Kaplan or Remain in Local Poly

[Valenciatann]

Hi I'm a current temasek polytechnic year 1 student, just completed my first semester and have a GPA of 3.1. I think it's kinda impossible for me to enter local uni like Nus, SMU and so on except SIT. I am thinking of going to a private institute like kaplan as they offer a faster path to get my degree. 8 months diploma and 18 months bachelor. I am thinking of getting bachelor of science (honours) in management with international business from royal holloway, university of London.

As I'm taking a business course in temasek poly, I think it's alright to transfer to private as business course is quite commonly offered by private institute unlike applied science or engineer course. What would you all recommend or suggest?

 

[PhantomBrethren]

Hi TS

I would encourage you to continue with your course at Temasek Polytechnic. You have just completed your first semester, isn’t that a tad too fast to assume that you can never make it to a local university?

Think carefully before making any rash decision. Perhaps you may wish to speak to your care person or course manager on your concerns.

 

[Valenciatann]

Hi TS

I would encourage you to continue with your course at Temasek Polytechnic. You have just completed your first semester, isn’t that a tad too fast to assume that you can never make it to a local university?

Think carefully before making any rash decision. Perhaps you may wish to speak to your care person or course manager on your concerns.

I guess our care person or course manager will ask us to remain in temasek poly.. I know it's kinda early to give up but only top 10% of the poly students will be eligible to enter local good uni. And the rest almost around 90% will enter private or overseas uni. Moreover, I'm in a business course, it's more competitive.

Heard that uol cert from kaplan is the same as done on campus and royal holloway is a partner with tp so it should be recognize in singapore? So after tp, I will still go to uol and get the same cert but it is a longer path, I am thinking of doing the private way as it's faster and has the same bachelor cert. what do you think?

 

[foo9883]

If your desire to get into local uni is so great, you should have chosen the JC path IMO maybe even MI path. Or maybe your L1R5 is more than 20?

 

[Valenciatann]

If your desire to get into local uni is so great, you should have chosen the JC path IMO maybe even MI path. Or maybe your L1R5 is more than 20?

My L1R5 is 17 but I heard that jc is very stressful and I can't cope with constant stress schedule that's why I choose poly as I thought I will get a good GPA to enter local uni. So yea...

 

[loveaddict]

year 1 3.1 still got chance to go up one. my internship semester get 4.0, already pull up my cgpa by 0.2-0.4.. so if you can ace thru the remaining sems, can pull up to at least 3.5??

imo local dip is a lot better than pte.. a lot of ppl take private degree cause local uni very hard to get in and very competitive (compete with jc and foreign students), no choice only can go private / overseas... ite students finish nitec mostly also continue to local poly. you quit local poly to go pte dip, it's like someone score 11 for l1r4 and decided to go ite... wasted, and steal ppl place lol.

even if no degree, got local diploma also can get job with decent pay (got offered 1.7k with poly dip to do admin).. private dip dunno can get that rate or not... private diploma shorter, but their curriculum might cut corners also..

better to talk thru with your advisor + parents.. if you really think shorter duration is the way to go, then go for it bah!!! ^^

 

[a&w_rootbeerz]

i assume that you intent to enter local uni after poly? i assume you want to have a business career here after your degree? well if that's the case, let me give you some tips on a local perspective.

in Singapore there are a total of 6 local uni and they are nus, ntu, smu, sutd, sit and unisim. tho for now, unisim is private and part-time. based on your gpa for now, you should be able to enter unisim and the business course there are very popular. by the time you graduate, unisim business course might be switched to full-time which caters for poly holders like you. also, you can enter sit but not sure if they offer business. the day when you graduate, many will go for degree and it will be very very competitive. rules might even change by then so there is still a long way for you to plan. now you should focus fully on your poly.

ok think positive. you shouldn't judge your poly grades just by one semester. do your best in your next 2.5 years. then hope for the best. its good that you have an early plan but come on don't quit your 3 year local poly just to get a faster route to a degree. nobody here will know your future. who knows by the time you graduate, with hard work and determination, you can even made it to a good local uni.

 

[Valenciatann]

year 1 3.1 still got chance to go up one. my internship semester get 4.0, already pull up my cgpa by 0.2-0.4.. so if you can ace thru the remaining sems, can pull up to at least 3.5??

imo local dip is a lot better than pte.. a lot of ppl take private degree cause local uni very hard to get in and very competitive (compete with jc and foreign students), no choice only can go private / overseas... ite students finish nitec mostly also continue to local poly. you quit local poly to go pte dip, it's like someone score 11 for l1r4 and decided to go ite... wasted, and steal ppl place lol.

even if no degree, got local diploma also can get job with decent pay (got offered 1.7k with poly dip to do admin).. private dip dunno can get that rate or not... private diploma shorter, but their curriculum might cut corners also..

better to talk thru with your advisor + parents.. if you really think shorter duration is the way to go, then go for it bah!!! ^^

Thanks for your suggestion! I know that if I ace through I can pull up my GPA but it's not really possible for me to get GPA 4.0 every semester. so yea.. Local diploma is kind of common nowadays, only further study I can have a chance to get a good job, that's why I'm thinking of private. Shorter path and get degree from a good overseas uni. The point you say is why I'm hesitate not signing up for the private degree yet.

 

[Valenciatann]

i assume that you intent to enter local uni after poly? i assume you want to have a business career here after your degree? well if that's the case, let me give you some tips on a local perspective.

in Singapore there are a total of 6 local uni and they are nus, ntu, smu, sutd, sit and unisim. tho for now, unisim is private and part-time. based on your gpa for now, you should be able to enter unisim and the business course there are very popular. by the time you graduate, unisim business course might be switched to full-time which caters for poly holders like you. also, you can enter sit but not sure if they offer business. the day when you graduate, many will go for degree and it will be very very competitive. rules might even change by then so there is still a long way for you to plan. now you should focus fully on your poly.

ok think positive. you shouldn't judge your poly grades just by one semester. do your best in your next 2.5 years. then hope for the best. its good that you have an early plan but come on don't quit your 3 year local poly just to get a faster route to a degree. nobody here will know your future. who knows by the time you graduate, with hard work and determination, you can even made it to a good local uni.

I tried to calculate like if I ace through rest of the semester, my GPA is around 3.8, it's kinda impossible for me to ace through all and GPA 3.8 is kinda of hard to enter good local uni. I didn't want to enter sit that's why I'm planning this path like enter private get a degree and diploma faster and since the degree is same as done on campus (told by the kaplan staff), I can get a degree earlier than my batch and find a job and get more experience. Moreover, kaplan win sim this year for the top private institution I think. So yea...

 

[blurblurz]

Thanks for your suggestion! I know that if I ace through I can pull up my GPA but it's not really possible for me to get GPA 4.0 every semester. so yea.. Local diploma is kind of common nowadays, only further study I can have a chance to get a good job, that's why I'm thinking of private. Shorter path and get degree from a good overseas uni. The point you say is why I'm hesitate not signing up for the private degree yet.

i was from TP too! after that i took a private degree from SMA.. in my experience, even though the local poly route takes a slightly longer time to complete, it is more recognized not only in the workforce, but in the future if u wanna apply for degree courses be it local or private, u will also have more advantage and no need to worry if that sch will recognize ur dip anot..

rather u spend the extra time in TP and be assured that ur dip will be recognized den to waste ur time taking the private dip and only to find out some schs and organizations dont recognize it at all.. plus, ur GPA might be gd enough to qualify for local U.. u are only in year 1.. lots of things can happen.. dont be so pessimistic.. lol..

plus ur thinking could change as u grow older and be exposed to more things.. u mite be open to more paths so dont limit urself.. plus the internship opportunity u get is also a very gd experience.. i have had friends who were directly offered a place in the company even before they graduated.. even if they din, its still a very gd exp n nice to see in the resume..

 

[patryn33]

I tried to calculate like if I ace through rest of the semester, my GPA is around 3.8, it's kinda impossible for me to ace through all and GPA 3.8 is kinda of hard to enter good local uni. I didn't want to enter sit that's why I'm planning this path like enter private get a degree and diploma faster and since the degree is same as done on campus (told by the kaplan staff), I can get a degree earlier than my batch and find a job and get more experience. Moreover, kaplan win sim this year for the top private institution I think. So yea...

Go Kaplan loh no need to seek approval here.
Kaplan staff say same ( they show u cert that's the same?) and Kaplan win sim more reason to go Kaplan.

Where did u find Kaplan win SIM? Any URL

 

[loveaddict]

Thanks for your suggestion! I know that if I ace through I can pull up my GPA but it's not really possible for me to get GPA 4.0 every semester. so yea.. Local diploma is kind of common nowadays, only further study I can have a chance to get a good job, that's why I'm thinking of private. Shorter path and get degree from a good overseas uni. The point you say is why I'm hesitate not signing up for the private degree yet.

local uni also common, but is good so ppl still fighting to go in. the rest go private cause cannot get into local u. i feel it's similar to local dip, is common but is good what. let's say smth happen and you cannot go uni / kaplan dont let you take degree / kaplan degree deemed unacceptable, at least local dip still got a lot of job opps.

from when i apply SIM, they put only recognize local dip and sim dip. at least with local dip got more opportunities whether going to local/pte uni and in finding jobs.

maybe few years later you decided you might not want to continue what you are studying? or you decided that you need/want to work first? quite a few of my friends encounter this and a lot of them taking gap year to see how they wanna continue..

 

[Valenciatann]

Go Kaplan loh no need to seek approval here.
Kaplan staff say same ( they show u cert that's the same?) and Kaplan win sim more reason to go Kaplan.

Where did u find Kaplan win SIM? Any URL

Kaplan Singapore is voted Number 1 Preferred Private Education Institution (Overall) in Singapore - Singapore

Kaplan say the same but I didn't request to see the cert. I found some people who graduated from kaplan and saw their cert. it's same as the one on campus.

I'm not asking for approval, I'm asking for suggestion or recommendation as I'm still thinking of staying in tp or leaving tp for kaplan.

 

[Valenciatann]

local uni also common, but is good so ppl still fighting to go in. the rest go private cause cannot get into local u. i feel it's similar to local dip, is common but is good what. let's say smth happen and you cannot go uni / kaplan dont let you take degree / kaplan degree deemed unacceptable, at least local dip still got a lot of job opps.

from when i apply SIM, they put only recognize local dip and sim dip. at least with local dip got more opportunities whether going to local/pte uni and in finding jobs.

maybe few years later you decided you might not want to continue what you are studying? or you decided that you need/want to work first? quite a few of my friends encounter this and a lot of them taking gap year to see how they wanna continue..

Actually I don't know what I wanna be in future so I choose business as it's general and most of the job is relevant to business.

 

[Nikbell]

TS, i am from TP also, accounting and finance. sem 3.2 currently if that helps.

got chance for local uni one, my gpa last time around your range. then i sem 2.2 and 3.1 worked very hard, got 4.0 gpa for both.

current cgpa 3.61, got quite a few courses avaliable. and more which are borderline cases. private diploma are generally not recognised in the wortkforce, not to mention if if you decide to take another degree from another private school next time, they might not accept it.

for now, just try your best to score well, never get in local uni nvm, if next time want to straight away start work after diploma also can, study part time also can.

dont close down the routes in your life so quick

ps, no matter whats the ranking, private certs would always get discriminated in the government sector.

 

[wav35_]

even if you have set ur mind to go private, at least settle for SIM. but you must know 95% of the student population in SIM has local poly dip or A level, the rest is the in-house SIM dip which is an intensive 18-mth course (study 6 days a week) with no holiday.

 

[patryn33]

Kaplan Singapore is voted Number 1 Preferred Private Education Institution (Overall) in Singapore - Singapore

Kaplan say the same but I didn't request to see the cert. I found some people who graduated from kaplan and saw their cert. it's same as the one on campus.

What kind of ranking is that? Based on preference? What does it really mean?

U found these ppl where? U compare against what? Reliable source?

According to sim external UOL program cert will clearly indicate it's an external program. This UOL program isn't going thru their external body?
http://www1.sim.edu.sg/sim/pub/eap/sim_pub_eap_BDP4FAQ.cfm#qstn5

http://www.degreeinfo.com/general-distance-learning-discussions/30941-university-london-external-diploma-certificate.html

 

[Havok_ex]

You're only in sem 1. Work hard and get yourself into local uni. Nothing good is ever easy. If you try and take short cut, you will just regret it. If you take short cut, employers will short change you. And degree is not the only thing employers look at. Your diploma also counts. Local dip plus SIM degree still better than private dip and private degree IMO.

On top of that, unisim has plans for full time degree. PM Lee got say in last year national day rally. Why you no trust him????

 

[PhantomBrethren]

Kaplan Singapore is voted Number 1 Preferred Private Education Institution (Overall) in Singapore - Singapore

Kaplan say the same but I didn't request to see the cert. I found some people who graduated from kaplan and saw their cert. it's same as the one on campus.
I'm not asking for approval, I'm asking for suggestion or recommendation as I'm still thinking of staying in tp or leaving tp for kaplan.

It would be best if you can request to look at their transcripts. It will most probably say that the course is conducted in SG.

 

[tafiqmohddee]

remain in local poly better. my bro drop out as choose wrong course took pte course but went for job interviews the hr say no use certificate only can count as better than o level cert by a bit so think many times before change