Did SMU break the psychological contract?

Singapore Management University (SMU) is renowned to have one of the best university admission marketing campaigns. Since its inception in early 2000, it has grown from just a few hundred to a few thousand students. Moreover, the grade cutoff is rumoured (I have strong reasons to believe so from talking to students from year 1 to 4) to be rising every year. For now, anything below an A level result of A,B,B will likely put you off the radar of SMU recruitment.

Then I wonder. Why does more and more students, at the same time more and more brighter minds, opt for SMU? SMU is neither as well-established as NUS and NTU nor fully accredited. Well, many students believe they are able to obtain a double degree and perhaps a double major before graduation in 4 years. Also, with so much hype surrounding the marketing blitz, it seems to offer exactly what students want. Come to SMU if you want to earn multiple degrees/majors AND have an enjoyable and fun university life.

Having seemingly promised much, many undergraduate students sensed a breach of psychological contract upon admission. The psychological contract represents the mutual beliefs and informal obligations between the student and the school. Students feel they are working all the time and have no time for fun. Complaints of having too many projects, presentations and school work surface all the time.

To be fair to SMU, it indeed allows its students a good chance to obtain and/or a double degree/double major. And yes even both are possible to be achieved in 4 years. However, the catch is that more modules have to be taken per semester in order to complete the requirements in the desired amount of time. Then, SMU also offers its students plenty of chances at areas of leadership (You can lead a CCA, an OCIP, this and that initiative etc) and areas of competitions (e.g. case competitions, business plans). Students dream of these even before entering SMU.

Hence, students are increasingly juggling between many aspects of school life. Little wonder they do not have as much free time for leisure as they wish. To make matters worse, competitions between students are highly visible. Compulsory class participation pits students against one another every lesson. Projects are done so frequently such that the average standard can only increase. To catch up with the trend will imply putting in additional effort. Furthermore, everything is gauged against the bell curve. It doesn't matter that what you are doing in absolute terms is sufficient. You will be deemed not as competent and undeserving of the 'A' grade if your peers outshines you. Fiercer competition ensues.

However, is there really a break in the psychological contract? Personally, I feel that SMU definitely can do better to highlight the above situations to potential students so they know exactly what to expect. Last time I checked, NUS chemical engineering students are also working as hard as SMU students. The same comparison goes between a NTU accountancy student vs a SMU student. For a more extreme example, NUS medicine students are studying when SMU students are. And they are also studying when SMU students aren't! To be assured, their amount of work is no less daunting than the combined fearsomeness of SMU's projects and syllabus. Yet, with same or less amounts of work, there are SMU students who complain. Much of this has to be attributable to the difference between the expected and the reality.

Despite arguing that SMU indeed broke this contract, I still think that some of the pain is self-inflicted. Why do SMU students want to take 5 modules when it is possible also to take 4 modules per semester? Why do they want to spend so much time on the project in making a video and a skit?

All these in pursuit of excellence. I agree it is a good thing to be aiming for. Nevertheless, do think about the fun and pleasures in life that are forsaken in the great chase for GPA and resume. For life could have been a lot easier. And it is not others but the individual students who determine their own experiences in school.