I was born and raised in South Korea, but my parents were super cool enough to save their
children from harsh and brutally competitive Korean school system. We left our homeland, and my sister and I attended international schools in Malaysia.
The school I went to offered a high school program that was designed by the Ontario Ministry of Education. Accordingly, a lot of my teachers were Canadians, curriculums were offered in English and we had proms, sporting events, and other stuff that you may have experienced in your high school.
Because I went to diverse high schools, my buddies from that time are spread out all over the world. Most of them are in college like me; I decided to ask around and see how their college life is and turn it into an analysis of where to study abroad. The first place I picked: Singapore.
Trust me. It is the best place in Southeast Asia for business, education and tourism. I would literally pack up stuff and get on a plane right now if I could. But since you can’t study abroad while you are studying abroad, I want YOU to go.
Singapore is located just above the equator, a small city-state and island country located on the other side of the globe. (Hennepin County is more than twice as big as Singapore, for context.) It has interacted with the Western world since the early 19th, becoming a strong commercial hub; multinational conglomerates are among the tenants of nearly 60 skyscrapers in the city's downtown area. Forbes Magazine ranked it as the fourth most influential city in the world - behind London, New York City and Paris - and one of the best country for business. It attracts billionaires; why shouldn't it attract you too?
Though Chinese make up 70% of the population, you run into all kinds of people in the city. There are Indians, Malaysians and Tamils as well as a number of Western expatriates in the region on business. Based on a recent release by the government of Singapore, half of their population is born outside of the country. A big perk: 80% of Singaporeans speaks English fluently. If language barrier is a concern, consider Singapore.
And Singapore is small; only a couple of weeks will have you figure what’s around, after which you should discover AirAsia. It's Asia's version of Southwest and Ryan air, a low-cost carrier that takes you to virtually any major Asian city and even Europe. The earlier = cheaper rule holds true for this airline as well, so plan ahead. I would personally recommend that anyone traveling to Singapore also visits surrounding countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Most important, Singapore has highly-ranked and globally recognized universities at which to study. National University of Singapore was ranked as the top Asian university on a list released by QS Top Universities. No surprise considering that Singaporeans are some of the smartest people in the world, performing very well in comparison to other Asian countries on the continent's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) test.
Carlson can hook you up with Singapore Management University for a semester exchange program, while the College of Science and Engineering also offers English-taught engineering program at National University of Singapore. For more information, contact the Learning Abroad Center.
