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SINGAPORE: Despite the closure of its Asia campus in Singapore, the University of New South Wales (UNSW) continued to attract a crowd at an education fair on Thursday.
Many students said they were already planning to head for the Sydney campus from the onset.
Sam Ha has just completed the UNSW foundation year course in Singapore.
He was looking forward to continuing his education at the university's Asia campus, but now that it is shutting its doors, Sam has to change his plans.
"Many of us didn't do that well for our A levels, that's why we chose this course in the hope that we could get into the Asia campus. However it closed down, so I tried applying for the local universities, but they're actually more interested in the A level degrees as compared to the foundation year," says Sam.
Sam says he now has no choice but to take up the more expensive option of applying to UNSW Sydney.
But others at the UNSW booth had set their eyes on Sydney, for some time.
"Actually I'm more interested in studying in UNSW, the Sydney campus, because I'm more interested in studying in Australia. So actually the Asia UNSW isn't really my first choice, that's why the closure of UNSW Asia doesn't have much impact on me," says student Chen Ying Ting.
"The Asia campus did not offer the aerospace selection for their engineering students, so therefore if I want to continue pursuing my aeronautical education, I would have no choice but to enter the Sydney [campus]. So I'm really still keen on going to Sydney and entering UNSW," says student Stanley Ong.
Recruitment staff from the University's Sydney campus were on hand to offer advice, but declined to comment on the number of applications received.
Some believe any negative repercussion from the recent closure of the UNSW Asia campus is only temporary.
"I think maybe it could make a short-term dent in people's perception, particularly the people who were enrolled in the programme. We will certainly be responsive to students looking to transfer their studies from the campus of UNSW here, that would have been the case anyway, so I don't think anything too much has changed, " says Rohan McCarthy, International Marketing Co-ordinator, The Australian National University.
Other universities at the fair told Channel NewsAsia they have not received queries from either UNSW foundation year students or students of its Asia campus. - CNA/yy
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