Name: Christine Ng
Course + Year: NUS BSc (Chemistry) Y4
Scholarship: Yes (NUS Merit Scholarship)
It is a rather comprehensive major with loads of hands-on for us to apply the concepts of chemistry.
I went to Singapore Polytechnic and studied Diploma in Perfumery and Cosmetic Science. Yes, it shaped my decision for university as Chemistry was one of the correlating degrees for the diploma. I’m really interested to continue my studies in the cosmetic formulation field and wanted to learn more about the chemistry behind cosmetic formulation.
Another course that I had in mind was Business in NUS as I was really interested in entrepreneurship.
Some factors that I considered would be the transition that I had to go through if I were to pursue Business. Having taken 2 Business modules in poly which I did not score as well in, I was a little uncertain over the shift in majors and lacked the confidence to make that decision.
Factors that eventually shaped my decision was the flexibility of science majors to take up business related programs such as NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC). Hence, I decided to continue pursuing my passion in science and meanwhile, expand my portfolio into the business area by joining NUS Overseas Colleges (Shanghai program).
I applied for NTU Chemistry and Biological Chemistry as well.
The deciding factor was the scholarship offered by both schools. NUS offered me NUS Merit scholarship while NTU offered me a College Scholarship. The terms offered by NUS were better and due to NUS’s convenient location, ranking (in the year I enrolled) and the scholarship terms, I decided to go ahead and chose NUS eventually.
To conduct proper research on the jobs/positions as well as any advancement opportunities available for their major and the typical starting salary range. Even though as freshmen, it is hard to look so ahead of time, this is actually very crucial knowledge for them to take note of as the starting pay they get is very major-specific.
I would say look out for school scholarships as they do not have a bond. I’ve seen students who are bonded to companies regret their decision halfway through their university life and had to pay back a huge sum.
Our typical semester consists of 5-6 modules, with the following breakdown:
The laboratory based module would mostly consist of a mix of individual and group work for weekly laboratory proformas/reports, with 2 oral presentations and 1 final exam for our assessment.
The chemistry based module would mostly be individual assessments.
As for general education and unrestricted electives, there is usually group work involved.
Recess week would be after week 6 and reading week would be after week 13.
Typically, a chemistry student would have a 4-5 days work week with each day from 8/10am- 6pm. One of the days of the week would usually be fully dedicated for laboratory work.
Mostly offline examinations, with short answer questions. For level 1-3k modules, assessments are mostly individual work. For level 4k and laboratory based modules, assessment typically consists of group work.
I enjoyed out-of-faculty modules which involved learning outside of my field of study. I took this module called New Venture Creation which was pretty interesting and taught me a lot of practical knowledge which could be applicable in our work. I also enjoyed hands-on laboratory sessions which was a good break from the usual theoretical lectures. These laboratory sessions were great opportunities for us to apply what we have learnt in the lectures too.
There’s a lot of self learning involved. There’s still quite a bit of teaching but I would say more has to be done outside of class because the content is really a lot and very in depth for university level.
9/10 heavy workload. (Very heavy.)
Content is difficult to be taught out of school as a lot of laboratory work is involved. As for the theory behind the chemistry, content is too in depth to be learnt outside of school independently.
Yes, there are 3 specializations: Materials Chemistry, Green Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry. You choose your specialization when you start taking level 3k modules (typically year 2 sem 2 onwards).
I did not specialize as I went on the NOC program and my timetable did not allow me to choose a specialization if I wanted to graduate within 4 years. (I would have chosen materials chemistry if I could though!)
Most are really knowledgeable in their own field! My favourite would be Dr Francis Chong, he really cares about students. He puts in a lot of effort to interact with and understand students, as well as in his teaching to make sure students learn best.
Yes, there is either a final year internship (1 semester long) or final year project (1 year long) to take on for year 4.
Physical chemistry was one of my least favourites for my course as a lot of calculations were needed for that module.
I did not know that we have to take programming based modules but it surpassed my expectations as it is a really important skill in today’s world.
Can’t think of any for now!
Definitely, especially when some of the chemistry theory gets too intense. For me, it was organic chemistry as there were a lot of different mechanisms to remember. I remember we all had to bring a 1000+ pages textbook to our exam!
There are quite a few who changed major halfway through year 1.
Students with an inquisitive mind would be most suited for the course!
Laboratory work, QA/QC (which is the combination of quality assurance and quality control), research work.
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I hope to join the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry, preferably under a MNC.
80/90% yes.
My upcoming internship would be related to the chemistry field and it was part of the school’s career guidance resources (talent connect/emails from professors etc.). I am currently doing personal care products formulation in a MNC.
University was definitely more stressful for me. The competition is okay in my opinion!
Yes, I stay on campus. Most of my friends do not stay on campus.
I would say that people from NUS are generally very friendly, especially those who are staying on campus. People are generally quite willing to help one another out for assignments and projects as well! Students entering NUS should definitely join freshmen camps and make friends with your seniors as they will be of great help for your academics!
I only joined Hostel related CCAs and not NUS based CCAs:
NUS Overseas College (Shanghai program) – it is a year-long internship overseas where students work and study at the same time – yes we still take modules while doing an internship! It is one of my favourite opportunities in NUS as it really expanded my horizon and made me realize how much more is out there, and that the world is my oyster! I took up a product development role in an Insuretech company and I think it helped me as I could go through the process of designing products for the company from the company’s point of view. It also allowed me to understand the factors to consider when creating new items for the company.
Join more things and have an open mind!
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.
The information contained in this website is intended to provide general guidance only. It should not be relied upon as professional advice and does not 100% guarantee admission into any course.
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