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Because success isn’t based on having better grades.Once you graduate, things like being book-smart and hardworking are no longer all that’s necessary to succeed. Having people skills, navigating office politics, confidence, all roundedness, relatableness, connections, etc, all become necessary to do well in the working world.Luck, of course, also plays a factor. But we can’t really discuss that can we?In SMU, students are taught to be outspoken and confident- in business, this is very important. Now, not all SMU students are outspoken or confident, but the very fact that the University prides itself on that and works towards it makes a big difference.They (SMU Grads) may not be on par with NUS on academic grades, but it’s likely that most of their graduates develop better people skills throughout their time at the University.SMU also employs highly qualified professors from Ivy league schools- a quick check on their roster for the School of Social Sciences, for example, shows you a stellar lineup. See here: https://socsc.smu.edu.sg/faculty##region-page-topSo it isn’t that their quality of education is lacking- SMU students are different because they have a different focus, and that focus is on life skills.If you wish to pursue research in an academic field, then NUS would prepare you for that, but if not, then perhaps you might wish to see what you want in life and to find a University that aligns itself with your vision.So to recap: SMU’s business is better because they focus on life skills needed for business. At the end of the day, business, unlike academia, does not need top grades to do well in.

SMU is great for many things - but for only very specific things.As a business management school, it is a good place to network (great internship opportunities & corporate partnerships); hone real world soft-skills (mandatory group projects, class presentations & a class participation component); and become highly-trained for a narrow business skill (e.g. marketing, finance, business psychology).What it is not effective at, is:Encouraging people to be nice - selflessly, genuinely nice, without any personal agenda. Due to limited supply and excess demand, opportunities are competitive in SMU. Throw in a widely-lauded corporate culture, you have a Darwinian fiesta - especially for School of Law, Economics, and Business. There are nice people in SMU, and there are giving people and numerous volunteer projects. But by and large, most of us live in a tunnel-hole of self-interest.Igniting intellectual curiosity and academic passion. Knowledge is treated as means to an end, as GPAs and academic rankings are seen as shorthand indicators of success. Also, research integrity is often undermined when five project deadlines clash in the same week.Creating well-rounded humanists, who read beyond business textbooks and research journals - to have a basic grasp of world histories, geographies, and cultures. We have "core modules" --compulsory classes - like Analytical Skills, Creative Thinking, Leadership and Team Building, designed to expand our minds. But perhaps with the exception of students from Social Sciences and Law school, most students have exceedingly limited general knowledge.Creating trail-blazers, industry leaders, game changers, creative thinkers. Singaporeans, and/or SMU students, are terrified of failure. There are some entrepreneurial minds, but there is a culture of systematic fear and shame for those who do something outrageous, different, unique - and fail. My friends who studied in California, for instance, tells me these risk-takers are applauded. But in Singapore - even in SMU, they are oft ridiculed.To be fair, SMU is Singapore's youngest university (we turn 15 next year) - and we are more fun than NTU and NUS. We have our great points, and it is too premature to judge our intellectual track-record based on our short academic history. Plus, SMU has never pretended to be a liberal arts university, which markets itself based on Points 2 & 3 (But oh wait, I think we did.) In fact, we have great professors, supportive management, AMAZING visiting academics, and relatively prescient leadership. We have the best student welfare in Singapore: free clinic consultations, campus-wide parties, and student discounts for almost every retail product imaginable! We pulse in the middle of Singapore's food, entertainment, culture, and commerce scene. We are like the NYU of the East: minus the arts, double the finance, and triple on hard-nosed "pragmatism".However, the question is - what is the point of a college education? For free perks, shiny resumes, fancy parties? Or is it for us to learn, share, and grow - to explore, take risks, and practice failing better? I had always thought it was essential to make most of my thought experiments (and failures) - in school, before I graduate into the high-stakes working reality. Is that not what education is about?And why is our curriculum designed to make us great employees and employers, and NOT great people WE want ourselves to be? We have stunning access to so much choice: overseas exchange trips, community projects, career talks. But they only reinforce the idea that we need to conform to a narrow definition of success, in order to be employable, high-level managers that - wait for it, are not what leaders and thinkers are made of. We are students that thrive on late-night meetings, weekend study sessions; motivated by survival anxiety, an Asian sense of duty, an unfailing Singaporean work ethic. We have little self-direction and worse still, no clear life purpose. The brightest, smartest people I meet in school are almost always filtered out of the system - they procrastinate, switch off in school, and do badly for exams. The students that succeed are those content to play by the rules - and who then trade off their private passions for a 9-5 office job. ("I will do X and Y when I earn enough money", they always say. And how much is ever enough?)When you are in a factory valve that efficiently steam-rolls away your passion, inspiration, grit, and character - when risk and failure costs you your future 'employable' stakes - when pursuing your passion may incite jealousy, criticism, and accusations of being "self-indulgent" from peers- how much different, can this "Different U" be?To use a metaphor crudely, SMU, like her counterparts across the island, teaches how you to jump hoops. Unlike them, SMU teaches you to do it in the most stylish, interesting, attention-grabbing way. You might enjoy the routine, the security; the pride that comes with following an (albeit flexible) instruction manual, to get the job done well. If so, more power to you.But, what SMU will NEVER teach you is how to destroy the hoops they have set up for you - how to escape the circus, the madhouse of mediocrity - and how to build a remarkable life, entirely centred upon YOUR personal vision.But then again, welcome to Singapore.

Hi All,The 7 aspects of a World Class University are being described in further detail below.I. Teaching qualityThis indicator is more focused on local teaching quality assessment, collation of feedback students, and students nationwide survey on the college and its ratio in each faculty.II. International exposureA chance to go overseas to widen the student’s horizon. For example, the chance to go for overseas exchange programs, global internship programs, overseas community service projects and study missions.III. Alumni and Company partnershipsPresence of companies for the current students to gain their internship/full time job with the ease of obtaining connections from the alumnus readily.IV. Technical and soft skills developmentsThis indicator relates to how the university prepares its students for the workforce. For instance, via modules that are in line with current workforce trends, as well as other aspects of career preparation.V. Student LifeHolistic involvement; including leadership experiences and the involvement in extra co-curricular activities.VI. EmployabilityPerformance of graduates based on starting salaries and employment upon graduation, through metrics such as the Graduate Employment Survey.VII. The advancement of InfrastructureThis relates to both Hard Infrastructure (i.e. buildings , facilities, etc), as well as Soft Infrastructure (e.g. Office of Finance, Career Services, Investment Studio like Bloomberg Terminals).