Majors, unrestricted electives, and everything in between: How the FASS curriculum works

The original version of this post appeared on 17 July 2018. It was last updated on 19 July 2019. It will continue to be revised with updated information as such information becomes available.

Changelog
20 July 2018:

• Replaced several screenshots with new ones which have my student number blanked out
• Updated information about GAPS and CORS module bidding
• Updated information based on the 2018 modular paper

2 December 2018:

• Added a section on the S/U system.

11 January 2019:

•  Added link to https://jonathansjunkyard.blogspot.com/2019/01/new-nus-edurec-academic-advisement.html explaining new Academic Advisement system.

19 July 2019:

• Updated information to reflect integration of all online services into MyEduRec
• Updated references to GET1031A to account for its replacement with GET1050

22 February 2020:

• Updated a reference to GET1031A that was missed out in the 19 July 2019 update

Confusing. Complicated. These are what you might use to describe the curriculum of the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) when you first encounter it. But it doesn't have to be so. In this post, I'll explain everything you need to know about the FASS curriculum clearly and simply with the aid of never-before-seen screenshots from restricted-access online student services. This is intended to help those who are considering an undergraduate degree at FASS make an informed decision. It is not meant to be academic advice for students designing their degree programme, especially double degrees or exchange programmes, as it is nowhere near comprehensive enough for that. Please email the Dean's Office for official academic advising. This post also refers to FASS exclusively, as other faculties in NUS have different graduation requirements. If you are looking for information on other faculties, proceed with caution as not everything in this post will be applicable. Finally, this post takes reference from the 2017 modular paper, but the 2018 and 2019 modular papers make no major changes so the information in this post can be considered current and up-to-date. Minor tweaks may be made to the system in subsequent academic years. Refer to the FASS website for the most updated version. That's all the covering-my-backside stuff out of the way. Now on to the post proper.

Modular system

The FASS curriculum is designed to be broad as well as deep. You will study a bit about many things, and a lot about one thing.

The one thing you will study a lot about is called your major. A major is an area you have chosen to specialise in. Examples of FASS majors are: economics, political science, literature, Southeast Asian studies.

You will take 12 modules related to your major. A module is a series of lessons on a certain topic, like quantitative research methods or the thoughts of the philosopher Descartes. It lasts for one semester, which is 13 weeks long. Usually each module will be worth 4 modular credits (MCs).

Besides the 12 modules you will take to form your major, you will need to take more modules that are not related to your major. Remember "you will study a bit about many things"?

There are two modules that all FASS students must take, FAS1101 Writing Academically and FAS1102 Public Writing and Communication. You will do these in your first year.

You might be wondering what the letters and numbers mean. All modules have unique codes. The letters in front give a clue as to what the module is about. For example, all economics modules start with EC, and EC stands for EConomics. The first digit of the number is the level of the module. Introductory modules start with the number '1', and Honours modules start with '4'. Sometimes you will need to take a '1' module before you are allowed to take a '2' or '3' module in a related field, as the knowledge you get from the '1' module is important background for the more difficult ones.

In FASS, a few modules end with the letter 'E'. The 'E' means that that module is an Exposure module. It is a window into the major it represents. For example, PL1101E Introduction to Psychology is the exposure module of the psychology major. You can take it to get an idea of what psychology is about, and see if psychology is the major for you.

You must take three of these exposure modules, one from each "basket": Asian Studies, Humanities, and Social Sciences. One of these exposure modules will be in the discipline that you eventually adopt as your major. That's normal and you don't have to take another exposure module in the same basket to replace it.

The "baskets" are listed in the leftmost column and the contents are in the rightmost column. These are also the names of the majors on offer at FASS.

You also need to take at least nine other modules called unrestricted electives (UEs). As the name suggests, you can do whatever you want with these modules as long as they are not related to your major. You can learn a new language from the Centre for Language Studies, go out of FASS to learn computer coding or biology, or even go overseas on an exchange programme to another university. You might have heard of a double major or a minor. If you take a group of modules that are interrelated, you can turn them into a second major alongside your first one, or a minor if you didn't take so many. All this is done using your UE credit space. The UE credit space is expandable, so you can take more than nine modules if necessary. For example, a double major would require you to take at least two extra modules on top of the nine. You can still graduate in the normal time but you'll have to work harder.

Finally, there are five General Education Modules (GEMs) you need to take. Three are predetermined: GER1000 Quantitative Reasoning, GEQ1000 Asking Questions, and GET1050 Computational Reasoning (if you're from the AY2018/19 intake or earlier, this requirement is fulfilled by GET1031A Computational Thinking; if you haven't taken GET1031A, you will be pre-allocated GET1050 instead because GET1031A is no longer available). You are free to choose the other two from a list of available options. One is about Singapore Studies and must have a module code starting with GES, and the other is about Human Cultures and must have a module code starting with GEH.

Let's summarise this part before moving on.

A basic FASS undergraduate degree programme consists of:

General Education
GER1000 Quantitative Reasoning
GEQ1000 Asking Questions
GET1050 Computational Reasoning
One module with code starting with GEH
One module with code starting with GES

Faculty Core
FAS1101 Writing Academically
FAS1102 Public Writing and Communication
One exposure module from the Asian Studies division
One exposure module from the Humanities division
One exposure module from the Social Sciences division
11 modules from your major (your major may have some compulsory modules within this 11, so check carefully)

Unrestricted Electives
9 modules which are not used to fulfill any of the above requirements

A detailed breakdown of more complex types of degree like double major programmes and double degree programmes is beyond the scope of this post.

A quick word about Honours: it consists of 8 modules with the first digit of their codes being '4'. It is not compulsory to write a thesis. All modules will be about your major, and there shouldn't be a need for you to take GEMs or UEs during your Honours year unless you got your planning wrong during your earlier years.

Graduation Academic Planning System (GAPS)

It can be tricky to keep track of all the graduation requirements. Fortunately, FASS is a helpful school and provides the GAPS online service which helps you get a handle on everything. It lists out all the graduation requirements you need to fulfill, and the modules you have taken that can fulfill each one, all in a friendly table format.

A look inside GAPS. This is my degree progress as of July 2018. Don't worry if you don't understand everything in this screenshot. Just get the gist of it.

Note: From the start of 2019, GAPS was replaced with a new Academic Advisement system. This post shows screenshots of the new system. Screenshots of GAPS are no longer relevant but will be retained here for posterity.

More about majors

I've heard a lot of misconceptions about how majors work in FASS. Some people think that we have to bid for them, while others aren't sure when we declare them. Let me clear it up for you.

For the vast majority of FASS majors, declaring them is as simple as passing the relevant exposure module and then clicking a few buttons in an online system. It's that simple.

For example, to become a Communications and New Media major, you must:

1. Pass NM1101E Communications, New Media and Society
2. Go online and make it official when the Academic Plan Declaration exercise is held between semesters

Point 1 means that you can declare your major after spending at least one semester at FASS, during which you take the exposure module and pass it. As for when you must declare a major by, you are given until your fifth semester to do so. But please try to decide quickly as you might otherwise be forced to delay your graduation. Besides, there are advantages to having a major when it comes to securing your desired modules, which I will expand on below.

What the interface looks like when declaring your major. Note: The interface shown is from the old major declaration system. Academic plan declaration is now conducted through MyEduRec, so the interface is different. See below for a screenshot of the academic plan declaration section of MyEduRec. This screenshot is retained for posterity.

When the Academic Plan Declaration exercise is being held, the academic plan declaration section of MyEduRec becomes accessible. To declare your major, click on the magnifying glass symbol under "Academic Plan", then select your major from the list that appears. You can declare second majors and minors the same way. Specialisations and tracks are generally not applicable to FASS majors so don't panic about leaving them empty. The "Others" section is filled by the system automatically. In my case, it shows that I'm on the undergraduate polytechnic requirements track, "Polytechnic Req Track-UGRD".

There's no quota that restricts how many people can major in something, and admission to the majors is not on a competitive basis.

The major that is in high demand from students and is more stringent in terms of its entry requirements is psychology. To become a psychology major you must get at least B- in PL1101E Introduction to Psychology as well as PL2131 Research and Statistical Methods I. But once you've done that, the rest remains the same. Still no bidding involved.

Bidding

IMPORTANT NOTE: EFFECTIVE AY2019/20, THERE IS NO MORE BIDDING. THE MODULE PREFERENCE EXERCISE HAS ALSO BEEN ABOLISHED. MODULES ARE NOW ALLOCATED BY ModReg@EduRec, A FUNCTION OF THE UPGRADED STUDENT SERVICES PORTAL MyEduRec. THIS SECTION IS RETAINED FOR POSTERITY.

Of course there's such a thing as bidding. We may not bid for majors, but we do bid for modules.

There exists a very comprehensive and user-friendly tutorial video teaching you how the bidding system on the Centralised Online Registration System (CORS) works. It's made by the Registrar's Office and they are the people who administer the whole system so there's really nothing more I can say about this that can add to the discussion. You can view the video here. It is about two hours long but once you've watched it you'll never have any questions about the bidding ever again. Note: In mid-2019, CORS will be abolished in favour of a new module allocation system that does not rely on bidding or points. See this post for more details.

What I can tell you is how FASS makes life easier for you. One of the reactions I've seen from people who hear about the bidding system is anxiety. It sounds intimidating at first, but really there's nothing to fear.

First of all, many of your modules are pre-allocated. For example, GER1000 Quantitative Reasoning, GEQ1000 Asking Questions, GET1031A Computational Thinking, FAS1101 Writing Academically, and FAS1102 Public Writing and Communication are all pre-allocated to you within your first two years. This means that the school gives them to you straightaway and you will only be charged one bid point for each one. No bidding takes place for those modules so they don't have the opportunity to inflate in bid price. This means that you can save your bid points for other modules that you do need to bid for.

Secondly, once you've declared your major, you can take part in the Module Preference Exercise (MPE) which happens a couple of weeks before the bidding exercise. Administered by the Dean's Office, the MPE allows you to indicate the modules you want to take in the coming semester for your major requirements. Those modules will then be pre-allocated to you once the bidding exercise begins, once again costing you just one bid point each. With the MPE, you don't have to worry about not getting the modules you want for your major. It also saves your bid points so you can spend them on other modules.

As a Communications and New Media major, I will be pre-allocated NM3217 and NM2101. Although I won't be pre-allocated EL2102 as I'm not an English major, indicating my intention to take it will allow the Dean's Office to plan the cohort size of the module accordingly by taking into account the number of students who show interest in it.

The second page of the MPE. The normal workload for FASS students is five modules in a semester, which is equivalent to 20 MCs.

Confirmation screen of the MPE.

Finally, many modules are actually undersubscribed, meaning that the number of students who bid for them is smaller than the number of students that they can actually take in. In such cases, everybody who placed a bid gets the module for one bid point. There are lots of such modules around, and even popular ones like NM1101E Communications, New Media and Society, which is the exposure module of the third-most popular major in FASS, sometimes go for one bid point.

So when you think of the module bidding exercise, have no fear. Once you have understood how it works, the rest is easy.

The S/U system

Note: To fully understand this section, please review the first section of this post, "Modular system", as this section contains many of the concepts I explained there such as modular credits, module codes and levels.

Coming to university is a big deal. You will feel afraid and stressed as you transition from the relatively structured environment of your previous school to the brave new world where, for all intents and purposes, everyone is treated as adults and every decision you make with regard to your academics will have lasting consequences.

To help you cope and, to a certain extent, mitigate the impact of any poor choices you may make as you struggle to find your footing in NUS, all students who have no prior experience with university education will get access to the S/U system.

For most modules, you will get a letter grade at the end of the semester reflecting your performance in the module. Letter grades range from A+ to F. Each letter grade corresponds to a value called a grade point. The highest grade point is 5 and corresponds to the letter grades A+ and A. On the opposite end of the scale, F is worth a grade point of 0.

Your Cumulative Average Point (CAP) is an aggregate score representing your overall performance across all the modules you take. To calculate it:

1. Take the grade point you get for a module and multiply it by the number of modular credits that module carried. For example, if you get B+ for NM1101E, take the grade point equivalent of B+, which is 4, and multiply it by 4 because NM1101E carries 4MC, to get 16.
2. Repeat for all your modules.
3. Add up all the numbers you get from step 2. This is your numerator.
4. The total number of modular credits you have accumulated is your denominator.
5. Numerator divided by denominator = your CAP! CAP is represented to 2 decimal places, such as 4.88.

Where does the S/U system come in? S stands for Satisfactory and U stands for Unsatisfactory. Letter grades containing A, B, and C can be exchanged for S, while letter grades containing anything else can be exchanged for U.

After the results for a particular semester are released, you will have three days to log into the student information system and make this trade. By exchanging your letter grade on a particular module for an S or a U, you are removing it from the calculation of your CAP. To the system that calculates your CAP, it will be as if that module never existed.

The crucial difference between S and U is that an S allows you to count the modular credits you got from that module towards your graduation requirements, but a U does not. If the module was compulsory, you will have to retake the module in a subsequent semester and do better. If it was a regular module, you can try it again in a subsequent semester or choose a different module to make up the lost modular credits. The advantage of having a U instead of a D or F is that your CAP will be protected. D, being worth 1 grade point, and F, being worth 0 grade points, can really wreck your CAP if they are included in the calculation.

Students entering NUS from junior colleges with A Level or International Baccalaureate diploma certifications get 32MC of S/U to use, and those from polytechnics get 20MC because they get exemptions from some modules and do not need to take as many in order to graduate. With FASS modules mainly being worth 4MC each, this means that you can use the S/U option on 8 modules if you are from junior college and 5 if you are from polytechnic. You can't hoard them though. If you finish your first two semesters and have more than 12MC of unused S/U credits, the excess will be deleted. Everyone can only take 12MC of S/U credits out of their first full academic year.

One more detail about S/U is that you can't use it on all modules. Only certain modules are eligible. If the module is coded at level 1, you can use S/U on it. If the module is coded at level 2, you can use S/U on it provided it did not require you to take another module before taking it. For example, you can use S/U on NM2207 Computational Media Literacy because it is open to everyone, but not on EL2151 Social Variation in English because it needs EL1101E The Nature of Language as a prerequisite. And you can use S/U on all language modules where you learn a new language like Japanese, Korean, or Thai. All other modules are not eligible for S/U.

Wrapping up

Whether you're a teenager reading up before deciding if you want to apply to FASS, a parent doing research on the various university options for your child, a very confused freshman who's struggling to sort out what's going on, or an internet passerby with an interest in this topic, I hope this explanation has been helpful in clearing up some basic doubts and misconceptions. If any remain, the comments section below is open. Feel free to leave any questions there and I'll answer them to the best of my ability.