Outreach talks
2 outreach talks at the same evening on Friday: RJC and NYJC (at NUS level). (Can you beat that?) We split ourselves into 2 teams.
NYJC: A massive event with about 900 parents and students in the school hall. No presentations, just went direct to good old Q&A. Several questions were fielded. What impressed me was, the School actually bothered to help to translate Q&A into Chinese for the benefit of some parents. Felt it was a nice gesture on the part of the School. Majority of the questions was at NUS level, largely on admissions. However, there was a specific question on NUS Business School's 3+1 years vs. NTU's 3 years (see one of Thesis vs CP earlier discussion on the blog ;-) By the time I left NYJC, it was 10pm *yawn*
RJC: Heard that there's only one word to describe Leonard in RJC - Impressive!
However, I was rather disturbed when I heard that SMU mentioned that 60% (or was it 80%? understand recently this 60 or 80% figure has been making its rounds in outreach talks) of students who were offered the 3 local universities chose SMU. If I were in SMU, I'll hesitate to stand by this figure, simply because I know that this is misleading. For a start, this is based on a fundamental assumption that students will apply for all 3 universities.
Since being in the School, I have already come across a number of very good students who did not apply to all 3 universities, simply because they know very well that they are confident and good enough to get into their top choice.
Likewise, to be fair (I prided myself as being objective), there are students out there who are bent and dead-set in going to NTU and nowhere else.
Like the question posed above in NYJC. The student and her parents who were enquiring on behalf of her elder sister, came up to me personally after the Q&A session. Never once was SMU featured in our conversation, the consideration was solely between NUS and Nanyang.
Let's not forget another assumption, comparative offers have to be made by all 3 local universities. In NUS, both Economics and Social Science are in FASS, and Computing in SOC.
As I understand, the modus operandi and common understanding between the 3 local universities with regards to common information shared among the 3 universities is which university the student will be going in the end, not their course. I stand corrected.
In the same breath, let's not forget another assumption, what if students are being offered not their top choice, but are offered other courses other than their preferred courses?
There are just too many unresolved and unanswered questions.......
Analytical by nature, just too many considerations to make a bold claim and statement.
Bragging is one thing. Objective as I hope to be, the young institution has come far and has come of age. Like a wise age-old Chinese proverb and saying, 上得山多，终遇虎 (when one visits the mountain den once too much, one will finally meet the tiger).
Are we sending the right signals to the students, who hold the institution and the school as role models? To make students proud of their school. I am concerned are we presenting the full picture?
Like the fish-farming tale ;-) which is also making its rounds in outreach school talks, I am concerned how we can get this message clearly across without sounding defensive and confrontational. How do we correct misleading information and claims? Anything we do may appear to be knee-jerk reaction and response, and make us look uncool for a 100-year old institution, and I know that this is what the competitor is thinking and exploiting. This is a delicate situation.