Course + Year: SMU Sociology and Business (Marketing) Y2
Currently, I am doing a double degree in sociology and marketing. Sociology is about the study of certain trends in different groups in a society and the understanding of various concepts, challenges, and circumstances that revolve around different groups of people. (For example), you will look at groups of people in society and how some people might be disadvantaged because of certain circumstances and systems in a country. For marketing, I think it is about communicating to stakeholders as well as being able to position your brand/company so as to differentiate it from your competitors
I was previously from SJI IB. I was really bad at Math and Science so I knew that was out. I knew that I was more of a humanities and art person. I was interested in psychology for a while but I think what really got me to major in sociology is because of the extended essay component in IB. I think the A Levels equivalent is probably Project Work but done individually. The extended essay is basically a 4000 word essay that you have to write in one and a half years. I remember when I submitted my first draft, I basically wrote an english paper and my teacher, who was a sociology major, came back to me saying that this wasn’t an english paper but rather a sociology paper. So, I was like woah, what was sociology about! I think it was there where it sparked my interest in general.
Honestly, SMU was not my first choice, I don’t think it was within my top 3 choices actually. However, I think I lacked research in the various universities because I only had 2 choices in mind. That was Yale-NUS and this double degree programme in NUS with some universities in France because those 2 were like the ideal paths for me to take. I think it was only after receiving a scholarship from SMU as with an invitation to one of their Discovery Days (one of the events for incoming freshmen) that I got to find out more about the school. It was then I realised that I like the way the curriculum was run and they offered me a double degree programme that NUS did not. I guess I was too lazy to appeal for NUS so I was happy with my offer for the degree I wanted. I also liked the curriculum which I felt was compatible to my learning style so why not!
Yes, I am currently on the Lee Kong Chian Scholars Programmes. Basically, they pay for my education for the first 8 semesters. Originally, 1 of the conditions was that you must do a double degree while one of the degrees must be a Business degree. However, for my batch onwards, they have changed it such that you can take a double major instead so it is a little bit less stressful. I thought that this was a nice way to motivate me to do either a double degree or a double major.
I think the whole idea of scholarships depends on your calibre as well as what you want to do. Apart from SMU scholarship, I applied for government scholarships such as your typical PSC scholarships as well. I think those were tough because I did not really prepare for it, it consisted of psychometric tests as well as interviews. When I was searching around for scholarships, there were those relating to healthcare and education which are the more specific ones. I think if you want a scholarship in these fields, it is important to know that there are usually bonds to serve.
For SMU, or even for NUS according to my friends, there is a core curriculum that every student needs to take, regardless of faculty. There is a broad range of courses that can be found on the school website which essentially equip you with different skills. For me, I am in PPS which is Psychology, Political Science and Sociology. The school will make you take an introduction to each of the majors in your first year. Thereafter, you can declare your major and choose one out of the 3.
For the second year onwards, you will take all the courses related to the major that you have chosen. Similarly for your second major, the same thing happens. Additionally, you can try out a few courses. I think one of the great things about SMU is that almost everyone can take a second major. There isn’t a very high criteria to meet and there is no specific combination. You can literally take any second major you want from any faculty. I think this is pretty interesting and they will also come out with new majors every now and then so you can always try out a course or 2 before declaring it as your major.
For a double degree, which I am currently doing, it is slightly different. On top of my own faculty’s set of courses, I will also need to take courses for my second degree. Basically, one degree belongs to social sciences while the other belongs to business so I need to take the core modules from both sides.
In SMU, you’ve got 2 compulsory modules that every sociology major needs to take. One is called Research Methods, which is about researching. The core of every social science major has a lot of research involved, so you need to know how to do it in order to produce work that is meaningful. Another one is about Sociological theory. I have not taken that class yet because apparently it is tough and I am waiting for next semester where I will hopefully be ready to take it. In the meantime, I have taken electives which are part of the relevant courses for sociology. I have taken these 2 classes: Gender and Family and Sociology of terrorism and political violence. Essentially, all the electives look at specific fields in sociology such as Gender, Terrorism, studying of trends, theory and phenomena for example.
For marketing, I have taken the introductory course so far so I am unable to cover it as in-depth. One thing I can say is that the professor I took it under showed us how broad marketing is and the different areas you can look into. Another thing that struck me was that she showed us how many different electives we could take to specialise. Within marketing, you have advertising, international marketing, B2B (Business to business), Business to consumers, consultants and all sorts of specialisation. SMU offers you many electives that you can choose to shape and direct yourself.
It is all seminars in SMU! I love it! The maximum number of students is usually 45. In an oversubscribed class, the max max is 50 students. You get to know the professor and the professor gets to know you or at least your face.
As for grading, the components such as class participation, assignments are dependent on the professor. Before you pick the classes and professors you want to take the class under, most professors will upload the course outline and the weightage of each component. So, if you know that you are stronger in project work and not really interested in participating in class, you can pick a professor that gives more weightage to the project and less to class participation. With that said, there are definitely all elements in every class so you have to do it anyway.
Every class you take has project work, so the number of project work that you do depends on the number of classes you take.The weightage of the project work within the class also depends. SMU actually offers this thing called SMU-X. SMU-X modules are project heavy because they allow you to work with real life companies.
For me, I have taken 2 SMU-X modules so far on Statistics and Strategy of entrepreneurship. For the Statistics one I actually got to work with Mediacorp as we help them gather data about the given topic. So yes that was definitely project intensive which made up a substantial 30-40% of the module. The strategy entrepreneurship module is called Design, Thinking and Innovation! The module introduces you to concepts about business strategies and entrepreneurship.
It can be scary as I know some of my friends have not taken an SMU-X module as they think it might be too much work. While there might be some truth that there is more work involved, I think you also learn a lot more since you actually get to apply what you learn.The SMU-X is optional of course so yes it is up to you!
Okay, the politically correct answer honestly is that, with the rigour comes the exposure. So, you really get to apply the concept that you learn in class and you put it into real life. I think this is interesting. For my other SMU-X module, it was about entrepreneurship strategy, design thinking and innovation. We actually worked with SIA and 2 people from SIA actually came down and we actually pitched ideas to them. The process was challenging as we were given half a semester (8 weeks at most) to come up with an idea. We had to interview people as well so we got that experience in interviewing strangers, ideation and putting together a concept or product before you pitch it. It is interesting and important as it builds you in a way. They change the companies they work with every year but yes it is fun!
I think it is very hard to choose my favourite module because my answer changes depending on what you are considering. In terms of the process, the statistics module was my favourite just because my group was very fun to work with. In terms of content, it was my terrorism module. I think it was very fun to tell people that I am studying terrorrism!
I think one thing is that you must enjoy writing essays because every final exam is an essay. I think apart from that, a genuine interest in studying society and studying individuals is important. Writing is an important factor too but it can be learnt!
So many… but I think the pressing one in relation to incoming freshmen would be a tie between no future and not important like in the words of the Covid-19 graphic on non- essential and essential jobs.
However, I feel the nature of Social Sciences equips you with a toolkit and skills that are important in many different industries like researching and writing. It doesn’t mean that all roads lead to the government sector!
I think the biggest one was not getting to travel because of COVID-19. We have one compulsory component for SMU which is called global exposure. Basically, it is compulsory for you to travel overseas in order to graduate. It can be either overseas CIP, exchange, study trip, a module or internship that brings you overseas. I was really looking forward to that. You get to live in another country for another semester and you get to immerse yourself in another culture, education and university. You can go anywhere, I think there was once they even advertised the University of Cambridge. The criteria is high but you know the option is there if you are able to meet it.
I think the beauty and danger in Social Sciences and Sociology in particular is that you can go anywhere. It’s a double-edged sword. It’s beautiful because Sociology shapes the way you think and your outlook on societies. I hope, at least for me, I can become more sensitive to certain social issues. I also realised how things are not that simple. My class on terroism is the best example. The module made me learn how complicated terrorism really is. To me, that is really interesting, and to be able to cultivate that sort of analytical mindset is important. TLDR, the beauty of sociology is that it shapes the way you think and rather than what you actually learn. The downside I guess is that the uncertainty can be scary to some people. You can end up being a teacher or working for a big company. It is very diverse.
For myself, in the short term, I want to have a taste of the corporate world. I have a second degree in marketing and would like to explore that field first while learning how to incorporate that sociological element in whatever I do. In the long term, I will hopefully be able to work in family programme planning (under MSF) or healthcare (the aging population).
I am actually about to start a marketing internship soon!
Uni for sure! Yes, Uni is also more competitive as compared to JC. I think that was because of the JC I was in and the situation I am in now. In my JC, the school was smaller and we all knew each other and there wasn’t a bell curve since the IB does not follow it. So, the competition is really with yourself in that sense.
Whereas in university, most things are bell-curved. There was this one module I did, I had almost A or A- for every component but then overall I had a B+ which was a bit sad. However, what’s great is that people still help each other. . Of course, it still depends on the module and the professors.
I am an active participant in 2 CCAS: Touch Rugby and my faculty’s management committee, SOSCIETY. My experience has been great!
I am currently the vice captain for Touch Rugby. Actually, I’m not the most experienced but what really spurred me to join the EXCO is that it was a very welcoming CCA even though I was new to the sport. The seniors took time to explain to me how to do certain things so I wanted to continue to help those who are new to the sport. Uni is essentially your last chance to try new things so you shouldn’t feel intimidated or scared. Helping my captain to cultivate a supportive culture is important.
For SOSCIETY, I enjoyed it! I help plan academic workshops and this provides me an enriching experience in working with students, members of the faculty office and external speakers! The commitment period is one year so this is actually my second year in it as I ran for it twice which I think is enough to show how much I enjoy my time inside.
I think the important thing is to enjoy yourself, whatever enjoyment can mean to you! It can be participating in a bunch of things and SMU has a lot to offer. Really, just enjoy yourself because university is the last time you get to try and enjoy new things. Even for classes, don’t be scared if it is tough or seniors tell you it is tough. If you are interested, just try! GPA is not the most important thing and gaining outside academic experience is just as important. My motto is always “What do you have to lose? If you have nothing to lose then what’s stopping you!”
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the interviewees and do not reflect the official policy or position of any institution. They are also not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, class, individual or organisation.
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