stick with SUSS or apply for SIMGE universities? (UOL,UOB,RMIT,UB)

Royaloyd

Junior Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2018
Messages
47
Reaction score
11
Hi all, i'm in quite a dilemma here so I would really appreciate if you all can help me out.

I am already accepted into SUSS Bachelors in Marketing, and will be starting my semester this upcoming July/Aug intake.

However, due to circumstances in the army, (yes i'm male) i have to extend my service for 5 months from my original ORD date, which means i can only ORD this coming October.

Because of this issue, i can only opt to:

1.disrupt my extended service to attend SUSS (4 years, graduate 2022)

2. request SUSS to push forward my intake to next year july. (I have called up SUSS and they say it is possible to hold my intake till next year)

3. do no. 2, but apply for SIM GE universities in the meantime till the next SUSS intake and then reject it

4. convert my Full Time Course in SUSS to a Part Time Course and work at the same time, but forgo my Bachelors with Honors ( PT Course no Honors)

now you might ask why did i consider no. 3 as one of my options, and that is because i personally feel that i'm not that young anymore. i am 24yrs old this year, and if i were to go on with option 1, a full time university course of 4 years, i would actually graduate as a fresh grad at 28yrs old.

My main issue now is that i feel like i will be lagging too much behind my peers if i stick with my SUSS placing and study for 4 years for a degree instead of just opting for 1 of the private unis with exemptions of up to 2 years, which will so called " put my back on track".

this is because of all the things i heard about how current employers employ fresh grads with more regard towards working experience, so by studying in a private uni with exemptions, i can use the two years more as compared to studying in SUSS to gain 'work experience' despite the degree being "less recognised" and will garner a "lesser starting pay" than local uni fresh graduates.

so it will be great if any of you can clarify my doubts:

1. is SUSS really recognized or worth it in in the current stage as compared to a private overseas Uni?
2. is working experience really an huge factor now in landing a job?
3. is studying for 4 years and serving the rest of my NS service after graduation normal and worth it?
4. is graduating at 28yr old in singapore abit too late for a normal progression?

there's so many factors that are in my mind in making this decision that i am stuck in a dilemma.

appreciate your advices!
 

Porkincarnate

Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2011
Messages
110
Reaction score
0
Hi. I understand your dilemma as I'm in a similar situation. I'll be attending Uni next year at 23 and graduating at 27, which is pretty bad considering that majority of my male friends are graduating at 25. I was actually contemplating of going for a 2yr degree in order to save time but eventually decided against it.

While that sucks, I can tell you that it is never wise to compromise the quality of your degree for the sake of saving 2 years. The degree stays with you for life, and it will impact your career for the next 30 years until you retire. 2 years vs 30+ years of impact. The choice is pretty obvious.
 
Last edited:

Silverback84

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
14,569
Reaction score
86
Hi. I understand your dilemma as I'm in a similar situation. I'll be attending Uni next year at 23 and graduating at 27, which is pretty bad considering that majority of my male friends are graduating at 25. I was actually contemplating of going for a 2yr degree in order to save time but eventually decided against it.

While that sucks, I can tell you that it is never wise to compromise the quality of your degree for the sake of saving 2 years. The degree stays with you for life, and it will impact your career for the next 30 years until you retire. 2 years vs 30+ years of impact. The choice is pretty obvious.

Agree with this. I graduated from poly at 27 yrs old.
 

Definitely

Master Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2018
Messages
4,477
Reaction score
2,184
Hi. I understand your dilemma as I'm in a similar situation. I'll be attending Uni next year at 23 and graduating at 27, which is pretty bad considering that majority of my male friends are graduating at 25. I was actually contemplating of going for a 2yr degree in order to save time but eventually decided against it.

While that sucks, I can tell you that it is never wise to compromise the quality of your degree for the sake of saving 2 years. The degree stays with you for life, and it will impact your career for the next 30 years until you retire. 2 years vs 30+ years of impact. The choice is pretty obvious.

You're not alone. I'm attending uni later than I'm supposed to, no regrets. I know I might suffer for the next 30 years trying to save time, so I took the longer path but more rewarding path. I'm glad you didn't take the easy way out as well.
 

eriolmoon2008

Master Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2008
Messages
2,601
Reaction score
141
While quality of degree is impt, Working experience is a plus point. Age is also a factor to concern in future. This is where i decided to work full time and study part time. The good thing is i getting own money and exposure of work society. No regret my choice but i have to say is tough in managing time.

Timeline:
Grad from poly at age 25.
Work full time at age 26 and start my part time study at same time.
Graduating this year 2018 July in age of 30 ^^.
Planning to switch to social career from IT field.
 

Royaloyd

Junior Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2018
Messages
47
Reaction score
11
Hi. I understand your dilemma as I'm in a similar situation. I'll be attending Uni next year at 23 and graduating at 27, which is pretty bad considering that majority of my male friends are graduating at 25. I was actually contemplating of going for a 2yr degree in order to save time but eventually decided against it.

While that sucks, I can tell you that it is never wise to compromise the quality of your degree for the sake of saving 2 years. The degree stays with you for life, and it will impact your career for the next 30 years until you retire. 2 years vs 30+ years of impact. The choice is pretty obvious.

I'm so glad to have ppl like you going through the same issue. ikr, the effect of having your peers looking like they're on a faster track in life than you. me personally i have friends that are already getting married, a BTO, and on to a first child already. We all might say that they have a different track in life, and we shouldn't follow or use it to compare, but we also can't deny that our surrounding factors still do stress us when making some decisions in a society, especially in Singapore where everyone's tryna "get on the fast track" to earn money and settle down.

Appreciate your insight on the 2nd para bro. One of the things that was confusing me is always the talk going around now between the fresh grads, the graduated and even the working that " the employers now would hire a person with 1-2 years of proper working experience" more than a fresh grad from a local uni" even the notable ones like NTU, NUS etc. that's why i'm so heavy hearted on the SUSS degree, as there are also talk about how of all the local unis, SUSS is a fairly new uni, so might not be recognized... you know that vague line? it's like i'm in it now. hard to come down with a decision.
 

Royaloyd

Junior Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2018
Messages
47
Reaction score
11
Agree with this. I graduated from poly at 27 yrs old.

Admire your fire and perseverance in life long learning bro! i believe you and me did have some similar struggles in our early stages of tertiary learning so i feel ya. just asking what did you do after graduating poly at 27 tho? :)
 

Royaloyd

Junior Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2018
Messages
47
Reaction score
11
While quality of degree is impt, Working experience is a plus point. Age is also a factor to concern in future. This is where i decided to work full time and study part time. The good thing is i getting own money and exposure of work society. No regret my choice but i have to say is tough in managing time.

Timeline:
Grad from poly at age 25.
Work full time at age 26 and start my part time study at same time.
Graduating this year 2018 July in age of 30 ^^.
Planning to switch to social career from IT field.

Appreciate your reply! just a few questions from your reply,

1.what do you think of the quality of SUSS's degree?
2. by "age is also a factor to concern in the future" do you mean that employers will also wonder why you fresh grad at an older age is it?
3. Inspiring timeline bro! also congrats on graduating this year too! however just wanna ask what did you work full time as and how about managing 'life' between work and studies? did you have time off for yourself?
 

Definitely

Master Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2018
Messages
4,477
Reaction score
2,184
Appreciate your insight on the 2nd para bro. One of the things that was confusing me is always the talk going around now between the fresh grads, the graduated and even the working that " the employers now would hire a person with 1-2 years of proper working experience" more than a fresh grad from a local uni" even the notable ones like NTU, NUS etc. that's why i'm so heavy hearted on the SUSS degree, as there are also talk about how of all the local unis, SUSS is a fairly new uni, so might not be recognized... you know that vague line? it's like i'm in it now. hard to come down with a decision.

The bold part isn't always true. By that logic, you would have top students of every cohort choosing to take part time degree and work at the same time, but we all know that's not what is happening.

SUSS may not be well known, but it has an all-rounded curriculum that prepares you well for work. A 24 week work attachment, overseas experience and a service learning project are prerequisites for graduation.
 

aerebbb

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2018
Messages
65
Reaction score
0
1. is SUSS really recognized or worth it in in the current stage as compared to a private overseas Uni?
2. is working experience really an huge factor now in landing a job?
3. is studying for 4 years and serving the rest of my NS service after graduation normal and worth it?
4. is graduating at 28yr old in singapore abit too late for a normal progression?

1. I honestly think that it really depends on which private oversea Uni you are planning to apply for. And I don't think either one is more recognized than the other.

2. Of course! Qualifications usually matter most on your first job, but subsequent jobs will start to rely more on your past experiences.

3. Sounds like a dreadful long time, I personally don't think it's worth it.

4. From the people I know at work/school, it is a bit late.

From my observation of your current situation, I would recommend you to go for a part-time degree + work. It's like killing two birds with one stone. Or you could get a full time private degree for 2 years, and go straight into the work force. If I'm honest with you, I would say that it's not very appealing for employers to hire a fresh grad that's near 30s with little working experience. You just need the degree for the paper qualifications, then it's up to your work experiences to spice up your resume! :)
 

KeroMax

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2013
Messages
1,154
Reaction score
39
Concerning the age factor... this is from someone else in another context but the points are valid. Just some things to think about.

I'm also someone who started and graduated university later than my peers.

At one point, I also had to decide between starting work, or graduating at 28/29 with 0 work experience. I chose the later, because

1) we all know how certificate-driven the Singapore environment (can't go far without a degree)
2) we are going to be working for 30+ years anyway, slow a few years nevermind (a lot of people told me this.)
3) someone once told me this phrase which I remember till now "if you start university this year, you will have a degree in 4 years. if you choose not to go, in 4 years time, you will still not have a degree and come here lament again."
4) having this paper from a reputable uni will open more doors, and be on your resume forever.


Anyway, addressing #2, a lot of people brush off age as a non-factor, and its sort of true in that late career, when comparing someone with 8 years vs another with 12 years of experience.

But at early and mid-career, it does matter a bit. (eg your peers have 6 yrs while you have 3, or your peers have 3 and you have none)

From experience:
- (Early career) Fresh grad looking for a job: It does come up fairly frequently in interviews and can be a small hindrance if you are >3 years older than your peers. (Standard for guys is 24 - 25), but its not big deal and you CAN find a job, don't worry too much about it.

- If you join a large firm with huge annual intakes, you will be older than your batchmates, and even older than some seniors / managers, especially the girls. but I didn't feel much of a generation gap (since studying along younger people all along) and don't have issue working for people younger than me.

- If you join those firms with smaller intake, very easy to forget about age while working for those aunties or working under people >10 years older than you. Felt more comfortable to me.

- (Mid Career) If you stay in the firm for long-term, its fine, but if you want to change job after 3/4 years, you may have a problem AGAIN cause employers are expecting 7-8 years of working exp at your age while you have 3-4.

- Also while those who graduated with you can afford to change industry at 29, at 33 you'll need to think twice.

- Delay in career also mean delay in financial stability and ability to start a family, have kids etc.

- I used to think that starting 4 years later than my peers just means I lose out on 4 years of pay and I will catch up eventually. But its not so simple... since you will forever be playing catching up.

Person A work from 25 to 65
Person B work from 29 to 65

Assuming they retire at the same age, Person A actually worked 10% more... the actual difference of the discounted cash flow across their whole career... can be a few hundred thousand.

It's just we tend to be more short sighted and think of the immediate future rather than across our entire working lives.
 
Last edited:

owchan

Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2018
Messages
228
Reaction score
0
1. is SUSS really recognized or worth it in in the current stage as compared to a private overseas Uni?
2. is working experience really an huge factor now in landing a job?
3. is studying for 4 years and serving the rest of my NS service after graduation normal and worth it?
4. is graduating at 28yr old in singapore abit too late for a normal progression?

there's so many factors that are in my mind in making this decision that i am stuck in a dilemma.

appreciate your advices!
1: Yes, SUSS is recognized as a local uni.

If you're talking about Overseas Universities then not really, Overseas University have data to show that their graduates, have similar prospect as local Unis. You don't spend $150-$200k SGD overseas to get a useless degree.

2: Huge factor in what sense? barrier? depends on what company / organization you work for. There are companies that don't care and pay a lot. If money is main priority then you'll be fine.

3: I don't know about this, usually fresh graduates would have already landed jobs they interned or strive towards one right after graduation and going back to army might affect this but it's doable and people have done it.

4: It's fine. I have friends graduating at 32-35 and they make $5-6k monthly salaries. Is it low by Singapore standards? I don't know. What do you define normal progression? based on just financial earnings and age?

If so then yeah I have NUS graduate friends who make $7-8k by the time they're 30. Why does it matter so much to you though?

Get a degree, improve yourself and don't give up. You shouldn't be too upset that you're progressing slow... progress is progress. At the end of the day, Person A who is 35 years old from a rich family will be no different than Person B who is 28 from a poor family.

Both work to chase the same thing.

Good luck, remember that this is just a forum where opinions are often just opinions rather than facts. If you want real advice, seek professionals or read up on those ITE - Uni stories. A lot of them have made it big for themselves.
 
Last edited:

Royaloyd

Junior Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2018
Messages
47
Reaction score
11
The bold part isn't always true. By that logic, you would have top students of every cohort choosing to take part time degree and work at the same time, but we all know that's not what is happening.

SUSS may not be well known, but it has an all-rounded curriculum that prepares you well for work. A 24 week work attachment, overseas experience and a service learning project are prerequisites for graduation.

Thanks for the insight!

yea with regards to the second paragraph my concern is if future employers will regard the curriculum activities 6 months work attachment, overseas experience, service learning as seriously as actual "work experience". I've got a friend that went around asking actual HRs on what do they look for and he said that they all say work experience than degree. i mean it might vary, but over some drinks and him telling me about that, is swaying me to apply for a SIMGE uni again. haha
 

Definitely

Master Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2018
Messages
4,477
Reaction score
2,184
Thanks for the insight!

yea with regards to the second paragraph my concern is if future employers will regard the curriculum activities 6 months work attachment, overseas experience, service learning as seriously as actual "work experience". I've got a friend that went around asking actual HRs on what do they look for and he said that they all say work experience than degree. i mean it might vary, but over some drinks and him telling me about that, is swaying me to apply for a SIMGE uni again. haha
It depends on what roles these HRs are hiring for. If you're talking about entry level roles in prestigious MNCs and banks, I doubt they'd say that degree doesn't matter. If you're talking about sales roles, then of course you'd get hired based purely on your experience. I also have to mention that civil service is likely not an option for you anymore if you're from SIMGE (unless you don't mind diploma pay grade). If you're fine with limiting your options but saving time, then by all means apply to SIMGE.
 

Porkincarnate

Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2011
Messages
110
Reaction score
0
It depends on what roles these HRs are hiring for. If you're talking about entry level roles in prestigious MNCs and banks, I doubt they'd say that degree doesn't matter. If you're talking about sales roles, then of course you'd get hired based purely on your experience. I also have to mention that civil service is likely not an option for you anymore if you're from SIMGE (unless you don't mind diploma pay grade). If you're fine with limiting your options but saving time, then by all means apply to SIMGE.

My advice to OP is to think long term. You seem too focused on short term benefits to see the big picture. However, if saving that two years is extremely important for your case then go for it.

Honestly for my case it is very tempting for me to reject my NTU offer and seek a quicker path. However like I have mentioned, it simply ain't worth it in the long run. Like what "definitely" said, you are limiting your career options, especially so in the civil sector.
 
Last edited:

rabbit1

Supremacy Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2015
Messages
9,346
Reaction score
369
there isnt too much of a difference between SUSS or SIMGE.. both cater for NUS/NTU rejects and the starting pay shouldn't be too different either..
 

Royaloyd

Junior Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2018
Messages
47
Reaction score
11
there isnt too much of a difference between SUSS or SIMGE.. both cater for NUS/NTU rejects and the starting pay shouldn't be too different either..

Yea, heard and read online it's like on average a few hundred more? or 1k max
 

Royaloyd

Junior Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2018
Messages
47
Reaction score
11
My advice to OP is to think long term. You seem too focused on short term benefits to see the big picture. However, if saving that two years is extremely important for your case then go for it.

Honestly for my case it is very tempting for me to reject my NTU offer and seek a quicker path. However like I have mentioned, it simply ain't worth it in the long run. Like what "definitely" said, you are limiting your career options, especially so in the civil sector.

Thanks for the advice porkincarnate! I might be, cause it's just like an annoyance that i've been behind in terms of progression compared with my peers. and now when presented with a quicker path, it's just so tempting to get back on track. but i agree i should consider long run. thanks again!
 

Definitely

Master Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2018
Messages
4,477
Reaction score
2,184
Concerning the age factor... this is from someone else in another context but the points are valid. Just some things to think about.

I don't think the post you quoted is accurate. He forgot to mention how much worse off he would be if he didn't start work with a degree. He would've worked 10% longer had he not gone for the degree, but did he consider how much lower his salary would be at the end of his working life? It would definitely be much lower such that he would've still been better off getting the degree.
 

eriolmoon2008

Master Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2008
Messages
2,601
Reaction score
141
Degree is not as grand as last time, almost everyone opt for degree. GPA aside, u need other factor that other ppl with similar degree that u dont have; Work experience, Age and other talent etc to get hired.

Is all about perspective, i believe degree is good only when u got high gpa or with honour in long run, cause easy to find job mah. This one than can ignore all the age or work experience factor. Else, may face some challenge...

Not saying degree is overrated lah, just that other factor also matter in term of hiring a person. And Age is really matter if the deviation is wide, no kidding šŸ˜
 
Important Forum Advisory Note
This forum is moderated by volunteer moderators who will react only to members' feedback on posts. Moderators are not employees or representatives of HWZ. Forum members and moderators are responsible for their own posts.

Please refer to our Community Guidelines and Standards, Terms of Service and Member T&Cs for more information.
Top