Do I really want to go to SUTD?

So recently, I received a letter from NTU's REP (Renaissance Engineering Program) program, telling me why I should apply to the REP program. That was all good, except it prompted me to ask myself, "Do I really want to go to SUTD?"

Thing is, I have begun preparations for applying to universities from as early as last year, through visiting study fairs and the open houses of NUS and NTU. Back then, after those initial preparations, I had decided that I would want to apply to NTU's REP program, because it would offer a good blend of engineering and business courses, provide for leadership training, and give me a Masters in 4.5 years (which made it arguably the best engineering course in Singapore). And as for NUS, I thought that none for the courses there can match up to NTU's REP program. Besides, I feel that NUS's USP (University Scholars Program) program is not exactly my cup of tea ...

Then SUTD came along. Initially I thought it did not offer what I want - since I was interested in transport systems, I was primarily concerned with looking out for civil engineering courses then, and SUTD did not have that. However, upon closer examination, I realised that SUTD does deal with transport engineering, under their Engineering Systems and Design course. And then I went for their open house last October, and experienced one of their workshops on building structures. It was a positive experience, and here's a photo from the workshop:

My group and the structure we completed!

After that, I also went for a tea session with their professors and staff, which confirmed my impressions of SUTD, and how it is indeed suitable for me. From playing a trasnport simulator game, Simutrans, I found out that I am really most interested in planning transport networks, and only less so in building them. With this point in mind, I figured that SUTD's course would better prepare me in the domain of transportation planning, compared to say NUS or NTU, and hence I decided to apply to SUTD as my first choice. And after applying to SUTD and an interview, I got myself a place at SUTD, which I accepted.

So fast forward to this month, and it wasn't just the letter from NTU that had me wondering if I should "jump ship" instead. At the NUS Open House this year, I came across something known as the DCC (Design-Centric Curriculum) that the Faculty of Engineering at NUS have come up with. I thought this sounded similiar to SUTD, so I asked a few questions regarding this, and the professor said that basically it would offer me an education in the hard engineering fields, something that SUTD does not have. So (and NTU's letter) led me wondering if I really should go to SUTD ...

And after a long while, I decided that, yes, I really should go to SUTD. Here's why:

• Why SUTD: SUTD is going to be like MIT v2.0, so if MIT's great as it is, SUTD would be even more awesome in the future (though it is a new university nonetheless, so its aweomeness may not be apparent in the near future ... But think long term, and the picture may be different ...) In addition, it's nice to be able to enjoy the new facilities at its Changi campus when it is ready :D And the modules that I can take at SUTD would be highly related to the field of transportation engineering.
• Why not NUS: Even with my credentials, it's near impossible to get a top-tier scholarship from NUS. Plus, I'm concerned with the accessibility of the campus. Moving around the campus is challenging as it is, with the hilly terrain and stuff, and it gets worse when it rains ...
• Why not NTU: Honestly, I found it hard to write about cons against NTU, because in my opinion, NTU would be a nice place to study in, with a vibrant student/hall life, accessible campus, and the prospect of new developments taking place there. In the end, however, I thought that NTU's REP may not exactly offer me what I want - transportation engineering. Sure, the business component and the additional Master's degree is attractive (not to mention a full scholarship as well), but I'm not exactly sure that the modules for REP would be related to transportation engineering, which is ultimately what I'm interested in. Hence, not NTU (but this was a tough choice to make ....).

So that wraps up this long post; I can only hope that the decision to go SUTD was a right one. Though that can only be answered in 5+ years time ...