As we all know, NUS applies bell curve grading system, which can make students feel like they have to constantly outperform their peers to secure better grades. Sometimes, it almost feels like you have to “step on others’ heads” to get ahead.
I’m an exchange student here, and I wanted to share some observations about the classroom culture.
From my experience so far, apart from a few other exchange students, people in my classes don’t seem to interact much with one another. Sometimes, I even get the impression that they see their classmates more as competitors than as peers.
For example, when students actively try to answer questions in class to earn participation marks, regardless of whether their answers are right or wrong, I’ve noticed some classmates quietly laughing or making fun of them with their friends. It honestly feels a bit discouraging, especially when those students are just trying to participate.
Another thing that surprised me is the study culture. Back at my home university, it’s pretty common for students to form study groups, discuss difficult concepts, and help each other prepare for exams. From what I’ve seen, this is also fairly common at universities in Europe and the US.
But here at NUS, I’ve noticed that many students seem to prefer studying alone rather than collaborating with others.
Of course, these are just my personal observations from a limited number of classes, and I don’t want to generalise about the entire student population.
I’m genuinely curious whether this is just part of the study culture at NUS, or if the bell curve grading system actually plays a role in making things more competitive. Or maybe I’m just overthinking it?

Hi everyone, I’m building Milo here in Singapore and looking for a few student groups to try it

The idea is pretty simple: avoiding swapping apps, copy pasting, screenshots then send, etc -- it's already there, shared with everyone and context aware already

It’s an Telegram AI bot that remembers discussions after joining, so you can ask what your group decided or catch up on messages you missed. You can also send a study question and work through it together in the chat

There’s a fun side too. He can joke around, help find somewhere for supper, and eventually tell you what he’s learned about your group. Curious what he’d make of yours.

He replies when someone mentions him or replies to him directly. Messages are stored only for his memory and read by no one of course nor used for anything other than its functionning

I’m the developer and it’s free.
Please test it (link in comment)

I’d appreciate honest feedback !

Hi all, I'm the guy behind SG Bus, a Singapore bus arrival app. Full disclosure: I own the app, so yes this is self-promo lah. Mods, if this kind of post not allowed, feel free to delete, no hard feelings 🙏

Since the old NUS NextBus app kena retired in May and everything moved into uNivUS, checking when the next ISB is coming has been quite troublesome, and from the reviews I think a lot of you feel the same.

So we finally added NUS Shuttle into SG Bus:

• Live ISB arrivals for every stop on campus
• Shuttles and public buses on the same screen, so at Kent Ridge MRT you can see whether the shuttle or the 95 comes first
• Tap a shuttle to see its full route from your stop
• Pin the stops you use every day
• No NUS login, no account needed

As far as I know, it's the first Singapore bus app that puts the NUS shuttles and the public buses together in one place.

Everything is free, including the NUS shuttle, and nothing is locked behind payment. There's ads to keep the servers running. If the ads really bother you, you can remove them with a one-time "buy me a coffee" from about SGD 10. Ya I know, quite ex for a student budget 😅 so treat it as a support-the-dev thing, totally optional. The free version has everything.

📱 iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1520884982?pt=121753173&ct=reddit_nus&mt=8
🤖 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.scheung.sgbus&utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=nus
🎬 How-to videos: https://www.youtube.com/@HelloSGBus

Shuttle timings come from NUS's own feed, so if it's off, the source is off too. Got bugs, wrong stop names, or features you want? Comment here or email hello@sgbus.app.

Thanks and jiayou for the semester! 🚌

Im hoping to go to NUS next year and trying to decide on my major. I'm stuck between CS and computer engineering. My interests lie ai/ml, robotics/electronics, and quant finance.

My main goal is probs quant but I want to choose the majors that will allow me to do all of those. Also would there be better major options for me.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Remarks:

• Meant to be illustrative - there's a lot of nuance missing in the individual faculties (eg. inside NUS business - bach of biz admin with and w/o honours is 6k VS 4.8K for 2025
• NUS degrees change over time - I've had to make some exclusions/assumptions
• Dentistry has actually grown the slowest → slower than inflation in fact
• For context - the median gross income for full-time residents in Singapore is $5,775
• Tech gravy train over ❓

Data notes:

• Data is median of medians (ie. Computing's median is 6,000 for 2025)
  • 4 degrees represented under School of Computing for 2025
    • Median of the following 4 values: 6400, 6000, 6000, 5700 → 6000
• College of Design and Engineering was previously Faculty of Engineering
• Excluded Law, Music and YNC to reduce cognitive overload
• Using gross median salary. For context:
  • Basic is fixed base pay only
  • Gross is basic plus overtime, commissions, fixed allowances and other regular cash payments

Source:

• https://data.gov.sg/datasets/d_3c55210de27fcccda2ed0c63fdd2b352/view
• https://www.moe.gov.sg/api/media/a43cdd0b-4f2d-44f8-a98c-7ff48a7670ac/Web-Publication-NUS-GES-2025.pdf

I am trying to book a tennis field to play with a friend, but I have noticed that all 13 tennis courts are always fully booked 4-9 on every day. Is there a club playing at those times, is it possible to play later in the day?

anyone else feels absolutely cooked by this mod… even some of the mcqs are so tricky and the time constraint is insane… even some of my smart friends couldn’t finish it. how much do u need to score to get b+/a- for this mod?

one of the most atrocious papers ever out of all the past year papers. i genuinely think i’m gna retake this module next sem 🤡🤡🤡

if i apply with my AS grades and a-level predicted grades (M/J session) alongside 3 APS and SAT, would i be at a disadvantage compared to those who would have finished their a levels during oct-nov and can submit their actual grade?

Hi guys y2 psych major here quite lost on how to build portfolio
I spent y1 playing away and I started taking portfolio more seriously this year, but I’m not sure on what I should focus on and like what I should even be doing, especially for a psych major

Should I try for leadership roles in the school? Eg psych club/fass club or who knows what else (although, I will have to try next year since applications are closed) and would it even help that much?

I thought about joining volunteering as well but I got rejected from csc a few times when I tried to apply for subcommittee roles. I considered volunteering on my own but have no idea where to start.

There are also internships, but I also have no idea what kind to source for or where I should find them. If anyone has some advice can please help, thank you!

Hi, please sell me your CCA or just drop any CCAs you know of if possible! I’m halfway through my uni life now and only recently started thinking maybe I should get out there and actually meet people or find friends hahaha

I was looking through NUSSU’s following list on ig to see what clubs there are, but most of them are sports clubs. I have a deficiency which makes my stamina extremely poor so sports/clubs with a physical focus are unfortunately out of the question for me :(

Also I’m reading a specialised course so academic or portfolio building CCAs are unfortunately not relevant to me ;-;

Some of my interests include reading, writing, weeb stuff (Japanese/manga/anime hahaha), drawing, video editing, videography, Minecraft (mb my interests are all over the place haha) but I’m also open to general recs!

Any recs would be much appreciated🫶

any ideas what to write for the personal statement for winter school application to hanyang university? roughly 300 words.

Good day everyone,

These days there is much interest in nuclear power worldwide and Singapore is also considering to go nuclear as well.

As such, is anyone here also thinking about nuclear power? And what are your thoughts on it?

Whether you are just interested or actually working to get into the industry please do drop a comment!

And hey, if you're down, Idm catching up to talk about nuclear power XD.

But yea... what do you think about nuclear?

Thanks everyone!

I’m new exchange student here just finish my midterm exam of FIN3702 and got a 80/100 for the midterm but 25 percentile only, like the mean is 90 sth, that’s crazy, which counts for 30%, and the other evaluations are only 25% test2 and 20% of project, coz literally everybody can get the online quizzes and ethic stuff full, am I still possible to get a A-?? I actually don’t want to get a B on this😭😭😭

I will be completing my International A Levels in January 2027, and the results will come in March after applications close, does this mean I'm not eligible for Law? Will I have to take a gap year? The website does offer some info but I'm just a bit confused.

Thanks.

i know that nus is very grade focused, but is that all that really matters? if i have strong grades & a good SAT score, what else can i do to strenghten my profile specifically for NUS, and for further merit opportunities?

what do you think makes certain applicants stand out amongst the other applicants with equally strong grades?

+ one of my seniors was telling me how nusc likes people that demonstrate strong reading in their application, since a lot of their coursework is reading heavy. is this true? and if it is, how can i incorporate it in my profile?

I am an incoming exchange student jan 2027, and was wondering about accom choices. my home uni is so opinionated on all the residence options and half of them are weird, but you wouldn't know that unless you were here. obviously i dont wanna make that mistake at nus. where do most exchange students go, and what would you recommend?

anyone going on exchange feel free to dm!

Anyone here who applied and got shortlisted/ accepted into dentistry via DROS scheme? I was also wondering if this scheme is for undergrads only or open to mature applicants who already have a degree? Although it is not explicitly stated that mature applicants are excluded, this scheme seems to be tailored for high school leavers. Appreciate any advice

Are there any NUS-Wide recreational squash groups, like recreational badminton?

I’m looking to apply for housing (preferably close to UTown) in y1s2 - I did not apply in y1s1 due to personal reasons. I heard it’s hard to get a spot in y1s2 so does anyone have any advice on which housing would be easier to apply for 🥲 (as far as I am aware y1s are ineligible for residences and I feel that I am personally too introverted for Halls) Many thanks in advance 🙏

Hello all, y1s1 in RC4. Currently, there is a mandatory community engagement hours of 20 per semester (15h direct engagement + 5h reflection). Based on what I know, it fulfils the NUS Communities & Engagement (C&E) graduation requirement but doesn't give 4 credits. In view of this, wouldn't I be doing 1 extra senior seminar for nothing? Because I heard from seniors in previous years, they did not have to clock 20hours per semester of community service and by doing their 1 JS + 1IEM + 2SS, they completed all their university pillars. Could I confirm if my information is correct and if so, isn't this unfair for my batch and is it possible to change rc / leave rc? Thank you!

I applied to SEP as a FOS student, but I have decided to switch major to FASS instead..
All of my PUs are University-wide and none are faculty-wide PUs, I've read that if I secure an offer and THEN change my faculty, that will be an immediate revoke of the offer. But what if I change my faculty before securing the offer? Has anyone experienced this before?

(Honestly I should've considered more about SEP when I was submitting my academic plan declarations before the semester began.. but I wasn't sure of what major I wanted to be in back then too :'( .. )

Wonder why they never put them back up after reopening YIH.

Y1 eng student here and i think I’m gonna fuck up my midterm tmr😨 i have been putting in quite a bit of effort in my courses but still confused, not sure if it’s normal