the time of the year again!

It's the time of the year again when undergraduates get really stressed out by this thing known as FINAL EXAMS! yes, the season is here again.... the season of mugging and getting stressed out about the final exams and the impact on this thing called a CAP. It's a form of headdress to some, but in NUS, it's the determinant factor of your worth in the university, as I found out to my chagrin during the recent selection exercise for SEP (Student Exchange Programme) where CAP was the only criterion in the selection exercise. And i thought there would be an interview or something...

I have lamented in a previous post that your worth is all too narrowly defined by this number that rests between 0 and 5. If it's below 2, it will invite the heartfelt commiseration of your friends, concern from others, friendly rebukes of "hey! go study! don't keep playing (insert latest computer game here)." Most of the time the heart ache is when it's between 3.00 to 3.99. possession of a CAP score within this range at the time of graduation would mean a Pass, a 3rd Class or a 2nd Lower. A student with a CAP score of 2 to 3.00 would probably have the same experiences as above. And many seem content with attaining the highest award available within this, the 2nd Lower. But a student with a CAP 3.9-something is not far from the next 'level' which is...

Breach the 4.00 mark, and you have entered into the sacred realm known as the 2nd Upper. You are an elevated form of being, considered more employable than those who only managed to make 2nd lower, and in a certain sense, to have made it.

Surpass 4.50, and you are in the godlike realm of the 1st Class. You have achieved what so many people have said to be impossible. Yet you have defied the odds and done it...

Only the best of the best have a CAP score approaching that of 5.00... yes you said it. Beyond Godlike.

My lament is that at the end of it all, despite how most ppl try to say 'hey studies are not everything, employers dun really look at CAP etc etc' the cold hard truth is that it seems to matter a lot...

A good honours opens the doors to greater opportunities, including graduate studies (which I am hoping to do in future) and an easier time at the job hunt...

This goes out to everyone battling the CAP system, be it resisting a downward fall or valiantly pushing up or maintaining the number between 0 and 5. ALL THE BEST FOR THE EXAMINATIONS, and hope all of you out there can raise your CAP score this sem.

disclaimer: The author of this article is a holder of a CAP 3.25, who of course hopes it will increase in the coming examinations.

Also, I need to maintain SAP 4.3 from now on to pull my CAP up to 4.0 by my final semester. Hence my choice of blog title.