Comments on: University places – numbers don’t add up

By: fornetti

fornetti — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:03:41 +0000

I do not believe this

By: Singaporespirit

Singaporespirit — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 01:39:06 +0000

How can ChannelNewsAsia allow such a misquote to be taken real where the fact is not verified from the source. The readers were deceived into believing that lie. There is a lot of cover-up nowadays from our media. Really sad and sorry to say that their integrity in the public eye is belittled.

By: quitacet

quitacet — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 19:16:24 +0000

>>MIT website stated clearly that “International citizens” comprises only 8% of the undergraduate student profile!!>>

40% is for total student population inc. graduate students. You should also adjust the numbers upward for new immigrants ie first-generation or zero-generation americans.

By: jon

jon — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:23:38 +0000

ChannelNewsAsia (July 19th, by Pearl Forss) lied when they said "Top universities in the world, such as MIT, have more than 40 percent foreign students". (Recall that their context was made to support the govt's stance on why our universities reserved 20% of the undergraduate seats for foreigners?) MIT website stated clearly that "International citizens" comprises only 8% of the undergraduate student profile!!

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 16:00:44 +0000

Ah, clarification by MOE – 4,218 is the actual number.

Add that to est. 14,000 local students, and the proportion of foreigners rises to 23%. Of course, acceptances are not the same as offers, so it is possible that the final tally will be close to the 20% target.

By: RE Clarifications on University Admission « Winter Is Coming

RE Clarifications on University Admission « Winter Is Coming — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 17:24:19 +0000

[...] Tan and Sze Hian have both analysed the proportion of foreigners in the local universities and from their posts it [...]

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 16:37:48 +0000

If the combined first year intakes of the 3 universities is 15,000 (e.g. 6,000 each for NUS and NTU + 3,000 for SMU), that would mean the foreign intake of 987 is at best less than 7%. If the intake is 12,000, the foreign intake is at best slightly more than 8%.

987 sounds incredibly low.

By: shoestring

shoestring — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 09:42:36 +0000

I think using statistics to justify or prove that priority is given to Singaporeans doesn’t hold water at all. Giving priority has nothing to do with how many or the percentage of applicants are admitted. Giving priority to a certain group of people means showing preferential treatment eg. a Singaporean is admitted even though his qualifications are inferior to that of a foreigner competing for the same place.

To be convincing, the authorities will have to be transparent about admission criteria applied to foreigners vs Singaporeans and show that “preferential treatment” has been given to Singaporeans either through more relaxed criteria, or or some other means that give Singaporeans an advantage in the admission process.

Throwing figures around is only wayang.

By: at82

at82 — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 05:37:17 +0000

Maybe these other foreign students are scholarship holders?

If it is so, then the figures are technically correct given that these scholarships holders NEED NOT apply to local unis to get their place.

By: Urban Rant

Urban Rant — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 05:11:40 +0000

What is the criteria of offering places to students? Based purely on grades?

Are local students given an unfair advantage because more places are set aside for them?

Or are foreigners favoured to support a government policy and also that they pay higher fees?