From this academic year, local universities can admit up to 15% of their intake through the Discretionary Admission Scheme, up from 10% previously. SMU Provost Professor Lily Kong pointed out that the practice of assessing applicants holistically has been in place since SMU’s inception in 2000. Besides engaging with shortlisted applicants at school interviews, the University also recently introduced a new engagement session for a select group of applicants to get to know them better and to understand their passions and potential.  “The increase in the discretionary admissions allowance will certainly facilitate more aptitude-based admission where the candidate demonstrate talent and achievements in areas beyond academic achievements,” said Prof Kong. Nicholas Ng Kang Meng is one such student who, after being rejected by several universities last year, has successfully enrolled into SMU and will be pursuing his passion in accountancy. While his results of 3.7 GPA was reasonably good, he felt that his chances had increased with the expansion of the discretionary admission intake this year. During his polytechnic years, he had participated in various accounting competitions organised by local universities to enhance his knowledge and skills, and in 2015, his team also won the first runner-up prize at SMU’s Internal Audit Case Challenge. At SMU, the overall application this year is about 13,000, as compared to about 14,000 in 2016. The reduction is in line with a smaller A-Level national cohort. The polytechnic graduate application to SMU this year is about 2,700, comparable with that of 2016.