What is it like to study at Raffles Junior College?

Quora: https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-study-at-Raffles-Junior-College

Quite a few interesting answers can be found there. It is highly recommended that students read it before choosing to study at Raffles Junior College.

Also check out: Which JC is the best in Singapore?

Selected Quotes:

“Not pleasant,” would be my answer.Like some other posters, I wasn’t from the Raffles family in any capacity before JC, though I had a few (distant) friends who were Rafflesians. Being in the GEP also served as an insulating factor- gifted kids hung out with other gifted kids, and mainstream kids saw us as aloof. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy that turned itself into a vicious cycle, like a snake swallowing its own tail. Singapore society tends to be stratified like that.So when I got there, there was no in-built friend base waiting for me as a safety net. JC was a pretty shallow place, as far as I can remember.

Honestly? Nothing special.Resources aside (or perhaps more importantly, even with the Resources), Raffles is very much a stereotypical high school. Even though students are touted as the “cream of the cream” in a detestably common turn of phrase or the “top 3% of Singapore“, and everyone probably achieved above 265/300 in their examinations at the age of 12, or topped their secondary schools…it doesn’t mean that everyone is a genius, or a notoriously self-disciplined hard worker. In the words of Mean Girls, there are “preps, jocks, Asian nerds, cool Asians, varsity jocks…” so on and so forth. Everyone’s human, and no one’s flawless. I expected cutthroat competition at every turn, and impossibly well-put-together teenagers, but I’m glad I was wrong.

Academic Rigour
The archetypal RJC student will not score above D in common tests right up to prelims – but, come A levels, he/she will score straight As. It will be drilled into you for 2 years that you only possess a modicum on intelligence. You get frustrated, then you study hard and you study smart. When you get your result slip, your first instinct would be to walk up to your GP teacher and tell her,”You told me for 2 years straight I wouldn’t make it in life with my current grades. I got all As… including GP. Take that lah.” Then she knowingly smiles and congratulates you, like that was part of the plan all along. That’s how ‘cutthroat’ the teachers in RJC are.

Leader. Leadership is emphasized and celebrated in the institution. Student leaders are mostly hand-picked by peers and are then trained by the school to hone their leadership skills. Based on high levels of self-motivation, these leaders end up organizing events that demand a high level of coordination and huge amounts of time and effort. They provide tremendous inspiration to their juniors, especially those aspiring to be student leaders as well.