Things to Do Now to Make Life Easier Later On

By: Chang Shi En (Class of 2019)

As students who are constantly overloaded with homework and extracurricular activities, time never seems to be on our side. Rather than waiting until the last-minute, it is always good to make preparations early on, no matter whether it is for academic or university/scholarship related matters.

Here are some tips that might be useful to you :

For school

1. Compile a list of essential notes that are “staples” early on.

Staples, like food, are things that never change, and things you will always need. My staples for each subject include:

• GP: Interchangeable words for paraphrasing

• Physics: Definitions

• Maths: Standard trigonometric conversions, differentials which are not in the formula booklet

• Chemistry: Organic chemistry reactions, solubility table

• Geography: Syllabus document

These function similar to a word bank. As I learned more, it grew. They would always be in my files when I studied because I would refer to them regularly. Everyone’s staples would be different depending on what you can remember and where you find difficulty learning. It saves you the hassle of flipping through pages and pages of notes when you are revising, allowing you to study more efficiently.

For university/scholarship applications

1. Do some form of reflection after any major event.

Events being things like competitions, symposiums, group projects, CCA events, performances, community service, school events etc. I understand that now not many of these may be happening, but don’t be disheartened. Non-formal events count. Initiatives within the school/ within your class/ within your group of friends. Things that you did that helped the community. Ask yourself these questions:

• What was my role? How did I contribute?

• What went well?

• What did not go well?

• How did I grow from this experience?

• What values/ morals/ attributes can be used to summarise my experience? (for example: fortitude/ good time management skills/ adaptability/ leadership) (This is arguably the most important. In the end it would be a lot better to write your personal statements in terms of personal attributes rather than events. After all, a personal statement is for them to learn about you, not just what you did)

These will help when you are writing things like personal statements, SGC (which is included in the certificate you receive when you get your A level grades. Your teacher will likely spice it up for you but generally the school expects you to write a draft first) and other testimonials.

I really wished I did this earlier because in the end I had to rush the reflection process to write my personal statements. Doing a quick reflection right after the event is over will help you remember the details better. Reflection takes time so starting early definitely helps.

2. Start your university application process early.

For me, I discovered that doing university and scholarship applications in the usual march window after I received my A Level results was so stressful. I had no motivation (no feels, basically) to look back and think about my JC life and I just wanted to relax after getting my results.

If your prelim results/ predicted grades and CV look alright, I would recommend that you apply early for scholarships and universities while you are still in NJ.

To me, doing interviews when you are still in the studying phase is the best. UK interviews for certain courses can be pretty content focused (for sciences at least) so having A level knowledge at the tips of your fingers will be better.

I had a scholarship interview for NUS a few months after A levels was over and the professor asked me content based questions which I would have been able to answer if I took the interview around A levels period. I only remembered after prompts from him and he was definitely not impressed, and I felt embarrassed. So yeah.

When you are still in school you have so many resources at your disposal. Your teachers can give really good advice. Thinking about what course you want to do earlier also helps to guide your focus in school (such as which subjects you need to work harder in to get into your desired course).

If you need things like referrals, testimonials from teachers etc, it is preferable to ask them as soon as possible so that they have ample time to prepare. And it is common courtesy to not leave things to the last minute before approaching them.

In general, if you clear this early, it saves a lot of hassle later on. I am so glad that I did most of my applications early. It did not take much time away from grinding for A levels and thinking about the future was a nice break every now and then from studying.

3. Keep all your certificates in one physical folder.

I always thought that most people did this but apparently not. I have one folder that holds all my certificates and result slips from secondary school to JC, so it makes retrieving things easy.

After this, I scanned all my certificates and saved copies onto my computer. In my opinion, the baseline would be to scan your result slips, all the documents that you receive when you get your A level result, a passport-sized photo and a copy of your IC or passport. Having scanned copies of everything makes applications simple because most applications ask for roughly the same things.

One thing I did was to upload them onto a google drive, or WhatsApp them to myself. There were situations where I was out of the house, or I did not have my computer with me, and I needed these documents ASAP for scholarship applications. Sometimes you just happen to overlook certain submission details, or forget about the deadlines of the scholarships until the very last minute. So, having copies on your mobile phone is a good safety net just in case you are in a pinch but need to submit the documents right away.

In times of uncertainty, it helps to have a few concrete things to do. Hopefully, this short list of mine can offer tangible advice to help you get things started.

Disclaimer:

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in this post are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of the school’s.