NUS got a thumbs-up at its Open House event this year.

According to Johann Loke, assistant manager at the NUS Office of Corporate Relations, the event, which took place over the weekend, drew over 17,000 visitors.

Loke pointed out that it was the second year running that the open house was held on both Saturday and Sunday, due to favourable response from last year’s event.

It was also the first time the university opened up its newly renovated Bukit Timah campus, where the Faculty of Law is located, for an open house.

The Law Open House was held concurrently with the main Open House event at the NUS Kent Ridge campus.

A total of 300 to 400 people were involved in organizing the annual event, Loke said.

They included personnel from OCR, Office of Admissions, Office of Estate and Development and Office of Student Affairs. Students too played a part, with the NUS Students’ Union, student clubs, halls and residences setting up promotional booths at the event.
 
Although OCR was still tabulating the 1,500 feedback forms collected during Open House at press time, Loke said, based on working numbers, 75 percent of the respondents felt NUS “did really great” at the open house while another 10 percent rated it “excellent.”

The Observer also encountered positive responses at the main NUS Open House event itself.

Leow Ming Yi, who recently completed his national service, said the open house was “lively” and provided a lot of information.

“They put a lot of effort into the open house. It shows they care for students,” Leow said.

Leow, who heard about the open house from his friends, said he likes the atmosphere and culture of NUS and had made up his mind to enter the school even before coming to the Open House.

For the former Victoria Junior College student, NUS is “one of the best universities in the world.”

Tan Li Hong, a Malaysian scholar from Temasek Junior College, had equally good things to say about NUS.

Even though the second-year junior college student said he found the student activities hall at the Open House “very messy” and got confused in there, Tan revealed intentions to study engineering at NUS.

“NUS is a good choice,” he said.

Many other visitors, like Leow and Tan, did not let the Open House influence their decision in choosing a university.

While student Hanita Chew found the Open House to be “quite enriching,” she said she remained undecided on a university of choice when interviewed.

Chew, who intends to study accountancy, added that she was visiting the open house of various universities to get more information on courses.

Meanwhile, her father, Chew Kai Ann, who also went to the Open House, seems to have already made up his mind about his daughter’s university choice.

He said he would prefer for his daughter to enter NUS as it seems like “a better choice” than other universities.

Lim Yoke Hong, a Malaysian scholar from Hwa Chong Junior College, is another who has not decided which university to apply to.

Lim, who pointed out that it is compulsory for all scholars to attend the NUS Open House, said her decision would be based on the courses offered by the university.

However, she added that she might not necessarily get into her school of choice.

“In the end, it’s not whether we choose (the) university, but if the university will choose you,” she said.

When told of this, Loke pointed out the importance of choosing a university that best suits oneself.

This is where the need for the university to hold an Open House comes in.

“(The open house is) our annual platform where we showcase the entire campus,” he said. “We let the public come take a look and decide if this is the place for their children, their siblings, or themselves.”

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Photos: Alicia Tiong