SMU Business for international student (Seniors please help)
Dear all, I received an offer (direct admission through discovery day) to SMU business management as an international student who took Singapore A-Level, I got a C for H1 GP. I have a few questions regarding the course and hope that some kind seniors can answer them for me. Thanks in advance!
1) Financial issues/Scholarships
After comparison i realised that SMU has a significantly higher school fee than other universities. Thus, i wonder what kind of financial aid is provided for international students as my family cannot afford the school fee for 4 years, and how effective is the financial aid?
Beyond financial aid, I am also looking at scholarships that I may apply for during school terms. I'm wondering how competitive it is to get a mid-term scholarship at SMU. (I didn't apply for scholarship during admission, as my RP is not that good.)
I'm asking not only because i really need the financial support, but also because SMU advertised themselves as "40% of students received financial/scholarship awards", which gives me a lot of hope that I can overcome my financial difficulties. I understand that I can take up a student loan, but I personally hope I can have other options, as it's kinda sad that upon graduation I already have a loan to pay for straight up in the face.
2) Poor English proficiency= Poor performance?
As an international student, clearly English is not my first language (C6 for O-Lv EL, C for H1 GP). Thus, I am worried that I will struggle for presentation, class participation, and writing reports... which are key factors at SMU that contribute to my overall GPA. However, on the other hand, I have decent leadership skills (Uphold President/Captain role in my CCA), and I am frequently praised by others for being open to communication, able to initiate conversation, basically decent at talking to others. Thus, this makes me a good fit for SMU. As such, with my sharing above, can i do well in SMU?
SUMMARY: I have decent EQ (and IQ ofc), which makes me a decent fit for SMU. But my English foundation is weak, as it is not my first language. Can I survive at SMU? I also take slightly longer to process English content than my classmates.
3) Internship opportunity as international student
I understand that SMU is well known for its internship opportunities because of its location, and all students graduate with 2-3 internships. However, I want to find out if it will be EXTREMELY DIFFICULT for international students to get internship opportunities. And will I be at a huge disadvantage if I cannot find internships? I understand that for business students, internships contribute significantly to our competitiveness after graduation.
I am saying so because upon graduating from JC, I went to look for part-time (PT) jobs, and it was already extremely difficult, as I will safely say more than 90% of the PT jobs available are only open to Singaporeans/PRs due to quotas, etc etc. I did look at internships available from JC students, and without any surprise, ALL are only open to Singaporeans/PRs. If this applies to university as well, I may not even get any internship opportunities even though SMU is known for internship opportunities...
Thanks for reading until here, and I appreciate any answers given. Please give me some advice on how to go about... I do have other offers, but I am currently heavily considering SMU...