Kaplan

Ever since I graduated from Temasek Polytechnic, I’ve been through several jobs. Like I was once a kindergarten assistant teacher, an advertising sales executive, a members relations officer and also a flight attendant.

I’ve never stayed for more than a year at each job except for the time I was bound by contract with SIA.

Why was I jumping from one job to another?

Well, because I took a wrong diploma.

Okay, not a wrong diploma but one which I have zero interest in.

I scored 18 points for my O’levels and the courses that I was able to get into were only from Information Technology, Arts or Engineering. My classmate from secondary school was able to get into Business school with 18 points but I was unable to because I was pretty bad with my Math.

I’ve always wanted to learn about Marketing or Public Relations because those were the jobs I saw myself in.

But instead, I graduated with a diploma in Information Technology & went around trying out different jobs.

After leaving the airlines, I was on the hunt for a “perfect” job again.

I was back to square one.

I was so afraid that I would end up job hopping again and I know that I don’t have the luxury to do so because I’m already 25 years old and I’m planning to get a house with my boyfriend and I would need financial & career stability.

So right now I’m in my current job for nearly a year and I am considering furthering my education. I’m happy at my current employment and I've not thought about leaving my job but I just thought it would be safer to have a degree because it is so competitive in Singapore and when I was searching for jobs, most of the companies preferred candidates who are degree holders.

So I decided to go online and search for private schools offering part time degrees in Singapore.

And since several of my friends, ex colleagues and family members attended Kaplan, I decided to find out more.

I’m sure everyone have heard of Kaplan and know that they provide more than 100 top rated full time and part time diplomas and degrees partnered with 12 globally-ranked universities, such as Murdoch University, Birmingham City University, Hull University and Royal Holloway University of London, among others.

With so many choices to pick from, I was totally lost when I was surfing the website because I only knew that I wanted to get a degree in Marketing but I had no idea which university to pick from.

Click image to visit the Kaplan website!

So I decided to register online for a “Preview Session” with the course consultant, Ivan, to get a better idea of what the different universities offered and which would be best for me. Also, I could take a look at the campus to see what it was like.

So I headed down to Kaplan campus which was located at Wilkie Edge for my consultation with the course consultant, Ivan.

& this was where the consultation was carried out, as you can see, many others were also there with their course consultants.

Ivan went through with me on my needs and told me his opinions on which universities offered the degree that I wanted and laid it all out for me. He wasn't bias at all so I like the fact that he wasn't pushy about whichever university I would pick.

So after some thought, I decided to find out more about Murdoch University.

They offered:

-          Bachelor of Commerce (double major)

in Management & Marketing + Marketing & Public Relations

and

-           Bachelor of Commerce

in Management & Marketing.

Most Bachelor’s degrees can be completed within 16-18months, full-time or part-time. 

But if I were to further my education, I’ll definitely be signing up for part-time because I have a job.

The programme consists of a minimum of 9 modules for single major and 12 modules for double major.

One of my concerns if I were to sign up for this is the duration. I mean, who doesn't want to graduate as soon as possible right? But Ivan’s advice to me was to take 2-3 modules a term because it will be too overwhelming if I take more than 3 modules at once as I’m currently holding a full time job.

Each module is assessed by any combination of class participation, written assignments, projects or examinations.

So that means if everything goes smoothly and I don’t fail any modules, I can be able to graduate in 1.5 years with a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing. The degree will be the same as that awarded to on-campus students of the university. 

However, because I did not come from a “Business background”, as I studied Information Technology during Poly, I would have to take some “bridging” modules. This is to prepare students with non-business backgrounds so that they will not be at a complete loss when they start their official modules for the Bachelor programme.

In the picture that I took above, you can see people registering and paying their tuition fees.

& that brings me to my next concern, which is the course fee.

For 9 modules, it would cost SGD $16,948.80

and

for 12 modules, it would be SGD $22,598.40.

Well, not all of us would not be able to cough up that large sum of money at once so Kaplan has an instalment payment plan where you’ll pay a fraction of the course fee at each term. Which will be about SGD $4000+ per term and that seems quite reasonable and manageable to me.

Let’s be honest, education in Singapore is never cheap. But when I look at the career opportunities I am able to pursue after graduating with a Degree in Marketing, I think it is all worth it. I’m sure with the courses that I’ve taken; I am able to excel in my area of work.

So after my consultation with Ivan, I decided to take a walk around the campus to see how the classes were carried out and the facilities Kaplan has to offer.

The above picture was taken at the campus located at Wilkie Edge and Kaplan takes the entire 2^nd floor of it.

The classrooms.

They even have computer labs!!

It really feels like I’m back to school once again.

Then I walked over to the other campus located at Pomo (just 2 mins away).

& the above area is where students register for the courses and make payment.

The campus is located at Pomo is new and everything looks so clean and modern.

So if you are interested to find out more about furthering your education like me, you can click here:

KAPLAN

to find for a degree of your choice!

But I would advise for you to arrange a preview session with the course consultant because everything was explained thoroughly to me in layman terms and I had a better idea of what programme was best for me!