Got a call on monday:
Person on the other end: Good morning. I'm Miss Ong from the Office of Admissions here at the Nanyang Technological University. Are you Yuraman Visnathan(people generally have difficulty pronouncing my name, Yuvaraman Viswanathan, at first, hence i make it simple and just introduce myself as Yuva, and never bother with my full name as people forget it anyway)
Me: Yeah.
Miss Ong: Ok. You have been granted admission into NTU this year, into the Mechanical Engineering degree course, which is a four year course. Due to your A-Level results being released later than the date of commencement of semester, your admission too will be late this year. We urge you to come to Singapore within the next 2 days to settle all the necessary administrative work, so that you can begin your classes on the 20th of August 2007, which is next Monday.
Me: I can be there tomorrow.
Miss Ong: Ok, i'll be in the office from 8.30am till 5.30pm. Drop by anytime then. You too are required to complete a medical check-up here. Please bring extra money, required for the medical. Thank you
*she cuts the phone call. Obviously trying to cut international call rates*
Ok. Good news it is. Very good news in fact, here's why......
You see, i didn't bother applying to the UK or the US knowing fully i couldn't afford it as Dad is saving those funds for my post-graduate studies later on. So, i had 3 options really:
1) Indian Institute of Technology, IIT(India)
2) off to Germany in March
3) Nanyang Tech (Singapore)
IIT was out waay back in February. They didn't want A-Level results. "We do not accept A-Levels sir. We have our own entrance examination fro which you must sit" was the reply i got when i called them up. Ok, that entrace exam is called the IIT-JEE (Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination). The problem with this is the fact that it happens to be one of the world's toughest examinations for which ever nerd, no make that super-nerd, in India prepares for 3 years, spending hell a lot on tutorial classes just in preparation for this exam. To combat students just cramming for it, the format and subject matter is changed EVERY year. And you gotta get a minimum of 85%-88% to even stand a chance of getting into a course....not even a course of YOUR choice( you need 95% and above to get that privilage). This is due to the fact that you're competing with literally MILLIONS of aforementioned super-nerds for a few thousand seats. Yeah, so i gave up.
Germany, a viable option. But, i needed to take an 8 month german language course and needed to sit for a language test. Its too long a wait, but i decided to keep that option open until i get word from Singapore about my application status there.
Ok, so i then threw in an extra shirt into my backpack and took a 12.30pm Transnasional from Pudu to Singapore. I tell you this. If you are a girl , NEVER take a bus from Pudu at night. Honestly, its one of the shadiest places i've been in at night apart from Masjid Jamek.
Anyway, reached Beach Road at around 6.30am and took the MRT to Mustaffa's, which happened to be the only money changer whom is open 24-7. Honestly, i love going to Singapore for one thing. Its damn-hell easy to move around using the public transport. Ok, the system is kind of complicated, with loads of different lines, but the maps the stations hand out is bloody useful. And, unlike here where you have to be used to using the buses or you'll get lost if you take one, there, they have specific places at the MRT stations where you queue up if you want to catch a bus to a specific place. NTU happened to have 2 bus lines of its own, running throughout the campus, and connecting it to the city.
I did my admin work,opened a bank account and went chocolate shopping, before catching a bus home....all within the same day. If i tried the same thing in KL, travelling alone would have taken up most of my time. Was home by 12.30am...dad picked me up from Pudu. The whole trip kinda zapped me. Was dead to the world until 11am.
Neways, people, i'm going back on friday night by train from Sentral. Weekend in NTU, just to catch up on what i missed, and to join their football and tennis teams..each residence hall has one. I'll get extra credits that way.
Righto, to the peeps in PE1, i'll come for a weekend in September to meet up with you people before all the UK and US guys fly off. And do feel free to visit me in Singapore, here's my address:
24, Nanyang Avenue
Singapore 639811
Just take the MRT to Boon Lay station and take the bus number 179 or 199, and get down at the Hall 9 bus stop, yeah, every hall has its on bus stop.
PS: Will post my new singapore phone number here or on Friendster and will email it to you peeps soon.
|