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Planning a Visit

We encourage college and university admission professionals to visit the counselors and students of the Singapore American School. In a typical year we welcome well over 200 admission officers. Some come as individuals, others in small groups, and others as a part of of a CIS, Linden, or AEO college fair.

As you begin making your travel arrangements, you should start by looking at our online school calendar, and also our list of college representatives scheduled to be on campus each day. On a regular school day we are able to accommodate representatives during student break periods at 9:30 AM or 11:20 AM. Once you've narrowed down a date and time, please contact Frieda Dietrich, the counselor who coordinates our college visits.

Linda Lajim, Office Assistant, will be coordinating the logistics of your visit (handling materials shipped, etc). Contact Linda if you have questions regarding couriers and other details so that you can ensure timely delivery of your packages.

You can download our latest school profile if you'd like more information about our school, students, academic information, and college matriculation data. In one day it's possible to visit one or possibly two other schools in addition to SAS. Many admission officers visit local Junior Colleges (roughly equivalent to US high schools) along with United World College of Southeast Asia. Of the international schools in Singapore, SAS sends about 75 percent of graduates to North American universities. United World Colleges sends about 30 to 40 percent and Overseas Family School sends about 20 to 25 percent. Other international schools in Singapore sometimes visited by North American recruiters include Overseas Family School, International School of Singapore, International Community School, and Canadian International School.

Getting to SAS

Singapore is a tiny country and you can easily get from one school to another in about 30 minutes. Although the Singaporean subway system (called the MRT) is very efficient and inexpensive, so are taxis. Except on rainy days, taxis are plentiful. If you wish to pre-book a taxi, you can call the major taxi companies at 6552-1111 or 6555-8888. 

SAS is in the far northern part of the island and the "city" of Singapore (Orchard Road) is in the southern part. From one place to the other, it's about a 30 minute taxi ride costing around S$20-S$25, or US$14-US$18, much less expensive than in North America. If you find you're running late, please call us at 6360-6501. Remember to dress light. Since afternoon thunderstorms are frequent, if you're going to be outside, you will want to carry an umbrella.

Arriving on Campus

Please bring some ID other than your passport with you since you will be asked to exchange an ID card for a visitor's pass at the security gate. After stopping at security, ask the taxi driver to turn right at the round-about.

To get to our office, go past the middle school entrance (the first large semi-circular overhang after turning right) and continue to the second semi-circular overhang, which is the high school entrance. The Counseling Office is located on the 3rd floor directly above the high school office. Once you go up the main high school stairs, the high school office is on your right. Go up one more flight of stairs (or take the elevator directly in front of you) to the third floor. Scroll down for maps of the local area and the campus.

Local Schools

The majority of the Singaporean JC students attend local universities, but the US, UK, Australia and Canadian schools (in that order) attract many undergraduates. Generous scholarships offered to Singaporean citizens and permanent residents are often used to study in the US, but can only be "spent" a specific institutions. Generally, they cannot be used at liberal arts colleges.

The well-known JC's include Raffles Institution, Hwa Chong Junior College, National Junior College and the relatively new NUS High School of Mathematics and Science. Due to calendar and other issues, some admission representatives are unsuccessful at scheduling visits with many of the JC's.

Each November, all Secondary 4 students (roughly equivalent to Grade 10 in North America) complete O-Level exams, similar to the IGCSE. Students who score well on the O-Levels then begin Junior College (about the same as grades 11 and 12) in January. There they study three or four A-Level subjects for two years. This system is changing, with the new "Integrated Program" replacing O- and A-Levels at some schools. Most Singaporean applicants to North American institutions will be applying at the same time they are preparing for their A-Levels. They take their exams in November and results are available in early March. Occasionally, students wish to enroll in a college or university after completing O-Levels. Selective universities would not accept students without A-Levels; some less selective institutions do.

Local Map and Travel Suggestions

Hotels - Singapore has a wide variety of hotel options. Many admission officers prefer to stay near Orchard Road, the famous shopping street. Singapore is such a small area and transportation by taxi is relatively cheap and easy that you can pretty much stay where you would like without worrying about location.

Sightseeing/Eating - The Singapore Tourism Board has a great site with travel tips, hotel, and other information about Singapore. The Singapore Zoo or Night Safari are popular with visitors and well presented. A pleasant evening walk would start at Clark Quay and continue along the Singapore River Promenade. This will take you to the Explanade performing arts complex. A Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel Longbar is almost required if its your first visit to the country. If you're looking for places to eat, the counseling office has come up with this list of favorite restaurants you can download, print and bring with you.

Traveling in the Region

Singapore now has three discount carriers flying from Singapore to neighboring countries. These carriers are much like Ryan Air in Europe of Southwest in the US. These flights have to be booked online and often cannot be arranged by travel agents, but the cost is very reasonable (e.g., a round trip flight to Bangkok is sometimes as cheap as US$75). The major players are Air Asia, Tiger Air, and JetStar. New cities are added all the time and include Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Phuket, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, and Phnom Penh. Some people leave their luggage at a hotel and go up to Phuket (80 minute flight) or down to Bali (2 hour flight) for the weekend.

Be aware that only a limited amount of free luggage (15 or 20 kg) can be checked on these flights. If you are in Singapore for the weekend and looking for a cheap way to get to get somewhere, these flights might be worth considering.