POLY DROP OUT, TAKING THE LEAP FOR A LEVELS

[CreeD93]

Hi guys i need as much insights as I can get for the following..
PERSONAL ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
- HIGHEST QUALIFICATION : GCE O LEVEL
- RECENT SCHOOL : REPUBLIC POLY
- REASON FOR LEAVING : LACK OF FOCUS / DISLIKE COURSE

I left Republic Poly in 2013 since i did not fancy my course and enlisted myself to serve NS. I am going to be done with my service and I am planning to take up private A's since its the best and fastest bet for me to secure a place in a Local Uni.

However, its been a couple of ages since i hit the textbooks and the subject combinations i had back in sec school were Combined Science and Humanities. Of all the people i spoke to so far, keep telling me that it's A ridiculous move to make the transition because A level subjects are much more tedious and mentally draining. However, i believe anything can be done if hard work and determination is present. Please Advice. I am willing to give my all, literally, to do well.

 

[Swift Formula]

Go ahead . You have my full support . Path taken isn't easy .
If you're financially stable , good .

 

[CreeD93]

That means alot. Thank you so much and yes i am financially stable. Any idea why everyone i approachad nothing but heaps of negative views about this?

 

[Swift Formula]

That's because all your years at poly are completely wasted in terms of academic years.

If you have the passion to pursue something , do it , go for it ...

Employers might think that you are giving up , do explain your reason of giving up is to pursue something of passion . Passion beats all other employees without passion . Because with passion, you will excel .

When you are 18 ~ 30, choose something you think you like . You may fail several times . Everytime you fail , you learn something .
When you are 31 ~ 40, focus at what you do best in .
When you are 41 ~ 50, be at the top and think of expanding, improving, upgrading methods/salary.
When you are 51 ~ 60, earn the last 10 years of money .

 

[Wonderstruck]

If you are willing to do it, I'm sure it can work. But do note that you may lose focus or interest in studying as well. So you might want to find some sort of motivation to keep you going.

 

[CreeD93]

Can't describe how thankful I am for your reply, and yes i beleieve i can do it. And i am going for it. Thank you Swift Formula.. really appreciate it

 

[CreeD93]

And Wonderstruck, taken into consideration and i know exactly how to get myself going. Thank you.

 

[Havok_ex]

Thing is, the definition of hard work is subjective. A person can think he works hard when he stays in the library from 10am to 8pm. He may think he is studying but in fact is not because he keeps checking Facebook and chatting with friends etc. The level of commitment that the A-levels require is huge. Even bigger if you're a private student. Taken into perspective how many hours you need to study. Typical JC kid starts school at 8 and ends at 2-3? Then he does revision/homework until 7? Repeat for 2 years. 12 hours per day also seems insufficient if you are squeezing it into 1 year.

1. The bell curve is worse than O-levels. In the O-levels, the smart students are not competing with you because they are in IP and do not take O-levels. But they will be there in the A-levels and are a force to be reckoned with. O-level students don't go up against RI and HCI students but A-level students will.

2. It all depends on your subject combi. Sciences are generally harder to take as a private student because you have very minimal lab training and will have to do practical exam. JC students do lab practice once a week in the lead up to their practicals so they are well-trained for it. What is your subject combi?

3. Taking humanities subjects would mean that you need to score even better than science students. Science students can go into engineering in local uni, which usually has a lower cut-off if you look at NTU's IGP. Students with Math + Physics are eligible for basically all courses available. Humanities students are limited to biz or humanities. These courses are smaller and hence are more competitive to get into. What course do you intend to get into?

4. That said, I've seen lots of people do well taking private A-levels. Some took during NS and still did extremely well. Others I've seen take A-levels thrice and still did not make it to local uni. Generally, more private students do not make it to local uni. I was once a private A-level student in a private school here to retake. But I stopped halfway because I got accepted into local uni in the middle of the year. Good luck on your journey! PM me if you got any questions though.

 

[CreeD93]

Deepest gratitude for the invaluable info Havoc.. i will get back to you asap with the necessary. Thanks once again