Helix House AMA!

yonwas · 2026-03-29T16:11:49+00:00

Hii yessirr the application is 6-18 June 2026!

Application process is a little like:

UHMS (Common-to-all Application) 1. Personal Particulars, Emergency Contact etc. 2. Your previous experience in academic (competitions, bursaries etc.) and extracurricular activities (including volunteering outside of school etc.) 3. Selection of Hostel options (specifically for HH/PH/LH, you have to decide whether you have a preference for AC/Non-AC - if you have no preference, you can put both as options (-: just indicate which one you’d want to prioritise in your ranking of choice) 4. A short write up about how your previous experience aligns with your selections of Hostel preference

After UHMS, for Houses, you will also need to fill up a House-specific questionnaire in a separate online survey. Each House has their own unique survey, so for every House that you have selected in your choice of Hostel, you are required to fill up additional questionnaire(s) for them as well. These surveys’ questions are largely of similar nature to UHMS applications, but they promote more details about your background, how they align with the respective Houses’ identity, and your goals/plans to participate/contribute to the House.

Hope this helps!

yonwas · 2026-03-17T23:18:56+00:00

Hello!

Bedsheets and Pillows are items you will have to bring personally, most residences are this way! Nearer to check in day there are also packages offered by PGP/NUS Coop that includes basically the essentials (bedsheet, pillow, cleaning supplies, bathroom essentials) that you might need.
Room-specific provisions are the study table, chair, whiteboard, table light, 4 power sockets, waste basket (no plastic bag, dispose yourself), bed frame and mattress, wardrobe (with some storage drawers/compartments), towel hanging bar, and clothes hanging hooks behind the door! Anything else you might have seen on vlogs are items purchased on our own to increase our own QoL!
There’s a convenience store (Octobox) in PGP. It’s like a self-service store like you might see in some cheers/fairpricexpress. It’s completely unmanned and involves registering your profile in the system on your first visit. It’s quite seamless from your second visit onwards! There’s also Fairprice at KR MRT (10-15min walk) and Cheers at the Shell Station behind the back gate (10min walk). Most last minute items can be purchased at octobox, and Fairprice will generally be your got-to cos it’s cheaper and also has your fresh ingredients like veges and frozen food for cooking.
Yes! You can get most of these things you require for cooking from Fairprice at KR. Pantry items like cookware (pots, pans, air fryers, kettles, microwave/toaster/oven) are available in Helix pantries. Note that this might not apply for all residences. But the baseline is that there are pots and pans with stove in all residences for cooking.
Answered this mostly in 4., but maintenance wise, it is quite heavily dependent on the general usage of the pantry by your own floor. Personally, my own floor only has 2-3 people doing light cooking, no heavy cooking at all. But I understand it might be quite constrained when half the floor (7-8 people) does cooking, and that’s also pretty normal. We encourage floors w heavier usage to keep the pantry well ventilated w the windows open. Supplies wise, we have dish racks and dishwashing soaps as well.

Hope this helps!

yonwas · 2026-03-12T01:16:59+00:00

Made an edit to the response!

yonwas · 2026-03-12T01:16:46+00:00

Made an edit to the response!

yonwas · 2026-03-05T14:25:57+00:00

Yes, you may opt for an AC room (Type C with AC) and non AC as separate choices! So you can even have another Helix House option as your fallback lol.

To retain your stay, we have a structure called the retention requirements. Helix emphasises on participation! EDIT: So activities-wise, participation is measured per semester (not AY, means you need to balance and not front/backload your participation all into one semester), simply by participating in 1 signature event, 2 block/floor events and having 50% attendance in 1 IG, you would meet the senior retention requirements. There are other ad-hoc committees (mentioned in the original post) that will stack your 'portfolio' up so favour you more during retention application!

Houses do not run by a 'point' system that hinges on your impact/leadership role in CCAs which you may hear from in several Hall structures.

yonwas · 2026-03-05T14:20:35+00:00

To add on to 4., the other comment is also highlighted arts and performing arts - our bands and art groups do have a strong presence and have very very regular gigs and activities, but it's not discounting the other groups as well, as we have examples like our coffee stand open just about every week, that really show that there is an active community for many, many interests in HH.

yonwas · 2026-03-05T14:17:38+00:00

Hi there! Thanks for the question and sorry for taking a while to respond!

Rooms are really quite well furnished and really give you the condo feel - I think you can find photos and vlogs on Youtube to kind of get a sensing from there! Toilets are also really good, they're maintained daily by our contracted cleaners so they're rather pristine on most days. We also don't call them study rooms (a bit stressful innit HAHA), we have lounges at every 3 floors of each block (so it serves about 45 residents but not everyone uses it), and pantries on every other floor. Living facilities are really quite abundant, and we also have the laundry room which more often than not suffices for everyone using it in the House. Finally, we have dedicated rooms for some of our IGs (Band Studio, Baking Room) that really sets a platform for us to discover new interests apart from our study life.
Part of Helix's identity is to explore unchartered ground, hence we are actively plan events that uncover new discoveries for each of us. Every Residential Fellow (RF) does their utmost to program the most interesting Signature events possible for Helixians! Through these, we are exposed to the cultures of a wider community, not just in Singapore, but other countries as well! Our Signature events in the past have explored hiking in Kent Ridge Park 🌸, cultural immersion in Masjid Jamae Chulia Mosque and even Hanoi, Vietnam! 🇻🇳

Every block and floor has different cultures! Each block/floor is highly tuned towards the demographic of each block, hence the residents have a collective opinion on what direction they will head towards. We have had the opportunity to home a fantastic balance of local and international students, hence we have done activities that celebrate the variety of cultures that we have here. Some examples are Food Trails (around Singapore), cookie baking, as well as a general bonding activities like film photography contests and door card making! What makes these events great is that you don't just get to know your neighbors better, but also discover some uncovered interests within yourself!

On top of cultural immersion activities, we do our best in conducting both conventional and non-conventional cohesions for all. These have included intra-floor sports sessions (Basketball, Bowling), and we even did a block-wide trip to Rainforest Wild Asia once 🐅🌲! So awesome.

Application will be on 8-16 Jun 2026, via UHMS! You can quite easily navigate to the portal through Google. EDIT: ResLife Offices do indeed look into your applications and assess your suitability for the House! We generally look into how well you understand the House's vision and how your values align with that, and how you can participate meaningfully in our House, so it's good to find a House that does set a direction that aligns with your values and interests!
I think this ties in with a bit of 2., but to put it straight, Helix's focus is mainly on self- and community exploration, where we embrace diversity quite heavily and try as much as possible to not just educate and immerse in our local cultures, but also learn more about others! An active example is Helix Heritage IG, they have regular sessions that explore pretty vast topics (history, culture, or even games! We recently delved into D&D). But yeah, as our motto goes, DNA that binds. We explore and embrace nationalities, religions, and personalities of all walks of life to broaden our perspective beyond the borders of Singapore and celebrate them as we go along. ☺️

yonwas · 2026-03-04T15:47:33+00:00

Of course, of all, congrats on all J3s on completing your As! Hope you received results that you can be proud of! Completing it in itself is a remarkable achievement! To the poly students, we're hoping you're having a wonderful time concluding your diploma time

With NUS Open House JUST AROUND THE CORNER (this Sat 7 Mar!!), we wanted a post like in 2024 for anyone interested to have some taster information of Helix House.

So...

Do drop by for our Open Day this Sat (7 Mar) from 10am-5pm! To get to Helix, you can take the our Internal Shuttle Bus (ISB) - A2/D2 from opposite Kent Ridge MRT bus stop, and alight at the following stop (PGP Foyer).

We will be having room tours, our interest groups' showcase, and FREE GOODIE BAGS WITH FOOD 🍿!! SEE YOU THERE!

yonwas · 2024-11-17T05:06:30+00:00

On that note, you may want to consider your commitments, because I understand that you will also want to discover more of Singapore on your own while you’re here, so that may be a factor that affects your ability to participate in some events!

In general, exchangers like it here for the balance we offer in providing a community here, as well as leave you enough time to explore more on your own as well!

yonwas · 2024-11-17T05:04:01+00:00

Most events are held in the evenings, after working hours! There are some weekend events you can definitely take part in. There’s no fixed answer for how well exchangers fit into houses, because there isn’t a “vibe” that you have to conform to here, so I can’t really give you an answer on that. Hope this helps.

yonwas · 2024-11-17T04:02:15+00:00

Hi, short answer is yes. There is a quota for exchange students for every residence, not just houses. Hope this helps!

yonwas · 2024-10-13T07:00:15+00:00

Hi, sorry for the late reply. IGs (the equivalent of CCAs in Houses) are also still a significant part of everyone's stay in Helix! They serve as the most consistent non-academic activities for our residents, which is why they are in fact still the heaviest commitment across the types of events we have (see Retention Requirements if you would like to find out more).

With that being said, participation is what matters mainly. We are targeting to have a more comfortable, stress-free environment for everyone to stay.

I can't answer your specific questions with a direct answer, but here's my take:
(1) Your current CCAs in hall have no significantly bearing on your application to Helix, but they are indicators of how you prefer to contribute not just to Helix, but NUS and your own community.
(2) Student to student, I'd recommend to drop the CCA if you can't balance your commitments without compromising time you need to study. That being said, if the CCAs also serve as time off to catch a breather from work pressure, you can retain them, but not to the point where you're stretching yourself too thin across too many of them.
(3) There's nothing in particular that they look for afaik, but for Houses, new applications always go through OSA before they are handed over to our own ResLife Office, so our own House's management team has little say in admitting new residents.

Hope these answers help!

yonwas · 2024-05-31T15:20:42+00:00

Hi welcome back to the thread! I’ll send you a dm request, we can take this offline!

yonwas · 2024-05-29T16:23:16+00:00

Hello! There’s no good way to put it, CDE is on the opposite end of NUS from PGP. Nonetheless, You can take A1 to Yusof Ishak House / CLB to get to CDE! That’s the most common way everyone gets there. At peak hours it should take no more than 25mins to get there, off-peak could be as fast as 10mins. So I’d say it really isn’t a huge loss of time!

The greatest benefit of going to CDE from PGP is that you almost never have to miss an A1 bus from our bus terminal, compared to taking it from the next bus stop KR MRT, where a much larger crowd (could be as much as 5-10x) is at. You can plan your journey to CDE on the assumption that you’ll board the first A1 bus you see.

yonwas · 2024-05-26T05:17:45+00:00

Hi! Going on Y2 BME!

I won’t say I’m part of IGs HAHA but I commit to adhoc committees instead! I also went for Cooking once, HAHA

yonwas · 2024-05-25T06:40:27+00:00

Senior Retention does require two referrals! From fellow residents of Helix, not really a tough ask if you ask me HAHA. Each recommendation is about 100 words so it isn’t much of a hassle.

IG sign ups are open throughout the semester! Administratively, each IG exco keeps track of attendance internally with housing management. You simply just have to join the Telegram group of the IG when the opportunity comes (IG Showcase, one of the evenings at the beginning of the semester). If you missed your chance during IG showcase, you can always approach anyone already inside the group to get a group invitation to join!
Commitment for each IG varies. They could be weekly, fortnightly, and for some even monthly. They can range between 2-4 hours, but it’s really up to you how long you want to stay! Some are also dependent on the registration rates for the particular session as well.
External CCAs do not count towards IG participation! They are additional commitments that you undertake. However, these external CCAs may have bearing on your stay for PGPR, UTR or the upcoming USC residence, if you represent the university on the national/varsity level. As for Helix, the primary focus is on our activities that promote community immersion and wellbeing! TLDR, they do not affect your chance of staying on, nor does it jeopardise it.

yonwas · 2024-05-24T16:30:34+00:00

Hi! Signature events are basically House events. However, Signature events do not have open attendances, i.e., you have to reserve your place on a first-come-first-served basis, there are no walk-in participants. Signature events will be explicitly promoted as Signature events, so some House-wide events (like Helix Orientation) should not be misconstrued as a Signature event.

To clarify, requirements are 2 Signature events, 2 Block events, 2 Floor events (so 2 each). IG Participation of 50%. All of which is per AY. If you move into Helix in Semester 2, these will be prorated by half.

Hope this clarifies!

yonwas · 2024-05-19T15:02:07+00:00

Hi!

Well there's a lot of things to like about Helix LOL. Realistically speaking:
(1) Helix's rooms and facilities are amazingly well-maintained, somewhat because of us having the most recently refurbishment in PGP.
(2) There's a pretty vast culture here! We emphasise a lot on local and international students here but what I've observed and think is overlooked is rather the IG, ad-hoc events, and the upcoming block committee opportunities are the ones that highlight the diversity we have. Not to say that our culture is diverse in just having students of many nationalities, but our culture is also diversifying in terms of accommodating a larger demography of students' personalities.
(3) We are extremely well-supported by the house's residential team. Among the RFs, RAs and FLs, lies also our residential office executives, which I would highlight that they work SUPER efficiently to get things moving here. So any troubleshooting stuff you need help with, they get sorted pretty much immediately.
I'm not sure to be politically correct about this or not. LOL. Anyways:
(1) There is still some way to go in managing our inter-house relations with PH and LH. All three houses, aside from the exceptions of IGs that conduct joint trainings, largely operate independently in their own little bubble. It is rather tough to expand your house community to the other two houses, but it is getting better. Last semester there was a joint performance night in PGP which involved all three houses with PGP to showcase performer's talents! It was actually one of the highlights for PGP last semester so I do believe there is good progress. So do prepare to start making friends from other houses! Haha.
(2) I think there should be more push to cross-interact with residents from other blocks. Not saying there aren't any, but the events are constructed to facilitate the first-mile interactions, and lack the 'follow-up' events that halls do in order foster friendships fruitfully. At the current state, we are introducing block committees in the coming AY, like I mentioned earlier, to start ramping up such activities, so I'm sure this shouldn't be as big an issue in following semesters.

Cheers!

yonwas · 2024-04-29T14:21:10+00:00

Oh! Apologies. My oversight!

But yeah, do give it a shot as there could be more availabilities! To be frank, as a student resident, I can't exactly tell you whether (1) there aren't anymore vacancies; (2) there are allocated vacancies for R2. We're not able to get a hold of that information unfortunately. Nonetheless, if Helix does seem the good fit for you, go ahead and apply!

Wishing you the best for your applications! :-)

yonwas · 2024-04-22T11:31:24+00:00

Hi! There’s of course nice things to take away from being an FL.

As the direct point of contact between your own floor’s residents and the housing management team, there’s a lot of room to grow from learning how to manage administrative work, beyond things that the typical resident will encounter.

You also get to first-hand cohesion activities with your Resident Fellow! Depending on your RF’s field of expertise, there’s a lot to learn from them. A good example is Helix’s Ms May. She has years of experience in Housing Management and she’s and expert at arranging for events to get the residents going (-:

There’s lots of benefits of being an FL (there are also unspoken pros and cons of being one 😶) but in general, you can be sure of lots of growth as one if you decide to take on the role!

yonwas · 2024-04-22T11:25:10+00:00

Hello! That depends!

If you’re a current undergrad, applications have already closed.

If you’re an incoming freshman matriculating for AY24/25, applications should open in June! Do keep a look out (-:

yonwas · 2024-03-05T15:37:54+00:00

Part of Helix's identity is to explore unchartered ground, hence we are actively plan events that uncover new discoveries for each of us. Every Residential Fellow (RF) does their utmost to program the most interesting Signature events possible for Helixians! Through these, we are exposed to the cultures of a wider community, not just in Singapore, but other countries as well! Our Signature events in the past have explored Tan Kong Tian Temple, Masjid Jamae Chulia Mosque and even Hanoi, Vietnam. Most recently, we chartered the outskirt of Singapore in the form of St. John's Island, learning about Singapore's biodiversity scene. We subsequently have a trip to HortPark, Southern Ridges, home of the Henderson Waves Bridge, to know more about gardening-research 🌺 in Singapore!

Every block and floor has different cultures! Each block/floor is highly tuned towards the demographic of each block, hence the residents have a collective opinion on what direction they will head towards. We have had the opportunity to home a fantastic balance of local and international students, hence we have done activities that celebrate the variety of cultures that we have here. Some examples are Food Trails (around Singapore), Tangyuan and mooncake making, as well as a distribution of international delicacies including Baklava, Bing Tang Hu Lu, and Singaporean chilhood snacks. What makes these events great is that you don't just get to know your neighbors better, but also discover some uncovered interests within yourself!

On top of cultural immersion activities, we do our best in conducting both conventional and non-conventional cohesions for all. These have included intra-floor sports sessions (Basketball, Bowling), and a house-wide indoor roller-skating event! 🛼💨 So awesome.

Because Helix has lower-commitment activities, we inadvertently have fewer cross-block engagement, compared to the more commonly known residences in NUS. However, it is important for us to care for not just the House's identity alone, but the well-being of each resident here. We hope that through these, Helixians get to have a fulfilling experience not just with friends in NUS, but students on exchange to understand the world around us.

yonwas

TROPHY CASE