NTU has some good schools like WKW, ADM and Math/Science. CS is not one of them. The profs are awful at teaching relevant material. Y1 sem 2 onwards, half my peers no longer join lectures. And Y2 onwards, half my peers no longer join tutorials. Y3 and Y4, you even see some people not joining labs. Join NTU only if you know you're self-driven enough to self-learn and pursue your own opportunities. The best part about NTU CS is that the people are not very competitive and the program is not enriching, so you only have to spend minimal time studying to get second upper or even FCH, while you spend your other time pursuing your own projects. Why work for a project when the profs don't really care about marking and give everyone the same marks? For a Software Engineering project, one group created a hardcoded, static HTML site, with a pretty UI framework, while another group created a full stack site (MERN stack), with authentication, cloud deployment, CI/CD. Since the profs don't even check the code, guess which group got the higher grade? I have a friend in his final year, who didn't know how to initialize a hashmap in their language of choice (spoilers, it's Python...). And he is a 2 time Dean's Lister who is interested in tech consultancy. And it's funny to him. Basically, he didn't need to code since Y2 since he purposely chose to group with people who can code. That's the standard of grading in NTU. In NUS, you are introduced to a competitive programming module in Y1. I bet 50% of NTU CS don't know LeetCode exists. It's no surprise when you see FAANG, Big Tech and Quants, most of them are NUS students. And more likely than not, the NTU students who get in are from REP, double major/degree or just very self-motivated individuals. Don't join NTU CS if you can, unless you are taking up good scholarships like REP (masters degree at UC Berkley) and CN Yang (great opportunities in research). Or if you want more time not caring about school, yet still able to do well. Because NTU isn't worth your money unless it's completely paid for. And when you see someone from NTU CS being successful, it is in no part attributed to NTU. Seeing the strong alumni community in NUS, it is completely stark from NTU. Successful NTU CS alumni members don't want to give back to NTU because they did not have a good experience at NTU. Most of my very accomplished peers attribute none of their success to NTU. Sad reality.
same-shoe· constant learnerMight be a controversial take - feel free to chime in with your opinions!
1317d ago · ·
mysterious-thrill·Quite harsh, but if one measures success as the ability to enter big tech, hedge funds and unicorns, there's some grain of truth to what OP said. Then again, the average student body in NUS is probably quite "equal" to the average student body in NTU (based on my friend's anecdotes in NUS). There's also the fact that NUS is currently better recognized in other countries or have more interesting opportunities (NOC, etc), giving them more chances at these top american companies. Good thing there are other metrics of happiness in life that aren't just the ability to enter these top companies:)
1317d ago · ·- ambiguous-guide·
Some big tech companies have hiring quota per school. Coming from NTU CS might actually be an advantage if your goal is to enter big tech and can leetcode on your own.
1317d ago · · 
Yangshun· NUSWhispers lurkerMany of my teammates in FB SG come from NTU and they are absolutely killing it. My sample size quite small though (only 4-5 people).
1317d ago · ·
proud-dolls·Disagree with the part OP said ntu isnt competitive, i know a lot of high achieving and smart people in NTU. Then again most of them have complained ntu cs sucks so YMMV i guess lol
1317d ago · ·- secretive-food·
yea e.g. I think people from NTU REP are actually quite good. But not sure about the quality of the education as mentioned in OP's post
1317d ago · · - domineering-brake·
brb cancelling my ntu sep
1316d ago · · 
just-another-lousy-swe·Agree with majority of what OP said, albeit a little harsh. Maybe I can give some insight into those people considering NTU because of "good scholarships" - be it Nanyang Scholarship, double degree programme or something like REP, CNYang. (I'm from one of them, and have interactions with all) Just generalising here, but I think NTU's curriculum is so academic that you would be able to study last minute for it and do well (at least maintain a FCH), as compared to NUS' curriculum where I see people taking 2 full weeks to complete lab assignments or spending their waking hours grinding the course material. In NTU, the standard for most lab assignments in my experience is copying senior's code which can be done in the 1-2 hours you are assigned to for lab. This can actually be seen as a benefit as I think even in NUS, just studying the curriculum (or being a good student) doesn't exactly land you a good job (if the yardstick is "FAANG, Big Tech and Quants"). Many of those people spent time learning skills outside their course and even grinding LeetCode to ace the interviews. I know majority of my peers and juniors/seniors do this in NTU and find it easy to do so because the curriculum is quite manageable. NUS mods are definitely way harder but you learn so much more in terms of how things actually work. I would say that the average student in NUS CS comes out way ahead of NTU CS in terms of ability for software engineering, but that doesn't mean that you can't make it here in NTU, you just need to put in the work outside of studies. Having easier modules means that you can spend more time doing part-time or even full time internships while you study, and still be able to excel in both. Just see how much effort are you willing to put in. If you were to ask me where would I go again, I think my answer is still NTU only w the scholarship (it's a tighter community within these programmes), but I think you definitely learn more at NUS as a general CS student.
1302d ago · ·