I never expected to be rejected by NUS, NTU and SMU all at once

Around mid 2018, I transferred from the humanities stream (IB) to the science stream (IB) at a different school altogether. Fyi I never attempted Chemistry previously... much less HL Chemistry. Therefore you could imagine how much of an uphill battle I faced. I needed to attend a 6-month foundation program, which obviously meant graduating much later than the same cohort at my former school. I didn't fare well for Math either; coupled with this newfound nightmarish Chemistry endeavour I became completely lost and depressed.

I could never leave my bed. No matter how much I thought about hitting the books, my limbs just wouldn't obey me. A chronic emptiness overwhelmed my state of being, so much so I ended up sleeping 16 hours a day. Gosh why can't I snap out of this inertia and buck the f*** up? What's wrong with moi?

I’d never for a moment imagined it would be difficult to get into university. Growing up, everyone around me earned their degrees like clockwork and I reckoned the only thing I should ever worry about was which institution caught my fancy most. Receiving rejection letters from NUS, NTU and SMU simultaneously felt so surreal and yet at the same time, utterly embarrassing. Oh well, I guess that's what happens when you score a measly 31/45 in the IB diploma examinations.

More at https://www.domainofexperts.com/2021/06/i-never-expected-to-be-rejected-by-nus.html
 
Top