Hey friends,
Back with some module review (will start with those mods which I had trouble looking for reviews online, if necessary, I'll continue with the more popular mods reviews.
EC4394
Lecturer: Roy Chen
Style of lessons: 3-hour seminar once weekly, a short 5-10 minutes break in between
2 slots available for bidding
No tutorials (each seminar class is about 40 people)
Grading:
Majority on group work
- Group Project (30%)
Where you have to come up with a topic (for Roy's approval) and then you have to produce a written report to explain how your group is going to conduct the experiment (but you don't have to actually conduct the experiment)
- Group Presentation
Each group is assigned one week where you have a set of research paper to read and present its findings on (basically just a normal presentation)
- No Midterms
- Class participation (10% if I remembered correctly)
- Finals (40%)
Very simple, if you have practiced and have listened in class.
Personal views on module:
- Content wise: very manageable
- Little math involved. Basic math only (subbing in of values)
- Interesting content which allows you to understand why people make different decisions.
- Roy Chen was an amazing prof
- All the marks for various components (group assignments and presentations) amongst all groups were pretty close. Meaning determining factor on whether you get an A depends on your finals
- Finals was easy (tested the concepts rather than all the minute details)
- Roy Chen made the class more interactive by using Moblab (an online application to play payoff games aka dictator games with other classmates). PLUS, if you're chosen as the lucky pair, you get the payoff you get in the game. (Some people won $12- just by attending class;good money in my opinion)
Do leave a comment if you have further queries.
Cheers,
Rachel
Showing posts with label economics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economics. Show all posts
Wednesday, 11 January 2017
Wednesday, 27 July 2016
[School] NUS Module Review AY15/16 Sem 1: EC3322 Industrial Organisation I
Hey Readers!
Back with module reviews again! Have received an overwhelming response for level 3000 module reviews so I have decided to do a review for EC3322 Industrial Organisation I which I have taken in AY15/16 Sem 1.
Professor/ Lecturer: Dr Eric Fesselmeyer
Lecturer Rating: 4.5/5
Tutor: Hai Long
Tutor Rating: 3/5
Lectures:
Lectures were good. Prof Eric has been teaching this module for quite a period of time so he is very clear and is a master of the content covered. Content covered is very mathematical. However, a downside is that Prof Eric tends to skip alot of steps in his lecture slides which makes us really lost IF you do not read the slides and attempt the solve the sums beforehand.
Content covered is very interesting. First half of semester has lighter workload than 2nd half. So try to do well for midterms as paper was alot easier due to lesser content in first half of semester.
TIP: Read his slides both before and after the lecture. You'll have an advantage over other students.
Tutorials:
Attendance sometimes were self-marked (attendance sheet passed around the class) while other times marked by the tutor. Along with the attendance sheet would be the tutorial presentation sheet where you can tick next to which questions you want to present. However, this doesn't mean you'll 100% cfm get to present. If demand is high for that particular question, the tutor will just randomly pick one to present that question, which also means only that 1 person gets the tutorial participation points.
If you can do the tough question sets, then I would recommend you volunteer to present for those questions because certain questions are considered bonus and will give you double points.
Hai Long is Vietnamese so his accent was really strong and sometimes I could not understand him well as pronunciation of certain words was not clear. This wasn't too big a problem as he is very friendly and willing to help even after class hours. He tend to show us other examples and how certain questions can be tweaked and this means tutorials usually took the full hour, and we often had the next tutorial class chasing us out.
I had an occasion where Hai Long could not make it and Prof took my class instead. It was quite scary but a good experience having Prof as your tutor. Prof made sure that when you present, you knew how to get the answers. He would question every single step you took to derive the answer
Midterms:
Content was easier than finals as only first half of the syllabus was tested and content was easy to understand. I had several careless mistakes and ended up doing very badly for midterms which pulled down my final grade in the end. Bell curve for Midterms was pretty steep and I was at the end of the bell-curve (25th percentile bottom) which made it hard to pull up my final grade.
TIP: Try to score for Midterms, I had friends getting 80+/100.
Finals:
Cumulative finals meant alot more content was tested. As much as the content interest me a lot, it was quite a handful of content to revise for finals although I enjoyed reading the content. Slightly tougher content for 2nd half as a variety of questions can be tested.
Finals was challenging compared to midterms and I regretted not checking my paper thoroughly for midterms.
Overall:
I believed my finals pulled my grade up but my midterm performance was disappointing. I will recommend this module to all as content covered is interesting and pretty applicable to real life. If you're good in math, this would be an advantage too.
If there are any queries, pls feel free to comment below and subscribe to be updated for more module reviews.
Love,
Rachel
Friday, 6 May 2016
[School] NUS AY 15/16 Sem 2 Module Review: EC3371 Developmental Economics by Dr Elisabetta Gentile
Hi Readers,
Back with NUS module review again. This time round for EC3371. I realised the most recent module review for this module was for AY13/14 which made me hesitant in taking the module. So here's a review to help all make their decisions for your Econs elective modules.
Professor: Dr Elizabetta Gentile
Lectures:
2 hour lecture slots
Usually lasts 1 hour 35 minutes, occasionally ends early depending on feasibility of where lecture is stopped.
Lectures are held not in LTs but in AS6 since class size is small which was really not conducive for me to learn in especially when you come in 2 minutes before class and forced to sit all the way at the back of the classroom as the front seats are all fully filled.
Professor Gentile is very knowledgeable about this module which is really good because she really knows what she's teaching. To be honest though, everything she mentioned in lecture is pure regurgitation from the textbook. She leaves out some information from her slides and mentions them during the lecture, so it seems like there's a lot of information to note down. Truth be told, those info can be found in the textbook.
There will be a 10 minute break in between after the lecture has hit the 1 hour mark.
It seems like a lot of people do not attend lectures as it looks more like a class of 40 plus rather than 70.
Lectures are ok, not much to comment on.
Tutorials:
Graded presentations (20%)
Attendance and participation (10%)
Everyone will be split into 5 groups namely Alpha, Beta, Charlie, Delta and Echo, so for the first week of tutorial, Team Alpha will present a research paper that will be uploaded beforehand, then the next week, Team Beta will present another research paper. So after Team Echo has presented their first paper, Team Alpha will continue the next week to present the next paper for their presentation.
Each team will therefore need to present a total of 2 times. Each presentation is worth 10%. Since class is small, there is only 4 tutorial groups. Unfortunately or fortunately, my tutorial group was the smallest tutorial group with only 12 people. What does this imply?
Each team was only the size of 2 to 3 people, and my team only had me and another guy. My other friends, who were in larger tutorial size, had 5-6 people in their team. To me, that was really unfair because I was only a year 2 student with no background of EC3304, and I was tasked to present a phD research paper that had foreign terms like Difference in differences, IV regression, 2SLS, etc, all of which was not covered in EC3303. And EC3304 was not even a prerequisite for this module although indicated that it will be beneficial.
Thank god my partner was a Year 3 student that have taken EC3304 already, so he had a clearer understanding on the terms, and made it easier to work on the presentation.
Presentation grades for each round will be uploaded after the last team (Team Echo) have presented. It is graded out of 100.
Attendance and participation in included in the assessment of this module, and it made me really stress because whenever someone in the tutorial 'participated' aka, posed questions to the presenting team, the tutor will highlight your name to note that you did participate in that particular tutorial.
For my tutorial, Prof was my tutor and her expectations of tutorials were really high. Your questions had to make some sense or else she will end up rebutting against your point. In my opinion, to score for the participation component, just pose questions on parts of the presentation you are not clear on and if there are areas where labeling isn't clear in the presentation, ask the presenters to clarify. That earns you some participation grade too.
For those in larger tutorial groups, participation would be harder because everyone will compete to get their participation grade, so fastest hands as usual.
Always be punctual for tutorials!!! I once went into class early, placed my bag and went to the washroom cos I had a 3-hour Utown lecture before the tutorial, and when I came back it was 1 minute pass the start of class, and although the presenting team have yet to start their presentation, guess what? I was marked late....
You can never argue with Prof Gentile, she will always win the debate, so I just had to accept that I was marked down for attendance because I came in a minute late after going to the washroom..
Midterms:
Midterms was not that tough. Of normal difficulty, questions that tested a lot on your understanding on the concepts. What killed me was the first part of the paper, because she tested on specific definitions. She gave you the definition, and you had to identify which period is this referring to (eg. Malthusian period or which era of growth is this, etc.)
I did not expect that kind of definition question to come out, so I lost my 10 marks there.
Finals:
For me, it was a killer paper. Prof told us that the format of the paper is the same as midterms, but it turned out to be really different. Finals was supposed to be comprehensive, but she did not test anything from the first half of the lecture for content... Although mathematical questions from first half were tested (developmental and growth accounting)
Overall:
It was quite an ok module to take IF you like structured questions and you like challenge. Let me know if you guys have questions by posting in the comments column below!
Love,
Rachel
Back with NUS module review again. This time round for EC3371. I realised the most recent module review for this module was for AY13/14 which made me hesitant in taking the module. So here's a review to help all make their decisions for your Econs elective modules.
Professor: Dr Elizabetta Gentile
Lectures:
2 hour lecture slots
Usually lasts 1 hour 35 minutes, occasionally ends early depending on feasibility of where lecture is stopped.
Lectures are held not in LTs but in AS6 since class size is small which was really not conducive for me to learn in especially when you come in 2 minutes before class and forced to sit all the way at the back of the classroom as the front seats are all fully filled.
Professor Gentile is very knowledgeable about this module which is really good because she really knows what she's teaching. To be honest though, everything she mentioned in lecture is pure regurgitation from the textbook. She leaves out some information from her slides and mentions them during the lecture, so it seems like there's a lot of information to note down. Truth be told, those info can be found in the textbook.
There will be a 10 minute break in between after the lecture has hit the 1 hour mark.
It seems like a lot of people do not attend lectures as it looks more like a class of 40 plus rather than 70.
Lectures are ok, not much to comment on.
Tutorials:
Graded presentations (20%)
Attendance and participation (10%)
Everyone will be split into 5 groups namely Alpha, Beta, Charlie, Delta and Echo, so for the first week of tutorial, Team Alpha will present a research paper that will be uploaded beforehand, then the next week, Team Beta will present another research paper. So after Team Echo has presented their first paper, Team Alpha will continue the next week to present the next paper for their presentation.
Each team will therefore need to present a total of 2 times. Each presentation is worth 10%. Since class is small, there is only 4 tutorial groups. Unfortunately or fortunately, my tutorial group was the smallest tutorial group with only 12 people. What does this imply?
Each team was only the size of 2 to 3 people, and my team only had me and another guy. My other friends, who were in larger tutorial size, had 5-6 people in their team. To me, that was really unfair because I was only a year 2 student with no background of EC3304, and I was tasked to present a phD research paper that had foreign terms like Difference in differences, IV regression, 2SLS, etc, all of which was not covered in EC3303. And EC3304 was not even a prerequisite for this module although indicated that it will be beneficial.
Thank god my partner was a Year 3 student that have taken EC3304 already, so he had a clearer understanding on the terms, and made it easier to work on the presentation.
Presentation grades for each round will be uploaded after the last team (Team Echo) have presented. It is graded out of 100.
Attendance and participation in included in the assessment of this module, and it made me really stress because whenever someone in the tutorial 'participated' aka, posed questions to the presenting team, the tutor will highlight your name to note that you did participate in that particular tutorial.
For my tutorial, Prof was my tutor and her expectations of tutorials were really high. Your questions had to make some sense or else she will end up rebutting against your point. In my opinion, to score for the participation component, just pose questions on parts of the presentation you are not clear on and if there are areas where labeling isn't clear in the presentation, ask the presenters to clarify. That earns you some participation grade too.
For those in larger tutorial groups, participation would be harder because everyone will compete to get their participation grade, so fastest hands as usual.
Always be punctual for tutorials!!! I once went into class early, placed my bag and went to the washroom cos I had a 3-hour Utown lecture before the tutorial, and when I came back it was 1 minute pass the start of class, and although the presenting team have yet to start their presentation, guess what? I was marked late....
You can never argue with Prof Gentile, she will always win the debate, so I just had to accept that I was marked down for attendance because I came in a minute late after going to the washroom..
Midterms:
Midterms was not that tough. Of normal difficulty, questions that tested a lot on your understanding on the concepts. What killed me was the first part of the paper, because she tested on specific definitions. She gave you the definition, and you had to identify which period is this referring to (eg. Malthusian period or which era of growth is this, etc.)
I did not expect that kind of definition question to come out, so I lost my 10 marks there.
Finals:
For me, it was a killer paper. Prof told us that the format of the paper is the same as midterms, but it turned out to be really different. Finals was supposed to be comprehensive, but she did not test anything from the first half of the lecture for content... Although mathematical questions from first half were tested (developmental and growth accounting)
Overall:
It was quite an ok module to take IF you like structured questions and you like challenge. Let me know if you guys have questions by posting in the comments column below!
Love,
Rachel
Monday, 4 April 2016
[School] Is Economics at the University level really for you?
Dear Readers,
I decided to do a post which targets tertiary students still contemplating if Economics is really what you want to pursue in University! Many of my guy friends entering Uni this year actually started texting to ask me what exactly Economics is about at the University level.
I believe, many of you A levels and Poly graduates out there might be wondering, is Economics like in the A levels where it is all about drawing demand and supply curves, identifying deadweight losses in market failure graphs and writing and explaining policies essays after essays?
Unfortunately not, my dear readers! Economics at the Uni level is not about essay writing. Yes, it might have been an Arts subject at the A levels but in Uni, it is very mathematical and it is a social science subject, although in the Arts and Social Sciences Faculty. However, you will need to draw SS and DD curves too, especially in Macroeconomics, but there will be a lot of other graphs you will need to know and learn about too!
What do I mean by Economics being a very mathematical subject? It involves data analysis, many regressions and knowing how to interpret coefficients of the regression results. Integration and differentiation do come into picture for certain modules, so if you're thinking you can escape all that math, then you should reconsider. Also, microeconomics covers quite a bit on Game Theory, so if you enjoy topics like the Prisoner's Dilemma, you might enjoy Economics quite a bit.
Economics is actually one of the biggest major cohort in NUS FASS. What does this imply? Very competitive when it comes to grading of the modules. Since it is all about math and application, many math geniuses out there including Chinese scholars excel in Economics modules.
Sometimes, these geniuses even scores full marks for their midterms, when the mean is 70-75 out of 100. Try to aim and get at least the Average or Median score to secure a decent grade.
Also, some tips on selecting what modules to take in the first semester:
1. Try to clear all your compulsory FASS baskets first (especially the Asian Studies basket)
2. For EC majors who are more or less cfm on EC as their major, take EC2104 and EC1101E together (Make full use of your S/Us)
3. Do something you think you might not be able to score well, and don't want to risk getting B- and below.
Some tips for potential Economics Majors before concluding on this post:
1. Read your textbook! They are very important sources of information and practice questions.
2. Attempt the questions and exercises in the Textbook (especially if the Prof even issues which questions to attempt in his/her lecture notes)
3. Read your lecture notes and remember key details (some Prof enjoy torturing students by testing specific contents in the lecture notes)
4. Most importantly, DO CONSTANT REVISION!!
I think these tips are general for all students, not necessarily Econs majors.
Hope you guys make the right decision to pursue something you enjoy doing, and feel free to drop me a comment if you guys need to clarify anything about Econs.
I might not be the best person to answer your doubts, but I will try my best to help (which is also my purpose of setting up a blog in the first place)
Love,
Rachel
I decided to do a post which targets tertiary students still contemplating if Economics is really what you want to pursue in University! Many of my guy friends entering Uni this year actually started texting to ask me what exactly Economics is about at the University level.
I believe, many of you A levels and Poly graduates out there might be wondering, is Economics like in the A levels where it is all about drawing demand and supply curves, identifying deadweight losses in market failure graphs and writing and explaining policies essays after essays?
Unfortunately not, my dear readers! Economics at the Uni level is not about essay writing. Yes, it might have been an Arts subject at the A levels but in Uni, it is very mathematical and it is a social science subject, although in the Arts and Social Sciences Faculty. However, you will need to draw SS and DD curves too, especially in Macroeconomics, but there will be a lot of other graphs you will need to know and learn about too!
What do I mean by Economics being a very mathematical subject? It involves data analysis, many regressions and knowing how to interpret coefficients of the regression results. Integration and differentiation do come into picture for certain modules, so if you're thinking you can escape all that math, then you should reconsider. Also, microeconomics covers quite a bit on Game Theory, so if you enjoy topics like the Prisoner's Dilemma, you might enjoy Economics quite a bit.
Economics is actually one of the biggest major cohort in NUS FASS. What does this imply? Very competitive when it comes to grading of the modules. Since it is all about math and application, many math geniuses out there including Chinese scholars excel in Economics modules.
Sometimes, these geniuses even scores full marks for their midterms, when the mean is 70-75 out of 100. Try to aim and get at least the Average or Median score to secure a decent grade.
Also, some tips on selecting what modules to take in the first semester:
1. Try to clear all your compulsory FASS baskets first (especially the Asian Studies basket)
2. For EC majors who are more or less cfm on EC as their major, take EC2104 and EC1101E together (Make full use of your S/Us)
3. Do something you think you might not be able to score well, and don't want to risk getting B- and below.
Some tips for potential Economics Majors before concluding on this post:
1. Read your textbook! They are very important sources of information and practice questions.
2. Attempt the questions and exercises in the Textbook (especially if the Prof even issues which questions to attempt in his/her lecture notes)
3. Read your lecture notes and remember key details (some Prof enjoy torturing students by testing specific contents in the lecture notes)
4. Most importantly, DO CONSTANT REVISION!!
I think these tips are general for all students, not necessarily Econs majors.
Hope you guys make the right decision to pursue something you enjoy doing, and feel free to drop me a comment if you guys need to clarify anything about Econs.
I might not be the best person to answer your doubts, but I will try my best to help (which is also my purpose of setting up a blog in the first place)
Love,
Rachel
Friday, 5 February 2016
[School] Hanyang International Summer School (HISS) 2015 Review- Academic related
Hey readers,
Finally back again with HISS 2015 review, this time round on academic related issues.
It seems that my recent HISS post was quite popular, and I'm guessing its because people are now making plans for their summer break already.
General info:
Health Equity
Prof: Dr Sunshine Cowan from UCO
Class hours: 9am to 12pm
Content and class routine:
Content revolves around Epidemiology, how everything in your environment affects your health. Class is very interesting since Prof Cowan is very entertaining, and she is extremely kind and lovely. This module is great for people in NUS that want to map back as a Public Health module; perfect for Minors in PH.
We usually watch videos about the different areas in US and how living standards varies in the different parts of the world and how exactly do these differences affect the way we live and how it impacts our health.
Midterm: Week 2 morning. Fill in the blanks, MCQ and some short structured questions including 1 bonus question. Paper was out of 100 points.
Finals: Week 4 Thursday morning. Can't really remember the format, but mainly comprised of fill in the blanks, short answer questions and 2 bonus questions. Note that you will not get back your finals exam scripts. You can only view your final grade once you touch down in your homeland (around 2 weeks time for results to be published on their own 'IVLE')
Money and Banking:
Prof: Mr Lee ( I forgot his full name, cos we never ever call the profs by their names)
Class hours: 1pm to 4pm
Content and class routine:
Money and banking was quite popular also as it hit the maximum class size of 36 quite quickly during course registration. Covered simple interest rate and money related stuff. Very basic things that I think would be covered in an introductory course to money and banking. Prof was a bit monotonous and we didn't listen much in his lecture. The Korean oppas sitting beside me were all watching baseball, rugby matches and MMA fights with their laptops. My Kazak friends were sleeping in lecture the whole 4 weeks (minus 2 lectures which they didn't attend)
About 2.30pm- 3pm, Prof Lee will get us to break into our small groups of about 5 and do the questions at the back of the textbook (which he photocopied for us the questions)
Then around 3.20pm, he will randomly call out a group to present their answers on the board to the entire class, but sometimes we were just too lazy to do it and Prof Lee wasn't that strict though so you do not need to worry so much about this component.
Prof Lee is super adorable that my friend asked him to take selfie before she exited the exam hall. Everyone was trying to hide their laughter cos Prof smiled so adorably to the camera and even asked my friend which is the camera black dot to look at (:
Midterm: Prof Lee was so 'on' about his midterms that he prepared 6 different papers labelled A-F so that everyone around you will not get the same paper and we would not be able to copy each others' answers. Paper was fully MCQ though, so it wasn't that bad.
Finals: Similar to the midterms, with 6 different MCQ papers. I think he just jumbled up the questions, but all 40 questions were the same I guess. Similar to Uni exams, once you were done with the paper you can just leave. So if you complete it quickly means you can either end school early or have a long break before your next class (evening class).
Introduction to Sociology:
Prof: Kitsy Dixon
Class Hours: 4pm- 7pm (Very bad timing for class tbh)
Content and Class Routine:
This module actually scared me at the beginning because a graded essay assignment was given during the 2nd lesson and was due in 3 days time. Can you imagine, I went there as a freshie, not knowing anyone, not knowing how summer schools are supposed to be, and the first thing I needed to do was a graded Soci essay?
Turned out to be ok, thankfully as prof marked the essay very leniently. Every lesson had a discussion component so we were supposed to break into groups to discuss the topic for that day. Prof was quite strict about using phones in class and maintaining class order. So whoever did anything that broke her regulations meant getting lectured. During the first class she set her rules very strictly and expected us to follow her regulations (no phones in class, no sleeping, etc.)
We had an excursion session during one of the lessons where we went to the Emart at Wangsimni station to observe people's expressions, behaviour, etc. I did not manage to attend that session cos my friend and I had alternative plans *ahem*
We also watched videos about linking the sociological models and perceptions in our society tht
Class usually ended at 6.30pm and it was a good time head out for dinner with your friends.
Midterms: I can't remember much about what was covered in the midterms, but I remembered very clearly that Prof told us the paper is full MCQ but turned out that she tested a flow model which required precise labelling and I totally did not memorise everything in the flow model in term as I was out at one of the fieldtrips organised the day before.
But turned out to be not too bad although I had friends getting full marks for the paper. Prof Dixon just tested the main concepts to ensure we really understood the key definitions.
Finals: Very similar format to the midterms. Content covered is much wider.
All in all, I was very worried at first because the first lesson made me worry about passing the modules, especially for Money and Banking but I wasn't listening much to prof but was watching Running Man or The Return of Superman. But everything turned out fine. If you intend to get straight As for all your mods to be get the Top Student Award at the Graduation ceremony then please be more attentive in class.
To be honest, I think class hours are great for making new friends and learning a new culture. I had classmates that were from the U.S.A, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Netherlands, etc. It was a great experience conversing with them and getting to know their culture like.
Also, different Profs guest lectures each other's lessons so it was really cool getting to know more Professors. All of them were really really nice and tried not to give us work on Thursdays to allow us to enjoy the fieldtrips on Fridays and for us to enjoy our weekends. I really did not regret taking 3 modules in the end, as I still managed to use the time after my last class for bonding dinner with my international friends(:
If anyone has more queries, do feel free to comment below.
Feel free to share the blog with your friends that are considering/ in the midst of application to HISS!(:
Finally back again with HISS 2015 review, this time round on academic related issues.
It seems that my recent HISS post was quite popular, and I'm guessing its because people are now making plans for their summer break already.
General info:
- Hanyang University (HYU) offers modules with 3-credits (which is equivalent to NUS 4 MCs)
- During HISS, you can map up to a maximum of 3 modules back to NUS.
- Classes offered at HISS are in blocks of 3 hours
- First class starts at 9am, 2nd class at 1pm, 3rd at 4pm.
- IF IF IF you intend to go to Korea with the intention to explore the whole city and perhaps even travel to Jeju, JUST TAKE 2 MODULES ( I would personally recommend taking one in the morning and the other in the afternoon)
- There is a one hour lunch break in between the first and second class.
- You are free to travel anywhere around the school campus for lunch (or even out of school if you think you have enough time to fly out and fly back) but people normally just eat at the Business School Canteen (although the food menu on certain days suck; anyway, more on food in my next post! I'll introduce you to more school food- which many others do not know of)\
- Last lesson ends at 7pm which is a very sad timing since you end up spending your precious evening in class
- Professors are mainly from the States since most of the profs are from the partner universities of HISS (and their students from these partner universities actually gets free accommodation!!!)
- Don't worry, lessons are conducted fully in English
- Worried about passing the module? Don't worry, you'll need to try very hard to fail this module. And you can do so by skipping 2 or more lessons in your entire 4 weeks.
- Korean language modules are EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE. Do camp in front of your laptop early to reserve a space.
- Since the programme is a 4-week one, midterms are held on the 2nd week. (PLEASE DO NOT FREAK OUT, the midterms were not that bad)
- Clearly, finals would be held on the final week.
- Don't be worried if the midterms are all held on the same day (mine did) and I turned out fine.
Health Equity
Prof: Dr Sunshine Cowan from UCO
Class hours: 9am to 12pm
Content and class routine:
Content revolves around Epidemiology, how everything in your environment affects your health. Class is very interesting since Prof Cowan is very entertaining, and she is extremely kind and lovely. This module is great for people in NUS that want to map back as a Public Health module; perfect for Minors in PH.
We usually watch videos about the different areas in US and how living standards varies in the different parts of the world and how exactly do these differences affect the way we live and how it impacts our health.
Midterm: Week 2 morning. Fill in the blanks, MCQ and some short structured questions including 1 bonus question. Paper was out of 100 points.
Finals: Week 4 Thursday morning. Can't really remember the format, but mainly comprised of fill in the blanks, short answer questions and 2 bonus questions. Note that you will not get back your finals exam scripts. You can only view your final grade once you touch down in your homeland (around 2 weeks time for results to be published on their own 'IVLE')
Money and Banking:
Prof: Mr Lee ( I forgot his full name, cos we never ever call the profs by their names)
Class hours: 1pm to 4pm
Content and class routine:
Money and banking was quite popular also as it hit the maximum class size of 36 quite quickly during course registration. Covered simple interest rate and money related stuff. Very basic things that I think would be covered in an introductory course to money and banking. Prof was a bit monotonous and we didn't listen much in his lecture. The Korean oppas sitting beside me were all watching baseball, rugby matches and MMA fights with their laptops. My Kazak friends were sleeping in lecture the whole 4 weeks (minus 2 lectures which they didn't attend)
About 2.30pm- 3pm, Prof Lee will get us to break into our small groups of about 5 and do the questions at the back of the textbook (which he photocopied for us the questions)
Then around 3.20pm, he will randomly call out a group to present their answers on the board to the entire class, but sometimes we were just too lazy to do it and Prof Lee wasn't that strict though so you do not need to worry so much about this component.
Prof Lee is super adorable that my friend asked him to take selfie before she exited the exam hall. Everyone was trying to hide their laughter cos Prof smiled so adorably to the camera and even asked my friend which is the camera black dot to look at (:
Midterm: Prof Lee was so 'on' about his midterms that he prepared 6 different papers labelled A-F so that everyone around you will not get the same paper and we would not be able to copy each others' answers. Paper was fully MCQ though, so it wasn't that bad.
Finals: Similar to the midterms, with 6 different MCQ papers. I think he just jumbled up the questions, but all 40 questions were the same I guess. Similar to Uni exams, once you were done with the paper you can just leave. So if you complete it quickly means you can either end school early or have a long break before your next class (evening class).
Introduction to Sociology:
Prof: Kitsy Dixon
Class Hours: 4pm- 7pm (Very bad timing for class tbh)
Content and Class Routine:
This module actually scared me at the beginning because a graded essay assignment was given during the 2nd lesson and was due in 3 days time. Can you imagine, I went there as a freshie, not knowing anyone, not knowing how summer schools are supposed to be, and the first thing I needed to do was a graded Soci essay?
Turned out to be ok, thankfully as prof marked the essay very leniently. Every lesson had a discussion component so we were supposed to break into groups to discuss the topic for that day. Prof was quite strict about using phones in class and maintaining class order. So whoever did anything that broke her regulations meant getting lectured. During the first class she set her rules very strictly and expected us to follow her regulations (no phones in class, no sleeping, etc.)
We had an excursion session during one of the lessons where we went to the Emart at Wangsimni station to observe people's expressions, behaviour, etc. I did not manage to attend that session cos my friend and I had alternative plans *ahem*
We also watched videos about linking the sociological models and perceptions in our society tht
Class usually ended at 6.30pm and it was a good time head out for dinner with your friends.
Midterms: I can't remember much about what was covered in the midterms, but I remembered very clearly that Prof told us the paper is full MCQ but turned out that she tested a flow model which required precise labelling and I totally did not memorise everything in the flow model in term as I was out at one of the fieldtrips organised the day before.
But turned out to be not too bad although I had friends getting full marks for the paper. Prof Dixon just tested the main concepts to ensure we really understood the key definitions.
Finals: Very similar format to the midterms. Content covered is much wider.
All in all, I was very worried at first because the first lesson made me worry about passing the modules, especially for Money and Banking but I wasn't listening much to prof but was watching Running Man or The Return of Superman. But everything turned out fine. If you intend to get straight As for all your mods to be get the Top Student Award at the Graduation ceremony then please be more attentive in class.
To be honest, I think class hours are great for making new friends and learning a new culture. I had classmates that were from the U.S.A, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Netherlands, etc. It was a great experience conversing with them and getting to know their culture like.
Also, different Profs guest lectures each other's lessons so it was really cool getting to know more Professors. All of them were really really nice and tried not to give us work on Thursdays to allow us to enjoy the fieldtrips on Fridays and for us to enjoy our weekends. I really did not regret taking 3 modules in the end, as I still managed to use the time after my last class for bonding dinner with my international friends(:
If anyone has more queries, do feel free to comment below.
Feel free to share the blog with your friends that are considering/ in the midst of application to HISS!(:
Monday, 14 December 2015
[School] NUS Module Review AY15/16 Y2S2 EC3101
Hey readers,
Am back with writing module reviews! I am going to do a review for EC3101, Microeconomic Analysis I which I have taken for AY15/16 Sem 1.
Lecturer: Timothy Wong
Lectures: Tim just completed his phD in June/July and this is the first time he is teaching EC3101. I would say he was not bad at conducting his lectures, except for always having 1hour (prematurely ended) lectures instead of 1.5hour ones and that isn't too cool since it was an 8am lecture (ok, maybe minus the 'more time for breakfast' happiness)
Tim was quite clear in his explanations (for the lectures that I attended, 3 out of all 12 or 13 lectures) but sometimes he is not clear of the content (i.e when a student poses a question, he cannot figure out how to solve it on the spot). Also, every lecture slide definitely has at least one error (which makes it troublesome if you intend to skip the lecture/ you're not paying close attention) Although most of the time he will re-upload the newly amended lecture slides, sometimes he doesn't.
All in all, not too bad for lectures as self reading works for this sem's 3101. Reading the recommended textbook should suffice. All decent except for 8am lectures!?!?! (Don't ever choose 8am lectures especially if you stay in the East)
Tutor: Song Hong
Tutorials: This tutor honestly isn't that good. I think she is knowledgeable but does not know how to share her knowledge and problem solving skills to us.
The strong Chinese accent makes it even harder to understand her in addition to her being soft spoken. She goes through the short problem sets super quickly. We once ended tutorial in about 15 minutes (so there was a guy that came in late for tutorial ended up attending tutorial for 3-5 minutes)
Tutorial problem sets' difficulty is decent. Definitely some slightly challenging questions are added in. However, questions are different from what you might encounter in the midterms and finals, which means they were not too helpful in revision.
Graded Homeworks: There were 2 graded homework. First one was similar to the tutorial questions, however the 2nd one was challenging because his instructions wasn't clear. (One moment there's U(K) the other moment there's U(x)) Both constitute 10% of final grade if I remembered correctly.
Midterms: He assumed that you still had knowledge of 2101 and tested on perfect complements which he did not cover at all in his 3101 lectures. All in all, manageable midterm difficulty.
Finals: TBH I cant remember what the finals tested on, but I only remembered that it was challenging and tested a lot on application. Not confident on my performance for finals though so I cant comment much. It wasn't at all similar to the tutorial problem sets.
Updated: Tim Wong is currently still lecturing EC3101 and is also the prof for EC3322. No longer Eric Fesselmeyer for Industrial Organisation I. Tim Wong is ok given it is his first attempt conducting a module.
Generally, if you like microeconomics, you should be able to score well. I did quite badly for 2101 but still did decently in 3101, so if you're worried, don't be. I personally felt that the content was pretty interesting.
Am back with writing module reviews! I am going to do a review for EC3101, Microeconomic Analysis I which I have taken for AY15/16 Sem 1.
Lecturer: Timothy Wong
Lectures: Tim just completed his phD in June/July and this is the first time he is teaching EC3101. I would say he was not bad at conducting his lectures, except for always having 1hour (prematurely ended) lectures instead of 1.5hour ones and that isn't too cool since it was an 8am lecture (ok, maybe minus the 'more time for breakfast' happiness)
Tim was quite clear in his explanations (for the lectures that I attended, 3 out of all 12 or 13 lectures) but sometimes he is not clear of the content (i.e when a student poses a question, he cannot figure out how to solve it on the spot). Also, every lecture slide definitely has at least one error (which makes it troublesome if you intend to skip the lecture/ you're not paying close attention) Although most of the time he will re-upload the newly amended lecture slides, sometimes he doesn't.
All in all, not too bad for lectures as self reading works for this sem's 3101. Reading the recommended textbook should suffice. All decent except for 8am lectures!?!?! (Don't ever choose 8am lectures especially if you stay in the East)
Tutor: Song Hong
Tutorials: This tutor honestly isn't that good. I think she is knowledgeable but does not know how to share her knowledge and problem solving skills to us.
The strong Chinese accent makes it even harder to understand her in addition to her being soft spoken. She goes through the short problem sets super quickly. We once ended tutorial in about 15 minutes (so there was a guy that came in late for tutorial ended up attending tutorial for 3-5 minutes)
Tutorial problem sets' difficulty is decent. Definitely some slightly challenging questions are added in. However, questions are different from what you might encounter in the midterms and finals, which means they were not too helpful in revision.
Graded Homeworks: There were 2 graded homework. First one was similar to the tutorial questions, however the 2nd one was challenging because his instructions wasn't clear. (One moment there's U(K) the other moment there's U(x)) Both constitute 10% of final grade if I remembered correctly.
Midterms: He assumed that you still had knowledge of 2101 and tested on perfect complements which he did not cover at all in his 3101 lectures. All in all, manageable midterm difficulty.
Finals: TBH I cant remember what the finals tested on, but I only remembered that it was challenging and tested a lot on application. Not confident on my performance for finals though so I cant comment much. It wasn't at all similar to the tutorial problem sets.
Updated: Tim Wong is currently still lecturing EC3101 and is also the prof for EC3322. No longer Eric Fesselmeyer for Industrial Organisation I. Tim Wong is ok given it is his first attempt conducting a module.
Generally, if you like microeconomics, you should be able to score well. I did quite badly for 2101 but still did decently in 3101, so if you're worried, don't be. I personally felt that the content was pretty interesting.
Friday, 25 September 2015
[School] NUS AY14/15 Year 1 Semester 1 Module Review: EC2104
Hi all,
Back with module reviews again!
Many people are asking me if EC2104 should be taken in Y1S1 or Y1S2. My stand is to take it in Y1S1. When I took it in AY14/15 Y1S1, I took it without knowing what it was about. It sounded a little tough from the module description and my Econs senior was telling me that Roy Chen is a good lecturer, which was why I decided to take it in Sem 1 to make full use of my free S/Us! (Thank god for gradeless first semester!)
EC2104
Lecturer: Roy Chen, the Asian guy with really strong American accent. He was a decent lecturer, I wouldn't say he was a perfect lecturer (seriously, define perfect..)
Workload: Decent. Just the usual take home and discuss in class: problem sets. Presentation in tutorial is a must to get your participation marks. Try to discuss with your friends the answers, cos correct answers definitely help in presentation scores (although the profs always says that accuracy isn't important, its the effort that counts...)
Difficulty: Not that difficult. It might seem a little confusing if you do not read your lecturers before classes, but I usually read through beforehand to roughly know what that lecture is about. And then read through it again after lecture. Everything will make much more sense if you choose to study that way. It worked well for me.
Tutor: I forgot his name, But I felt like he totally rolled out of bed to attend tutorials. Dressed in slippers and bermudas, not that appropriate an attire for a Teaching Assistant (given the amount of pay they earn)
Textbook: Essential Economics textbook which I did not touch at all although Roy kept telling the class that the textbook has important information. My friend went for one-on-one consultation with Roy and told me that he said the textbook isn't important. Focus on lecture slides, which I have always believe is the best resource for revision.
Exams: Not that tough for midterms since it was 15 MCQs and the average was about 9/15? I got 12/15 although that was totally unexpected. If you read through the lecture slides, redo your tutorials and attempted the past midterm papers, the midterm shouldnt be a problem for most, unless you were careless.
Finals was nerve-wrecking because I only knew how to do 2 complete questions. There was this theorem in the last few parts of the lecture (which I obviously don't remember its name) which I did not understand completely, and which I was praying will not come out. Ended up, almost all questions involved the use of that formula/ theorem ): I just attempted all the questions to the best of my ability, and at least not submit an empty, non-attempted question paper although I had no idea how to use the formula/theorem.
Thankfully, I did decently well for this module and did not need to S/U it. It is a fairly manageable module and I personally feel you should take this module in Y1S1 with your economics intro module. Once you have taken this module, the later modules like EC2102 and EC2101 will have some overlapping content(:
Cheers,
Rachel
Back with module reviews again!
Many people are asking me if EC2104 should be taken in Y1S1 or Y1S2. My stand is to take it in Y1S1. When I took it in AY14/15 Y1S1, I took it without knowing what it was about. It sounded a little tough from the module description and my Econs senior was telling me that Roy Chen is a good lecturer, which was why I decided to take it in Sem 1 to make full use of my free S/Us! (Thank god for gradeless first semester!)
EC2104
Lecturer: Roy Chen, the Asian guy with really strong American accent. He was a decent lecturer, I wouldn't say he was a perfect lecturer (seriously, define perfect..)
Workload: Decent. Just the usual take home and discuss in class: problem sets. Presentation in tutorial is a must to get your participation marks. Try to discuss with your friends the answers, cos correct answers definitely help in presentation scores (although the profs always says that accuracy isn't important, its the effort that counts...)
Difficulty: Not that difficult. It might seem a little confusing if you do not read your lecturers before classes, but I usually read through beforehand to roughly know what that lecture is about. And then read through it again after lecture. Everything will make much more sense if you choose to study that way. It worked well for me.
Tutor: I forgot his name, But I felt like he totally rolled out of bed to attend tutorials. Dressed in slippers and bermudas, not that appropriate an attire for a Teaching Assistant (given the amount of pay they earn)
Textbook: Essential Economics textbook which I did not touch at all although Roy kept telling the class that the textbook has important information. My friend went for one-on-one consultation with Roy and told me that he said the textbook isn't important. Focus on lecture slides, which I have always believe is the best resource for revision.
Exams: Not that tough for midterms since it was 15 MCQs and the average was about 9/15? I got 12/15 although that was totally unexpected. If you read through the lecture slides, redo your tutorials and attempted the past midterm papers, the midterm shouldnt be a problem for most, unless you were careless.
Finals was nerve-wrecking because I only knew how to do 2 complete questions. There was this theorem in the last few parts of the lecture (which I obviously don't remember its name) which I did not understand completely, and which I was praying will not come out. Ended up, almost all questions involved the use of that formula/ theorem ): I just attempted all the questions to the best of my ability, and at least not submit an empty, non-attempted question paper although I had no idea how to use the formula/theorem.
Thankfully, I did decently well for this module and did not need to S/U it. It is a fairly manageable module and I personally feel you should take this module in Y1S1 with your economics intro module. Once you have taken this module, the later modules like EC2102 and EC2101 will have some overlapping content(:
Cheers,
Rachel
Wednesday, 27 May 2015
[School] NUS AY14/15 Year 1 Semester 1 Module Review: EC1101E
Dear Readers,
Cheers,
Rachel
I'm back with module reviews for my first sem ever in NUS!
Modules taken:
- EC1101E
- LSM1301
- EL1101E
- SSA2204
- EC2104
I am going to dedicate this post purely for EC1101E
An exposure module for Economics.
Overall: You might have read other reviews that it is very similar to A level Economics content, however, I would say everything in A levels including some new concepts like the prisoner's dilemma was included. Class is very big, but the 3 hour lecture (which started only in my Y1 Sem1) was a very bad idea.
Lectures: I would think it is important to listen in the lectures, as it allows easier comprehension of the topics. Although I have to agree, 3 hours is really crazy, Dr Ong Ee Cheng was really nice and she always had at least one video/ animation for lecture. It helped a lot, both to wake up me up and keeping me entertained in class, as well as for understanding the topic she was on that day. Dr Ong taught the first half of the semester, while the other guy (I can't remember his name), taught the second half.
Dr Ong covered Microeconomics, while the other male lecturer taught Macroeconomics. I personally preferred the micro part as it was more similar to A level Econs. Macro on the other hand, involved more calculation like calculating the GDP deflator, CPI, Inflation rate, etc. Furthermore, the lecturer wasn't as good as Dr Ong. (I think he tried to hard to be funny and crack really lame jobs- that hardly anyone ever laughs at). (OH I REMEMBERED HIS NAME, Mr Chan Kok Hoe)
Lecture content was manageable (if you paid attention). Dr Ong kept emphasizing that the Textbook: Principles of Economics by Mankiw was very important and urged us to get the latest edition which was published in 2014. I obviously didn't as I felt it was a waste of money. Thankfully my friend gave me the ebook, and I had the older version in hardcopy (blue and white copy) since my cousin passed hers to mine. I referred more to the hardcopy one as I didn't like reading from the ebook (I suspect I'm a detractor of technology)
The textbook was really good and useful! A must get and it was useful for the weekly quizzes (ungraded) before each week's lecture.
Tutorials: I think the tutorials were ok. At the start the tutorial questions were rather manageable, but towards the end of the semester, I struggled a little with the questions and had blanks when i attended tutorials. My tutor was a young lady, Clarissa Ooi, and she made everyone present their answers on the board (based on a rotation basis). However, her explanations were not clear and she doesn't know much about EC1101E content as often she said that she will check back with the prof and email back the questions we posed. Also, she often ended tutorials late (instead of the usual 45min, it became exactly 1hour), therefore there were some people who would leave class earlier to head for their next lesson).
I heard that the other tutors provided very clear explanation to every single question especially those questions that were common mistakes and provided tips on how to avoid those mistakes. It was a pity I did not get those better tutors which meant I needed to work harder on my own.
Conclusion: EC1101E is not hard to score, but you have to put in a lot of hard work to get at least an A as the midterms and finals were not too tough. They were manageable. So long as you have studied well, memorising and understanding the logic behind the graphs, how to explain shift in demand and supply, how taxes and subsidies affects the curves, how to compute GDP deflator, etc., you should do just fine for this module!
On a side note, for my semester, Dr Ong made us get The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford as well as the Undercover Economist Strikes Back. I got only the former book, and read it diligently (although it was purely optional, I felt that it was a very interesting book to read which strengthened and helped in understanding the concepts, and why certain people make certain decision (eg. in businesses)
I did decently well, although I expected a higher grade. I guess this module was really competitive and especially since it was a large cohort, the distribution of grades were more bell-curved and follows approximately a normal distribution. (I heard one of my RI friends attended only one lecture and slept in tutorials got an A for the module in the end)
Hope the review helps!
Hope the review helps!
Cheers,
Rachel
Sunday, 24 May 2015
[School] Post A levels to Uni- being an Economics major (NUS AY14/15 Y1)
Dear readers,
Decided to make my blog alive once again. I'm such a slothful person, but I'm really keen to help people out there who really needs help and are struggling/ confused with life.
I did decent for A levels in 2013. No straight As, disappointing grades for my strongest subjects, I felt that it was the end of life. How am i going to continue on my studies in a more highly respected faculty in a local university?
My mother was exploding into madness when I told her of my results. It wasn't worth celebrating, definitely, but I think I deserved at least some sort of encouragement from her, since I wasn't in the best of mood after receiving my results. I was definitely delighted at the amazing numbers of perfect scorers in the cohort and also the number of friends who managed to head up on stage to shake Ms Lai's hands, however, inside me, I was sort of shaken at my mediocre results.
Where am I supposed to go after the Horrifying A levels journey?
I could get into at least 2 of the major Faculties in NUS, NTU and SMU, but that didn't seem good enough for my mother, who's a very traditional parent that wants her child to be at least a doctor, lawyer, dentist, or whichever career equivalent.
I am very strong in Math and the Sciences, however, I couldnt imagine myself doing H2 Chemistry/ Biology/ Mathematics at a higher level at the University. Furthermore, I personally feel that the prospects of a Life Science major isn't as good as other more generalised majors. Probably because I still do not have a real goal in life, I wanted a major which was more flexible and general. (And I heard Math at the University level deals with 20 over levels of differentiation- and I couldnt imagine doing that for 3 or 4 years) Which was why I decided to do Economics at University. It involved Mathematics, which Im generally better at (compared to the other subjects).
My mother actually was quite insistent on sending me overseas to do Medicine, Dentistry or Law, but I kept telling her the school fees are not cheap and I have a very strong emotional attachment to both my mother and grandmother (which makes it even harder for me to leave the country for long periods of time- even a 5 day overseas trip makes me a little homesick *covers face in embarrassment*). So, NUS Economics was what I chose in the end.
Semester 1 went rather smoothly. I'll post modules reviews later on in other posts. I didnt join any CCA or external activities in school. I didn't really know how the university timetable is, so i just simply seeked the advice of my seniors who told me that I should have a 2 hour break in the middle of the day to have lunch with my friends.
I TOTALLY REGRETTED IT.
Although this time was useful for revision, I think 1hour is sufficient for lunch, especially if your previous lesson before your lunch break is a lecture (since lectures end 30minutes beforehand). I had a 4 day work week, with 2 hour lunch break everyday except Thursday where I had only 3hours of lessons (so i just placed it back-to-back). I felt it was a waste of time as I ended school (Monday-Wednesday) at 5pm!! *inserts sad face*
Sem 2 was slightly tougher and more hectic for me. It was also a demoralising semester. After learning from my 'mistakes' in timetable management from Sem 1, I decided to not have lunch breaks in between at all, and made full use of the 30 minutes after lectures to get food. This way, I managed to squeeze and pack my timetable into a 3day week, where I worked on the other 2 weekdays.
If you're thinking my plan is actually a good idea, frankly, 30 minutes is definitely NOT ENOUGH IF the timing falls between 12pm- 1pm, as this is the peak lunch hour for everyone (office staff, lecturers, profs, students). It's people mountain people sea at all eateries and canteens throughout the university compound. This is why I had to miss lunch for most of my days, and if lucky enough, get a waffle from The Deck (provided there was a short queue)
This Sem 2 was tough as it was either I understood the topics, but COULD NOT SCORE. OR, I could not understand the topics at all. OR, the module is too competitive (especially for open book examinations)
P.S If you think that open book exams are easy to score and striaghtforward, which does not require revision beforehand, then YOU'RE WRONG. I thought the answers would be straightforward, and I basically read through my lecture notes twice (to know roughly where to get the answer from), but I was stunned during the exams.
I did really badly for that midterm because:
Firstly, the lectures were not webcasted, and I often got to lecture slightly late so I probably missed some information here and there.
Secondly, the lecturer was Caucasian, and I have some difficulties understanding his accent. Thirdly, I didnt organise my notes properly (it was basically by lectures- but some topics were cross-listed!!) Lastly,, I was too lazy to search for the answers during the exams cos I had a 2cm thick notes plus cheat sheet from my friend (but still couldnt find the answers *facepalm*), which made me kinda give up nearing the end of the exam when almost 40% of the cohort have left the exam hall.
The midterms was 50%, and basically, 50% was gone- because of the reasons listed above (HAHA)
Basically, Economics is interesting as it involved models, graphs, and lots of mathematics. If you're interested to know more about the modules. Stay tuned to my reviews which I'll post really soon for Y1 Sem 1 and Y1 Sem 2 for AY14/15. Thank you for reading!
Cheers,
Rachel
My mother was exploding into madness when I told her of my results. It wasn't worth celebrating, definitely, but I think I deserved at least some sort of encouragement from her, since I wasn't in the best of mood after receiving my results. I was definitely delighted at the amazing numbers of perfect scorers in the cohort and also the number of friends who managed to head up on stage to shake Ms Lai's hands, however, inside me, I was sort of shaken at my mediocre results.
Where am I supposed to go after the Horrifying A levels journey?
I could get into at least 2 of the major Faculties in NUS, NTU and SMU, but that didn't seem good enough for my mother, who's a very traditional parent that wants her child to be at least a doctor, lawyer, dentist, or whichever career equivalent.
I am very strong in Math and the Sciences, however, I couldnt imagine myself doing H2 Chemistry/ Biology/ Mathematics at a higher level at the University. Furthermore, I personally feel that the prospects of a Life Science major isn't as good as other more generalised majors. Probably because I still do not have a real goal in life, I wanted a major which was more flexible and general. (And I heard Math at the University level deals with 20 over levels of differentiation- and I couldnt imagine doing that for 3 or 4 years) Which was why I decided to do Economics at University. It involved Mathematics, which Im generally better at (compared to the other subjects).
My mother actually was quite insistent on sending me overseas to do Medicine, Dentistry or Law, but I kept telling her the school fees are not cheap and I have a very strong emotional attachment to both my mother and grandmother (which makes it even harder for me to leave the country for long periods of time- even a 5 day overseas trip makes me a little homesick *covers face in embarrassment*). So, NUS Economics was what I chose in the end.
Semester 1 went rather smoothly. I'll post modules reviews later on in other posts. I didnt join any CCA or external activities in school. I didn't really know how the university timetable is, so i just simply seeked the advice of my seniors who told me that I should have a 2 hour break in the middle of the day to have lunch with my friends.
I TOTALLY REGRETTED IT.
Although this time was useful for revision, I think 1hour is sufficient for lunch, especially if your previous lesson before your lunch break is a lecture (since lectures end 30minutes beforehand). I had a 4 day work week, with 2 hour lunch break everyday except Thursday where I had only 3hours of lessons (so i just placed it back-to-back). I felt it was a waste of time as I ended school (Monday-Wednesday) at 5pm!! *inserts sad face*
Sem 2 was slightly tougher and more hectic for me. It was also a demoralising semester. After learning from my 'mistakes' in timetable management from Sem 1, I decided to not have lunch breaks in between at all, and made full use of the 30 minutes after lectures to get food. This way, I managed to squeeze and pack my timetable into a 3day week, where I worked on the other 2 weekdays.
If you're thinking my plan is actually a good idea, frankly, 30 minutes is definitely NOT ENOUGH IF the timing falls between 12pm- 1pm, as this is the peak lunch hour for everyone (office staff, lecturers, profs, students). It's people mountain people sea at all eateries and canteens throughout the university compound. This is why I had to miss lunch for most of my days, and if lucky enough, get a waffle from The Deck (provided there was a short queue)
This Sem 2 was tough as it was either I understood the topics, but COULD NOT SCORE. OR, I could not understand the topics at all. OR, the module is too competitive (especially for open book examinations)
P.S If you think that open book exams are easy to score and striaghtforward, which does not require revision beforehand, then YOU'RE WRONG. I thought the answers would be straightforward, and I basically read through my lecture notes twice (to know roughly where to get the answer from), but I was stunned during the exams.
I did really badly for that midterm because:
Firstly, the lectures were not webcasted, and I often got to lecture slightly late so I probably missed some information here and there.
Secondly, the lecturer was Caucasian, and I have some difficulties understanding his accent. Thirdly, I didnt organise my notes properly (it was basically by lectures- but some topics were cross-listed!!) Lastly,, I was too lazy to search for the answers during the exams cos I had a 2cm thick notes plus cheat sheet from my friend (but still couldnt find the answers *facepalm*), which made me kinda give up nearing the end of the exam when almost 40% of the cohort have left the exam hall.
The midterms was 50%, and basically, 50% was gone- because of the reasons listed above (HAHA)
Basically, Economics is interesting as it involved models, graphs, and lots of mathematics. If you're interested to know more about the modules. Stay tuned to my reviews which I'll post really soon for Y1 Sem 1 and Y1 Sem 2 for AY14/15. Thank you for reading!
Cheers,
Rachel
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