This post is for all the lost IB/JC/Poly graduates seeking admission into NUS Law! Just a year ago I was just like any of you, incessantly refreshing my UAS portal and wondering when the University would get back to me on any offers/interviews. Trust me - I feel you. But the extent to which I can empathise with you is the extent that I myself had gone through, so here is a brief recount of what my concerns were as an applicant of NUS:
1) Application Timeline
Rather than referring to the application/documents submission deadlines (you should really be mindful of the deadlines if you are sincere about being admitted into NUS), I am talking about the different stages in your application and when each of them start. Do note that not all the dates are the same every year! For AY2016/17, the milestones were as such:
Application Deadline (for IB students): 21st February 2016
Because IB students receive their results much earlier (this year it was 5th January) than A Level students (4th March), our application window typically closes before they even receive their results! We therefore also tend to have a much longer, grueling wait for any updates from the universities...
Shortlist Notification: 7th April 2016
This day was extremely memorable as it happened to be both the day of my SMU Law Interview as well as Ryan's enlistement! Soon after returning from the ferry terminal, I received an SMS from NUS asking me to view my interview details at the UAS portal.
I logged on at lightning speed and noticed a new (I think) tab labelled Interview Status in the landing page:
Clicking on it will bring you to the interview invitation page.
I remember feeling a bit bemused that the interview would be before the test (SMU's was the other way round and generally it is so). This invitation was accompanied by a formal letter sent to my address - it is quite a nice feeling to have something tangible :)
In addition the reiterating the interview and test dates, the letter also contained a congratulatory letter from Dean Chesterman.
Do also note that the date of my interview was not the only one. You can access the selection dates of NUS faculties here.
In retrospect, I never really considered how my chances would be affected considering that I was one of the first few students to be interviewed (10am on the first day!) - and I am glad that the thought never occurred to me; I would have felt extremely anxious and probably would have done badly.
Law Interview - 15th April 2016
Law Test - 17th April 2016
So as you can observe, the notification should come around a week before the test/interview dates, but I have heard of some people getting their invitation a few days before the actual dates, so if you are at that stage, stay positive!
Offer - 6th May 2016
I believe my offer was amongst those in the first wave - NUS Law tends to start sending out offers in early May, while the university in general starts sending out offers end-April. There must be some kind of automation system, because I received the offer at 0900 sharp. It came in the form of an SMS as such:
Do keep calm at this stage. When I received the SMS from NUS, I was alone in the car with my parents who were chatting - they were oblivious to the sudden silence from me (I think I was saying something halfway). Many thoughts ran through my mind, and I bravely logged on to the UAS Portal up until my finger hovered above the Application Status Enquiry tab. Trust me when I say miracles can happen - I didn't see how my performance at the test and interview (as you might see below) would lead to an offer from NUS Law. So as I said, stay positive and hold on to your faith.
When you receive your offer, take the opportunity to pat yourself on your back - you've done it.
I will go on to describe my experience at the test and interview below:
2) The Interview
The interview was in Eu Tong Sen Building of the Bukit Timah Campus (if you do not know, that is where NUS Law is). I found it a great opportunity to get to look around the campus, but I ended up heading straight home after the interview as I didn't have a friend to shamelessly explore the place with. Looking back, I remember being blow away by the rustic and colonial look of the buildings - and now this is something I take for granted as I go about everyday of my university life. But moving on:
NUS Law Interviews are typically held singularly. That means one student is interviewed at a time (of course many interviews go on at the same time albeit in separate rooms) - however, there would be two professors helming the panel. I remember being interviewed by a middle-aged Chinese lady and a middle-aged Caucasian male. The former I have identified as Professor Ng-Loy Wee Loon (check out this amazing article I found) but the latter I am sorry to say I cannot recall.
The interview topics as I have gathered from my friends and classmates, range from purely academic (discuss Singapore's private and public sector) to purely casual (tell us about yourself). There are the professors who prefer to go straight to the point and assess your passion (why NUS Law?) and those who prefer to assess instead your aptitude (what do you think of insert controversial topic?). For me, I got the last one. Prior to the interview we had to fill up a form that asked about our academic subjects, hobbies, as well as an essay question (I forgot the question but I believe it was Why NUS Law?) ... So the ice-breaker was a discussion of my hobbies and when prompted on something substantial I actually do, my first answer was my blog (because it's there for everyone to see). We had a little discussion about ethics (on blogger sponsorships) and then the topic moved on to prenuptial agreements and whether they should be recognised and enhanced (FYI Singapore's stance is no). There was a mini cross-fire between the Caucausian professor and I as we shot down each other's arguments for and against the prenuptial contracts. Subsequently, and I can't remember how, but the topic moved on to whether females should be able to be convicted for rape. Prof Ng-Loy posed an interesting question as to how the revision, if enacted, would affect the prosecution of the transsexed (not transexual) community if they commit rape. I cannot remember my answer to those questions, sadly, but all is good because my answers are in no way model answers (please do not read and memorise - the school can tell if you are smoking your way through).
The entire session lasted about 10-12 minutes, so do not worry about being locked up and interrogated - the professors are really friendly people! And I can say this for the other interview groups because the interviewers were my current professors (who are pretty darn cool).
3) The Test
The written test was 1 hour 15 minutes long and there were two parts to the question. I can hardly remember what the test was exactly about, but I do remember that it was a hypothetical situation inspired from the then-recent Panama Papers scandal (do your readings, kids!) - It concerned a client who engaged a solicitor to help process his transactions that were related to some illegal enterprise that he was a part of, and whether the solicitor would be liable for breach of confidence by revealing his client's details to the authorities. Relevant statutes were given and we were asked to give a response assessing the client's liability based only on the information that we had.
My first thought after seeing the question was, well shit. I felt really insecure about my knowledge regarding the Panama Papers (though remember that it wasn't about the Panama Papers but merely something similar) so I spent the first 10 minutes of the written test thinking about how to respond. Should I try to insert something exemplifying my knowledge of current affairs? Should I try to bring in some legal knowledge? After much turmoil, I decided to go with my instinct and just write my response the way I would orally discuss it with friends as if it was a random intellectual conservation:
I asserted that because the client used his solicitor for an illegal purpose, it destroys the solicitor-client relationship between the both of them and therefore the solicitor was not bound by the duty not to disclose the client's information. That was the only argument that I had and I tried to expand and elaborate on it for the rest of the duration. I left feeling happy that I 'stayed true to myself' but at the same time, upset because I felt that I strayed from the 'expected standards' of a law school admissions candidate. Well, I got in, so I guess it helps to keep calm and share your true opinion without scrambling to sound too learned or professional.
~
The above summarizes my admissions experience at NUS Law :-) Hopefully anyone interested in applying for NUS Law would find this useful, and feel free to post any questions in the comments below. When you do get in, let me know too! I'd love to know.
xoxo
Valerie
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