prospects of a scholar

Originally Posted by Unregistered

To the posters above who mentioned GIC (and MAS) as the best scholarship as it would make it easy to transition into finance:

It's true that the skills you acquire at GIC (dependent on your posting as well, as you could be doing an internal job such as strategic planning rather than real investing) are directly relevant to the investing world. It will certainly be easier to make the case to the Goldman Sachs and JP Morgans of the world to hire you. Except that GIC (and MAS and Temasek) is a HUGE client for them. I know several GIC scholars who have secured job offers from the big investment banks, but when they submitted their resignations, their bosses found out where they were going and called up the managing director at the bank and threatened to pull GIC's business unless the offer was rescinded. Now if you're the MD at the bank, would you risk losing a huge client just to hire some ex-scholar? From my friends' experience, the answer was no, and their offers were rescinded.

that's why you need to keep quiet about where you are going.

Originally Posted by bongewj

I will be studying Mechanical Engineering at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor under DSTA scholarship. bond is 6 years. does that help?

In addition, can i know how much value an overseas education adds when looking for a job. Assuming that i leave after the bond, does it really matter if, e.g. i get a masters from stanford or mit? will they look at work experience more or education?

thanks for the reply!

You're in trouble. DSTA is a phone caller's job. All you do is pick up the phone and procure equipment.

6 years is also a very long time. During those times, you will have your annual pay increases in small amounts. Not to mention that the scholarship is only worth SGD$30,000 per year. $120,000/6 = $20,000 paid back per year. Very slow repayment terms.

In 2010, there was a "graduate harvest" of 1st class and 2nd upper honours from NUS to DSTA. Pay ranged around $3600. So competition is going to be stiff. Their contracts last for 2 years.

[bongewj]

alot of things that have been said boils down to what one feels is a good job. and i think that varies quite alot from person to person. one might think that a good job is one that pays sky high wages, and someone else might think that a good job is one that offers a decent pay with a unique experience. it also depends on how much one is aiming to earn, how much will he or she be comfortable with. I guess when i started this thread, i was a little too caught up with all the talk of money and stuff. don't think dsta pays very well, but it'll probably be decent. and it's might be a phone caller's job, but you do get to learn about pretty interesting things. i'm quite fed up with singapore's teaching style. they might say they're changing, but i think, and quite a few of my friends do as well, that they're too focused on rote learning and scoring that grade. makes it less of a learning experience. so i've decided to go to umich after all.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

that's why you need to keep quiet about where you are going.

for one guy, he actually refused to disclose where he was going to anyone. but his boss asked all the banks he had relationships with if they were hiring him, and one of them admitted to it.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

for one guy, he actually refused to disclose where he was going to anyone. but his boss asked all the banks he had relationships with if they were hiring him, and one of them admitted to it.

such high handedness and pettiness. tsk tsk tsk. must have learned from some great leaders.

I'll add my 5c worth. Its not worth it to go to UMich for a 6 yr-bond with DSTA. If you want a U.S. education, take a gap year, work on your ECAs, work experience etc and try to get into a better school like Ivy or at least something within the top 20.

Originally Posted by bongewj

alot of things that have been said boils down to what one feels is a good job. and i think that varies quite alot from person to person. one might think that a good job is one that pays sky high wages, and someone else might think that a good job is one that offers a decent pay with a unique experience. it also depends on how much one is aiming to earn, how much will he or she be comfortable with. I guess when i started this thread, i was a little too caught up with all the talk of money and stuff. don't think dsta pays very well, but it'll probably be decent. and it's might be a phone caller's job, but you do get to learn about pretty interesting things. i'm quite fed up with singapore's teaching style. they might say they're changing, but i think, and quite a few of my friends do as well, that they're too focused on rote learning and scoring that grade. makes it less of a learning experience. so i've decided to go to umich after all.

Bongewj,

I'm a former scholar. Not DSTA, but I know a number of DSTA scholars.They're generally not too happy with the pay, career progression, nature of work or job prospects after DSTA. Overall, I would not recommend it. It's decent, but not really right if you're ambitious and want to do a lot with your life.

I know it's hard to turn down the opportunity to study overseas, but think long-term: four years of university abroad vs the trajectory of your career (20-30 years of your life) after university. I think the latter is more important.

If you really want to study abroad, some options to consider:

Look into financial aid, grants from universities abroad. Quite a number of US universities are willing to give financial aid to foreigners.

Study locally but do exchange programs to get overseas exposure. Many of our local universities now offer semesters abroad or even joint degree programs.

Do your undergrad locally but your masters/phd degree abroad. Foreign universities are usually more willing to provide sponsorship for post-graduate study

[laguna]

My 2 cents thoughts, why I never want my children to take up scholarship
1. no freedom in career and subject of study
2. may not be competitive
3. different mind set
4. market value

A lot of scholars in US are rather depressed,
1. they are brighter compare to many others, and yet, no freedom
2. they are paid very very much lesser compare to many

One thing I believe, Sg govt never lose out in doing business, including giving up scholarship

thats because all of you can't qualify for scholarships!
if umich is changed to mit, and scholarship is the only way for u to study in mit, does that change the game anyhow?

i may be anal to most pple who read this, but isnt a scholarship meant for pple who cannot afford the uni fees? if you can afford the fees why be bonded? if you dun want to serve in the civil sector why take the scholarship? There are so many other pple in need of the sponsorship!! I seen so many scholars who are rich and because they are from ivy league schools, they expect to be treated special when they start out. Then they break the bond coz they can afford so. If you want to join the private sector in the first place, why not look for a sponsorship from the private sector? Makes no sense that you are making use of taxpayer's money and then decide to venture into private. If you have no wish to serve the public, then DUN JOIN !! No job in the world is easy, you think its easy being a banker?? my friend works in Bloomberg and earns 15K/mnth at the age of 27. The hours you put in and the constant worry about the market and all the stress, can you take it? His annual payout in 2010 is $230K including bonus, and comparing i earn 50k last year, it was like wow!! but he has high blood pressure, digestion problem and many more that i shall not elaborate due to the work. Are you ready for that? All jobs have pros and cons. It depends what do you value most. work life balance? or loads of money in the bank? both sounds good but both has pros and cons. consider these before signing your life away. if you do decide to sign, be happy about it.