Tuesday 24 December 2013

NUS AY 13/14 Semester 1 Results

BEEEEP!!! WOOO YAYYY BAAA.

No, that's not me cheering. That was what woke me up this morning at 7.30AM. There's a soccer field next to my flat, and for some godforsaken reason there were people playing soccer at 7 .30 in the morning and the audience or whoever were cheering super loudly suddenly.

I lay in my bed awake for a few moments, wondering what time it was (it was still rather dark), though I deduced it couldn't be THAT early if there were people playing soccer (i.e. 4AM) so I checked my phone for the time. And saw that the SMS of Doom (TM) was in.



This post just contains my grades and thoughts, for my predictions and reviews for these modules you can refer to this link.



PL4880G - Positive Psychology

Predicted Grade: B/B+

Actual Grade: A-

Ah well, a pleasant surprise. I didn't do well for my individual essays (At first), but I guess my group presentations were more well-received by my prof than I thought. Finals weren't that difficult, just smoke and you can't be that far off (See my review for more info)

PL4880F - Addictive Behaviors

Predicted Grade: A-/A

Actual Grade: A

Cheers! My CA did really well, so as long as I didn't screw up my finals (I didn't think so after the exam), I should have been on track for A-/A at least. And I did! Though one of my group mates (who shared the same CA as me) got an A+ lol she wrote a better finals essay I guess. It's ok! Be content and happy for what you got! Don't do upward social comparisons!

GEK1063 - The Singlish Controversy

Predicted Grade: B- / B

Actual Grade: B+

This was the only result I was disappointed in LOL. You may be wondering 'what's wrong with this idiot, he surpassed his prediction and he's still complaining?'. Well, the plan was always to S/U this module, unless it pulled my CAP. My CAP is between 4-4.5, which meant I need an A- or an A to do so. This means it is the least economically (CAP-wise) profitable to S/U if I got a B+ (as it makes the smallest change in my CAP) ... and I did get a B+ ugh!

If only I got a B- or so, would make it more satisfying and worth it to S/U. Or an A-/A, which would pull my CAP. But ok la, I have no more S/U-able modules left, so I have to use my last S/U anyway. Up goes my CAP! (by 0.01 I think)



Final Notes

Quite satisfactory this sem I suppose, As are always good, even with an ugly line by its side. What's more important is with these results, I can more or less coast in my final sem - it's mathematically impossible for me to get First Class, and to drop below Second Upper I need to get around a 2-2.5 SAP (C or below average) for my thesis + 2 level 4000 mods.. which is quite unlikely. Thus next sem doesn't really matter so I guess I'll use my time to apply for jobs and stuff.
Thank God for the good results!

Tuesday 10 December 2013

NUS AY 13/14 Semester 1 Module Review

Once again, I’m going to review the modules that I took this semester. 
If you have any questions, please send it to my email  atqhteo@gmail.com, or leave a comment below. Don't worry, there are no stupid questions! I've received many emails asking me all sorts of questions. I reply all of them :)

The modules covered in this post:

PL4880G (Positive Psychology)
PL4880F (Addictive Behaviors)
GEK1063 (The Singlish Controversy)

(I only took 3 modules this semester as I'm working on my Honors Thesis, which is a year long project and worth 3 modules)


I’ll answer 5 questions for each: What is it about? How’s the workload? How difficult is it? Any miscellaneous tips/How was the exam? Should you take it?


If you want to see previous reviews for

Do note that modules do vary across semesters, depending on which professor is taking it, so I will include the name of the professor for your benefit.

How does NUS Module Preference Exercise work? (MPE)

(All information correct as of 9th December, 2013)

I've received several queries about the Module Preference Exercise (MPE), so I thought why not do a compiled blog post. This information is accurate for FASS MPE matters, I can't guarantee it applies for other faculties.

This blog post is structured as such - a FAQ style before the page break (denoted by a long line), and after the page break  is information available directly in the MPE portal.

These are actual questions I've received:

1) Can I take part in MPE if I don't have a major yet?
No, MPE is for pre-allocation of major modules. If you don't have a major yet this wouldn't work.

2) Is MPE first come first served?
No. From my understanding (FASS doesn't actually explain this explicitly, but I've never come across contradictory evidence, so this should be right), how MPE works is let's say a module has 40 slots available. As long as there are 40 or below students who MPE it, it will be preallocated to them. However, once the demand exceeds supply (i.e. 41 or more), no one will be preallocated, and everyone has to bid during CORS bidding for it.

3) Which modules can I MPE? Can I MPE a non-FASS module? How about a GEM?
The only modules you can MPE are your major modules. Thus if you are from FASS, the only modules you can MPE are logically FASS modules.

4) What is the probability I'll get the modules I indicated in MPE?
This is a similar question to 'how many points do you think X module will cost' - it varies each semester, and predictions will never be accurate. You can roughly gauge the popularity of a module by asking seniors, but don't expect it to be a reliable indicator of success. Some modules may be obviously more popular, such as compulsory/core modules.

 

The below is directly copied and pasted from within the MPE portal.

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