Tips for Studying Abroad in Singapore

Living in Singapore wasn't without its challenges. Here are some of the things I wish I knew before coming: 

1) Rent 

Due to Singapore's urban density and space constraints, living quarters are pretty small. Rent prices are around three times higher than they are in Columbus. Since SMU didn't offer student housing, I struggled with finding city housing. Most rooms in hostels and apartments were already full or didn't offer short-term housing. Many agents on WhatsApp did not respond either. I recommend utilizing Facebook marketplace and reaching out to others in the SMU Exchange group chat. This can help you find resources and other peers searching for housing, but use with precaution.

2) Academics 

Something I didn't expect was the nature of the course bidding system. At SMU, you are only allotted 100 "dollars" for four modules that everyone else is eligible to bid on. Some courses fill up in the first bidding round. Once a class is full, additional students cannot be added due to space constraints. Since classrooms only have seats for up to 45 students. I was unable to take some of the courses I wanted. So, I highly recommend looking through past bidding rounds to see the average amount of credits students have bid on in the past for courses, and distributing credits from there. Courses are also in 3-hour and 15-minute blocks. They are usually comprised of a few assignments, a group project, and a final. This took some getting used to, as I am used to the constant bombardment of assignments at OSU. However, the finals at SMU are worth much more (I had two worth 40%). This requires more self-study outside of class to make sure you are keeping up with content. 

3) Competition 

SMU students care very much about grades. In addition, the school runs on a bell-curve system, so only a certain percentage of students can get A's. Due to the nature of the grading system, local students are very competitive and go above and beyond to demonstrate creativity in group projects. For projects, my groups would have late night and weekend group meetings trying to make sure presentations were polished. In addition, this leads to tension between local and exchange students. My advice would be to make sure you are present in meetings and contributing. Communicating whenever meetings need to be missed, and letting them know grades at OSU come back as letter grades. This will help to bridge that gap in trust! 

4) The Weather

Although I knew Singapore was hot and humid (like Southeast Asian countries in general), I didn't expect it to be as hot and humid as it is. Prepare to sweat bullets after walking outside. On the flip side, many of the mall’s blast air conditioning, and SMU buildings are usually freezing cold (perhaps to keep students awake).

5) Rules

Singapore is known for being very, very strict. There are rules such as "no durian allowed on MRT" otherwise you could be subjected to a $500 fine! While the strictness is beneficial in terms of maintaining a clean, beautiful city, it was an always-present reminder to be on your best behavior.

Other miscellaneous things include: 

• Singlish is made up of Malay, Hokkien, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Tamil! There are some phrases that are difficult to pick up. With this, sentences are usually shortened. For example, "I can do this" is shortened to "can," or "can can,". It takes a while to learn the nuances of Singlish, such as "lah," "lor," and "leh,". The meter is very different from conventional English since it's more sharp/staccato. 
• It was difficult to find affordable groceries. There are supermarkets known as FairPrice. There are four different versions of it. FairPrice being the cheapest and FairPrice Finest being the most expensive. The high prices are due to groceries in Singapore being imported from nearby countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia. I rarely cooked and ate out pretty much every meal. While I sometimes missed home cooking (and veggies!), I appreciated being able to try a wide range of cheap and delicious food in Singapore. It is super convenient to eat out. Many locals also prefer eating out to cooking because of its affordability. 
• Pharmacy/convenience stores are commonly found. They are known as Guardians or Watsons.