SIM-UOL YEAR 1 :)

Hi there! I know there are many many posts about how studying in SIM-UOL is like, but I decided to write about my own feelings and opinions! 

I am currently a year 1 student under SIM-UOL, taking Account & Finance, but I plan to make a switch to Banking and Finance. 

I just got back my results yesterday! 

Introduction to Economics - 53 PHEW

Principles of Accounting - 74 YAY

Maths 1 - 55 sigh

Statistics 1 - 70 YAY

Banking & Finance - 38 BOOOO :(

Extremely elated that I passed the oh so dreadful Intro to Econs. But upset because I have to spend another 1k+ or even 2k to retake BnF. 

So how SIM-UOL works is we do not have a single project work, and our grades are 100% determined by the final paper in May-June. It is a better choice for people who:

1) dislikes group projects/works better individually

2) have a lot I MEAN A LOT of self discipline 

If not, people usually go for RMIT instead. BUT being in SIM-UOL it is very difficult to have a group of friends. Unless you attend the Freshmen Orientation Day AND Orientation Camp (which you have to pay arnd $70-$80). Thats your best chance to make a lot of friends. But if you're okay with being alone then that's another issue. I don't like being alone honestly but I didnt go for the FOC as I'm just not a camp person. And people in my class either already have their own friends or are rather unfriendly so... Oh well :(

Anyway. If I am not mistaken, in the past students are allowed to choose their lecturers during the SSCE (Timetable selection). But they have since hide the lecturer's name and show it as "lecturer". Probably because the less popular lecturers don't get enough students whereas the more popular ones get an influx of students. 

For me, I think I was quite lucky? I did my research and got the lecturers that I wanted! 

Manfred Ting for Intro to Econs

Koh Siew Min for Banking and Finance

Balwant Singh for POA

Bernard Ong for Maths 1

(Can't remember the name of my Stats 1 teacher but he was an Indian guy!) 

Not sure if you guys want to know about how I feel towards the lecturers? So I shall not say much unless necessary. But honestly, your lecturer is EXTREMELY important. The good ones make sure you have enough practice, and have a good understanding on the subject. The poorer ones just read everything on the notes/slides and it gets really boring and dry. 

Anyway. I am SO glad I passed Intro to Econs. It is really a killer, like what all the seniors are saying. The pre requisites for many modules in year2/3 requires you to pass Intro to Econs AND Maths 1. So make sure you pass this two modules! But that being said, it's definitely not easy to pass Intro to Econs. And what I can say is do all the past year papers. But Mr Amos' style is that he will not repeat the questions. So I guess just try to UNDERSTAND the concept. 

It's also not recommended to spot topics. People usually fail by doing so. Just study as many topics as you can! Focus on a few but don't entirely leave out any topic. 

Maths 1 and Stats 1 are both half units, so you are recommended to take them separately. For me I made a mistake when I was doing the SSCE, so I took both in the first half of the year. So I have 5 lessons per week, Monday-Wednesday! It was quite stressful because my Mondays and Tuesdays were really longgggg and tiring. But at least I have 4 days to rest! You can either squeeze your lessons into 3 days or spread them out! Whichever is more comfortable for you. Because I'm staying in Tampines, I didnt want to travel to SIM for so many days. 

Anyway attendance isn't really important. I guess as long as you have money it's fine? But try not to skip that often? For me I didn't really skip any lectures unless I was very tired because lecturers are important to me. There are no more tutorials, so if you want to learn you got to attend the lectures. 

I'm sorry this post is a little messy, I'm just typing whatever that comes to my mind! And sorry for any grammar mistakes, I don't write blogposts very often hahaha. Guess I'll stop here and continue when I think of anything else! :)

Feel free to leave any comments if you have any questions/enquiries!!! 

Thanks for reading!!!!

 

- T