User:Boschx

NUS and CORS: A guide for freshies

 * This guide is generally for students intending to major in Chemistry in NUS. It may not be suitable/applicable to students from other faculties such as law, pharmacy, medicine and dentistry.


 * There may be some policy changes applicable to different cohorts, so it is best to refer to NUS websites when in doubt about certain policies.

Matriculation
This is the process whereby you are enrolled into the university, and you will have to register your particulars. You will also get your matriculation card, and get to enjoy offers from the IT vendors. It's essential to get a laptop in university, as you will be needing it for lab reports, projects and assignments. If you cannot afford to get a laptop, you can always apply to the notebook loan scheme.

Once you have matriculated, you will be able to log into the CORS (centralised online registration system) to bid for your modules. You will be given your user-id and password, so use those to log into the system. But do take note that newly matriculated students are only able to bid for the modules from Round 1C onwards. The schedule differs every semester, so make sure you check the CORS website for its schedule.

Generally, Round 1C only exists in every Semester 1 of a new academic year (Aug - May). Returning students (Year 2 and above) can also bid in this round, but they will be bidding in separate queues from the newly matriculated students, thus offering protection to the newly matriculated students. In Semester 2, the newly matriculated students will be able to bid in Round 1A onwards, but they are still under protection, as they are bidding in separate queues from the returning students.

Modular System in NUS
In NUS, the modules can also be referred to "subjects" as known in secondary schools and JCs. Depending on your area of study, you will be required to take certain modules to fulfill your primary major (programme requirements). These modules are known as your core modules. If you have enrolled in the double degree or double major programme, your second degree or major will have modules that are also considered as your core modules. For more information regarding your core modules, please consult your department's website.

However, apart from your core modules, you are also expected to fulfill other university requirements, such as General Education and Unrestricted Elective modules. Depending on your area of study, each faculty has their own set of requirements. It is advisable to check your department's website for more information regarding the number of modules you are required to fulfill your breadths and UEs (Unrestricted Electives).

Breadth modules are modules that are outside of your chosen area(s) of specialisation. For example, if I am a Science student, I will be able to take some Arts or Business modules as my breadth modules. As for the unrestricted elective modules, they are modules that students can explore greater breadth or depth in any subject and at any level. For students whom are taking double degree or double major, you are allowed to use your breadth modules and UEs to fulfill your core requirements. These breadth modules and UEs can also be used to fulfill a minor or specialization.

Under General Education, besides the breadth modules, there are also Singapore Studies and GEM (General Education Modules). Generally, each student is required to take one Singapore Studies module (module code is SS), and 2 other GEMs. Depending on which faculty you are from, you are required to take modules belonging to different groups. There are 2 different groups: **Group A - Science and Technology     **Group B - Humanities and Social Sciences. For instance, if I am a Science student, I am required to take at least one module from Group B. Likewise for Arts student, they are required to take at least one module from Group A.

To differentiate the 2 different groups, NUS has coded them with different numbers. For example, science GEMs are labelled GEK X5XX or GEM X5XX. Arts GEMs, on the other hand, are labelled GEK X0XX or GEM X0XX. There are also some GEMs that are coded GEK X9XX or GEM X9XX, and they can belong to either Group A or Group B. As for the GEM/GEK codings, they represent different types of GEMs. GEK refers to modules that focus on General Knowledge, while GEM refers to modules that focus on Modes of Inquiry.

For students in Science Faculty, you are also expected to fulfill your faculty requirements, by taking additional modules from other departments. For instance, if I am a Chemistry major, I would be required to take modules offered by other departments, such as Mathematics, Physics, Computing, etc.

CORS
CORS is an online facility that allows you to choose and bid for your desired modules. For those of you from junior colleges, please do not expect the modules to be allocated to you. You are expected to bid for your own modules, unless your faculty has allocated your core modules to you in advance. You are strongly advised to check your email for more details, or you can also check your department's website for any pertaining notices.

As mentioned earlier, newly matriculated students are only able to bid for their modules from Round 1C onwards in Semester 1. They are protected from Round 1C to end of Round 2. However, from Round 3 onwards, newly matriculated students are not protected and they will bid together for modules with the returning students.

Students in NUS generally have a workload of 20MCs (See below). However, students are allowed to take additional modules, if they are able to cope. The number of additional modules they are allowed to take depends on their CAP (see below), and the faculty's restrictions.

Newly matriculated students have a maximum workload of 24MCs. In CORS, all students are allowed to bid for 5 modules before Round 2B. It is only from Round 3 onwards that the students are allowed to accelerate and take more modules.

In CORS, to determine the number of modules, NUS has set a list of criteria. For modules with 2MCs or more, it will be considered as one module. For modules with 1MC or less, it will not be considered as one module.

In CORS, there will be different rounds of bidding for different types of modules. Generally, students are able to bid for their core modules during round 1. In Round 2, students can bid for other modules from other faculties, Singapore Studies, or GEMs. As a rule of thumb, it is ALWAYS best to get your desired modules early in the rounds, as some of you may have known the supply and demand theory. As the rounds progress, there will be less slots and hence, students would bid higher for the modules.

As newly matriculated students, the number of points you have in your accounts (Programme and General) is low, as contrast to the returning students. Therefore, the newly matriculated students are protected from the returning students, and they will only need to bid against one another. Each faculty also has different allocation of the 1000 points for their students in every semester of study. For example, the Science students would have 600 Programme (P) points and 400 General (G) points, whereas for Business students, they have 750 P points and 250 G points.

The P points are generally used for bidding your core, major, minor, faculty modules, whereas the G points are used for bidding general modules such as Singapore Studies, modules outside your faculty and GEMs.

In every bidding round, there will be open and closed bidding periods. In the open periods, you will be able to see the number of bidders and vacancies, the highest and lowest bid point, and the next minimum bid to secure the module. However, in the close bidding period, you will still be able to see the number of bidders and vacancies, but you will not be able to see the highest and lowest bid point, as well as the minimum bid point to secure the module. Therefore, during the closed bidding period, it can be anyone's game, as they can easily increase or decrease the bid points without revealing their bids. (Hint: Think CORS as a poker game)

As usual, in every cohort, there will be people labelled as "market spoilers", who basically just dump whatever points they have to bid for the module they want. This creates an unnecessary "tension" and "speculation", and this would eventually result in every successful bidder paying more than they should have. Any unused points in the accounts will be accumulated and brought over to the next semester of study. Therefore, my word of advice: Bid smartly and cautiously, for you don't want to spend too much points on one module, and leave little points for the remaining modules. What's more, if you used little points this semester, it would mean that you will have more points to spend next semester. Thus, you will be able to bid for popular modules that require high amounts of bid points.

On the CORS website, there is also an archive of the previous semesters on the bid points for each respective module. You can use that as your reference, and make an informed choice. But do take note that the bid points for certain modules can fluctuate due to different demands (as a result of better lecture slots, etc). However, it is obvious that some modules still remain very popular with the students, such as Forensic Science GEK1542.

Once the bidding round ends, the results of the bidding would be usually released around 11pm on that same day. You will receive the results via NUS Email. It will state which modules you are successful in getting, and those modules that you fail to secure. If your bid point is less than the winning bid point, you will of course not secure the module. If your bid point is the same as the winning bid point for a particular module and yet you did not secure the module, it is not the system's error in allocating modules. But rather, it is because there are also other bidders bidding at the same winning bid, but they win over you because they place their bids first. So, in a way, it is a first-come-first-served basis.

However, you don't have to rush into the CORS to check on the modules regularly. All you need to do is to check the open bidding statistics published on the CORS website, and ensure that you adjust your bids accordingly to the demand.

If the module is undersubscribed (still have vacancies), or the number of bidders matched the number of slots available, the winning bid will be 1 point, and everyone would need to pay 1 point. If you have bidded 5 points, you will have 4 points refunded to you. However, if the module is oversubscribed, then the winning bid will be the minimum points that the successful bidders would need to pay. For example, if you have bidded 100 points, and the winning bid is 58 points, then you will have 42 points refunded to you. In short, the winning bid will be the minimum point that every successful bidder would need to pay.

Please take note that if you happen to drop a module that has been successfully allocated to you, you will only have half of the bid points refunded to you. For example, if you get a module worth 500 points successfully, and you drop it later in the bidding rounds, you will only have 250 points refunded.

There is also a time-table builder on the website, so that you can actually plan your time-table, and check for any time-table or examination clashes. NOTE: It is extremely important to ensure that there are no examination clashes, and don't expect NUS to accommodate to your requests for sitting for two papers scheduled for a specific time-slot.

CAP, Grades and Degree Classification
Before bidding for the modules you wish to take, make sure that you have satisfy all prerequisites, co-requisites and preclusions. Most advanced modules would have basic level entry modules as pre-requisites. For instance, to take CM2121, you must have fulfilled CM1101 and CM1121. Some modules are required to be taken together, for instance, CM2101 and CM2102. However, some modules also have preclusions (conditions that do not allow you to take that module). For example, if you wish to take General Biology LSM1301, you must not have taken any 'A' Level Biology before.

Generally, the modules in NUS are worth 4 MCs (modular credits) each, except for certain modules that may be 3 MCs (Engineering), 6 MCs (some life science modules), 8 MCs (UROPS) or 16 MCs (Honours Thesis). These modular credits represent the workload that the particular module has, and it can be broken down into 5 different components.

For example, a certain module has the workload 'A-B-C-D-E'.
 * A represents the number of lecture hours in a week.
 * B represents the number of tutorial hours in a week.
 * C represents the number of laboratory hours in a week.
 * D represents the number of hours for projects, assignments, fieldwork, etc in a week.
 * E represents the number of hours of preparatory work for lectures and tutorials in a week.

My recommendation is to take component A and B into serious consideration. Other components such as C, D and E may not fairly reflect the true number of hours an individual would spend on that module. For Science students, the component C may not reflect the true number of lab hours per week. For instance, a Chemistry major would have 3 hours of lab-work for Level 1000 chemistry modules, 7 hours of lab-work for Level 2000 chemistry modules and 8 hours of lab-work for Level 3000 chemistry modules. However, these lab sessions for each module does not occur on a weekly basis. For instance, for Level 1000 chemistry modules, there will be 5 lab sessions per module, and for Level 2000 chemistry modules, there will be 3 lab sessions per module.

It is best to check the CORS website for more details on the lectures and tutorials. Some tutorials may be conducted on either weekly or fortnightly basis.

Every module would be assigned a grade and its grade point, except for special cases such as modules taken on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) basis, or industrial attachments. The best grade would be A+, while F being the worst grade. The following paragraph would show the number of grade points for each respective grade obtained:
 * A+ and A >>> 5.0
 * A-            >>> 4.5
 * B+ >>> 4.0
 * B >>> 3.5
 * B- >>> 3.0
 * C+ >>> 2.5
 * C >>> 2.0
 * D+ >>> 1.5
 * D >>> 1.0
 * F >>> 0

These grade points will then be used to calculate your CAP (Cumulative Average Point), which also determines at the end of your course what type of degree you will be graduating with. The CAP is calculated as follows:

CAP=sum (module grade point x MCs assigned to module) divide by sum (MCs assigned to all modules used in calculating the numerator).

Do take note that all students need to graduate with a CAP of at least 2.0. Therefore, in order for students to remain in good academic standing, they must not have obtained a CAP below 1.5 for 2 consecutive semesters OR a CAP below 2.0 for 3 consecutive semesters. Otherwise, they would be issued a letter of dismissal by the Registrar and denied re-admission. If the CAP drops below 2.0, the student would be issued an official warning.

Generally, students in non-direct Honours programme whom wish to pursue Honour, are expected to have a minimum CAP of 3.50, in order to qualify for the Honours Project. However, the student who cannot fulfill this condition can appeal, and his/her appeal depends on the approval of the department. However, students in direct Honours programme may not need to fulfill this CAP requirement.

The Honours degree classification is as follows:
 * First Class - CAP 4.50 and above, with at least A- in honour thesis/project
 * Second Upper - CAP 4.00 to 4.49
 * Second Lower - CAP 3.50 to 3.99
 * Third Class - CAP 3.20 to 3.49
 * Pass - CAP 2.00 to 3.19
 * Fail - Below CAP 2.00

For Bachelor's degree classification:
 * Merit - CAP 3.20 and above
 * Pass - CAP 2.00 to 3.19
 * Fail - Below CAP 2.00

Students in Honours programme whom obtained a grade of B+ and below for their Honours project/thesis and a CAP of 4.50 and above, would still be considered as Second Upper Class.

S/U Policy, Double-Counting
For cohorts 2007/08 onwards, each student can declare 12MCs worth of Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory option on their modules. However, there is a restriction. Students are not allowed to declare S/U option on their core modules, second major, minor, faculty requirements or USP (University Scholars Programme) requirements.

Once the student declares the S/U option on the module, that module would not be graded. Instead, it would be given a grade S or U. A grade 'S' is assigned only if the student got C and above for that module. Otherwise, a grade 'U' will be assigned, and that module would not be contribute to the residency requirements. The residency requirements, as a general, is that the students must take at least 120 MCs worth of modules for Bachelor's degree, and 160 MCs worth of modules for Honours programme.

Once the S/U option is exercised, it cannot be undone. So, when viewing your examination results, do consider carefully whether you should S/U a particular module, and whether in the viable future, you would be able to maintain the CAP. For example, if you project the modules you take in the future would be straight As, then you might want to consider exercising the S/U option on a module with grade B (provided it is not your major/minor/faculty/USP). Or if you think your CAP is not favourable as a result of that particular module, then you might also want to consider exercising the S/U option.

Students are able to double-count their modules. For instance, those in the double major or double degree are able to take certain common modules and use the grades to count towards both majors/degree. However, it is subjected to your Faculty's approval, and it is best to check with your faculty's website. For instance, if I am doing a double degree in Chemistry and Business, I will be able to double-count my Singapore Studies modules and GEMs towards both degrees.

SAP and Dean's List
The Dean's List is available in every semester, except for certain faculties.

In order to qualify for the Dean's List, a student must generally be in the top 5 percent of the cohort in their faculty. (For Pharmacy, it is top 7 percent) Each faculty may have different requirements for the Dean's List, so do check with your Faculty's website.

For Science students, in order to be considered for the Dean's list, one must obtain at least a SAP (semester average point) of 4.30, and their workload must be at least 19MCs for that semester.

To calculate the SAP (semester average point): Sum(Grade Point*MC)/Sum(MC)

Therefore, to get into Dean's List, one does not necessarily need to do well for CAP (cumulative average point), but instead they have to make sure that their SAP (semester average point) is high enough for qualification. For example, one student can get a CAP of 4.80 last semester, but it does not mean that he would get into Dean's List with a SAP of 4.30 in the following semester. Or a student might get into the Dean's List with a SAP of 4.80, though his/her CAP may be 4.00 last semester. In short, getting into Dean's List depends on your semester performance, not your overall cumulative performance in the university.

--Boschx (talk) 23:24, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

References/External Links
NUS CORS NUS Curriculum Structure NUS Modular System NUS Chemistry NUS Timetable Builder NUS Email NUS Graduation Science Dean's List Science Faculty Requirements