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master-applied-finance/faq
SMU has an annual university-wide commencement ceremony; all undergraduate and postgraduate students will attend the ceremony in July.
Yes, the commencement ceremony is held solely in Singapore.
The Office of Registrar will send you information on the collection of your degree scroll and official transcript.
This should not happen. However, in the unforeseen event that it does, we will look into it on a case-by-case basis.
Your SMU email account is a life time account.
You may keep your SMU student card.
International Students
SMU will assist in the application of student passes for all international students studying full-time in SMU.
SMU will assist you with the application of your student visa in April before you arrive in Singapore.
All applicants will have to log onto the ICA's website to fill up the Student's Pass Application Form (eform 16) and submit it online.
The processing fee is S$30; upon approval by ICA, you will have to pay a S$60 issuance fee for the student pass, and S$30 for a multiple-entry visa.
No, you cannot extend your student pass after you have graduated.
Generally, all students will get their student visa. In the unforeseen event that it happens, we will look into it on a case-by-case basis.
Yes, the medical examination can either be done in your home country or in Singapore by a qualified doctor. However, medical examinations required for subsequent renewals of the Student's Pass must be done in Singapore. The doctor must record and certify the results of your medical examination in the designated medical report form.
The medical report should not be issued more than three months from the submission or renewal date of your application; it should also be translated into English. If you have submitted a medical report to the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority or Ministry of Manpower not more than two years ago, there is no need to re-submit a fresh medical report.
We do not arrange accommodation for students. However, there is a wide selection of accommodation choices available in Singapore. Students are encouraged to look for their own accommodation before coming to Singapore. The SMU campus is conveniently located in the city and is well-served by public transport. You may refer to our Student Life page for more information on accommodation.
Yes, there will be an orientation programme for students of the MAF programme.
There are a lot of student associations / clubs in SMU.
There is also the Mrs Wong Kwok Leong Student Wellness Centre. You may click here to find out more.
Unless otherwise advised by their programme offices, SMU students are covered under a Group Personal Accident Policy, and a Medical and Group Hospitalisation & Surgical Policy. For more information such as the procedures for claims and coverage, please refer to your respective graduate programme offices. Students who require additional coverage may approach the SMU appointed insurance company directly to make the purchase themselves.
The living costs you incur will depend on your lifestyle. An international student may expect to incur the following per month:
| Accommodation | Meals | Transportation | Miscellaneous |
|---|---|---|---|
| S$400 – S$2,000 | S$300 – S$500 | S$150 – S$300 | S$500 – S$1,500 |
SMU full-time matriculated international students holding a valid student pass may take up employment in Singapore during their vacation and are exempted from applying for a work permit as stated in the Work Permit Exemptions Notification.
However, during term time, a student holding a valid student pass is only allowed to work part-time, i.e. less than 16 hours per week. A letter of consent is not required from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority of Singapore or the university.
Upon graduation, you may apply for a permanent job in Singapore if you meet the requirements for obtaining an employment pass or permanent residence.
You may click here to find out more about the various kind of employment passes and work permits in Singapore.
You may click here to find out more.
CFA
CFA stands for Chartered Financial Analyst. You may click here to find out more.
No, but the MAF curriculum is designed to meet the CFA examination requirements for those who wish to pursue their CFA designation.
No, the tuition fees do not include the CFA examination fee.
It is important to have proper guidance from professors and industry professionals throughout the course of your studies. Our American-style pedagogy, the emphasis on soft skills training and the ability to communicate knowledge in a compelling manner provide our students a competitive edge.
You may log on to CFA’s website, and obtain more information pertaining to the CFA examination.
Our students have performed well, with a higher pass rate compared to the world wide pass rate in most examinations.
The CFA examination is available in Singapore. Please click here for a list of CFA examinations centres around the world.
Teaching & Assessment
The programme will be taught by well-qualified and experienced SMU and industry professionals. The syllabus is customised for the local and regional financial environment with international perspectives.
For more information on SMU faculty, please click here.
SMU has a four-point grading system. If computations result in the cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) exceeding the four-point grading system, a round down approach will be adopted. The highest cumulative GPA attainable by a student is 4.0.
All students must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.5 and above in order to graduate from the programme. If a student does not meet the GPA requirement in any particular term, he or she will be issued a warning letter. Those with GPAs below 2.5 for two consecutive terms will be asked to leave the programme.
A student may, upon the recommendation of the Course Instructor and approval of the Programme Director, re-sit a written assessment component of a course in which an overall fail grade was registered.
The re-sit, being a replacement assessment, must be of the same format, scope, and rigour as that of the original assessment. For each course, only one re-sit examination or written assessment will be arranged per term. Requests for alternative re-sit arrangements will not be entertained.
A student who passes a course on re-sit will receive an overall grade of "D", which will override the original fail grade.
In the event a student fails a re-sit, he/she must retake the course or take an alternative elective (subject to compliance of the academic standing policy). No further appeals will be considered.
Programme Structure & Curriculum
Students of the MAF programme are required to complete 9 core modules, 4 electives, and a career management skills course.
There are two tracks available for the MAF programme: Part-Time, and Full-Time tracks.
The MAF Part-Time track is an 20-month programme spread over four (4) terms, each 10-12 weeks in duration.
The MAF Full-Time track is a 12-month programme spread over four (4) terms, each 8-12 weeks in duration. There will also be a 3-5months internship at the end of the programme.
There is only one intake per year which commences in August.
Exemption is not possible. Students are required to complete 9 core modules and 4 elective modules to meet the requirements of a Singapore Management University (SMU) MAF degree.
In order to graduate, you will have to complete all 13 modules, maintain an overall GPA of 2.5 and above, and complete the SMU Postgraduate Professional Development Series (PDS).
All lessons and examinations are conducted in English for all the tracks under the MAF programme.
You are expected to attend all the classes scheduled for each of the core and elective courses. The pace is rapid, and sessions follow a building-block approach, with each lecture building on material covered earlier.
You will need to set aside a considerable amount of time for preparation, reading, group work, project work, private study, the completion of assignments, and revision/consolidation for examinations.
The pace at which individuals work will obviously vary, but as a rough rule of thumb, you will need to put in two to three hours of work outside of the classroom for every hour actually spent in the formal sessions.
A typical class size is about 50 to 60 students.
Students who wish to request for leave of absence have to write in to the Programme Director with valid reasons.
As the programme is only offered on a yearly basis, the minimum leave of absence is one year.
You may defer for a year only, and the candidature lapses automatically if you do not return the following year.
Yes, you may withdraw from the programme upon approval from the Programme Director. A student who leaves / requests to withdraw from the University and/or Programme two weeks or more after the commencement of a term is liable for the payment of fees for the entire term.
Request for partial payment will not be considered.
You will have to write in to seek permission from the Programme Director.
Admission
As SMU practices rolling admissions, the Admission process (submitting of application, passing the interview with the Admissions Committee, and accepting the admission offer) will typically take about 3 - 4 weeks to complete. This is provided that candidates fulfills most of the admission critera stated below.
The admission criteria are:
- A good university degree in ANY discipline (Applicants in the process of earning a degree and are about to graduate are welcome to apply)
- A good GMAT/GRE or SMU Admission Test score
- IELTS or TOEFL (required if the medium of instruction of your undergraduate studies was not conducted in English)
The MAF programme is open to all Singaporeans, Singapore permanent residents and foreigners. Foreigners who are interested to apply for the Part-Time track must hold a valid Employment Pass (EP), Dependant's Pass (DP), S Pass, or valid visa to allow them to stay in Singapore during the study period.
Student visas will not be issued to international students taking the MAF Part-Time track.
We would expect applicants to have a good basic degree. However, we look at many other aspects of your application such as your drive and motivation. We also conduct interview sessions to select each cohort of students.
All the courses require no previous formal training. However, the pace builds up quickly, and is rapid and demanding. Preparatory classes will be available before classes commence.
Applicants from all backgrounds and working experience are eligible to apply for the MAF programme. In fact, some of our students are using their knowledge and skills learnt in the programme to enable them to enter the banking and finance industry.
You need to be numerate, rather than having particularly strong mathematical skills. You certainly do not need to have an undergraduate degree in mathematics or the pure sciences. Some calculus will be required for certain modules in the programme.
For the MAF Part-Time track, applicants with some work experience after graduation are preferred. Based on past intakes, students typically have, on average, four to five years of working experience. We are looking for individuals for whom the programme is a good career fit, and who are likely to have successful future careers. Above all, candidates will need to demonstrate that they have the commitment, experience, motivation and potential to benefit from, and contribute to the programme.
Applicants who do not have any work experience can consider taking up the MAF Full-Time Track.
In general, we regard sponsorship by current or future employers as an important additional piece of evidence of your value to the employer and future career potential, but the admissions committee will not place undue weight on this.
For the MAF Part-Time track, the average age of students entering the programme is 30. The students' professional backgrounds and work experience are varied as they work in a rich diversity of sectors and hold different job responsibilities. Hence, each student brings a wealth of experience to the programme.
For the MAF Full-Time track, the majority of the students come straight into the programme after getting their first degree, and the average age upon entry to the programme is 24.
There is only one intake per year, commencing in August for all MAF Tracks.
Supporting documents can be delivered to us either by hand or by mail. Our address is as follow:
SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business
50 Stamford Road
Level 4 Graduate Programmes Office
Singapore 178899
Office Hours: Monday to Friday, 9.00am - 5.45 pm.
To expedite your application process, applicants are encouraged to email a softcopy of their supporting documents after submitting their applications to maf@smu.edu.sg.
If your certificates are certified 'true copies', you do not need to bring the originals for verification.
You will have to translate all documents to English, and have them certified.
An application fee of S$100 is applicable.
Of the two personal references, one should typically be from a current or previous employer, a colleague, or someone else who knows you well at work; the other referee could be someone who taught you at university or college, or another person who knows you in a professional capacity.
For fresh graduates, both referees can be your professors.
Upon submitting your online application, a link will be sent to your referees via email to submit their recommendations online. You will be required to fill in your referees' particulars accordingly.
Applicants are encouraged to notify their referees before or after submitting their online application to complete the online recommendation form.
Only shortlisted applicants are invited for an interview.
The admission interview is about 20 to 30 minutes.
This is subject to the schedule of the interviewer(s).
Shortlisted applicants may check the status of the interview outcome via email from the Admissions Committee, and are encouraged to check their mailboxes regularly.
Admissions are done on a rolling basis. A typical applicant willl be notified of their application outcome within 2 weeks after applying.
You can check the status of your application online. Please logon to our Applicant Self Service function with your user id and password.
Alternatively, you may send an email to maf@smu.edu.sg.
You can apply again even though your previous application was rejected.
You have to submit two online application forms.
We require applicants to take the GMAT (Graduate Management Admissions Test). The GMAT measures general verbal and mathematical skills, and the score report gives separate scores for the quantitative and verbal sections of the test, as well as a total score. There is also a short analytical writing section. The GMAT is used to promote fairness, objectivity and validity in selection and provides supplementary information to that contained in the application form.
Please logon to the GMAT website. The website provides information about preparing and registering for the GMAT test.
There is no minimum GMAT/GRE score required. We will view your application for admission to this programme holistically to gauge your suitability.
However, to make your application more competitive, we encourage applicants to achieve the following:
- GMAT/GRE: 600 and above (with a strong Quantitative Score)
You can retake GMAT 16 days after your first attempt, but retaking the test is only recommended if you believe you have under-performed significantly. You are strongly encouraged to be well prepared for your test, as you will be allowed a maximum of five attempts within a calendar year.
If the rest of your application is complete, you can send it to us, even if you have not taken the GMAT. Do note that we will process your application only after receiving your GMAT score.
Email us the unofficial score report, which you will receive a hardcopy of immediately after the test. Please also arrange with the test centre for the official score report to be sent to SMU via the institution code F8D-7V-27.
All candidates are required to complete an admissions test for consideration. If you have not prepared for the GMAT or GRE, you may opt for the SMU Admissions Test instead. Please check with your Admissions Advisor for more details on the SMU Admissions Test.
A GMAT score is valid for five years after the test date.
GMAT can be taken at:
Pearson Professional Center
10 Anson Road, Level 30, Unit 3,
International Plaza, Singapore 079903
Tel: +65 6225 2027
SMU's GMAT institution code for the MSc in Applied Finance is F8D-7V-27.
You can submit your GRE score instead of GMAT. Your GRE score is valid for five years after the test date.
SMU's GRE institution code is 5757.
You should submit your highest score if the score is still within the 5 years validity period after the test date.
The TOEFL/IELTS test is required if the medium of instruction in your undergraduate education was not in English.
SMU’s institution code for TOEFL is 9014.
Your TOEFL score is valid for two years after the test date.
Applicants will receive an acknowledgement letter at least latest, by end June. Please notify the Admissions Team at maf@smu.edu.sg if you do not receive the letter within the stipulated period.
General Information
SMU is set up as Singapore's first publicly-funded private university offering a style of education modelled after The Wharton School.
SMU has established a reputation for pushing the boundaries of innovation, creativity and academic excellence in redefining tertiary education. SMU introduced pedagogy previously unseen in Singapore, and has shown how a broad-based education and interactive teaching environment in small class sizes produces graduates well-prepared for the demands of the real world.
SMU is also known as a pioneer in its holistic admissions approach of recruiting all-rounded, multi-talented students and incorporating leadership and soft skills training in the curriculum.
Visit our SMU's main website for more information.
There are six schools in SMU: the Lee Kong Chian School of Business, the School of Accountancy, School of Economics, School of Information Systems, School of Law and School of Social Sciences.
Please click here for a list of our postgraduate programmes.
As an international student, you should hold a valid employment pass or dependant's pass if you wish to enrol in a part-time programme offered by SMU.
These three courses lead to different career paths. There are some overlaps among these programmes. Please check with the respective programme administrator for more details.
The MAF Part-Time and MAF Full-Time are two different tracks available under the MAF programme. However, all candidates will receive the same degree i.e. the Master of Science in Applied Finance degree, fully conferred by SMU.
The MAF Part-Time track is an 20-month part-time course spanning over six terms at SMU. This track admits Singaporeans, Singapore permanent residents and foreigners holding a valid employment or a dependant's pass.
The MAF Full-Time track is a 12-month full-time course + internship (4-6months) and spans over four terms at SMU. This track admits Singaporeans, Singapore permanent residents and international students. The internship component will start at the end of the 12 months full-time course.
The MAF programme was launched in 2002, offering only the MAF Part-Time track.
The MAF Full-Time track was launched in July 2011.
As of October 2016, we have more than 900 graduates from the programme.
Successfully securing a job offer is subject to numerous factors, ranging from the performance of a candidate during his or her job interview, the economy, the candidate’s personality and expectations.
To date, our graduates have been well sought-after locally and internationally.
The programme provides a stepping-stone for those who want to enter the finance and banking industries. Most of our graduates venture into the fund management, banking and consultancy sectors.
The immediate return is a chance to get into the finance industry. The rest depends on the individual, i.e. job performance.
An SMU degree is recognised worldwide. Kindly check with the education ministry in your home country to be sure.
