good or no good

first of all the rankings, especially london times one which placed NUS at 18th and 22th for the past 2 years, are crap. the ranking methodology is largely based on the % international students and strength of the faculty (e.g. research citations). % international students is not exactly a gd guage of educational quality or even the social exposure a student would get at the school... like, Harvard has say 10% international students and NUS has 20%, does that make NUS any better than Harvard? Besides, that 20% is predominantly made up of students from countries in the region, like China, India and Indonesia. Not much of diversity to speak of really. As for the faculty, I am rather suprised that NUS faculty is considerably active in the academic arena. But then again, being the only comprehensive university in Singapore, most of the academic research done in Singapore must be in some ways affiliated to the NUS professors, so there. Besides, research is one thing, teaching is another. The way of teaching, or at least I imagine to be so, is still very much of a one-way thing. The quality of the students is perhaps another problem. Every year, most of the brighest in the nation end up flying to UK, US and lately, China, which leaves NUS - arguably the best university in Singapore - with hardly any share of the nation's top students (less Medicine students I guess). Perhaps the worst thing is the rigidity in curriculum. Dual degree or rather, double majors across different faculties, is virtually impossible except for options offered by the university. i can only think of econs + law and physics and material engineering, then again u need 5 freaking years to complete them. The dual degree programs take in maybe 10 to 20 students a year - the chances of entry are hardly on my side.And of course, no matter how good NUS (or NTU or SMU for that matter) may be, the pasture always seems greener on the other side!

there is nothing about NUS that i absolutely cannot tolerate - i just want a different experience. that said, i don't think NUS will shortchange anyone in terms of academics at the undergraduate level at least.