my eae experience

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Pexels.com

Hi everyone! I recently decided to write an entry about the EAE (Early Admissions Exercise) because when I was registering and preparing my portfolio, I found quite a few sources of useful information from the polytechnics’ websites but couldn’t really find any tips from a student’s point of view. I’ll link some of the sources and websites that helped me in preparation for registering for the exercise at the end of this post!

Note: I do recommend registering for EAE only if you are interested in pursuing a career in the course’s field. I mean, after all, the whole point of this exercise is to recruit students who have the passion for the courses they choose, right?

Anyway, my three choices were NP’s Common Business Programme (N97), NYP’s Common Business Programme (C34), and NYP’s Diploma in Infocomm and Security (C80) respectively. Do note that the order you put them in (i.e. first, second and third choice) is important! This is true especially during the interview stage (which I will discuss later).

First things first, The Write Up. Now, as many of you already know, you have three choices, and a 600-character write up (yes, characters! that includes all your spaces and punctuation) is required for each one. You don’t have to fill up all three choices, but in my opinion there’s no harm in filling them all up. After all, leaving it blank would be another opportunity missed. Also, there is an optional 1000-character write up describing your talents and/or achievements!

Since you’ll have to register online, the school’s first impression of you entirely depends on your write up. This means that your write up will either make or break your application. Here are some pointers to take note of for the 600-character write up:

• Do write about your talents and achievements related to the course you’re applying for!
• Do try to keep sentences short and succinct. This allows you to fit as much information as you can into your write up!
• Do try to include any leadership positions / CCA positions / achievements to showcase your abilities!
• Do get someone (friends or family) to run through your write ups and give you feedback!
• Do type in complete sentences and use proper English!
• Don’t copy and paste your write ups, even if you’re applying for similar courses in different schools! In my opinion, this conveys insincerity and schools might not be keen to interview a student who isn’t sincere about applying. However, I do have friends who landed interviews for similar courses with the same write up so I guess you could take the chance!

For the 1000-character write up:

• Do be honest and open to show the schools your personality.
• Do try to include any leadership positions / CCA positions / achievements to showcase your abilities! This includes school awards or even competition experiences.
• Do include participation in an AEM (Advanced Elective Module).
• Do type in complete sentences and use proper English!
• Don’t make up accomplishments! They’ll definitely ask you questions relating to your write up during the interview, and you don’t want to be caught not knowing anything about your “accomplishments”!

Try to type your write ups out on a Microsoft Word Document or Google Doc as there’s a timer on the registration page which logs you out if you take too long! Additionally, this method ensures that you have an extra soft-copy of your write ups in case you need it.

Next comes the selection stage, which is the period where the schools start to call students in for interviews based on the write ups! I actually received interviews for all 3 of my choices! The invites will come either in the form of an e-mail or SMS, so do keep a look out for that!

By this time, you should have started to prepare a Portfolio. So, what should you include in your portfolio? Here’s a quick summary:

• Personal Details (i.e your name, schools and CCAs)
• Achievements
• Leadership Positions
• Volunteer / Work Experiences
• Photos (of you volunteering or working)
• CCA Records
• Result Slips
• Any Certificates (feel free to include relevant certificates from primary school as well!)
• Testimonials
• Interview Invite Confirmation E-Mail
• A Copy of your Application (just in case)

You may want to invest in a dark blue, black or clear A4-sized file with clear pockets for your portfolio. It doesn’t have to be expensive, for example, I bought my file from Daiso! It cost $2 and has 30 pockets.

Last but not least, the Interview Stage. For me, I received e-mails from NYP and an SMS from NP to register for an interview. For my IT interview, the aptitude test and interview took about 30 minutes. The test questions were logical and straight-forward, and actually quite easy. Here’s one of the questions:

In a family, there are a husband and wife, two sons and two daughters. All the ladies were invited to a dinner. Both sons went out to play. The husband did not return from office. Who was at home? (The answer is D)

A. Only wife was at home

B. All ladies were at home

C. Only sons were at home

D. Nobody was at home

However, for the business courses, there was no aptitude test per se. Instead, I was asked questions like:

• What are some values you think are important to succeed in business?
• Tell me about any business news you’ve read about recently.

It would be good if you get someone you’re not familiar with (a classmate or teacher) to go over some interview questions with you. Here are a few to get you started:

• Tell me about yourself.
• Why do you want to join this course?
• Why put ___ as a first choice over ___?
• What are your strengths?
• What are your weaknesses?
• How will you manage poly life?
• Your results for ___ aren’t that great, how will you manage that?
• Are you receptive to teamwork?
• Why this particular school?
• Do you have any questions for me?

Always remember to ask the interviewer a question! It shows that you’ve done your research and are interested in the course! Your questions should be related to the course, for example, Does this course offer scholarships for students perform well? Or, If I am accepted into this course, what are some of the projects I will be taking part in?

Make sure that you also do thorough research on the course and clarify and doubts early! Also, do not be late! I cannot stress this enough. Interviewers are looking out for interested and passionate students, and being late shows insincerity! During one of my interviews, a girl was late and missed her slot completely so I ended up having the interview with one other student instead of two.

Furthermore, take note of your attire. For example, if you’re applying to a business course, try to dress formally. Avoid revealing / inappropriate clothes. However, I feel that wearing your school uniform is the easiest way to go!

Remember, life begins at the end of your comfort zone! All the best for your applications and I hope all of you get lots of interviews :-)!

Useful Links:

my eae acceptance (an update!)

EAE Details!

Lionel Lim’s Tips for Interviews!

Thirteentuesday’s DPA article! 

Jermaine Lee’s EAE Vlog!

Tips from NP!

Tips from TP!