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Written by Nur Liyana
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Page 1 of 2 Gather round, my dears, and cast your minds into the uncertain depths of the future (or the depths of your teacup, whichever is easier). Free your Inner Eye and seek to find the truth among the shadows of myths!
It’s probably a good thing we don’t have a large black dog and/or
werewolf prowling our campus (not too sure about BTC though – along
with their air-conditioned cafes and snazzy library, they probably have
mountain trolls, centaurs, and Snape for all we know).
Harry Potter references aside, you’ve probably heard more than your
share of rumours about NUS, and then some. Fear not, Hooked has sifted
out some of the more hilarious ludicrous popular ones, in hopes to
assuage your fears, if only for a little while. I mean, finals are only
about 3 months away, right?
University life is easier than JC
Your experiences as an undergrad will inevitably open up a
Pandora’s box countless opportunities for you to challenge yourself.
You’re now going to have to juggle tutorials, lectures, meetings, seminars, and workshops in a timetable that you’re
solely responsible for generating – which means no more grumbling at
school administration, unless you’ve got an 8am Economics lecture, in which case
you’ve lucked out, buddy.
Oh, and not to mention that if you’re a Hall resident, you’ll probably
want to add ‘Hall Activities’ (capital ‘H’, capital ‘A’) to the
abovementioned list. Chances are, you’ll be engaged in a production or
tournament some time during the semester, thereby increasing your
Prozac or Valium intake twofold.
But it’s fun. Really.
Make friends. Socialize. Find a hobby (join Hooked!). Your
fellow NUS undergrads are your last bastion of sanity – or insanity,
depending on the crowd you hang out with.
NUS is a world-recognized university, with state-of-the-art facilities to help me develop my full potential.
Well, yeah, that ain’t really a myth per se, but the toilets
never flush, the buses are never on time, and there always seems to be
a ridiculous amount of steps between you and your destination, no
matter how hard you try. Welcome to the National University of Stairs.
Plan your timetable to minimize cross-campus marathons.
Dashing from LT27 to LT10 in 15 minutes is no mean feat, especially
when coupled with packed shuttle buses and the aforementioned
stairways. The toilets…well, we can’t help you there.
The Centralised Online Registration System (CORS) was designed to be a “meaningful and stress-free experience”.
Yeah, and they said the Titanic wouldn’t sink either.
CORS, or more affectionately known as “THAT $%&# BIDDING SYSTEM!”,
has been the source of much ire and heartache for the NUS undergrad.
Taken from the CORS website:
“Fairness, equity and responsibility” my fanny. Everyone knows that
CORS isn't just a bidding system, it's a bleeding stock market. Prices
soar, vacancies dip, and your heart rate increases exponentially
whenever the minimum bid points/number of bidders jumps by one.
And weighing one's options is a moot point, especially when some
inconsiderate moron decides to outbid you by placing 2267 points on one
of your essential modules, thereby forcing you to scramble for a
substitute.
But that's not all. Noooo sir. As if it weren't stressful enough to
figure out how much "weightage" you have to place on your various
modules, the system up and crashes just at the start of Round 1A.
To be fair (although some little part of me snarls 'who wants to be
fair?'), there are about 23 000 individuals accessing the system
throughout the day. Add to that frantic refreshing and multiple logins
by the same individual (yes, pleading guilty), and well…you get the
picture.
That being said, the CORS servers are only used twice an academic year,
so is it really too much to ask for them to work like they’re supposed
to?
Ask around. Find out what modules are “expensive” (i.e.
popular) and plan to take them during your second or third year, when
you have 2667 points to throw into a module and send some ickle firstie
scrambling for a substitute. Use the Module Preference Exercise wisely
– preallocation of essential modules reduces your Valium intake
significantly.
Of course, prayer might help too.
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