jc or poly?

does jc or poly provide a better curriculum and/or environment for education?


  • Total voters
    60
If u dun mind the years i strongly recommend poly..

Im from SP aeronautical engrg.. - a pretty much screwed up course right now coz SIA dont give exemptions anymore..

I'm in SP's aero engineering too! No more exemptions from what?? :confused::eek:
 
Actually it also depends on what you want to major in future. There are some courses which are only available in Uni and not Poly, and those are the courses which usually you've to take the JC route. For example, law and dentistry. NTU and NUS have released their entry criterias. Poly students are unable to apply for these two courses, and only the A level cert can. But these are the courses which you've have to score straight A's to be granted an interview.
 
Actually it also depends on what you want to major in future. There are some courses which are only available in Uni and not Poly, and those are the courses which usually you've to take the JC route. For example, law and dentistry. NTU and NUS have released their entry criterias. Poly students are unable to apply for these two courses, and only the A level cert can. But these are the courses which you've have to score straight A's to be granted an interview.

Such courses are no longer off-limits to poly students actually. I know of poly students in law and medicine at NUS.
 
POLY:) hoping to land myself in Temasek poly or Ngee ann poly Business school. Business what? not sure. Business management:) no accounting or international business.
 
Depends on what you want, I guess? Polys have got more projects, JCs have got more essays and stuff. But... Poly students aren't having it easy either due to competitiveness and such. Especially when you're in a business course aiming for the local Universities, like, you gotta work as hard as JC students.
 
+1 to above post. business courses in polytechnics are just too darn competitive and its ridiculously hard to go to a local uni from there. gotta be like top <10% or around there.

i did regret abit after realizing that my grades had to be consistent throughout the 3 years and how difficult it is to score in group projects which you totally have no control over your group members. and it was only then i realized how hard it was to get into a uni. but after that i realized i made the right choice anyway. if i went JC, i would have gotten a A level cert which probably wouldnt have got me into a local uni. lol. aside from all the academics, poly is good fun. : )
 
Just wondering since this is a music forum, does the poly offer music courses like jazz composition and stuff? cuz i can study but also dont want to really go jc. and becuz MUSIC IS THE LIFE:mrgreen:. not saying i am extremely talented music pro but i just thought this has to be the best thing.
 
Just to add... If you want to go to the university, Poly is actually more difficult. Poly students mustn't just pass, but do pretty well if they want to be considered for a place in the university. You can be perfect academically, score superb for all your tests and exams, but in poly, if your other skills such as presentation skills, involvement skills, project management, teamwork, etc aren't good, your GPA can drop and you're not going to get into a local university. Also, some universities look at your involvements with co-curricular activities.

Currently I'm in my third year in a sciences diploma, and I can flatly say that I won't make it into any of the local universities. You really need good grading and involvement with everything, not just getting a diploma.

But then again, diplomas are professional qualifications, so if you can't make it to the university, the world hasn't ended. Start smaller, work hard and slowly rise up the corporate ladder. Ah well, that's what I was told.
 
Just wondering since this is a music forum, does the poly offer music courses like jazz composition and stuff? cuz i can study but also dont want to really go jc. and becuz MUSIC IS THE LIFE:mrgreen:. not saying i am extremely talented music pro but i just thought this has to be the best thing.



JC can also take music mah=D
 
As a JC student, all I can say that if you want to have a chance at a local uni, be prepared as hell to study for the uni course you want. It's not a surefire fast-track into a uni degree (especially for arts students) because at the end of the day, alot of science students from JC would want to jump ship into the Arts/Social Science faculty in Uni. And even if you managed to get above average scores for your arts course in JC, you will be up against the 4As + 2 S Paper science students who all suddenly want to take up Business and Economics. What a flying piece of F. In contrast, the courses which have the most vacancies are the science and engineering courses, which Arts students have little background in (save for C maths and A maths. Major lols).

So choose wisely.

If you want to go to JC, you must also choose carefully which course you want to study, and DO WELL in that course so you have a reasonable chance at a place in the local uni.

In my year, the 90th percentile of students who entered into SMU business scored something like AAB/B, which is similar to that of NBS and NUS FASS. So be prepared to study, like hell. Else even if you are from a JC, you won't have a guaranteed chance at a place in the local uni (unlike what most people seem to be implying here...)
 
For once I see a poll that asks for some sense and thinking. Although some input from van_halen would help. I presume that he has a problem choosing what to do in future, hence, the question

My two cents about this topic. Having come from a JC, I will write about it first.

JC and the "A" levels is a very rigourous two year course that would eventually earn you a BASIC certificate that is recognised all over the world (Cambridge IS recognised after all). Some say its a fast track into university, and they're not wrong. After all, other routes to uni aren't as short as what the JCs are offering.
In JC, you would find that the education that you recieve is pretty much what you're going to get in secondary school, except at a much higher level. You choose 3 subjects and one half subject, of which one must be from a different stream that you're in. Although you're going to be more specialised in the subjects you will choose, you would not be completely specialised in a subject. There is still plenty of options from what you have originally chose.
Furthermore, the education you recieve is more demanding. To do well, you would have to start doing consistantly well since the first year. After all, when you enter a JC you have the sole path of doing well enough to get you the University course. And the subjects you take requires a much higher thinking than that compared to secondary school. It doesn't take it up a notc; it takes it up by at least 3 notches. So if yuo think you still can do the same style you do in secondary school, good luck.
Bear in mind that going JC is also a gamble. You MUST excel to get into University. Not doing well leaves you pretty much no where. An A level cert would not guarantee you a stable job. People won't hire you with just an A level cert and even if they do, they'll pay the diploma holder a lot much more

Anyway, talking about the intangibles, I found my two years in JC to be the most enjoyable. That is where I made the most and best friends of my entire life. Two years into army and I'm still in contact with most of my classmates and other people from other classes. School spirit is also very strong in a JC, or maybe just perhaps the JC I was in. I never had a dull moment in JC, or perhaps it was too packed for it to be a dull moment. Despite the study sessions I had to do everyday, I enjoyed studying with my friends. Also partly after studying we'll go out and enjoy ourselves for a couple of hours before going home to sleep. Strangely, these studying sessions also bond us closer together as friends more than any thing else would do
Eventually, before you leave school you would know most people from your year by face or by name. Some call this as networking, which isn't quite wrong. And you'll get to know all sorts of people from all sorts of life at JC. Most remembers me as "Dance-boy" solely because I was the only male in the female-dominated dance club. There was this girl who would wear a ton of make-up to school. I had a friend who did nothing but studying all day, because he wanted to do well to get a scholarship and help support his family in the future. The list goes on
Pardon me, I'm not saying that in Poly you wouldn't see this, but what I'm saying as because the JC cohort is relatively small, and combine it with the smaller school campus you would eventually see everything, even a small glance, under one roof easily.
Of course, there comes the concession :D

Now, what I'm writing about Poly is based from how my friends tell me about it. So forgive me if I make many errors or do not give the full picture.
By choosing a polytechnic course, you're going to be specialised in a particular skill, craft or subject at a very young age. The three years you spend in poly would nurture you well to be able to hone what you've learned when you eventually graduate. It is not as stressful as the JC system. Afterall, when you leave school, you have a basic diploma to your name. A basic diploma would get you a stable job, as employers see that you have a basic skill/knowledge to your name. Besides, a diploma in Singapore also earns you slightly more than a JC student. If you do your work well consistantly and study and attempt your best, you would be able to graduate with a good cert that would land you a more stable job. For those who excel, there are chances to go into University and further your studies

Now, Poly life is also a very life-changing experience. Everyone there all has very very different stories. Multiply that by the ten thousands of students there and that'll be a lot. I won't say much cause I don't know how its like though
 
If the number of unis in Singapore remain the same, the number of places for JC students will remain the same. So it could be that either JC students are getting smarter? or theres has been a grade inflation for A'lvl. Or perhaps, due to the poor economy, the top students could not afford to study in prestigious universities overseas , instead they take up places in local unis.

A few years back, if you got an ACC , you would have made it to FASS, BCC and you would have made it NTU arts& social science faculty.

Business course in local unis are generally more difficult to get in compared to arts& social sciences though.

But well, if you think JC's system too demanding or stressful (i guess we all do when we are currently in one) perhaps one should think twice about local unis because the workload would be crazy. You'll have project meetings past 12am, finish your report or essay 5am in the morning.
 
where is option c? neither jc or poly XD

actually i want to go to JC to take up lit and history, econs should be okay, and then maybe i can take an aptitude(sp?) test to apply to take art(art art, like drawing painting..)

but i only want to go there to learn, hardly considering going to local uni at all, so like, don't want to be stuck somewhere people just study for the sake of getting their As...the atmosphere very...buay tahan ;^; taking o levels later this year, and i'm already three quarters dead on the inside. a bit hard for others to understand i guess, but really i just can't stand studying for the sake of studying. ppl call me weird ^^ (makes me proud, weird is good to me~)

so i think i will be going to lasalle or nafa. and then....not study my literature...*sobsob* but i like visual art anyway so i should be content right? bleh.
 
"You do know that NTU has a course in Art, Design and Media right?"

done my research - yes i do. but it deviates greatly from what i'm really after, so i completely dropped that idea. thanks for pointing that out though, it's sure to be useful to some other folks. ^^
 
To be honest, for people with real aspirations of entering a local university, SIM and other private institutions not included, JC is the way to go.

I went to polytechnic with O level grades that would have gotten me into SAJC if I had applied, thinking that Poly is more slack while I'd be able to breeze through and go to uni. I couldn't have been more wrong than that!

Especially if you arent a consistent study kinda person, some sincere advice from a Poly student is to go JC. In JC all you gotta do is do well for promos and for A levels. Its tough as hell, but it's possible if you have the brains and know how to study smart.

For poly, you need to consistently do well over periods spanning about what, a couple of months? - consistently over 3 years! That is an insane amount of studying.

Of course if youre looking to just have fun, university isn't a problem then I'd say poly all the way! Because it is fun, the lifestyle and freedom is awesome, but if you factor in chances of getting into a local uni, jc is the MUCH better choice.
 
Just to add, one funny thing about people who most advocate Poly over JC is that once they are reaching their final year, or are in their final year, they realise what a silly decision it was. Not all, but the number that does outweighs those that don't by alot.

Why do I say that? Because Im one of them, and about 70% of my entire course feel the same way.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top