SMU welcomed its sixth and largest batch of students ever, at Convocation 2005 on 20 August. The 1,213 undergraduates are the first who will spend their full four years of university education at SMU's new campus. Additionally, new master's students in the Wealth Management, and in the Economics, Finance and Applied Economics programmes have begun their courses of study.

 

Through its holistic admissions policy, the University brought in a multitalented pool of freshmen, several of whom are national sportsmen, accomplished musicians, young entrepreneurs and community service volunteers. Academic credentials of the students are also impressive, with one in two 'A' level students scoring ABB or above and one in four scoring AAA or above.

 

Significantly, the largest ever pool of 279 full-time international students joined SMU this year, making up 23% of the undergraduate intake, an increase of 8% from last year. 90% of these international students come from India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar and the Philippines. For the first time, SMU has full-time students from Korea and Norway, bringing the total number of nationalities to 20 countries.

 

As in the previous five years, all freshmen attended SMU's unique orientation programme, which takes the form of a four-day Leadership & Team-Building camp in July, led by 130 senior student facilitators.