hums_student
Hey Ashmi,
You should definitely look into subject auditing. If, in the future, you want to do a subject but you might not have space for it on your study plan, you can email the subject coordinator and request to audit the subject instead. You'll have access to the Canvas page and will be doing the exact same content as someone who is enrolled in the subject, except it wouldn't take up a slot on your study plan so you're still free to take other subjects. In my experience (auditing my 5th subject this sem!), subject coordinators are usually more than happy to let you audit their class. It can be a bit more difficult for subjects with prereqs but generally if you can demonstrate that you'll be able to keep up in the course you'll easily get approved.
I was also in a similar situation as you where I wanted to take CS subjects but my study plan didn't allow, so I audited media comp, FoA, EODP, machine learning, and am currently auditing TSA. It's really great because you don't have to pay for audited subjects and they are also not recorded on your transcript, meaning you don't have to worry about doing well in them lol.
Anyway, hope you enjoy the midsem break and looking forward to your future updates!
You are my absolute lifesaver and hero in disguise!🥺
I am definitely going to do this in the future and this solves pretty much all the problems I'm having.
Hope things are going well on your end and enjoy your Christmas break!
ThunderDragon, blueycan, Chocolatemilkshake, The Cat In The Hat
Thank you so much for all the nice comments 🥺🥰. I'm glad you all like the photos and hopefully, in the future, there is some more interesting stuff I can show you all!
I hope you all are enjoying your holidays and the long-deserved break after all that studying.🏖️
✰Update: 13/12✰Hello everyone!
After a long time after the previous update, I have returned 😂. First, before I get started, congratulations to all the year 12s for finishing the school year and good luck with results! It has been a long year of work and hopefully you are happy with your performance and enjoying a long-deserved break.
Well anyway, lets get started with the song of today's update and then we can go straight into the good stuff.
It’s been a while so I thought it would be good to give you guys an update. (Shoutout to @Thunderdragon for reminding me haha)
My exams finished a while ago and oh boy I have a lot to say. I need to have a word with who thought having two physics exams (Cosmos + Physics 2) back-to-back on the same day that goes from 11 am to 7 pm was a good idea. This happened a few weeks ago and let me tell you that was no fun. Ignoring physics, Calculus 2 was alright, however, I would have preferred last semester’s exam that the one we got this semester.
Reflection TimeThere are a few things that I would like to reflect on what did work and what didn’t this year:
What didn’t work well
• Watching pre-recorded lectures for any physics subjects. I would like to attend as many in person lectures as possible for physics subjects as it was hard to see demos online and was one of those subjects that just doesn’t ‘work’ online.
• Labs in the afternoon made me more likely to skip out work for other subjects that day and more likely to dread the day.
• Any subject with large exam weightings. *Cough* MAST subjects *cough*
• Doing 3 subjects in a semester didn’t really help me out academically this semester. I found myself being less productive with study (possibly because of lockdown?). I don’t think much changed but that could also be because I went on 3 subjects halfway through the semester. If I started with only 3 subjects, I would say there would have been a more noticeable difference.
What did work well
• On the same subject, doing 3 subjects allowed me to work more, especially in private tutoring as the VCE Exams came closer. I found more of a demand for tutoring once August/September hit which allowed me to make more $$$ then I did last semester.
• Physics exams with standard online examination mode (This is because there is no restriction on type of calculator to use. Thank you CAS)
• Any subject with exam weightings of 60% or less.
• Watching pre-recorded lectures for maths subjects. Math lectures tend to be better for me online as it gives me time to write/digest information.
• Investing in an iPad was a good idea.
• Joining clubs and using it to network.
• Putting labs in the morning to get it over and done with (especially for on campus labs)
• Cramming all the practical classes and labs together if possible.
Physics Research Areas and PlansIn terms of subjects, my goal is to get to a point where I’m only taking 3 science subjects (Or 3 science electives + 1 breadth) in my final year each semester. This is because the Master of Science (Physics) only considers your 4 best 3rd-year physics subjects scores, and I would like to maximise my chances for a CSP spot.
Since being part of the PSS committee this year, I have been able to see a LOT of different research projects and meet a lot of potential supervisors where I was able to think about what I would like to specialise in. Here is sort of a list of things I was able to eliminate so far:
•
Cosmology, Astro-particle,
Extragalactic and High Energy Astrophysics.
•
Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics•
Biophysics• Experimental/
Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics
• Experimental/Theoretical Particle Physics
• Quantum Computing/Quantum Information
•
NanoscienceThere is still a lot I don’t know so hopefully by the end of next year I can eliminate some more off this list! The one that I am the most curious about is quantum computing, especially since I didn’t know it was an actual research area in the physics department at the start of the year. If I had to give a wild guess of what I would probably end up doing, it would be quantum computing or experimental particle physics.
Potential Subjects for 20222022 Summer Term:• MAST10007 Linear Algebra [Core]
2022 Semester 1:• PHYC20012 Quantum + Thermal Physics [Core]
• MAST20009 Vector Calc [Core]
• PHYC20013 Lab and Comp 2 [Core]
• COMP20005 Numerical Computation in C [Elective]
2022 Winter Term:• FINA20026 Painting Techniques [Breadth]
2022 Semester 2:• PHYC20015 Special Relativity + Electromagnetism [Core]
• Must pick 2 out of the 3 below:
o MAST20030 Differential Equations [Core Alternative to TP2]
o PHYC20014 Theoretical Physics 2 [Core Alternative to DE]
o MULT20015 Elements of Quantum Computing [Elective]
• EDUC20080 School Experience [Breadth + Placement]/ FNCE10002 Principles of Finance [Breadth]
I do have some problems which I’m going to describe below
1. I’m stuck between what subjects I’m going to do in semester 2. Taking DE and TP2 together looks like a death sentence based on what I have heard. Good news though is for a physics major, both act as an alternative prerequisite, so I only need to take one. I have heard it might be best to take both though (especially since TP2 relies on some DE), however I am super tempted to take the quantum computing subject as that is the only quantum comp subject offered in undergrad. Right now, I am leaning more towards TP2 and Elements of Quantum Computing.
2. I am also having trouble picking a possible breadth subject during Semester 2. School Experience and PoF both look like great subjects. There is one thing stopping me with the School Experience subject and that is the essay components (not the best at essays and scared of them…) however, I do feel like it would be very enjoyable. PoF on the other hand would probably be the ‘safer’ option (no essays) and looks interesting. I’ll probably give School Experience a go and if I do struggle, I know PoF would be a good backup choice.
3. One thing that I haven’t decided yet is if I want to do a diploma of computing. If this ends up happening, pretty much everything from semester 2 will be changed in terms of subjects. It would be very beneficial (especially for internships/specific research areas) but I’m not too sure if I want to extend my degree just yet. Still deciding at this point. Most likely will audit some subjects just like @hums_student has mentioned.
Also, I’ll be doing peer mentoring next year! Not too sure what it is going to be like but hopefully it’s fun. (Excited about the hoodies😎)
Long Term GoalsFinally, long term goals for the next academic year:
• Organise an internship/research project during the summer term of 2023. (Looking at you DST).
• Become experienced with Python, C/C++, MATLAB and Linux environments.
• Network more, especially with people of possible research areas.
• Maintain a H1 WAM, especially high H1s in physics subjects.
• Keep this journal updated more. Maybe once every 2/3 weeks.
On a side note, I need to meet up with some people that I should have met up with this year but couldn't cause of✨lockdown✨.
@colline if you see this we need to organise a meetup when we are back on campus🐍.
@thunderdragon I know you are going to see this and fam we need to prepare for our next hotpot/bubble tea/shopping outing please.🐉
(Even tho I saw you two days ago HAHAHAHAHA)I’ll stop here for today or else I will keep going forever. See you at the next update! 💖