HELLO I’m back after slacking for a few days again lol but anyway, today I wanna talk about how the aptitude-based admission procedures are like for FASS! When I was applying, I didn’t really see many people talking about it online so I was pretty clueless on how the whole process would be like. So I’ve decided to blog about this so maybe it could help someone out someday (like maybe during next year’s application period)?
Basically, I got an email from FASS on April 11 (about a month after I applied to NUS) inviting me to participate in a writing test to identify suitable candidates for aptitude-based admission. I was asked to indicate my preferred sessions on a separate website.
On the day of the test, I left work early and took the MRT to Clementi. I decided to take an Uber from the MRT but I met a super rude driver tsk. I was walking to the pickup location (indicated on the Uber app) but I realised he wasn’t heading to that location. I then called him and he told me to come to some random pickup point which I couldn’t locate because I’m not very familiar with Clementi. After trying to locate it for awhile, the driver got pretty annoyed because I couldn’t find it (in my defence, his instructions were vvv unclear lol) and he started to spout Hokkien vulgarities (Like woah dude, is there a need to?). He told me to cancel the ride, but I think it’s so that he could avoid paying the cancellation fee thing and I stupidly did so, without realising that I would have to be the one to pay the fee instead omg. Luckily, the app somehow didn’t register that so I didn’t have to pay anything. Took a bus to NUS in the end, after wasting 20 minutes talking to the driver.
By the time I reached NUS, I think I had around 10 minutes left to the start of the writing test and I was panicking. Saw this friendly looking lady so I asked for directions to the lecture theatre I was supposed to head to. She kindly offered to bring me there!! Anyway, on the way to the LT, I tried to make small talk since it would be pretty awkward if I just trailed behind her in silence right? So I asked if what she was studying in NUS and guess what she replied? She told me she was a lecturer there…… awkward much?
I reached the LT with almost no time to spare (think I might have been a few minutes late, actually) and rushed to register at the benches outside the LT. Thankfully, the test didn’t start yet and people were still slowly streaming over. The previous test ended late so we went in slightly later too.
Once we were brought in, we were given optical answer sheets for the ACTs. It’s sort of like the SATs I guess. We had to answer 72 MCQs in 40 minutes and I didn’t really manage my time well so I randomly shaded Cs for the last 5 questions.
When I first got the email, I was wondering why they mentioned that the duration of the whole writing test was 2 hours when we were only given 40 minutes for the ACTs. In the end, I found out it was because the ACTs weren’t the only component of the writing test. We still had an essay component. We were given an answer booklet filled with pages of writing paper. There were 2 questions that we had to answer in an hour. 1. Tell us more about yourself and what you want to study in FASS. and 2. Which recent government policy do you admire the most?
For the first question, I spent around 10 minutes trying to think of what to write in order to stand out. Merely listing achievements would be such a bore, so I decided to write candidly. I mentioned how I regretted my decision to study science in JC when I knew fairly well that my strength is in the humanities. I wrote about how I looked forward to GP lessons because that was as close to humanities as I could get with my science combi lol. I mentioned that I wanted to take up an English degree in FASS because I wanted to be a journalist in the future (tbh, I’m still not very sure about this but I know it’s something I wouldn’t mind doing). I basically wrote whatever came to mind.
As for the second question… I was stumped. I do read the news, but I realised that I tend to read more on other countries oops. I couldn’t think of a policy, so I ended up talking about some government health initiative.
When the test ended, I kinda forgot how to leave the university so I walked around for a bit, trying to find my way out. A girl approached me and asked if I knew how to get out and I told her that I was lost too lol. I asked if she came from the writing test too and she told me that she was sitting right next to me… wow again, awkward much?
We decided to find the shuttle bus together and along the way, we brought along another girl who was just as lost as us HAHA. In the end, we found the shuttle bus stop and we headed to the MRT together.
I told them how I thought that I was selected to participate in the aptitude-based admission due to my results (like maybe they were borderline and just met/were below the entry requirements or something like that). However, one of the girls then told me that her rank points were 80+ and that debunked my theory lol. Now, I really have no idea how they select those eligible for aptitude-based admission. Possibly based on portfolio I guess?
2 weeks passed and I heard no news so I assumed I probably didn’t get in. Shortly after (around 2 days after the 2 week mark), I got a call from the Dean’s Office asking me to attend the follow-up interview!! This meant that I passed the writing test and I was quite happy about that HAHA.
I went for the interview on 15 May. I took a Grab (bye Uber HAHA jk) from my house to NUS. After getting onto the car for about 5 minutes, I realised that I forgot to bring my portfolio ahhhhhhh so I asked the driver to turn back. In the email, we were strongly advised to bring it so I didn’t wanna just disregard that (but in the end, they didn’t even ask to see anything HAHA). I ended up bringing the articles that I wrote as part of the Student Editorial Club. When we reached, I decided to pay some extra money because paiseh lah haha I made the driver turn back.
When I reached the office, I registered at the front desk and then proceeded to wait at the sofa area. It was pretty packed and I assumed that all the people waiting were part of my interview group since I already knew that I was attending a group interview. I made small talk with them and realised that some of them were from the 11am slot (my slot was at 1130am). In the end, my interview was conducted at 12pm since the previous interviews had overran.
When the original 11am interview ended, we were brought to another waiting area directly outside a room. I chatted with the two guys in my group (there were only three of us in the end lol) and they were really friendly!! Anyway, at 12pm, we were brought into the room. We were interviewed by 2 professors, one teaches English Literature and the other teaches Economics.
Firstly, they told us to introduce ourselves and state what we wanted to study in FASS. I told them about my CCAs (English Drama and Editorial) and that I wanted to study English in FASS to become a journalist in the future.
Afterwards, they asked more direct questions based on what we said. For me, they asked for my opinions on fake news and then, they asked me to compare traditional and modern media. For the fake news part, I said quite a bit but my main point was that over time, people would become more discerning and learn how to identify the more reputable and reliable news outlets. As for the comparison, I’ve recently read an article on how a journalist (for traditional media) decided to shadow her colleagues at the digital media department so I basically summed up what I read and compared the both.
(Link to article: http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/how-to-future-proof-your-job-tips-from-a-gen-x-who-learnt-from-a-millennial)
After that, they asked for our opinions on the water price hike and the sustainability of the policy. So anyway, I said (something along the lines of), “Based on my limited econs knowledge, the increase in prices serves to reduce the quantity demanded, but that is assuming ceteris paribus. In the real world, there are many other factors that affect demand. Singaporeans are considered relatively affluent so this price hike might not serve to reduce water consumption for long. More long-term solutions would be better………….” blah blah.
On the way to the MRT, I asked if they (the two dudes) knew when the interview results would be out and one of them mentioned that his friend knew within a week of his interview. True enough, 4 days later…
Hope this is helpful!! 🙂
Hello there! 