Preparing yourself for life on the NTU campus? Get a taste of what your future holds with this primer
by Derek Rodriguez / Illustrations by Vivian Lim
A FOR ACCOMMODATION
Spread your wings with your first nest at NTU. As a freshman, you are guaranteed a room in one of our 25 student halls on campus. Your place in hall is also a ticket to endless opportunities to build friendships and make memories that last a lifetime. There’s a reason why NTU is known as a residential campus – some 45% of NTU’s full-time student population call this place “home”.
B FOR BUS
Hop aboard NTU’s electric shuttles and get from hall to class and back, or to Pioneer MRT station. Learn more about the technology behind these silent shuttles at the Smart Mobility Centre on campus, which includes a showcase of Omnibus, an app you should download to track bus locations and ridership in real time. If you live in Ang Mo Kio, Sengkang, Tampines or other heartland areas, express services to the campus are available from MRT stations. Shuttle buses also help medical students commute between NTU’s main campus and the medical school campus in Novena.
C FOR CLASSROOMS
Welcome to the future of learning. Smart classrooms at the iconic buildings, The Arc and The Hive, enable the flipped method of learning where students view online lectures before coming to class for group discussions. CNN described The Hive as having redefined the traditional classroom and they might say the same about the new state-of-the-art mega learning studios at the Experimental Medicine Building that each house up to 210 students. With intelligent features like cameras with live feeds and sound-masking technology, they take cluster-style learning to new levels. That also means there’s never a dull moment in class.
D FOR DATA SCIENCE & AI
The digital world continues to take over our lives and the demand for data specialists is ever increasing. To get a foot into the industry, there’s no better place than NTU. Forbes placed NTU’s data science and artificial intelligence (AI) programme among the top 10 in the world, and US News & World Report ranks NTU second in the world in AI.
E FOR EXCHANGE
It will change you forever, they say. So most undergraduates opt to head overseas at least once for a semester of exchange. With partner universities in all corners of the globe, including the US, Europe and Asia, and financial help for those who need it, NTU lets you experience learning and life abroad at a destination of your choice. Students also head overseas for competitions, research stints, summer studies, business and cultural programmes, language training and field trips.
F FOR FOOD
With 14 food courts and more than 30 other cafes and restaurants (including all the big fast food chains), there are more than enough food options to ignite passionate arguments over where the best mala hotpot, Korean stall, ayam penyet or bubble tea on campus is. Choosing your lunch spot, in our experience, is one of the hardest decisions of the day. Tip: Many of these savoury surprises reside in the halls, so don’t confine your pit-stop for food to just the main academic buildings.
G FOR GPA (AND GRADUATION)
Your Grade Point Average, or GPA, and your Cumulative Grade Point Average, or CGPA, might follow you through your years at NTU, but don’t let these figures be a ball and chain. Unshackle yourself from their grasp and discover who you truly are with the breadth of courses and activities here. Make time to volunteer, lead teams and connect with others. Networking will also stand you in good stead for your future career. Graduation Day is sweeter knowing you “tried it all” while you were in uni.
H FOR THE HIVE
Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, the visionary behind the 2012 Olympic Cauldron and Google’s Silicon Valley campus, The Hive – affectionately called the “dim sum building” – has put NTU on the headlines of architecture journals as well as on countless Instagram posts. Beneath its eye-catching veneer are thoughtfully-designed spaces that encourage collaborative discussions. Who knows, a casual conversation with a classmate here might lead to the idea for your future start-up.
I FOR INTERNSHIPS
Much more than a rite of passage, the internships that all NTU undergrads go through at least once are a chance to secure their dream job before graduation. Put your name on the lips of top employers like JP Morgan, Rolls-Royce and GSK by impressing as an intern. Each year, almost one-third of students in NTU receive job offers at the end of their stints. If working overseas is part of your ambitions, you’ll have many opportunities to gain valuable career-building experience in a foreign country through initiatives like the Overseas Entrepreneurship Programme that places students in start-ups around the world. For scientists in the making, the CN Yang Scholars Programme puts you in laboratories around the world as a research intern, and lays a path towards PhD studies for you.
J FOR JOBS
All graduates of NTU enjoy the benefit of being sought after, with nine in 10 grads receiving job offers within four months of graduation. According to the latest Graduate Employment Survey, grads from Business and Computing topped the charts with a mean starting salary of more than $6,500. Sage advice on how to land – and keep – that job is offered by career coaches and through career preparation classes that you take as early as your first year.
K FOR KNOCKOUTS
Join the ranks of NTU students and alumni who have made waves around the world for their accomplishments in academia, business and even entertainment. Among our alumni are the first Singaporean to work for Google, acclaimed singers and actors (including Nanyang Business School alum Stefanie Sun), and successful entrepreneurs and leaders in the C-Suite. Dream big and join the scores of NTU students who continue to snap up prestigious prizes, such as the Dublin-based Global Undergraduate Awards given out yearly to the world’s most creative and innovative undergraduates.
L FOR LEISURE
NTU isn’t just a campus in a garden but a mini city – a microcosm of Singapore, if you will. Fitness enthusiasts can sweat it out at Yunnan Garden, the fully-equipped gyms or the Olympic-sized pool, or join NTU sports clubs and use professional-standard courts in modern arenas like The Wave. Folks with special interests like esports, film or fishing can find their kin here too (you can even fish at Nanyang Lake if you’re part of the anglers’ club). Photograph rare wildlife on campus – a de facto nature reserve – if you’re a budding photographer with a passion for biodiversity.
M FOR MAJORS & MINORS
Interdisciplinary studies are the name of the game at NTU. Take your pick of second majors and minors to satisfy your curiosities or diverse passions. Combine your communication studies or economics degree with a second major in business, or your engineering degree with a second major in data analytics or entrepreneurship to widen your career prospects and unlock doors to jobs of the future. You can also dabble beyond your discipline with a minor in subjects ranging from International Trading to Art History.
N FOR NOVENA CAMPUS
NTU’s medical students hone their skills in realistic hospital settings at the Clinical Sciences Building, connected directly to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where they get clinical exposure from as early as their first year of med school. Between team-based learning sessions and practical lessons with simulated situations, doctors-in-training can wind down at the cosy house rooms, gym, dance studio, or spacious library that boasts one of the best views of Singapore’s skyline.
O FOR ORIENTATION
Ask seniors about their favourite university memory or how they met their closest pals and freshmen orientation will be the likely answer for both. Schools, clubs and halls organise their orientation programmes to help freshmen find new friends and get acquainted with the campus. The good news is, these orientation programmes usually run consecutively so you can sign up for all if you wish.
P FOR PROFESSORS
Your professors are your cheerleaders. They want you to succeed, so reach out to them when you need help. You’ll soon realise that your seniors address some of them by name. Each prof has their own preference, but you won’t go wrong calling them “Prof”, for sure. Many of your profs are high-flyers in their respective fields. In fact, NTU ranks first in Singapore – and among the top 25 institutions globally – for having the most number of influential scientists, according to American data company Clarivate Analytics. Future entrepreneurs will also be glad to know NTU’s innovation and enterprise arm is chaired by the founder of a unicorn who was an NTU professor in his younger days.
Q FOR QUEUES
Call it FOMO but we think queues in NTU are worth checking out. From lining up for freebies during Freshmen Welcome Week to getting in on exam welfare pack giveaways and scoring NTU T-shirts – essential school wear – at HEY! augmented reality events, joining a queue usually lands you something that’s worth the wait.
R FOR REP
NTU’s premier engineering programme primes you for a career as a future CEO or CTO. After four and a half years, you’ll graduate with two degrees – a Bachelor of Engineering Science and a Master of Science in Technology Management. Global and multidisciplinary experiences feature prominently, so apart from perks such as guaranteed stay in a hall with dedicated facilities for collaborative projects, you get to spend a year overseas at a partner university and as an intern. It’s no surprise that in this environment, start-ups have emerged, such as Whizz Mobility, the student team behind the familiar FoodBots on campus, developed in REP’s own Makers Lab.
S FOR SCHOLARSHIPS
One of the ways NTU recognises potential is with bond-free scholarships. For example, freshmen can apply for the Nanyang Scholarship or the College Scholarship, which cover tuition fees and offer allowances for expenses such as living costs. There are also scholarships awarded by schools or backed by endowment funds or companies that you can consider, the last usually guaranteeing you a job for a few years.
T FOR TEES
The hype for NTU tees and other tops is real. Take the example of the cream pullover that was sold out in a flash. Don’t worry too much if you missed out on a coveted colour, there’s always another drop around the corner. Here’s a tip: Follow the NTUsg social media accounts for news on HEY! roadshows that often give out rare tees for free. These limited-edition T-shirts are so coveted the queues start forming early.
U FOR USP
Are you an all-rounder with a passion for personal growth? The multidisciplinary University Scholars Programme (USP) might be for you. Broaden your horizons with course work that includes a fully-sponsored semester overseas and do fieldwork abroad in your path to becoming a socially-conscious leader. You can be a student of almost any discipline – whether science or the arts – to join this special programme that brings a strong liberal arts focus and diverse overseas experiences.
V FOR VIBE
From lush greenery and cute families of critters to furniture made from trees felled for campus development, and sustainable research, the NTU Smart Campus boasts an eco-friendly vibe that blends environmental responsibility with technology. As a testbed for smart urban services, NTU is ground zero for green solutions such as autonomous and electric transport, smart buildings made with sustainable materials and new methods of repurposing waste products. And as residents of NTU, we are the first to experience these.
W FOR THE WAVE
Speaking of eco-friendly buildings, The Wave, NTU’s cavernous sports hall, sets the gold standard in sports complexes. Its playing surface can be configured to suit a variety of concurrent activities, such as 13 badminton matches or three basketball games. Even if you’re just a spectator, stepping inside is a cool experience too, thanks to the heat-insulated sustainable wood used in its construction and game-changing air-conditioning technology that has cool air coming through its floor.
X FOR X-FACTOR
No one really knows what the future of jobs looks like. The rise of AI and automation might spell the end of some human roles, while others might be redefined. The advantage of an NTU education is it makes you future-proof by providing you with skills across different dimensions and experience working in multidisciplinary teams from your first year. You can also count on NTU’s industry connections long after you graduate or even pivot to a new career path with certifications offered by NTU’s Centre for Professional and Continuing Education that can be stacked towards a FlexiMasters certificate. FlexiMasters can be stacked towards a Master’s degree.
Y FOR YOUNG UNIVERSITY
Since 2014, NTU has been ranked first in Quacquarelli Symonds’ global ranking of universities under 50 years old. NTU’s meteoric rise in the global league has also been captured in Times Higher Education’s annual young varsity rankings, where NTU has occupied the top two spots. A prodigy in the world of elite universities that are typically centuries old, NTU is just like you. And that’s why we believe in providing you with opportunities to make a name for yourself as soon as you enter NTU. With spirited researchers and promising young changemakers like you in the driver’s seat, our passion for solving problems for a better world will take us even further.
Z FOR ZOOM
Innovation and agility are part of NTU’s DNA and this translates to both our measures and mindsets. By embracing digital learning and online collaboration through applications like Teams and Zoom – well ahead of the COVID-19 outbreak – work and learning didn’t come to a halt during pandemic lockdown restrictions. In fact, NTU’s resilience amidst the COVID-19 pandemic won global plaudits at a summit in London.
This story was published in the Jan-Feb 2023 issue of HEY!. To read it and other stories from this issue in print, click here.
