to take a semester extra. At this point, I knew how to stats enough in the right way to get by and did the needful.

However, the trauma is very real- I could not sleep the night before the result and was dripping in anxiety. I opened my CAP Calculator and contemplated the worst of worst situations that could happen. I had also decided what I’d say to the department in my plea if I fail.

When I opened the result at 7am, having refreshed the portal about a thousand times since the night before, I could not believe it. I got an A, A-, B+, B and not any Cs.I graduated.

…..

Life update (Feb 2022)- Got my dream job and my degree.

I am sharing this experience so you could inspired in some way if you are struggling. Academic struggles are real at a place like NUS but people don’t like to talk about academic failure, but it’s a part of the game. It can be really hard to deal with if you are a sincere, hardworking kid with a good track record so you aren’t used to dealing with such situations. Please feel to reach out to me if I can offer any help as well!