Details

• Singapore
• MACEMS-17
• Graduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

Visas & Admin: the Student Pass application is initiated by NUS, but you have to finish the formalities and offsite enrollment in person once you arrive. Health & Insurance: while NUS provides mandatory health insurance, I would recommend getting additional private travel insurance. I also got tropical vaccinations (like Hepatitis A, Typhus, Rabies, and Tetanus) but that's more depending on your travel plans for Southeast Asia. Flights: flights bought well in advance were between €750 and €1300 for me but that probably depends a lot on your departure country (I was not flying from Austria). I would suggest booking a round trip with the ticket for the way back being flexible. It's usually not too easy to decide so much in advance for how many months you will want to travel after the semester. Also, utilizing student clubs for airlines like Qatar, Emirates, or Turkish Airlines can give you discounts and extra luggage allowance.

2. Accommodation

Accommodation search: I have fund my room on PropertyGuru. Accommodation type: I opted for a room in a shared apartment but was unable to find more than one room in the same building to live with friends. Other people got more lucky but also ended up paying more for rent as they had more flexible solutions. On-campus housing for Master's students is extremely rare and usually confirmed too late to rely on. Expect to pay roughly €900 to €1,200+ per month. The upside is that many condos come with amazing perks like pools, gyms, and BBQ pits. Location & proximity: most popular spots included Redhill and Holland Village. Commutes to NUS were around 45 minutes. I highly recommend finding a place right next to an MRT station and a hawker center since the city isn't very walkable between districts. One option that became recently more attractive is Downtown (city center) as they just opened a new part of the Circle Line and time to reach NUS just got cut down in half.

3. Academic life at host university

Campus Facilities: the NUS campus is massive, modern, and beautiful. Because of its size, all areas are connected by a free internal campus bus service. You will spend most of your time at the Business School (the MSc Lounge is a great place to work), but definitely take advantage of "U-Town" and the extensive sports facilities, which include gyms, basketball courts, and swimming pools. Academic culture & Teaching style (Compared to WU): the teaching and assessment style at NUS is quite different from WU. NUS grades on a strict curve, meaning you are evaluated against your peers rather than on an absolute scale (usually only 10-20% of the class gets an A but accurate numbers do not get disclosed). This makes achieving top grades significantly harder than at WU. Transparency is also a hot topic. Be prepared that grading can feel quite untransparent; you often receive a final grade at the end of the semester without a detailed breakdown or feedback on your assignments. Regarding group work, there is a heavy focus on group projects. Keep in mind that group dynamics can be frustrating at times, as some local students might have different motivation levels if the grades do not count heavily toward their specific degree. When it comes to course recommendations, I cannot recommend "Game theory for managers" enough. It is challenging, but the professor (who is the director of the MBA program) is incredibly passionate and highly engaging. He uses real-world examples and interactive experiments in class to prove theories. "Marketing analytics visualisation and communication" is also a very practical class I enjoyed. It is well structured and definitely useful if you want to sharpen your data communication skills.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transport: getting around is generally very cheap and reliable using the MRT and buses. You can simply tap in and out with your regular credit card. However, public transport stops running around midnight, so you will need to rely on ride-hailing apps like Grab or Gojek for late nights out. It is also worth noting that the city isn't very walkable between different districts. Safety: Singapore is incredibly safe, clean, and innovative country. Social & leisure activities: a huge part of the social life revolves around food! Hawker centers are everywhere and are the best option for tasty and cheap meals ranging from €3 to €10. Conversely, regular restaurants, bars, and alcohol are very expensive. I highly recommend grabbing drinks during happy hour, looking for beer deals at 7-Eleven, or bringing alcohol back from the airport's duty-free zone when returning from trips. Speaking of trips, traveling around Southeast Asia with the CEMS cohort is definitely a must. Sports options: NUS has extensive sports facilities, including gyms, pools, and basketball courts, as well as various sports clubs you can join. Additionally, many private condos offer free access to their own shared pools, gyms, and tennis or squash courts

6. Testimonial

Honestly, studying in Singapore was an unforgettable experience, largely thanks to the incredible local cuisine and how perfectly safe and clean the city is. What truly made the semester special, though, were the trips to absolutely heavenly places around Southeast Asia with my new friends. It is an expensive hub, but balancing cheap hawker center meals with those weekend getaways made it the absolute best time of my life.