Originally Posted by
BOSishome
Hello Singaporeans!
I am a student at Rice University in Houston, TX, USA and I have the opportunity to study at NUS from January 2017-May 2017.
I am studying economics, and NUS seems to have a good program in that field.
However, I am wondering if anyone could comment on the student culture at NUS? Did anyone here attend NUS? Would it be difficult for one to make friends coming in as an American?
For what it's worth, I do not speak any Mandarin or Malay. However, from what I can gather that shouldn't be too much of an issue.
Any comments would be most appreciated!
Thank you!
Everything is more expensive than the States (ok the hawker centres aren't) but generally things that you take for granted in the States like American food (pizzas), cars are expensive. Unless you are from a wealthy family, don't even think about getting a car. They are crazy crazy expensive.
Having studied abroad and worked in Singapore, one observation I would have is that the students here take study way more seriously than I have seen in Western countries.
This is an ultra competitive country when it comes to education (and I think that can be said for a lot of Asian countries), so don't be surprised if you see students working all day long. When I was at university half the kids went lectures regularly, and most spent their time at the student bar.