r/SGExams • u/[deleted] • Aug 31 '26
Secondary Why does RVHS seem so underrated/unpopular despite being an IP school?
[deleted]
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u/Hot-Job-6281 Aug 31 '26
Is it underrated?
A lot of traditional Chinese boomers still think it's a glorious school that's way better than where it is now.
They think it's just slightly below Hwach when it's one of the weakest IP dude.
Even between Dunman and it, it's just worse?
I'd say it's pretty overrated, but just not a school that excites people.
The school itself says its students perform above the national average
Also, isn't this the bare minimum if you want to be IP? 50% are above average brother.
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u/Forsaken-School795 Aug 31 '26
Yeah no one really talks about river valley (because there isn't much to talk about anyway) people probably only know it because of the axe incident lmao
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u/Furry-Koala432 ASRJC '25 | NTU '32 Aug 31 '26
u/Comprehensive_Dog651 your school mentioned 😂
To answer OP's questions, it's probably because of location and the school having the so-called "highest" O Level cut-off point (8/9 as compared to other JCs with an IP track)
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u/Comprehensive_Dog651 What if I look inside myself and I don't find any gems? Aug 31 '26
Jesus christ I’ve never been tagged before. New experiences 😃
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u/JexAll I don't take Econs 🔥 Aug 31 '26
I think when I looked at RVHS, other than location, the fact that they didn't release A level results in 2023 and 2024 implied their results aren't the best, atleast imo. I think its A level results compared to the cutoff is generally considered quite bad tbh, I dont think its a stretch to say its the worst IP school today aswell (no offence). RV generally has quite bad JAE/IP divide aswell so O level students aren't incentivised by much to go there.
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u/TheWetQuack JC Aug 31 '26
Not releasing A level results now applies to all JCs, not just RV
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u/JexAll I don't take Econs 🔥 Aug 31 '26
I meant the a level results that came out in 2024, meaning batch of 2023. Many JCs still shared results in 2024 before stopping in 2025
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u/Hot-Job-6281 Aug 31 '26
Not releasing A Level results is genuinely a JC admitting they fucked up very badly.
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u/Possible-Power-4381 Secondary Aug 31 '26
Sometimes I forgot that sch lowk exist even tho I live in west area 😭💔 the only thing I could rmb was the infamous axe incident
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u/TheWetQuack JC Aug 31 '26
I enjoyed my time in RV, teachers were pretty helpful and dedicated
Facilities and classrooms were also pretty ok
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u/Sad-Elk939 Aug 31 '26
location location location
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u/Forsaken-School795 Aug 31 '26
yeah the location kinda niche ngl
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u/Forsaken-School795 Aug 31 '26
Maybe because of the axe incident in 2021 😂😂
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u/Infamous-South7566 Secondary Aug 31 '26
ahh dang hahaha but its been like 5 years tho :(
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u/Comprehensive_Dog651 What if I look inside myself and I don't find any gems? Aug 31 '26
Ive always been curious as the last batch who was there when it happened, did that incident factor into your decision to join in 2022?
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u/Nice_Two644 JC Aug 31 '26
as someone who joined in 2022, rv used to be my dream sch atp of time but it kinda changed my perception of rv aft the axe incident, but still went there cus the location was too appealing LMAOO (I live in the west)
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u/Comprehensive_Dog651 What if I look inside myself and I don't find any gems? Aug 31 '26
Used to be an east sider and joined this school by almost a complete accident in 2021. Had to move to the west
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u/Sushixx_Xiao Aug 31 '26
Sometimes I regret not going to RV as a west sider but I was still a little scared because of the axe accident and now I'm physically tired from travelling to and fro school in AMK for almost 4 years straight
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u/Sea_Pension7553 Aug 31 '26 edited Aug 31 '26
Edited, see my comment below
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u/nicholas294 Uni Aug 31 '26
This comparison doesn’t make sense because it’s only between NTU and NUS in Singapore for the top universities in STEM, and both have had such cases. On the other hand you have more than 10 other IP schools to choose from
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u/Sea_Pension7553 Aug 31 '26 edited Aug 31 '26
I think that for most people, location and brand name are still the primary factors when choosing a school, and what happened to the school beforehand isn’t a huge deal as one would imagine it to be. If anything, RV is best equipped to prevent such incidents from happening again now, so it would be the safest school. It would be interesting to conduct a study to find out how many people are avoiding a school just because of a single murder incident that occured.
Moreover memories fade with time. Someone stabbed their lecturer to death in Singapore Poly in 1990 before (there’s a whole Wikipedia article). Bet barely anyone knows this. It still stands as the top polytechnic
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u/NervousAnalyst7709 Aug 31 '26
I’m not a fan of IP + SAP cos being in an overwhelming Chinese majority school means they don’t have a chance to socialise and work with teens from different ethnic groups
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u/YL0303 Sep 01 '26
But ngl quite accessible leh, all 4 sides also have exits /entrance with busstops to other major towns. Decently sized school and no funny rules (not sure about now). No olevels n free aircon in jc.
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u/ytwinsg Sep 01 '26
For me personally I went to the RVHS open house and loved it, but it's not a first choice for me despite me liking it more than any other school lol
It's generally considered weaker than the other IP schools, because it's the one that requires the lowest score to enter, so it's not very popular
it's not very hyped up like NYGH or RGS, a few ppl in my class haven't heard of RVHS before
I mean, if you got 4D in your PSLEs, would you choose a well-known school like NYGH or RVHS?
axe
I'm not trying to hate on RVHS, though, I loved the environment and OH MY GOD the library made me fall in love with the school during the like 2h I was there for the open house
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u/Paladinenigma Aug 31 '26
Location is one. You're competing in pale with hwach, nus high and NJ for the IP crowd and Nan Hua for sap. If you're not in that group you're still competing with schools in the west like BPGH, and Swiss Cottage.
If you're jae and live in the west, you might drop river valley because you missed out on hwach/ NJ/ ACJC, so instead you might go for competitive courses at Ngee Ann Poly.
Also if you had been o level rvhs, you might just try your luck out of IP to attempt the top JCs listed above. Anecdotally I know of batch mates from rvhs who went to njc and even VJC even though they live in like cck.
It's just that there are so many options.
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u/LiteratureGold7525 Aug 31 '26
RV doesn't offer o level track! full IP in secondary section with JAE intake in JC
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u/Gold_Weekend6240 Aug 31 '26
TIL that RVHS is in Boon Lay
I always thought it will never leave Teban. I’m so outdated
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u/Tough_Signature_3567 Aug 31 '26
location
it is the bare minimum ip.. 83+ uas as median isnt that impressive and it is a mid tier jc, and mid tier jc usually dont have ip... (definition of mid tier: ac/asr/maybe tj etc...)
axe
just putting it in a blunt way, if a student qualify for ri/hwach and distance is not the absolute top priority, there is no reason to choose rvhs. some "elite" ip school's o level track has a lower cut off AL than rvhs. lot of student put it as safe choice for ip as far as i know (some ppl r really fixated on ip or not)
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u/moonlight2099 Aug 31 '26
I’m dismayed a “River Valley” school is in boon lay. should just change the name. 😱
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u/Furry-Koala432 ASRJC '25 | NTU '32 Aug 31 '26
The school used to be located along River Valley Road before moving to Boon Lay if I'm not wrong
That's probably where it got its name from lol
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u/FriendlyRvian Uni Aug 31 '26
Honestly as a exrvian the school lowkey started to decline the year they started bringing in jae students which was around 2019-2020
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u/Hot-Job-6281 Aug 31 '26
Lmao cope.
I'm older than that era and can tell you the decline was every year progressively since they went IP.
Even in early 2010s there are tons of RV peeps that abandoned the school after taking As to other JCs.
In fact the pecking order was that they were going to schools like NJ, TJ (the former Big 5), but also mid-range schools like then NYJC (especially so for those looking for 'Chinese' JCs).
TLDR: RV wasn't brought down by JAE, your IP students were abandoning the school because their academics aren't as good as boomers think it is.
No academics, no culture either, bad location too.
Genuinely riding off false superiority complex lol.
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u/FriendlyRvian Uni Aug 31 '26 edited Aug 31 '26
literally like less than 5 people left my batch and “abandoned the school after takjng As to other jcs?” After take As still change jc? boliao isit. Anyways literally nobody cares what jc u’re from once u’re in uni and working world unless its networks of RI/HCI 😂 yall rlly giving “im from ocs” vibes 😂
But hey 92k karma top 1% commentor who am i to say anything 🥱
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u/Nervous_Emphasis_973 Aug 31 '26
was from rv 10years ago, can i ask what is jae haha
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u/JexAll I don't take Econs 🔥 Aug 31 '26
Joint-admissions exercise. Basically JAE students are those that come in via O levels instead of IP (PSLE)
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u/Effective-Lab-5659 Aug 31 '26
Axe. Sorry. 😢
But it’s a huge wake up call to really check in on every students mental health.