The crucial decision “POLY or JC”?
Have been reading the recent posts on the tagboard.. It’s really awesome to hear and learn what each person’s view of Poly and JC is! 
As we’ve mentioned, this site is for O’Level students to congregate and spur each other to a bright new journey next year. You simply need to stir up awareness of your gifts and strengths to ascertain which route is good for you. This decision-making process carries you right through your career decision making in future.
I believe Poly and JC has its own benefits for each youth. Different stroke for different folks. I wouldn’t say that one is superior to the other… For I’ve seen and known many JC and Poly graduates who became successful!
I think the most important question is to ask yourself, “What do I like” – bounce off your decision with your parents, seniors (Poly/ JC graduates) or even your sec school teachers if the route you’re thinking about suits you.
And I’d just to spur you guys, that once the decision is made, simply believe it is for the best and make the best out of your tertiary years! It is most FUN!!!
For this post, am also going to share some snippets of JC
- it is quite similar to secondary school – Just that the lessons are in the form of lectures and tutorial
- You will have a structured and fix timetable
- You will sit a one off examination at the end of 2 years (just like O’levels)
- JC is an institution whereby it is theory orientated
So those who are better at theory and written exams might want to consider JC
- JC offers you a variety of subject combinations
so you need not have to worry so much about the limited and confined subjects you are subjugated to.
For eg: in JC you can mix both arts and science together!
- Similar to Poly, JC exposes you to projects too!
There is a ’subject’ known as Project work whereby you will be graded at the end of J1.
Which is also included in your A level grading/certificate
In project work, you will be assigned to research on a topic of a few options
and you will be asked to write a report of your project and ultimately give a presentation about your idea during final grading!
JC is also good for people who have not really decide (specifically) on what to do in the future or what degree you will pursue in your college years…cos it gives you a solid foundation certificate while giving you 2 years to explore what you really want (of course, this does not apply for all JC goers, since some are ambitious and have determined to enter a JC with a clear career vision in mind)
You yourself will be the best judge/indicator if you are capable of coping with both the stress and workload you will encounter in JC
So yeah.. continue to research and trust that you’ll make the best decision! 
Cheers,
Da Jie
If you have any information regarding jc, do share with us ya!
How many subject do you have to study in JC?
in Jc first year, if you did not take higher nother tongue in your secondary sch, you would have to take MT.
Including your mother tongue language, you have a total of 7 subjects to study for.
General Paper which is your English paper.
Mother tongue
Project Work
3 H2 subjects
1 H1 subject
You would have to take Project Work(PW) and Mother Tongue(MT) in the first year as in real A level examinations.
If you do not need to retake your MT in the second year, you would be left with 5 subjects to study for in your final year.
just to add on:D some schools get their H1 subject over and done with in the first year, leaving the rest of the H2 subjects and GP for the second year. ( e.g. MI and SAJC)
and the 3 H2 subjects are your core subjects which would correspond to the stream u are in (Such as science stream = bio, chem, maths) and the H1 must be a contrasting subject from the humanities ( e.g. economics, china studies in english).
and also my friend in MI have really special combination such as fully business based (not sure what it is about…but definitely not offered in other schoool). MI also offer diploma course that u can take together with ur A level subjects although i believe they cater to those who have the abilities to cope.
and finally!! of coz if u have excellent results(<10 or is it 9 for L1R5), u can opt to take on 4 H2subjects instead of the 3H2 + 1H1 combination. ;P
Quote: I would like to assure you that i will remain impartial throughout despite this blog is empowered [sic] by SP!
Wouldn’t it be better if at least one of the characters in your panel is from JC? From what I see, none of the four characters here have any real life and first hand experience of how Junior Colleges work. It’s just “i hear from so and so”
Find someone who has, your description says, BEEN THERE, DONE THAT. Not “never been there, done this because people are starting to flame the site on the tagboards.”
Sorry, but it’s really a bad marketing stint by SP, imho.
Just my three cents. Sorry if I offended anyone.
Hi, I graduated from JC several years and am now in my 2nd year of study in a local uni. Here’s my experience for those who sincerely want to find out about the JC/poly route. When I was in JC, you face continual pressure to study very hard and excel due to the tough competition to get into uni. The truth is that not every JC student is gonna get into either of the 3 government unis because your results must definitely be of some standard (must range from ABC to ABB depending on batch). Thus, if you are choosing JC, you must commit your next 2 yrs of your life to consistent pressure. After graduating from JC through NS and now in uni, I meet a very large number of poly students (not necessarily with fantastic GPA previously). I realise that it is a misconception to think that it’s not easy to get in uni if u are from a poly.
The few advantages I see about JC is that it brings back that sec sch classroom bonding and also, you might have an edge over poly students in uni when it comes to non-project based modules such as maths, phy, chem mods
Hey Critical, thanks for your honest comment. Appreciate that. Yes, I hear you, and understand where you’re coming from. But I guess we are all here exploring and it’s encouraged for O’Level youths to voice their decision making process/ share tips and spur one another to an awesome journey ahead. Yes, I guess having a JC “Da Jie” would help too.. maybe next time, they can have this on the site! However, just like to also emphasize that what’s shared about JC is sourced from my close friends who graduated from JC. So actually, you’re hearing straight from a JC graduate’s mouth
This site is also meant to just be a friendly “stop” for O’Level youths to meet, congregate and chat… So just have FUN! 
Hey.. hi there Da Jie! Actually, I agree with you. I graduated from Victoria JC. What you shared about JC life is really true. My younger sis actually told me abt tis site and I really think it’s very cool and fun! Yeah… so keep up the great work, and continue to bond the youths in S’pore!
Hey wxcg, yeah, I can relate to what you shared… I enjoyed my JC years tremendously. I’m now in NTU
JC life is really quite structured as that to sec school life… I think you need to know what your personality and likes is in making a decision… Know where your stress tolerance level is.. After all, whichever school we enter, there will definitely be stress! 
da jie! thank u for sharing!
hello everyone! I’m actually from SAJC right now… i think the posts by all of you are reallie good and useful for anybody going to poly or jc. I entered jc cuz back then i was not certain on which career path I’m undertaking… but thru my past 1 year in JC, i’ve enjoyed the stay and experience there. my good friend from sec sch is studying in poly, doing business course degree. she was the top 10 scorers in sec school and O’levels.. but she’s also enjoying her poly stay, learning heaps. So i think at the end of the day, the O’level youths should choose what is best fit for them… there is no right or wrong route
i am going poly! =)
Hey, although Jc seems fun and all but to get in to a good jc , you got to work hard for O level’s . So actually it depends on the score as well…does it? hmm hope my O levels results are good enough to experience the jc life u all have been talking about. (:
If one is weak in maths, should he/she go to JC?
Hi everyone,
Nice to hear from people from both JC and Poly. I’m currently a second year student in Aerospace Engineering in Ngee Ann Poly. Originally, I was planning to head to JC after my O levels, because I got the impression that better students headed to JC. Only after I atttended a few open houses and went for course counseling that I decided on Poly.
I’m not sure about the JC system so some of my comments may be wrong. (Please forgive me).
First things first, if you’re going to spend most of the time studying something, a student should study something that he is genuinely interested in. For example. if someone is interested in business, there is absolutely no point in studying something else like engineering.
Like what Da Jie said, JC is suitable for someone who hasn’t determined exactly what he is interested in. It provides a solid foundation for further studies.
On the other hand, when you’re in Poly, you’re immediately specialised, that means for a majority of the time, a student studies something that is related to his course. (For some diplomas, you can study something else in Uni that is not related to the diploma).
As for my course, Aerospace Engineering, most of the time we are studying about aircraft,helicopters, missiles etc. We also get oppurtunities to go overseas to fly Cessna 152 aircraft (after relevant training from some of our lecturers, who are former pilots) and get priority for pilot training. We get 6 months industrial attachment with aerospace companies and we have 2 full motion flight simulators as teaching aids. After graduation, we can obtain advanced standing with both local and overseas universities for aerospace engineering.(These are some of the things that we have in Ngee Ann Poly that JCs may not have).
I already had a strong interest in aviation, so I decided to enroll in this course. Choosing poly was one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made, even though at times my course is demanding due to the engineering concepts and calculations. But at least I’m willing to work harder because I’m studying something I’m interested in.
Bottom line is, if you’re absolutely sure what you’re interested in, Poly would be the “best fit”. Otherwise, JC would be good for building a strong foundation.
i totally agree with u!!!
i graduated frm jc a yr ago…yes its constant stress but well worth it at the end…i believe this applies to poly students as well…
however i tink a slight pro for poly would be that the sports team(majority) there are excellent as compared to jc…but i feel that jc pushes u much much more n if u’re e ‘needs to be nagged at’ type….go to the junior colleges…its reali fun
To: lyn hui
You go to school learn maths, so why bother whether you are bad in it? All you have to do is to put in more effort. Take it from a F-maths student.
What if we dont know which path to choose for our future? And that we are both neutral towards poly and JC. What should we do? Both path has its good and bad points. Both side we will still suffer in some way. So what do we do?
And it is a really tough decision to make as well. How contradicting can this issue be? Gosh. Seriously, I dont know which path to choose.
I really don’t know which route to take!
And I hope someone can answer some questions of mine:
is it true that entering poly with a good aggregate eg. l1R4 8 (COP 6) puts you at a great advantage and that it will be much easier for you to enter uni than the others?
Or does it still really depends?
Esp for popular courses with low COP and high intakes, will the advantage apply?
Hi Dajie!
You’re so hot! Will I see you if I go SP?