I went to Singapore Polytechnic (SP) and pursued Banking and Finance for 3 years. Before this, I pursued Higher Nitec in Accountancy at ITE for 2 years.
It’s the only choice I got.
Prior to a semester, all students had to complete Pre-Course Quizzes (PCOQ) which test our knowledge and concepts before class. These are quizzes that must be passed with a 60% minimum in order to be enrolled in the classes. I had 5 modules that semester, each worth 5 CUs (Credit Units) which are heavy modules. Attempting these quizzes were tough because the quizzes tested all the units in the modules before even attending these classes. There are application questions in PCOQ too so we must know everything and apply the concepts also. This made me so confused and rushed because I did not know this prior and spent a few days trying to cram. However, with the help of St***cu (censored although it is a well-known source for students but it contains free notes so if you copy one another, it’s collusion which the university takes seriously) and resources from several Telegram groups which I had to painstakingly figure out on my own, I managed to complete the PCOQ and passed the 60% mark.
During my first semester, I felt extremely bombarded by personal and group graded assignments also known as Tutor-Marked Assignment (TMA) and Group-Based Assignment (GBA). Even though I had viewed the course curriculum before the semester started, I still felt overwhelmed because I did not know what the expectations of my professors for my assignments were. When I summarised all the deadlines for my assignments, I realized that I had 10 or more deadlines to complete over 5 modules and it really made me feel pressured to complete all those and still have time to prepare for exams. For my TMA and GBA, I averaged around a C to B+ for each assignment. One positive thing I have loved since polytechnic and is still carried out in SUSS is that a lot of our GBA groups are pre-assigned. I feel that pre-assigned groups take the stress out of forming groups and the prevention of annoying people who only want to group with smart people. I personally like this because it forces students to actually learn how to deal with different skill sets and learning abilities which is useful in the workplace.
During my second semester, I had started researching about the topic before I started. This allowed me to just word-vomit all the sources I could find and give me a basic outline as to what I should write about. For my GBA, I always messaged my teammates on Canvas (or school email) and created the Whatsapp or Telegram groups. I feel that doing this made our group discussions start earlier which gave us more time to work on the assignment together. However, the complexity and expectations that our professors had for our assignments remained and I felt that I really still couldn’t grasp what they wanted. Yes, there are rubrics but you have to know that these professors can come from academia previously or teach in other universities too. Therefore, the expectations might be higher and when they don’t really communicate this with you, it’s really hard. I just got back my TMA and GBA grades and the range remained similar to that in semester 1.
SUSS uses Canvas. For me, having come from Blackboard, Canvas is easier to navigate. However, SUSS has separated modules into two groups: Lecture Group (LG) for all students in that module and Tutorial Group (TG) for all students in your class. For a few weeks, I had to get used to the two because I would get confused as to where my online classes were accessed and where the resources were. But after a while, I became familiar and things became much easier.
For our exams, it is mainly conducted online although I’m unsure if this is because of Covid. They are known as Timed Online Assignments (TOA). Students will have to access the exam paper from Canvas at the start of the exam and then upload their TOA into Canvas again to have it vetted by Turnitin for plagiarism. For my first round of TOA, I really felt underprepared to say the least. I’ve never done online exams before and it really felt like everything was a time crunch. Sure, some might feel that because the exams are online, you don’t have to worry about hand cramps or with Excel, calculations might be easier. However, I still feel the time crunch. In addition, having to worry and avoid plagiarism is extremely burdensome because having to refer from notes and then rephrasing it is a skill that I have yet to master. Most importantly, past year papers are provided with no answers. From my knowledge, professors can’t discuss or publish past year answers (I think). At the very most, exam reports are published which reports the performance of the students overall and for each question.
In addition, participation score in SUSS is really important because professors really will observe and reflect it in your grades. As an introvert who is still confused about the school curriculum, this affected me because I still had not digested the content. In addition, since the first lesson is part briefing and part introduction of the class, I became even more overwhelmed when my classmates were able to answer, thus gaining participation points. Note that higher participation points also include having the right answers. For my participation score, I also ranged around the same as my TMA or GBA assignments.
During semester 2, I decided that examining past year papers allowed me to see what the trend was for the questions although there were no answers given. Finally, St***cu notes were helpful and I also purchased notes on the side. The good thing about TOA is that I am able to pre-type answers that I feel would come out in the exam including in-text citations. I felt that this saved me time during the exams from worrying about plagiarism so that I could concentrate on doing calculations or attempt heavier theory questions.
In terms of participation, I tried to participate in class more even though I knew that my answers were inadequate. My participation score also remained similar to that in semester 1.
Lessons-wise, we only had 6 lessons with the professor and I really, really feel that it wasn’t enough for me to digest the topic for that day. I regretted not asking questions even though we could email or talk to the prof after class. I felt that I was just too afraid of looking too dumb because it could come off as me not doing enough reading or understanding concepts much slower than others.
In semester 2, I didn’t really know what I was hoping for but I tried to ask my professors and it made me feel less uncomfortable over time. But I still feel that 6 lessons for an entire module is really too few. So during the weeks leading up to my finals, I spent it teaching myself the entire module all over again. The good thing about this is that revision slides and lectures are uploaded which actually gave me an outline as to what I should study for.
There really is little student life in SUSS. I was prepared with this knowledge before joining SUSS as I knew that UniSIM actually catered towards working students. But one perk that I really enjoy about the lack of student life in SUSS is that I could work part-time. I worked 3 days a week (including weekends) and went to school for about 2-3 days. This allowed me to earn money on the side for my own personal expenses.
I really barely made any friends during that semester. I met some friendly individuals from my GBAs with whom I try to keep in contact. However, I feel that with the majority of our lessons being virtual, it’s hard to know people personally.
There are Interest Groups (IG) that you may join; however, I did not join any.
Nothing much has changed other than being added into Telegram groups for modules. I cannot stress this enough that these Telegram groups provide so much information about TMA, GBA and TOA and I can’t believe that I wasn’t added or couldn’t find these groups in my first semester. The best way to search for these Telegram groups is to make friends so that you can share such links and resources. For me, although the number of friends remains small, I feel that these Telegram groups allow me to reach out to others for help much easier. I still work part-time too on some days and also, I have more rest days.
As a whole, I get why SUSS has been coined the acronym “Singapore University of Self Study“. I basically taught myself a whole module, didn’t make many friends so far whom I want to have at my wedding and I still don’t really know what my professors want despite having rubrics. It has been really stressful getting myself situated because of the pressure to just pass (not even aiming A at this point) because I cannot seem to get information easily. Good resources like notes or past year papers are so hard to come by unless you have friends. This means that connections are everything in SUSS because students barely meet or talk to one another. Although there have been slight improvements in how I adjust to university life here, I still feel like a freshman who is lost and confused. I know that with time, I will get used to it and know how to cope with the situations in my first year.
Some school tips for juniors are:
1. Bring your charger to class so that your laptop doesn’t run out of battery during the 3-hour lessons.
2. Find Telegram groups for the modules that you are taking and the course that you are in. For example, if you are taking Statistics this semester, try to find the Telegram group for Statistics this term. If you are in the Accountancy course, try to find the Accountancy degree Telegram group. These Telegram groups provide helpful resources for TOA, TMA, GBA and other things that might be of interest.
3. Have a format of the SUSS cover page ready for all your TMA and GBA. This will save you a lot of time formatting for every assignment.
4. For exam revision, always check your LG group in Canvas for revision slides and lectures. They will cover the basics of what you need to know and to be used as a supplement for your Finals revision.
5. Compile all your class tutorials and activities on top of your revision slides and lectures. Read through everything! Be thorough!
6. For TOA, pre-type all your answers into a Word document. Always include citations because the university does not condone plagiarism. The standard font and size is Times New Roman, 12 and the citation is APA 7.
7. For citation, citethisforme isn’t actually reliable.
8. Name all your TOA before you start your paper so that you can CTRL+S regularly. This is helpful when you’re rushing to half-ass or complete the paper to the best of your ability.
9. For TOA, cite only from the Study Guide or the textbook for the particular module.
10. Having a mouse is very helpful for school work.
11. Use the online school library to find reliable articles that you can cite in your assignments.
12. If possible, try to find friends who can help you check your work or share answers for tutorials. This would be helpful because you can at least check your understanding about the concepts before asking the professor.
13. Take note that if your GPA <3.0, you can take a maximum 32.5CU for that semester. For >3.01, you can take a maximum 35CU that semester.
I also have some general tips:
1. Taking the bus from King Albert Park MRT is less crowded than taking the bus from Clementi MRT so if you want to avoid a large crowd, King Albert Park MRT is the way to go.
2. Avoid taking a Grab if you’re late and your route goes through Woodlands Road, Upper Bukit Timah Road and Clementi Road. 3. Take the MRT to avoid jams.
4. Food at SUSS building is not much so if possible, have your meals at SIM or somewhere else before arriving.
5. There are not many power points at the first level of the SUSS Block B building near Subway or the food stalls. The power points are situated at the benches facing Starbucks and tables near the wall.
6. Connect to the school wifi the first time you ever set foot in school.
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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