I thought that as long as one is not a citizen or PR is considered a foreign/international applicant???
If they are indeed considered as local applicants because they have read a local poly diploma then not very fair for us leh...
If i go oversea study for a few years, the oversea unis or colleges will still considered me as international applicant...
Why singapore blur the line so much uh???
they are local APPLICANT but when they matriculate they are foreign STUDENTS.
it means then in terms of results, they are being compared to local students because they hold the same qualifications (comparing apples to apples). thats why they are in the same cat (cat B). while they are in CAT B, they still have to pay foreign student fees. they are only in the same category for admissions, nothing else.
these foreigners who study in local poly are still restricted by the 20% foreign student cap. thats why you hear of stories of local who score lower GPA than foreigners but still manage to be accepted while the foreigner wasn't accepted.
US universities are the same too. if you grad from an US high school, your scores are compared with other americans (i.e. you will be in the 'local' pool but you are still subjected to international fees and any caps on international student numbers)
in short:
foreigners with local qualifications have an easier time entering local uni than foreigners with foreign qualification. and from the cases i've seen, locals with local qualification have an easier time entering local uni than foreigners with local qualification (don't include those who enter through DA)
