Study Tips for NUS!

By Sofia Roche-Vidaurre, National University of Singapore

Every university has their own unique class structure and organization. In this blog post I’ll talk about my academic experience at NUS including classes, study time, organization and more.

At the beginning of the semester, you will have to secure your course load. You will automatically be given 3 classes (from your list), but the minimum UoM requirement for your course workload is 4 classes (16units). Thus, there will be 3 rounds of class dropping/selection to amend your schedule to your liking and to secure your workload. The maximum allowed is 5 classes, but I would not recommend that if you want days free to travel. After securing your workload you will receive assignments and information on the NUS version of Blackboard.

One of the biggest differences is the online system NUS uses and how classes are organized. NUS uses Canvas, which is basically Blackboard. Take time to familiarize yourself with the site and how each course is organized by your different professors. Like UoM, each prof will have their own way to set up the tabs on their course, so some will have ‘modules’ and ‘files’ while others will just have ‘assignments’. For other university related contact, they will use Microsoft Office, like Outlook, Word, PowerPoint etc. (which you should be familiar with) so that’s easy!

Now for Study Tips! All business-related courses will have one 3-hour lecture a week. Depending on the course you may have tutorials, but I only experienced that with my Japanese Level 1 language course. That course had one 2-hour lecture and two 2-hour tutorials a week. Although lectures and tutorials are blocked for 3 or 2 hours, they only last 2hr30 or 1hr30 so you can make it to your next class comfortably. Each courses syllabus tends to stipulate a recommended time of study per hour of lecture or another measure of how much time you should put into the class. Regardless, some may be more reading heavy while others will have lots of homework and problem sets to submit. Each class has its formula and once you create a habit of taking the weekly quiz and submitting the homework you will be fine (as an example). It is important to note that all (if not 99%) of the courses are graded on a curve (bell curve) so make sure to put in the work as your classmates will be very driven and competitive. Also ASK QUESTIONS! The profs are extremely helpful and willing to set up times to meet online and go over problem sets, quizzes etc. with you. Also, you can take courses that are project based and do not have a final exam. These are nice as its continuous grading throughout the semester and less stress for the bigger projects and you get to work a lot with other local and exchange students.

Make sure to plan out your weeks and do all your notes before the week ends. It is very easy to say I’ll do it next week but trust me you will fall behind quickly with the pace these classes go. There is a reading week before your mid-terms so you will have time to catch up but try and not leave it as you will probably want to travel.

All in all there is a great support system so do not hesitate to ask questions as profs are happy to help you out!