[16 May 2005]
SMU University Admissions Criteria for 2008

The Singapore Management University (SMU) has revised its university admissions criteria which takes effect from 2008 to support the new ‘A' level curriculum to be introduced in Junior Colleges from 2006.

The minimum academic requirement for ‘A' level students applying to SMU is (a) two H2 passes, (b) an attempt at the General Paper or Knowledge & Inquiry, (c) a minimum of a ‘S' grade pass in the Mother Tongue Language.

Unlike the other universities, SMU does not impose any special ‘A' level subject prerequisites for admissions to the five different undergraduate degree programmes (business management, accountancy, social science, economics and information systems management). This provides flexibility to ‘A' level students with different subject combinations who are keen in an education at SMU.

SMU also does not assign a separate ‘faculty score' to students seeking admission to a particular degree programme.

SMU is an early advocate of a broad based and holistic education. Since inception, SMU has always adopted a holistic approach in its admissions policy which has served us well. While exam grades are important, they are not the sole measure of an applicant's ability of obtaining a place in SMU. SMU is on the lookout for all-rounded undergraduates with the potential for high academic performance, which may not always be immediately identifiable from just academic grades.

Therefore, SMU adopts a four-pronged admissions approach: (a) good academic grades, (b) SAT scores (as an added advantage), (c) performance in co-curricular activities, and (d) interview and essay-writing. These four criteria are mutually reinforcing.

This practice will not change with the new ‘A' level curriculum.