But for some, fitting in is a problem.

The New Paper recently carried a report about a student who was bullied and ostracised because of his neighbourhood-school background.

Azri Imran Tan had joined a top JC three years ago. but dropped out of it angry and hurt. Pioneer JC took him in when he decided to pursue his A levels again. The 20-year-old graduated two weeks ago as the JC's top arts student.

Is his experience typical?

Students and staff members from top schools told GenY that while Azri's case highlighted a situation that could happen again, it was likely any early 'tensions' were a passing phase.

Top JCs approached by GenY - which included Raffles Junior College (RJC), Hwa Chong Institution (College Section) (HCI) and Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) (ACSI) - have orientation and community service programmes to nip elitist tendencies in the bud.

The three institutions run the Integrated Programme (IP) in which students who qualify skip the O levels and go on to take the A levels or International Baccalaureate.

Raffles Institution and Raffles Girls' School provide feeder students for RJC. ACSI's are from their secondary school section while HCI's are from their secondary school section and Nanyang Girls High.

In recent years, this has meant a reduced intake of non-feeder students.

For instance, two-thirds of this year's International Baccalaureate cohort of 554 at ACSI are boys from its IP.

Asked if this trend has made adjustments difficult for new entrants, Dr Ong Teck Chin, ACSI's principal, said: 'I think it depends on the individual. We've programmes in place to make non-feeder school students feel at home.'

At ACSI, students do community service in small groups for a week in the second term.

Dr Ong said: 'Such activities encourage interaction and aid bonding between non-feeder and feeder school students.'

He felt that for most students unfamiliar with the school's ethos and culture, it would take at most two school terms to settle in.

At HCI, teacher and spokesman Liew Pei Li made clear her school's policy: 'We do not differentiate between those from our IP school and those from non-IP schools.'

Mr Alex Quek, 20, an HCI alumnus, said he initially felt 'outnumbered' when he joined HCI in 2006. He said that across the level, the ratio was one non-feeder student to 10 from feeder schools.

The students from the feeder schools were getting most, if not all, of the plum positions in the school clubs, he claimed.

Still, the easy-going personality of the former Normal stream student from Gan Eng Seng Secondary helped him fit in. Now a full-time national serviceman, he said: 'Fortunately, I felt a sense of belonging rather quickly.'

Non-feeder students in RJC had similar worries.

Jurongville Secondary alumnus Jonathan Soh felt that to make for an easier transition, it was crucial to have friends in the school already before joining.

'You have to be mentally prepared for the challenge,' said the JC1 student and national squash player.

RJC principal Lim Lai Cheng said: 'We will provide chances for interaction at all levels. Often we can't even tell who was not from Raffles previously.'

Activities organised by RJC to bring together students from non-feeder and feeder schools include workshops that encourage bonding under a Diversity Awareness Programme and tea sessions.

Students from feeder schools generally agree that at the start of every school year, everyone needs to adjust.

Said RJC student Kartik Das, who was formerly from RI: 'I guess we feeder school students start off knowing more people but once everyone is involved in school activities, it should get better.'

alexliam@sph.com.sg

If you shared a similar experience as Azri, e-mail suntimes@sph.com.sg about it.