Re: I need help about life in the outside world.

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This is a topic that I've posted here previously. I'm posting it again because I only got one reply the last time, so this time I want opinion from others aswell.

Before I get to the actual topic, I'm going to share a bit about the education system in my country Singapore:-

Nursery -> Kindergarten 1 (K1) -> Kindergarten 2 (K2) Primary 1 -> Primary 2 -> Primary 3 -> Primary 4
Primary 4 -> Primary 5 (EM1 [TOP STUDENTS HERE]) -> Primary 6 (EM1)
Primary 4 -> Primary 5 (EM2 [AVERAGE STUDENTS HERE]) -> Primary 6 (EM2)
Primary 4 -> Primary 5 (EM3 [POOR STUDENTS HERE]) -> Primary 6 (EM3)

Primary 6 -> Secondary 1 (Sec 1) (Express [TOP STUDENTS HERE]) -> Secondary 2 (Sec 2) (Express) -> Secondary 3 (Sec 3) (Express) -> Secondary 4 (Sec 4) (Express)
Primary 6 -> Secondary 1 (Sec 1) (Normal Academic (NA) [AVERAGE STUDENTS HERE]) -> Secondary 2 (Sec 2) (NA) -> Secondary 3 (Sec 3) (NA) -> Secondary 4 (Sec 4) (NA) -> Secondary 5 (Sec 5) (NA)
Primary 6 -> Secondary 1 (Sec 1) (Normal Technical (NT) [POOR STUDENTS HERE]) -> Secondary 2 (Sec 2) (NT) -> Secondary 3 (Sec 3) (NT) -> Secondary 4 (Sec 4) (NT)

Sec 4 (Express) -> Polytechnic (Poly) (2-4 years) [AVERAGE STUDENTS HERE]
Sec 4 (Express) -> Junior College (JC) (2 years) [TOP STUDENTS HERE]
Sec 4 (NA) -> Institute of Technical Education (ITE) (2-3 years) [POOR STUDENTS HERE] -> Poly
Sec 5 (NA) -> Poly
Sec 5 (NA) -> JC
Sec 4 (NT) -> ITE
Sec 4 (NT) -> Sec 5 (NA) [TOP STUDENTS OF NT HERE]

Poly -> University
JC -> University

I'm now gonna add some important info:-

Sec 4 (Express) - GCSE Ordinary Level Examination (O-Levels) (Yup! We use GCSE standards from Cambridge University)
Sec 5 (NA) - O-Levels
Sec 4 (NA) - GCSE Normal Level Examination (N-Levels)
Sec 4 (NT) - N-Levels
JC (Second Year) - GCE Advanced Level Examination (A-Levels)

I hope this format doesn't confuse you guys. Also, note that this might not be accurate, so to give more accurate explaination, please go to this link:-
Education in Singapore

Now, on to the general info about my education:-


Special Needs School (ever heard of Horizon Centre?) -> Primary 1 -> Primary 2 -> Primary 3 -> Primary 4 -> Primary 5 (EM2) -> Primary 6 (EM2) -> Sec 1 (NA) -> Sec 2 (NA) -> Sec 3 (NA) -> Sec 4 (NA) -> ITE

Now, on to the problem:-

I happen to be one of the smartest students in my Secondary School (I'm in no way a poor student!)! And to go to ITE means committing suicide for me as every juvenile delinquent (Gangsters, etc.) in my Secondary School wind up either dropping out or going to ITE, and I've wounded up getting beaten up by them all the time (in ITE, delinquents are almost always in charge). So I've decided to not go for ITE and sit as a private candidate for the O-Levels and go for my ACT (Yup, the American College Test), but this means I have to do REALLY well for both exams (That means I have to get really high grades like A or A+). As a result of this decision, there are pros and cons:-

Advantages
1. by 2010, I can go for University.
2. I don't have to go for ITE.
3. I can finally get out of my country! (Sorry but the locals in Singapore are so dumb, they can make their foreign counterparts look smart)
4. I'm not schooling (LOL!).

Disadvantages
1. There's a high chance I might have to go for National Service (NS) (2.5 years) in the military, which I detest as I might meet up with those jerks who used to pick on me at school there (NS is only for boys 18 and above, and will only allow exemption of NS if schooling).
2. I have to get a job.
3. I'm not schooling (LOL!).

So with all these things happening to me, I've got 1 simple question: Has anyone of you guys ever gone through a similar event like this?

Um, not really but I took the ACT without going to high school. It wasn't too hard.

A friend of mine works at NTU (?) in Singapore and was trying to explain this system to me. He seemed pretty positive about Poly. I'm sure it's going to be great getting out of the country though because you just won't have the same red tape.

If you do end up in the service, my friend says a lot of people are actually not jerks there, and after all everyone's kind of in the same predicament.

Good luck!

In the university library where I work we have a lot of students your age from Singapore doing various degrees. If you want any other options I can get you information about applying for degrees and so forth over here in the United Kingdom. I am not at work til monday but I have web links I could PM you if you are interested.