How university works

[AngelWings]

Hi everyone!

I'm just wondering what to do until first round offers come out, and I don't really know how to prepare for Uni!
Or even should one be preparing for uni? as in for a potential course?

Because each day feels a bit guilty just relaxing if you know what I mean?

What did past people do to until offers came out?

Thanks so much guys!

Definitely agree with Aaron's response. Going to add a couple of points.

I went and found this helpful post as to what you can do right now. I guess it can help you prepare mentally for uni, although rather indirectly.
If you need something to do to prepare for uni, try applying for your TFN (and Youth Allowance*), if you haven't already. You'll need a TFN for HECS, so I guess that counts as uni prep. The holiday season might mean that things get hampered for a bit, but it should kill some time.

*Not really for uni.

[cool dawg]

this thread is great

[Joseph41]

this thread is great

Have you just finished Year 12? Let us know if you have any questions at all.

P.S. Congrats on your scores!

[Sine]

Hi everyone!

I'm just wondering what to do until first round offers come out, and I don't really know how to prepare for Uni!
Or even should one be preparing for uni? as in for a potential course?

Because each day feels a bit guilty just relaxing if you know what I mean?

What did past people do to until offers came out?

Thanks so much guys!

I don't think it's that necessary to be studying for university during the holidays unlike a lot of people would do for highschool. A main concern is that you can't be 100% sure about the content that will be important and assessed (unlike vce where there is a study design) as units can change a lot in a year and also within a year they can change the course by taking other factors into account. Also you don't know how long to spend on certain topics/concepts -  so effectively you could just be "wasting" your time. Although imo you can't really say that the time is wasted wasted if you are learning something new and enjoy it - so regardless of whether content is assessed or not it may be valuable to someone individually.

In addition to this your weeks in university have a much more concentrated workload (from my experience - may be different for different courses)so it's really important to go back feeling relaxed and refreshed from your holidays.

[informationenthusiast]

compared to vce, is uni generally harder or easier??

[Lear]

compared to vce, is uni generally harder or easier??

Not in uni just yet but here's a discussion where the exam taking side of uni in comparison to school was discussed.
https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=182359.msg1083768#msg1083768

[Bri MT]

compared to vce, is uni generally harder or easier??

This is really, really, really dependent on the  person.
 

It's generally harder to get a x% mark, but expectations are different too. One of the big differences is that you have significantly more flexibility to decide how hard you want to work and what you want to focus on.

There's also variation between courses - for example,  some require you to maintain a high average mark and others don't

[Lear]

I understand that this is very subjective and year 12 is very different to university. But in terms of difficulty, what’s an equivalent ATAR to a university WAM of 75%? Again I know this won’t be very meaningful but i’m just trying to grasp how hard a 75% WAM is

[EEEEEEP]

I understand that this is very subjective and year 12 is very different to university. But in terms of difficulty, what’s an equivalent ATAR to a university WAM of 75%? Again I know this won’t be very meaningful but i’m just trying to grasp how hard a 75% WAM is

Hi there

Different courses, subjects and electives have different difficulties.

You cannot make an equivalent of 75 WAM to any level of difficulty!

To add to that point ... some lecturers follow a bell curve, while some don’t.

Don’t think about difficulty.

[Aaron]

I understand that this is very subjective and year 12 is very different to university. But in terms of difficulty, what’s an equivalent ATAR to a university WAM of 75%? Again I know this won’t be very meaningful but i’m just trying to grasp how hard a 75% WAM is

I have to agree EEEEEEP's comment above.

I achieved WAM's of 77 and 74 for my Bachelor of IT & MTeach respectively so my WAMs float around your query.

Put it this way: back when I did my VCE, my ATAR was only 65. If you take what you know about me out of the equation, you'd think that would be a bizarre number to compare to a WAM of 75+.

The point i'm trying to make is that a) the ATAR isn't really merit-based when we think about it, and b) university is an adult environment, a lot of things can change (e.g. environment with like minded people, personal circumstances etc). I know from my personal perspective that all it took was for me to be separated from my friendship group and to enter university alone basically to get my act together (in combination with a passion and love for the degree discipline I chose).

75 is not out of reach for anybody but it requires at least perseverance and effort. The interest & passion for your discipline is an added bonus and will make things easier. It's not going to just come to you by default and honestly it's not as easy as some would say - don't view 75 as "75%" because its an average which requires a significant chunk of your overall scores to be decent.

You just can't compare ATAR and university scores in the slightest. It's honestly one of the worst comparisons to make because there are so many factors at play. You can get a 90 ATAR and perform terribly. You can get a 65 ATAR (like I did) and achieve most of your uni scores above this. You'd be surprised what an environment where you are accountable both academically and financially, does to you. Hope this helps

[AiramPevensie]

Hey, to those who are at uni and working part-time, how do you balance work and uni? Also, any tips on preparing to find work for next year in the midst of Year 12 and before you have access to a uni course timetable? And any suggestions for finding work during the holidays, when all the newly-finished HSC students rush to find part-time jobs?! Thanks 

[fantasticbeasts3]

Hey, to those who are at uni and working part-time, how do you balance work and uni? Also, any tips on preparing to find work for next year in the midst of Year 12 and before you have access to a uni course timetable? And any suggestions for finding work during the holidays, when all the newly-finished HSC students rush to find part-time jobs?! Thanks 

Hi, welcome to the forums!!

1. How do you balance work and uni?
Have a day off for you to catch up on uni work and/or chill! So so so important - I can't stress this enough because my uni marks suffered last term as I didn't allow myself time to breathe and catch up!

2. Finding work in the middle of year 12 before uni timetables
Look for Christmas Casual jobs because they're easy to find when you do a quick Google search. Applications start to open around August so if you've finished your trials or need a study break you can use that time to apply for jobs :-) I suppose this answer fits into your last question but try and get in early, and apply for as many jobs as possible to increase your chances of finding a job :-)

Best of luck!

[AiramPevensie]

Hi, welcome to the forums!!

1. How do you balance work and uni?
Have a day off for you to catch up on uni work and/or chill! So so so important - I can't stress this enough because my uni marks suffered last term as I didn't allow myself time to breathe and catch up!

2. Finding work in the middle of year 12 before uni timetables
Look for Christmas Casual jobs because they're easy to find when you do a quick Google search. Applications start to open around August so if you've finished your trials or need a study break you can use that time to apply for jobs :-) I suppose this answer fits into your last question but try and get in early, and apply for as many jobs as possible to increase your chances of finding a job :-)

Best of luck!

Thank you so much! It's great having the chance to hear from people who've gone through it already. All the best with your uni course. 

[yourfriendlyneighbourhoodghost]

With practice exams, if you ask your lecturer or the main teacher (I don't know how that works  will they help you get one or create one for you?

Are you allowed to visit lecturers and ask them for feedback in work and extension tasks if needed?

[Joseph41]

With practice exams, if you ask your lecturer or the main teacher (I don't know how that works  will they help you get one or create one for you?

Are you allowed to visit lecturers and ask them for feedback in work and extension tasks if needed?

Practice exams - if they're not already available, I very much doubt you'd have luck getting them to create a new one. Some units will have past exams available from previous years etc., others won't.

Visiting lecturers - more likely to visit a tutor (sort of like your classroom teacher I guess), but they may only be available at certain times, and you may have to book an appointment. Some will be more willing to chat outside of class than others.