Residential College Programmes
Ridge View Residential College Programme
Ridge View Residential College (RVRC) offers a unique living-learning experience to Year One students. The only residential college that is located at the centre of the Kent Ridge campus, the RVRC curriculum offers an integrated and multidisciplinary focus on sustainability, communication competencies, and workplace readiness.
This two-year residential programme offers constant and close interaction with fellow residents, student fellows, seniors and faculty, through formal classroom settings and informal community living. Students are presented with ample opportunities for exchange of ideas with industry players and prominent individuals from the public and private sectors, through dialogues, industry visits and project mentorship programmes. Besides a competent grasp of subject matter, this enhances a student’s clarity, confidence and work readiness.
The RVRC living-learning experience contributes to the overall development of an undergraduate – academically, socially, personally and professionally. Students are exposed to co-academic and community enhancement programmes, and assured of space to experiment with different ideas and experiences through a diversified platform which complement their academic experience at their respective faculties and schools. By expanding competencies, students begin to explore academic, career and lifelong alternatives.
Incoming freshmen may apply for the RVRC Programme concurrently with or after their NUS application. Admission into the RVRC Programme is contingent upon the acceptance of an offer to pursue an undergraduate degree programme in NUS. It is also subject to the condition that incoming freshmen fulfil the university requirement on English language qualifications. Specifically, incoming students who do not possess the necessary English language qualifications are required to sit for the Qualifying English Test (QET). Students must obtain either a Band 2 or Band 3 for the QET to be admitted to RVRC.
RVRC admits incoming Year One students from the NUS Business School, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Science, School of Computing, and School of Design & Environment. Students from other Faculties/Schools will be considered for admission on a case-by-case basis, with consideration for their ability to fulfil the RVRC Programme requirements.
Interested applicants should submit an online application via the Joint Residential College Application System. Selected students will be invited to attend an interview.
Only one application may be submitted per Academic Year.
*From AY21/22, RVRC will offer new modules aligned with the NUS enhanced GE Curriculum.
The RVRC experience is anchored and distinguished by its integrated inter-disciplinary curriculum. Each year is centred around three themes – sustainability, communication and workplace readiness in the first year; and resilience, respect and reflection in the second year.
In the FIRST year of residency, every student admitted into the RVRC Programme is required to complete three year-long academic modules. These three modules are:
- GEQ1917 Understanding and Critiquing Sustainability
- ES1601 Professional and Academic Communication*
- WR1401 Workplace Readiness
*Students who are required to read ES1103 in Semester 1 (based on Qualifying English Test (QET) results) will read ES1601 in Semester 2.
The modules include two compulsory co-academic components which provide experiential learning and real-world application.
In addition to the modular requirements, all first year students enrolled in RVRC must participate in the following compulsory college-level activities:
- the RVRC Coastal Cleanup
- two college-level industry engagements: 1 industry leader dialogue and 1 industry visit
- two community service actions
Certification for the first year is achieved by fulfilment of all the above academic, co-academic and college level activities.
In the SECOND year, students at RVRC are required to choose from a basket of non-modular learning opportunities called Forums.
Certification for the second year is achieved by fulfilment of participation in a forum in each of the three pillars of Respect, Resilience and Reflection.
*From AY21/22, RVRC will offer new modules aligned with the NUS enhanced GE Curriculum.
GEQ1917 fulfils the ‘Asking Questions’ pillar, which is one of the five General Education modules required of all undergraduates. RVRC students who have read and completed this module would have satisfied the “Asking Questions” pillar.
ES1601 is read in lieu of the writing and/or communication module(s) of RVRC partner faculties, or as an Unrestricted Elective Module for students in the following degree programmes: Architecture (ARK), Environmental Studies (BES), Industrial Design (IDS), Pharmacy (PMC), Project and Facilities Management (PFM).
Students have the option to read WR1401 as part of the NUS Design Your Own Module (DYOM) initiative by completing additional learning activities.
For more information on RVRC, please visit http://rvrc.nus.edu.sg.