I realise this may be a little late, but here's basically what you need for direct school admission. The requirements for each JC (and poly?) may vary a little, such as NJC which requires you to take a General Ability Test and an Academic Abilities Test, though these three fundamental aspects of your application will generally remain the same:
1) The Application Form (well, duh) & Secondary School Results
2) Personal Portfolio of Achievements
3) Personal Statement
I can't really say much about
the application form, mostly due to the fact that it's quite blatant and well, stated point-blank. If you're really blur and you don't know where to get this from, just check the JC websites and click 'Admissions', and the link to their DSA.
For your
secondary school results, they generally just require your secondary 3 overall scores and secondary 4 mid year results, but if you're like me and only your sec 1 and sec 2 results look fabulous, then just dump in everything, but place the secondary 3 and 4 results on top (alternatively, you can be as kiasu and tabulate all your scores nicely into an easily-read table). To show evidence for this, you just simply photocopy your report book or results slips and get it
certified by your school (through your teachers or at the general office).
As for the
personal portfolio of achievements, the categorization of your achievements will be up to you (unless otherwise stated by the school, such as for ACS(I) IBDP applications). This categorization may be as personal as 'expressive' and 'assertives' or by the general 'academics', 'performing arts', and 'sports', or whatever else you feel suits your personal list best.
I usually find that having a list of all your achievements in the front (something like a contents page) will be helpful, followed by your personal portfolio of reflections and brief summaries of each event, annexed to the respective PHOTOCOPIED certificate and other evidence you might find necessary. Through your personal portfolio, you may also include things like exemplary pieces of work and personal hobbies or odd things you may be absolutely passionate about (unless you're a necrophiliac or something of that sort, then that's a different thing altogether) to bring out the fact that you do have a life! And, that... well, that's up to you to bs about in your reflections. ^^
Points to note;-
Nice pictures through your portfolio will also be a major plus point, but it's strongly recommended you don't go off the net taking random photos from deviantart, flickr or likewise, unless it's by you or (with permission) your friend's.
-
Highlighting things you want to be noticed will be useful, but do so tactfully so your personal portfolio won't turn out totally florescent pink, yellow, orange or green.
- Have a
foreword to your entire portfolio, like an introduction to showcase something that ties up and links all the contents.
- NO shiny paper.
- NO tacky fonts, like curlz and ninjafont and whatnot. Keep your
fonts fairly consistent and have a maximum variety of 4-5 fonts through your entire portfolio.
- Have a good sense of both quality and quantity (i.e. don't spam a whole chunk of over 10 physics tests because you always get 90 to 100%)
Your
personal statement must, of course, show the school
why they should take you. I'd recommend analysing each JC's culture and school motto, mission, vision et cetera to figure out what kind of students they look for, especially if you're applying to a specialised system such as the Humanities Programme. Ensure that your thoughts are well organised and address any question that they might have posed throughout your entire essay. If you really can't figure out how, and you have to talk about some issue or such, paul's wheel of reasoning may come in helpful.
Have a punchline, know what you're talking about, and to satisfy your word limit, emphasize on the economy of words. Your written work doesn't have to be spammed with longer words like 'quintessential' and 'avoirdupois', stick to simple words used effectively; you're not a lawyer, you're a student, and you want your personal statement to be understood. You might also want to beware having too unctuous an essay or politically correct, because there'll be many people who send in those, and they're not very fun to read after a while. Though, still, remember to censor the less school-ish concepts, like controversial stands on religion if you're applying to a mission school.
I can't really think of what else to write, but remember to choose your JC's wisely, and have some integrity; don't apply for a school you're not even considering going to. Check that your JC caters to your forte; like if you're an awesome violinist, don't join a school without an orchestra ._. Rember to plan
beyond your JC education to university as well, and check things like the oxford websites to see the various
course requirements in terms of subjects and such (i.e. if you plan on taking medicine, you need chem and another science, and look at this :O if you plan on taking law, you'd actually have an advantage if you took math).
Last but not least, goodluck (: and even if you don't get in through DSA, you'll still have JAE :D so, work hard!:D If you've any other queries or worries, or arguments against this post, tag!(:
- debb
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