How university works

[pi]

Is it possible, pi, to make a short 'index' at the top of the post, with all the major headings/questions being clickable to go to that specific part of the post?

I don't think so :/ But I'm thinking of putting all answers in spoilers so it's easy to navigate by just looking at the questions. Any thoughts on that? edit: did it any way, feel free to make suggestions!

Adding your stuff into the post

[Furbob]

Languages (Monash perspective)

I can't speak for all language units but having done a bit of chinese and mostly Japanese I can give a brief overview.
Language tutorials are very much like school classes where you may have to read texts out loud and be given weekly/fortnightly quizzes on grammar, vocab etc.

Most of the tutes go through grammar, topics you're learning, vocabulary and guidelines on assessments

Sometimes there's group work (like oral presentations in partners) or class discussions where you may need to solve or discuss a topic  in a group. This is probably why I found it very easy to make friends in the classes as we would be stuck together for at least 2 semesters (unless its a one-off elective)

prepare for a fair bit of assessments but this balances out with exams only being worth 30-40% (not sure if this applies to every language)

[SenriAkane]

Electrical Engineering  (Monash perspective)
Pre-req in 1st year: You must complete Electrical Systems (ENG1030), Maths for  Engineering (ENG1091) and Engineering Computing (ENG1060) to get into Electrical Engineering Branch in Monash.
Lectures: Most Electrical units (denoted by ECExxxx in the unit code) have 3 1-hour lectures per week.
Tutorials: First year and 2nd Year Units have different types of tutorials.
For ENG1030: Tutorials are taught by 3rd and 4th year students. The tutorials are run weekly and held run in a small tutorial room.  In each tutorial, the problem sets (which cover the previous week of content) are gone through by the tutors and there's generally time for students to complete part if not all of the problem sets. Answers are provided online but full solutions are only provided by attending tutorials. Attendance is not compulsory although advised.
For 2nd-Year or above : Tutorials are run by the lecturer him/herself in a lecture hall. He/she will go through a problem set which covers the content in the previous week.  It generally feels more like a revision lecture more than a Tutorial.
Attendance is not necessary but generally advised because 2nd-year units can be very tough.
Labs:
For ENG1030: Labs run every two weeks. The first week is an introductory lab where attendance is compulsory . Each lab allows you to see what you have learnt in action. You build circuit in a breadboard. Attendance is compulsory because each lab is worth 1.5% of the overall unit mark. If you get less than 45% in your lab component you fail the unit automatically. There's also a lab test which is worth 7.5% of unit mark.
For 2nd-year or above: Labs run every week.  The first week is an introductory lab where attendance is compulsory. For some units ( e.g. Signal Processing), you sit down in front of a computer where you finish a problem sheet and get marked on your work. For Analog Electronics you build circuits that was taught in the unit and observe their specific properties.   Attendance is compulsory and if you get less than 45% in your lab component you fail the unit automatically


Mod edit (pi): Cheers mate, mixed it with the existing sections! Need someone from Law, Bio tutes, Comm labs, or anyone else who wants to chip in to this resource! Any help would be amazing amd I'm sure those reading this will find it invaluable too

[availn]

Oh yeah, what is a GPA?

[Shenz0r]

Put it simply, your GPA (Grade Point Average) represents your academic marks at university. It's very important for getting admission into post-graduate degrees, Honours programs, internships, etc.

Different universities have different GPA scales. For example, Melbourne uses a GPA scale of 7, whereas Monash uses a GPA scale of 4.

[Phy124]

Example: http://www.monash.edu.au/exams/gpa.html

[Russ]

Just to be clear, since it's caused confusion before, Melbourne does not have a GPA scale of 7. They have a collection of arbitrary scales (every GPA scale is arbitrary, but they don't have a unified one) that different departments use. They also tend to refer to GPA and WAM as the same things, which clouds it further.

[Stick]

What's a WAM? :S I've never heard of that before, not until Russ just happened to introduce it here. XD

Also, is it true that you call your teachers by their first name at university?

[Phy124]

Example: http://www.monash.edu.au/exams/wam.html

[Starlight]

Also, is it true that you call your teachers by their first name at university?

Generally yes, but you don't really need to in person.
Just emails: Dear ___ (first name)

[pi]

Also, is it true that you call your teachers by their first name at university?

No, many doctors/professors prefer to be called Dr/Prof ____ or Sir, etc. For the younger staff, first name may be appropriate. This is faculty dependent of course.

[Bad Student]

Why are we supposed to avoid the socialists?

[Lasercookie]

Why are we supposed to avoid the socialists?

Probably referring to Socialist Alternative, they tend to stick around on campus, hand out flyers, try to get you to buy their magazine etc.

[alondouek]

Because they're annoying, shouty and rude. They (groups like the Socialist Alternative) don't really represent Socialist ideals, they just spout anarchic crap. It gets really tiring after about 10 minutes into semester.

Take them on if you're crazy, join them if you're batshit insane

Couple of examples why I don't like the SA:

• Got called a homophobe because I wouldn't sign a petition condemning Israel. Wut?
• Got called a 'Zionazi' moments later. Still expected me to sign their petition after that.

[Bad Student]

o.O How is a Zionazi even possible?  A zionist seems like the polar opposite of a nazi.