Valkyrie
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I was discussing something similar with my peers this morning. Warning : WOT.
The opportunity cost for Poly Grads is indeed high.
Student A :
Instead of going for full-time degree, earning a (being prudent here) starting pay of 1.6 to 1.8k a month for 4 years will put him in a fairly healthy financial position. By the end of the 4 years, it is safe to say (unless its a f-up company), that his basic pay should be 2k+.
{ I find that Poly Grades have little correlation to their starting pay, but with a 3.88 and presumably a diploma with Merit - you shouldn't have too much trouble finding employment. }
* I know of very rare cases of fresh Diploma Grads getting 2k pay. Its possible.
And someone who has gone the degree route after graduating from Poly ?
A huge study loan debt (Unless their parents forked out for them which isn't much to be proud of, or won a scholarship)
Even if he had worked part time during his 4 years, his savings will not be comparable.
Yes, his starting may easily be 2.5k+, or even 3k+, depending on his course. Possibly on par with you, but probably higher. So if this model continues, he will eventually overtake Student A from a financial point of view.
Now though, in your case, having taken a part-time degree with UniSIM, the situation changes totally.
Now we're comparing a UniSIM + few years of working experience VS NUS/NTU/SMU fresh grad.
Already at a financial headstart, the working experience pushes ahead. You will be on par at the very least, if not ahead. Don't worry about "future being ruined".
Of course, I'm comparing apples to apples. Average people ah. Don't jump in and talk about some NUS high flying Law Scholar with 5k a month, or some Poly entrepreneur who makes 10k a month.
I dun see you calculating the difference in tuition fees. UniSIM charges significantly more than local unis and their tuition grant is not as much. After CPF contributions and paying off the tuition fees, you actually take home only about 1k.
3 yrs in NTU can get u honours, while u can get a basic degree from NUS. It is also possible to squeeze SMU's program to 3 yrs if you just take a single major.
Also, there are a lot of loan programs and busaries in local unis. Your entire tuition fee can be loaned, along with 3.6k per yr (tuition loan + study loan). Every year, you can get MOE busaries of a few hundred. Once per program, you are also able to get a special hardship loan as well.
You also do not study for all 12 months in local unis. There will be a few month holidays where you are able to go out and work a temp job or internship.
You are a biz student. Do a spreadsheet calculation with all the factors i told you about. You can see that the work full time + study part time route actually do not gain you a lot.
