Super-Curriculars: How to Stand Out from the Crowd
Think about the word ‘portfolio’. What word do you associate this word with? Service-learning? Volunteering? Sadly, these two words are the only thing that comes into most students’ minds. To them, a portfolio is just a number — the number of service-learning hours. The higher the number, the higher your chances of success. That is the assumed procedure of university applications.
However, in reality, university applications are so much more than that! In fact, Universities are starting to use ‘short statements’ as part of their application to pick out students with deep interest in the relevant field. University assessors are looking for students with passion and a clear goal in mind — students with a super portfolio.
What are Super-curriculars?
Super-curriculars are similar to extra-curriculars as they are not part of the school’s curriculum. However, they focus on different activities.
Super-curriculars are more academically-oriented and should be related to the University course you want to apply to.
Why are Super-curriculars Important?
Super-curriculars are important as they help you to increase your chances to enter University with your desired course! Even the presence of super-curriculars, no matter the quality, already demonstrates your initiative. It shows the University assessors that you have a firm goal to pursue that subject in University. Being goal-oriented is a sign of maturity too.
Still, quality does matter. For example, it is more impressive for a student to, say, create notes on Chemistry at the university level than to merely claim that they watch University Chemistry lectures. From the quantity and quality of super-curriculars that you do, University assessors can gauge your genuine passion for a certain course. This is unlike your ‘A’ Level grades which only show your competence in that subject rather than interest. Super-curriculars can really make you stand out among the rest of the students who also scored as well as you for their ‘A’ Levels.
Furthermore, it helps to give you something to talk about in your short statements, which is an admission requirement in some Universities as aforementioned. With super-curriculars, you can present your interest and start off strong.
Lastly, as you work on your super-curriculars, you will expand your network and improve your reputation in that field of study. And with a little bit of luck, one of the University assessors might turn out to be someone you recognise or a second-degree connection! Having an assessor recognise you and your work further substantiates that you actually have been doing the work for some time.
All in all, super-curriculars increase your chances of getting into the University course that you want!
How to Work on Super-curriculars?
Before you work on your super-curriculars, it is crucial to be wise about choosing a super-curricular to work on. Say you want to apply for a Physics course in University, it would not make sense for you to take up a Music Elective Scholarship! Having an unrelated super-curricular does not automatically beautify your portfolio — it might even make it confusing for the assessors!
Thus, it is important to have in mind what course you want to take in University before starting a super-curricular (If you do not have any ideas, you can read this article!). This is key to making your portfolio more cohesive.
There are many opportunities for you to work on your super-curriculars aside from joining Olympiads and challenges. In increasing levels of passion and discipline required, you can join official programmes, join the Exco team in relevant academic CCAs and/or SIGs, or even initiate your own project! To give you an idea of what super-curriculars you want to do, I have made a brief description of what these super-curriculars will entail along with some essential links and resources!
Programmes
If you feel that you are not extremely passionate and disciplined, programmes will be your cup of tea! Programmes are more structured as their timelines offer a steady pace. Being able to juggle these deadlines on top of your schoolwork proves to the assessors that you have a strong work ethic. And as for the programmes tied to scholarships, you would get to attend exclusive workshops and take up internship opportunities which are all precious opportunities.
There will be many formally organised programmes for you to work on your super-curriculars during just the first two months. Here is a list of the deadlines for such opportunities in 2024!
- MOE Overseas Student Attachment Programme (OSAP) 6 Feb 2023*
- NUS Science Research Programme (SRP) 20 Feb 2023*
- NTU Nanyang Research Programme (NRP) 24 Feb 2023*
- DSTA JC Scholarship 15 Feb 2024
- MOE Programme-specific Scholarships for Pre-University Details for all 15 programmes can be found in the link provided
*The registration deadlines are for 2023 as the respective organisations have not released the deadlines for 2024 yet
The dates should be similar in 2024 and are rather close to Junior College Orientation Week, so do keep a lookout for them. It is very easy to miss them amidst all the fun and games you will have during orientation! Furthermore, some programmes require students to submit a video to showcase themselves, so it is advisable to research more about their mode of assessment and prepare early!
Academic CCA and/or SIGs
SIGs, otherwise known as student-initiated groups, are similar to CCAs except that they are run entirely by the Exco members and have fewer mandatory training sessions. Some Junior Colleges have CCAs and SIGs related to academics, such as a Mathematics Club and a Chemistry Club. The list of CCAs and SIGs can be found in the JAE booklet. It is best to join one that is related to your desired University course. You might want to consider this when you pick your desired Junior College!
The opportunities provided by such CCAs are akin to those provided by the programmes as aforementioned, like research and internship opportunities. Thus, these opportunities are pretty much spoon-fed to you. SIGs, on the other hand, are much more dependent on the Exco team, so training sessions are hosted much less frequently than CCAs. In fact, an average SIG typically hosts one to two sessions the entire year!
Therefore, it is great to aim for an Exco position in a SIG so that you can choose to commit to it as much as you want. Not only will being an Exco member grant you a leadership position, but you will also be able to make an impact!
For example, when I first joined my JC’s Physics SIG, I realised that the club was very unpopular among the student population despite hosting in-person sessions occasionally. Thus, determined to make a change, I joined as an Exco member and planned to spread my love for Physics to a larger population. I worked with the Exco team to establish our club’s first social media page on Instagram, and publish posts explaining University Physics concepts there frequently throughout the year to widen our outreach. You can check them out here for inspiration!
Self-Initiated Projects
If you missed out on the chance to become an Exco member in a SIG, you can still initiate projects on your own accord! However, before you initiate one, it is important to first gain a good understanding of your subject of interest. Here are some useful links to do so!
- Khan Academy website and YouTube channel
- LibreTexts
- The Organic Chemistry Tutor (Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics)
- NaNoWriMo (Writing)
- Attend University module lectures, like in NUS and NTU
- Ask questions in StackExchange
- Ask questions in SGExams Discord Server (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Economics)
As you learn, the notes you create are considered a super-curricular. If you want to, you can even publish them online. Or if you are a little more ambitious, you can start creating content and teach some concepts in that subject too! Here are some ways in which you can make use of what you have learnt!
- Create a Telegram channel
- Create YouTube videos
- Publish it on a blog, like WordPress and Medium (or join SGExams as a Journalist!!!)
- Publish posts on social media, like Instagram and X
Closing off
In conclusion, unlike extra-curriculars, super-curriculars are activities concerning academics beyond the syllabus taught in schools. You can take up one by joining programmes (again, do keep a lookout and prepare in advance!), academic CCAs and/or SIGs, and self-initiated projects.
I admit that picking up a super-curricular is tough, especially when you have to juggle it with the already hectic Junior College lifestyle. However, as someone who has taken up various super-curricular opportunities, I believe that the magic bullet is passion. If you are really passionate about your super-curriculars, you will have the drive to work on your super-curriculars despite the mountain of workload.
Having said that, although super-curriculars are important, do remember that your studies are still the top priority! After all, super-curriculars are just add-ons to improve your portfolio.
With that, I wish you all the best for your studies and super-curriculars journey!
