Exemptions
 
 

Introduction

For all students admitted to the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS), exemptions may be granted based on the candidates’ strong academic records. Regardless of their majors (Chemistry & Biological Chemistry, Mathematical Sciences, Physics or Applied Physics), they may obtain exemptions in Courses offered by all the three divisions.

The Courses in Mathematical Sciences available for exemption are:

  1. MAS 110 Introduction to Scientific Programming (3AU)
  2. MAS 111 Foundations of Mathematics (3AU)
  3. MAS 112 Calculus I (3AU)
  4. MAS 113 Calculus II (3AU)
  5. MAS 114 Linear Algebra I (3AU)
  6. MAS 181 Calculus for the Sciences I (3AU) (only for non-Mathematical Sciences majors)
  7. MAS 182 Calculus for the Sciences II (3AU) (only for non-Mathematical Sciences majors)
  8. MAS 801 It’s a Discreetly Discrete World – Mathematics in Real-Life Applications (3AU)
  9. MAS 802 Tackling the Odds: Inside Statistics (3 AU)

For the lists of Courses in Chemistry & Biological Chemistry and Physics & Applied Physics that are available for exemption, please refer to the webpages of the respective divisions and the SPMS webpage.

 

Pros & Cons of Exemptions

Exemptions mean that a student will be required to read fewer AU during his/her time in NTU, and that he/she will be able to proceed to the higher level Courses sooner. This may allow the student to graduate with Honours in less than 4 years.

However, it should be noted that Courses for which a student is granted exemption do not carry any grades, and hence are not included in the computation of the Grade Point Average (GPA), which ultimately determines the class of Honours that the student receives upon graduation. It is probably true that the student who qualifies for exemption for a particular Course is also likely to get a good grade for that Course if he/she is to read it. Hence, getting exempted from such a Course and proceeding straight away to read a more advanced Course may also make it more of a challenge for the student to obtain a good GPA. A student who is exempted from a certain Course should also ensure that he/she is indeed proficient in all the material covered in that Course, in order to be sure that there will be no serious gaps in his/her knowledge that may adversely affect his/her mastery of subsequent Courses.

Therefore, students should weigh the pros and cons of getting exemptions before deciding whether to go for the exemptions.

 

Application for Exemptions

Students who qualify for exemptions will be informed by the SPMS in July. They will then need to decide which of the exemptions they will accept and inform the School accordingly. For those who qualify to take the Exemption Tests, they will also need to indicate whether they would like to sit for the tests.

 

Exemption Criteria

Note : Exemptions are only available to SPMS students. Students from other schools are not eligible.