THE NTU Open House held on March 14th at the Nanyang Auditorium was marked with vibrancy and energy.
The theme of this year’s open house is L.I.F.E@NTU, which stands for “learning is fun and exciting”.
Free shuttle buses ferried prospective students and their parents from Boon Lay and Jurong East stations right to the doorstep of the Nanyang Auditorium.
Stationed at various locations, student ambassadors and faculty members served as guides to provide assistance to the visitors, entertaining their queries and bringing them around the campus.
Associate Professor Yakoob Siyal from the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE) had been talking non-stop for four hours since 9am.
“The turnout is better than last year and better than the recent education fair held at Suntec City,” he said.
Students and parents generally had good feedback about the Open House.
Viki Chua, 18, a Ngee Ann Polytechnic student who was accompanied by her parents hopes to pursue her studies at Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information or Nanyang Business School (NBS).
According to her, the professors and students at NTU are ‘very forthcoming and helpful’.
“The requirement for poly students entering NUS is quite unclear.
“However, at NTU, the explanations provided by the students and professors are detailed and they seem more sure of students entering from poly. They are able to guide poly students better,” she said.
Her mother, Mrs Teo Cheok Lin, 48, felt people like Professor Chan from NBS were extremely helpful.
“He enlightened us on the course and gave us a detailed explanation, helping us understand the requirements better,” she said.
Shermin, a second-year student in National Junior College, plans to read Accountacy in NBS.
She felt that the open house was “more vibrant than expected”.
However, some felt improvements could be in place to benefit the overall success of the Open House.
According to Assistant Professor Michael Patterson from the Psychology Division at School of Humanities and Social Sciences, although the “turnout is great”, the “space was a bit small”.
Most visitors interviewed said that their perception of the university did not change despite the two recent NTU deaths. One of them, Chen Yifan, is looking forward to studying at the school of Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE).
The second-year Tampines Junior College student felt that “it’s not the school, but the students” when it comes to determining a school’s reputation.
When asked if he would consider NUS engineering faculty instead, he said: “Compared with NUS, NTU’s Engineering is much stronger.”
When Associate Professor Siyal was asked about the recent deaths linked to the school of EEE, he said: “The deaths are not a cause of issue and it has nothing to do with the reputation of the school.”
He believes that tragedy happens everywhere and maintains that the school of EEE in NTU is still “top of the world”.
Apart from Discover@NTU events, the Open House also included school tours, guided visits and talks on the various degree programs.
Part time lecturer Mahani Bte Ahmad was glad she made the effort to visit the open house at the last minute.
She said: “I’ve been applying for a teaching position with NIE but without success.
“Finally, I got some personal insight into the requirements for teaching.”
