Grade profile for applicants to the various courses in SMU.

Here some current SMU Student's Share their experiences. 

These responses are from students doing Law at SMU. 

NUS Law vs. SMU Law discussion

FAQ #1 

Cheryl Ng

SMU Law student, Year 1. She enjoys everything about law except contract law. Member of Ballare, the Standard Ballroom dance group in SMU, she likes to tango and waltz.

If you wish to contact Cheryl about answers that cannot be found online, send an email to tjchighed@gmail.com and we'll put you in touch.

General SMU questions:

Why did you choose SMU and was your experience thus far any different from what you expected or what the school advertises?   

I chose SMU because I wanted to do law, and because it’s nearer than NUS or NTU and I don’t have to stay in a hostel. My experience isn’t really different from what the school advertises about being all-rounded and activity-filled and how engaging lessons are etc. It really is like that. They just don’t show the work that goes into preparing for lessons and mugging for exams, but that part is pretty much the same no matter what and where you study. SMU advertises itself as a “different” university, which is good in a sense, because I’ve definitely improved my presentation skills and people skills, but it also means you have to take stupid compulsory modules like “Creative Thinking”. Don’t worry, they are really minor and don’t take much time. Other core modules are actually helpful. Analytical Skills is damn boring but you really do learn a lot about language and propositions and presuppositions and assumptions etc. 

What do you not like about the system/lifestyle here? 

I don’t like the fact that there are some really competitive people in law school. You will meet some crazed people who are obsessed over grades and GPAs. They’re in the minority though. My friends are a lot more balanced and it’s very nice to have friends who don’t think that a B grade is the end of the world. But I guess there are probably people like that everywhere. Though you must note that in order to practise law the in the future, you must maintain a GPA of at least 3.0. It doesn’t sound hard, but it is (for me at least). Most people get a lot higher than that, so as long as you put in effort, it will pay off. And I mean a lot of effort. 

I also don’t like that people are always pressuring me to participate in more activities and CCAs and events etc. (Not the law people, people from the other degree programs.) They can’t really tell that law students have an endless amount of work to do. But participating in all these is a great way to make new friends and gain new experiences. I really enjoy them.

What are your experiences of working on projects and giving (the endless) presentations at SMU?  

If you’ve got good project mates, things will be much easier and it can actually be enjoyable. If you’ve got free-loaders, good luck. If your entire group has English standards that cannot make it, you’re going to be up for the next few nights editing the reports and presentation slides. 

Presentations aren’t that bad, in my experience, unless you don’t know anything about that topic. It’s not that bad even with free-loaders, because at least the rest of the group will help you. You have to do your part though, and make it for the meetings. 

It can depend though. If you’re very anal about the standards, then you’re going to find yourself doing all the work. But if you’re too uptight, the rest of the group might not like you very much. If you’re willing to delegate and be flexible, the process will be a lot easier. Again, it is all about people skills- I learnt as I went along. 

SMU Law related questions:  

What was the selection process for Law like, rounds of interviews, question types, any essays to write?   

I got called up to go for the interview. The essay test was first, it was only 15 minutes. A little short, but also good, because it means that I didn’t have to write a lot, and after 5 months after the A levels, my brain was pretty much useless so having to write less was good. The essay topics were law related ones. Like, “Stroke of the pen, law of the land. Comment”. But I did hear from my friend who worked in the admissions office that no one actually did read the essays we wrote. Haha. Don’t know whether really true or not. 

The interview was maybe about 20 minutes long. It was somewhat freaky, because you realize that everyone there seems to be from RJC or HCI and they all know each other. My interview was 2 professors interviewing 3 students. They didn’t ask any questions like “Why do you want to study law?” etc. but gave us a hypothetical question and asked us to respond. My scenario was: “You are in the same building as a mad gunman with 15 children and he wants to kill one of them. How would you pick a child?” Then all of us sort of struggled to answer it, and the professors later added in variations, like “One child is disabled. Would you rather pick this child?”

Based on our applications to SMU, we had to give a short write-up about ourselves too, so the professors did ask us individually about it. Mine was something about volunteer work and helping the underprivileged, the other girls in the same room were asked about their interests which was about the environment, and another one about sports.

But don’t fret too much about the interview and stuff, because I know my friends in other interview rooms were asked different questions. Some were asked why they wanted to do law, why SMU, typical interview-y questions. But I did have a friend who went for the interview in his army uniform, having just booked out of the camp, and one professor asked him if he thought that the armed forces would catch Mas Selamat (he just escaped around that period). Yes, very random. (FYI, my friend said, “No, the SAF is incompetent.” He got accepted.)

The interview is not that formal, and stiff-necked, so after a while, you can relax. It’s best to just enjoy yourself and converse. But speak up. If you keep quiet and the professors actually have to turn to you and ask you your opinion, you come off as being very unopiniated and uninterested. 

How can a current applicant best prepare for all this and is there a certain outlook or approach they should take?   

I don’t think you can prepare very much for it, just be prepared for the basic questions like “Why do you want to do law?” and stuff. It’ll be good if you know a little about the law. Like, why does the law exist and stuff like that. I didn’t know anything about it, so I was completely taken off guard during the essay test and I got very nervous during the interview, but don’t fret about it. Even if you don’t know anything, the professors don’t expect you to know either, because the law is really wide and no one can ever know everything about it. Don’t worry, I still constantly forget who our current law minister is. Haha.

Would you say there are prerequisites for studying law in general, and at SMU in particular?  

Pre-requisites would probably include not shying away from work. Get ready to work your ass off. (It’s the same at NUS anyway.) Don’t shy away from readings. Remember, you LOVE readings. You’ll never be able to finish your readings, but you gotta try. Your language has to be good, that’s for sure. If your English isn’t very good, it’ll be a struggle to keep up, especially when you have to read stupid old English cases and the judges love to talk in convoluted ways. Thank God we don’t do cases like that often. 

If you’re very very very quiet and introverted, it’s not a bad thing. But you got to learn to speak up when you need to and actively participate. If you’re really good at debating and putting forward your propositions and premises, it’ll help. But it’s also not necessary. I don’t have any of those skills. I don’t come to any conclusions the logical way. I usually just crap up something to insert in between the question and the final answer.

I think you have to know why you want to study law in the first place. Don’t just apply for law because you know lawyers earn a lot. At the end of the day, you’ll end up doing something you dislike for a lot of money and it’s very sad to sell your soul like that. Plus, even though lawyers earn a lot, they also work a lot. 

My contract law professor asked my class during the very last lesson at the end of last semester why we were doing law. I think that was one point where all of us really stopped to think about it. Some of my friends chose to do law because they liked to debate and argue their points, some because of money, some because they honestly believe that the law upholds justice. I wasn’t really sure why I chose to do law, it just seemed like a better option compared to the rest that I had, but as I thought about it, I came to realize that I’m not very good at all the law stuff like writing nice chim legal essays or arguing my point, but I believe that our justice system works, and since the law codifies moral values, it really is all about morality and fairness.

There aren’t really any requisites for studying at SMU. Just get ready to be a mugger, spend lots of time in the library, and have people give you knowing looks when you say you’re a law student (they know you can’t spend a lot of time participating in CCAs and such). But it’s not all bad. SMU is really nice and the facilities are great. The gym is really big and it’s air-conditioned everywhere and it’s really clean. It’s also equipped with very high tech facilities, everything’s wireless, it’s a really pleasant place to study in, and it’s in town! I love that I have a wide range of choices of food to choose from. Not that I really have that much time to go around makan sutra-ing.

What made you pick SMU law over NUS law?  

I didn’t apply to NUS law. (Actually, majority of people at SMU law are NUS law rejects.) SMU didn’t really want me either. They only offered me a place in end June, after other people turned them down. Haha.

How is law being taught differently at SMU as compared to the way it it is taught at NUS?   

SMU’s style of teaching is “seminar style”. NUS is the usual “lecture-and-tutorial”. We have to prepare before we go to lessons, like read the textbooks and cases and make your own notes, then during lesson time we have discussions and the profs talk a lot or explain what you don’t understand. There’re no clear “lectures” or “tutorials”, but sometimes you have some questions to prepare before you go to class, and sometimes it’s just listening to your prof talk. I think it’s somewhat more lively and interesting because it is more engaging. Of course, we also have our laptops, so we are often distracted in class on MSN or facebook. Or in my case, reading the news and online shopping.

SMU profs usually don’t give out notes, so you make your own, or you share them with friends. Tip: Don’t keep asking your friends for their notes, you’ll come up as being a free-loader or really competitive.  

FAQ #2

General SMU questions: 

What do you not like about the system/lifestyle here?

Student Life is much more stressful and theres hardly any time to go shopping or watch movies [although its really convenient]. 

What are your experiences of working on projects and giving (the endless) presentations at SMU?  

Its very fun and I prefer this to essays. For example, we [my whole group] get to watch a movie we chose for our tort law project, and do a review plus identify and discuss the torts that are featured in them. 

SMU Law Related Questions: 

What was the selection process for Law like, rounds of interviews, question types, any essays to write? How can a current applicant best prepare for all this and is there a certain outlook or approach they should take?

There was one interview and one essay test. Either the essay or interview can come first. 

The interview was 3-to3, 3 professors interviewing 3 applicants in a room. The students take turns to answer, but you show you're not afraid to speak up and can get your points across clearly. Because, after all, this is SMU which emphasizes on interactive learning and class participation. It could be up to 20% of your grade for a particular module. 

You probably can't prepare for this part much, maybe have a few back up answers about law, yourself, you reasons, your achievements.

The essay was around 45 minutes, and I thought it was too short. Most of us didn't finish it. The questions were quite hard, you should prepare and roughly know what The Law is about, what areas the law affects, the legal system, the history and principles. Plan your essay, but don’t take too much time on this. Start writing between 10 to 15 minutes, you don’t want to hand in a blank paper. The approach I would take is just show your understanding of the course you will take. 

Would you say there are prerequisites for studying law in general, and at SMU in particular?    

A minimum B grade in GP. Refer to SMU Law website for more. (Grade Profile above)

You should like this subject. Think clearly whether you have a genuine interest because it will be a lot of hard work. 

What made you pick SMU law over NUS law?   

It picked me.

How is law being taught differently at SMU as compared to the way it it is taught at NUS?   

No lectures. Lots of self-study. All seminars, 3 hours per unit, each week. [Most courses are 1 unit. Some heavier ones are 1.5] Its something like a tutorial but not quite. There is no homework like worksheets, you do your assigned readings and come to class with questions and anything you want to discuss. You have to make your own notes and case briefs, our professors seldom give them. Talking in class is actually quite fun, and the professors are engaging, and always encourage discussion. Unlike NUS where you probably dont need to talk [as much] in class. The professors know you because the classes are quite small.