u/NYFUNGUSSS

Dear viewers, I have yet to decide between JC or Poly. For anyone whos in JC or Poly now (better if PCME or engineering course), or even in University, can you share your experience on the life in those schools?

I was hoping to know the following:

For jc, how rigorous is the curriculum? I know many says its a very steep hill to climb etc etc, and I even searched how the content looked like and it looked so difficult, but i just want to hear from more people. I too wanna hear your regrets, cultural shocks and good stuff abt jc, including future pathways. Lastly, can i hear some reasons why someone should go jc, after you guys been through it?

For poly, how competitive is the gpa system in competitive courses? I heard that not a lot of people really want an extremely high gpa, but that is different for competitive courses, such as aerospace engineering, which is why im wondering how difficult is it to maintain a good gpa if youre surrounded by people of your caliber. also, hows the hands on and group work experiences and the job opportunities/university post poly? Do many go on to nus/ntu after poly? And after doing my research, diploma in aerospace engineering is strong in finding an MRO job but its weaker in other areas of engineering, such as R&D as poly prepares for MRO way more apparently (especially tp's aerospace engineering), and i dont really feel like being covered in engine oil with black marks all over my clothes in 12 hour shifts [based off google on experience in singapore's MRO]. Lastly, can i hear some reasons why someone should go poly, after you guys been through it?

For uni, please state how you guys got into whichever uni (via jc or poly), and the life in there compared. Also do tell about your experiences in JC or Poly before entering uni.

You can always add more stuff, such as stuff most people overlook, etc. Ill always be happy to hear more, i really want to make an informed decision that i would not regret (or regret less).

If you want more info, you can try to search "JC or Poly as a person pursuing engineering?"

Thanks!

As a sec 4 pure physics student not knowing whether to go poly or jc despite months of research and eae and dsa is going to end soon, can yall give me your thoughts on jc or poly for me?

Personally, i want to get a mechanical engineering degree at either NUS or NTU and work as either a semiconductor mechanical engineer, LAE aerospace engineer or R&D aerospace engineer (harder to find tho)

Subject wise, i cant say that i like a subject just because i am doing it in secondary school as many posts i see talks about how different the level of academic rigor between olevel and uni is. "just because you are doing well in olevel doesnt mean you would in jc". I do dislike languages and humanities tho, which is one factor, for me, to not go jc as i have to take gp.

But if important, i do find aemath, physics and chem fun. I also prefer the spread-out gpa system over the alevel high-stakes exam slightly (like a 60/40)

Anyway, like how i mentioned earlier, i would want to become a mechanical engineer at NUS or NTU as it opens a bunch of jobs, which i stated. Very initially, i wanted to go jc because its suited for pure science students and a faster, more direct and more traditional path to elite universities (nus, ntu). But then, i changed my mind after realising that the 80% of students from JC that enters uni doesnt actually go to the course they want, and its an average of 50% out of the 80% that gets the course they want. And then i looked into poly, and saw that majority of the people do go into the course they want for the 33% that enters local universities. That 33% is even before filtering out those who voluntarily went to work after and did not want to go to university. I dived even deeper tho, discovering that the 33% also included SIT, SUSS, etc, and i wanted to go NUS NTU instead. So that was where i was torn apart between the choices.

Additionally, poly requires a very good gpa to enter the courses, around the top 10-15% of cohort. Gpa is also affected by stuff like group members and many practicals, like a game of luck. This factor makes me want to go jc. Poly also takes 3 years, a year longer than jc.

However, jc is much more rigor in the studies, requiring cramming a lot of info within two years with a high-stakes exam at the end deciding whether you enter a uni course you want. Not only the stress, you won't really have a good social life or a lot of time to relax or be laid back because content is always moving, compared to poly which is still stressful due to gpa but still a lot more laid back. This makes me want to pursue poly more.

It was then i wanted to eae into temasek poly's aerospace engineering, get an excellent gpa (heard that if you do well for amath in secondary, you will do well for the mathematics in poly engineering), and enter nus/ntu mechanical, then get a degree and work. (tp because thats a school with a very respected engineering diploma and i am close to it)

Then, i did a little more research, and saw that university is more rigor, student saying that if you can go jc go for it, because uni is extremely rigor in terms of the heavy and fast moving content and jc trains you specifically for it. Poly students, experiencing much less rigor curriculums, would find it even more difficult to cope with the heavy content. This makes me want to go jc. But what balances my choices right in the middle is the fact that once you enter nus/ntu, you basically have a degree already, as long as you lock in during the years youre in uni (looking based on the low drop out and no-completion rates).

Lastly, poly takes a year longer (and the module exemption doesnt really help that much), which means i would be a year behind compared to if i was in jc. This makes me want to go JC instead, but poly has its ups too, so i dont know which to go.

I really dont know which one to go, eae and dsa is closing very soon, and i got to make a choice quick. I regret not asking this reddit page earlier, but hope i can get some last minute advice.

Side:

Dont know why my other post from another account got taken down. Apparently it had too little karma or something, so using my other account with more karma to post. Also the rules says that weekends is non-academic, i hope this doesnt get flagged as that.

Mod please dont take this down