AM I ROYALLY SCREWED?

[hard]

my situation is that as some of you know i made the wrong decision of chosing a double degree that consisted of IT. So now in my first semesters results i have on IT unit which i got 18 for since i did not do one single question nor go to the exam but did relatively well in my other units afc = 63 and btc = 87.

my question is, if i maintain 80+ scores for the rest of my time at monash, will the 18 continue to drag me down and make my GPA low? or will employers see that it was first semester and an unrelated unit.

furthermore, if i get 80+ in all of this semesters commerce units, will i be able to transfer to single commerce despite one fail?

[Russ]

The IT subject will be on your academic transcript for employers to see, but most are reasonable and you should be able to explain what happened/that you changed degrees. Depending on how your GPA is calculated, it will probably be included but a single fail won't pull your GPA down significantly if the rest of your marks are high.

[Fyrefly]

I don't understand how you didn't foresee this happening... surely you realised how much it would impact your results?
You would have been much better off at least *trying*; even if you still failed, you probably would've gotten more than 18.

The honest answer is: yes, it's probably going to impact your average more than you'd like.

It will impact your GPA more so than your WAM, because WAM discounts the effect of units done in 1st year to half.
You're going to be pushing shit uphill for the rest of your degree just to get a decent average.
Even if you do get HDs for the rest of your degree, the highest your GPA can be is 3.7625.
That's a very solid and very good GPA, but it's going to be difficult to achieve.

Of course, you may have a saving grace... if you transfer to the single degree, it's *possible* that the IT unit gets taken out of your average. I really have no idea how it works, but I do know that I myself have two averages - one for my diploma and one for my degree. I guess it's plausible that you may end up with two averages as well... though exactly how they'd divide up your units I'm not sure... maybe your IT unit will end up with an average of its own under "BComm/BBIS", while all your commerce units end up as "BComm" since you'd be getting the credit for them transferred across. Honestly though, I don't know... maybe ask Mao?? He's transferred from a double to a single... ask him what his transcript looks like.


As for transferring, you should be alright: http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/esg/agu/policies/selection-incomplete-qualifications.html

"Double degree students wishing to transfer from the double degree into the Faculty-managed single degree component of the double degree will normally be permitted to do so provided their progress toward the single degree has been satisfactory."

"[T]he minimum interpretation of "satisfactory progress" would normally be no failures but a higher level of performance may be required depending upon the particular current degree program."

It sounds as though they're willing to ignore your IT unit when they consider you, though I would go to BusEco Student Services and ask them specifically about this policy if I were you. It also seems that so long as you don't fail any commerce units, they'll deem your performance as satisfactory and transfer you. Obviously though, I recommend you perform as strongly as you can so you don't give them a reason to hesitate when they make their decision.


As for the whole 'future employer' thing, I wouldn't be worried about it. People aren't robots... you'll obviously have to explain the fail when the time comes (probably in a job interview), but if you manage HDs for the rest of your degree, then obviously an employer who picks up your transcript will notice the stark contrast between the fail and the rest of your results and assume there's a reasonable explanation.

[jimmy999]

As for the whole 'future employer' thing, I wouldn't be worried about it. People aren't robots... you'll obviously have to explain the fail when the time comes (probably in a job interview), but if you manage HDs for the rest of your degree, then obviously an employer who picks up your transcript will notice the stark contrast between the fail and the rest of your results and assume there's a reasonable explanation.

Basically they'll see the fail, and the HDs, and realised that after the fail, you actually tried and put effort in and so they'll oversee it

[darlok]

It's not optimal and was a silly decision, but I think it won't matter too much for anything short of top Phd programs and IB positions.

[Glockmeister]

As for the whole 'future employer' thing, I wouldn't be worried about it. People aren't robots... you'll obviously have to explain the fail when the time comes (probably in a job interview), but if you manage HDs for the rest of your degree, then obviously an employer who picks up your transcript will notice the stark contrast between the fail and the rest of your results and assume there's a reasonable explanation.

Slightly off-topic, but I had a lab demonstrator tell us that he failed two subjects in first year and was now doing his PhD.

[IntoTheNewWorld]

Not sure how relevant it is, but I've just transfered out of Commerce/Business Information Systems and my new course has its own WAM and GPA, and the transcripts are separated. I have a feeling this will happen if you transfer into the single Commerce degree, not getting credit for your FIT subject, hence in theory it shouldn't show up in the new transcript and not count towards your GPA...?

[Cthulhu]

As for the whole 'future employer' thing, I wouldn't be worried about it. People aren't robots... you'll obviously have to explain the fail when the time comes (probably in a job interview), but if you manage HDs for the rest of your degree, then obviously an employer who picks up your transcript will notice the stark contrast between the fail and the rest of your results and assume there's a reasonable explanation.

Slightly off-topic, but I had a lab demonstrator tell us that he failed two subjects in first year and was now doing his PhD.

I don't think they worry too much about first year subjects when considering you for honours and then PhDs
</offtopic>

[Mao]

What you do need to worry about though, is whether your transfer will be approved or not. Even 'dropping' part of a double degree require you to have the average to transfer into the said single degree.

[Eriny]

You shouldn't have missed the exam, that was a really bad idea. University isn't necessarily about liking every subject you do (though hopefully it's a process whereby you discover what you like to do), but you definitely need to try and finish everything you start (after the census date), no excuses, the best you can. It's obvious from your other results that you're a strong student, you probably could have done much better. You will find that during uni, you'll have difficult subjects. But just because it's difficult doesn't mean that you can't do them or that you should drop them. If you want a solid degree and a good career, you really need to face up to the challenges you're given and stick to it. I don't want to sound like I'm telling you off or anything, it's completely your decision and you might have been in circumstances that none of us know about, etc., but that's what I'd tell a friend in the same position.

However, although your GPA and maybe even WAM for a little while might be damaged, a fail or two is entirely understandable and graduate recruiters won't think much of it at all. Everyone goes through the stage where they don't know what they want to do, and perhaps try new things which unfortunately aren't for them. A pass would have been much better on your transcript, but it will barely be a blip on the radar in the long term. Really, for a single degree, your third year subject results will matter the most, and if you drop that degree and/or look for jobs in a completely different area then even more concessions would be made.

[Mao]

What you do need to worry about though, is whether your transfer will be approved or not. Even 'dropping' part of a double degree require you to have the average to transfer into the said single degree.

is the average like 65?

so right now im on 54.7 or something. if i get 80 for each of the 4 subs i do this semester so thats 320+87+63+18 = 488/7 = 69.7

will that get me into single commerce?

and eriny yer i know i shouldn't have missed the exam major stupid decision but i really enjoy commerce and hope to do well in it i was just hoping that if i get into single degree commerce i can get credit for only the commerce units i've done and not the other ones?/


OH and one more thing would i be able to apply for single commerce through VTAC?

Firstly, aiming for four HDs is a bit sketchy, considering you don't know what the units are like yet, maybe you'll end up disliking them [like your previous ones].

I am unsure about what the cut-off transfer is for commerce, but do keep in mind that commerce is a fairly popular degree, the minimum cut-off is not necessarily the actual cut-off. You will want to be well above that average to transfer. To top it all off, they don't publish these data, so you don't know until you find out. Generally, mid-year transfers are easier than end-of-year transfers, unless you have a magnificent average [like 75+] in which case you can [almost] do anything you want.

Unsure about applying for single commerce through VTAC, I'm going to assume you can, but the process can be a bit convoluted (maybe you'll have to discontinue from your course?).

University policy is not best discussed here on VN, as none of us know that much, and each uni is different. What I do suggest is for you to go to your faculty course advisor and ask questions. Make an appointment, they don't bite.

[Gloamglozer]

OH and one more thing would i be able to apply for single commerce through VTAC?

For end-of-year transfers, yes, you will apply through VTAC unless if Monash handles non-year 12 end-of-year transfers by themselves which I doubt they do.

[Kairubin]

you go through monash. once you're in uni they pretty much don't ever look at your ENTER

[Gloamglozer]

you go through monash. once you're in uni they pretty much don't ever look at your ENTER

Unless if you have done less than one year of tertiary studies then your ENTER is still weighted quite heavily.

[Kairubin]

you go through monash. once you're in uni they pretty much don't ever look at your ENTER

Unless if you have done less than one year of tertiary studies then your ENTER is still weighted quite heavily.

oh yer mid year transfers. totally forgot about that. But Business & Finance faculty doesn't let you do mid year transfers unless you're an international student i recall.