Colline's Journey to Veterinary School

[colline]

-- Colline's Uni Journal --

**UPDATE** Some of the info in the opening post in regards to the BSci/DVM course progression is no longer up to date, as UniMelb changed the course for 2021. Please see this post

---

Happy New Year everyone!

Through my final year of school, I kept a VCE Journey Journal on AN. It was a rewarding experience, so here we go again - university edition! Shout out to Bri and Laura for encouraging me to start this!

I'll kick off with a short self intro, as well as a general introduction to what I'll be studying.


Who are you and what did you do prior to uni?

Spoiler

I'm Colline (which is not my real name, but I digress), I graduated in 2019 and studied a mix of STEM and fine arts subjects in VCE. My favourite was music.

What will you study at uni, and why did you choose to study it?

Spoiler

I will be going to the University of Melbourne (Parkville/Werribee campus) to study Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
   
In my VCE journal, I never actually talked about how my dream of becoming a vet came to be. Before high school, I spent a few years full time in a circus and my favourite part was looking after our animals - mainly dogs and parrots. I know those "hardcore animal lovers" have a thing against circuses - but in my experience, we always treated our animals like royalty and I developed a close bond with them.
   
After leaving the circus, I thought of going into music therapy, but after work experience, decided it was not for me. Still, I had firmly my eyes set on allied health and refused to consider other options.

Between year 10 and 11, I did a second round of work experience at a vet clinic because my friend asked me to apply with her. I wasn't remotely interested back then, and frankly, those weeks didn't pique my interest. But I was offered a part time job at the end and took it just for the pay. By the end of year 11, I had fell in love with it and knew I wanted to become a vet.
   
I am still working at that vet clinic to this day! While I do mostly reception, I'm hoping that 2 years of listening to all the vets boast about their work would come in handy.

Recently, I also started volunteering at Werribee Open Range Zoo - which unfortunately does not involve the handling of animals, but hey, one little step at a time!

What is the structure of the course and what does it involve?

Spoiler

The BSc/DVMed course at UoM takes 7 years for the general pathway (animal disease biotechnology specialisation) or 6 years for the accelerated pathway (veterinary bioscience specialisation).
   
   Part I: Bachelor of Science (3 years)

The first part of the course will be the generalist Bachelor of Science degree, with a major in Animal Health and Disease, which will equip us with the foundational knowledge of animal health.

At the end of second year, we must choose to specialise in either Veterinary Bioscience or Animal Disease Biotechnology, with Bioscience leading onto the accelerated pathway. There are different ways to gain entry into the Bioscience specialisation. In my case, I am lucky enough to have guaranteed entry as long as I maintain a 70+ WAM in my first and second year subjects, and submit a 500-word personal statement.

Finally, in third year we take our core subjects to complete our specialisation. Bioscience and Biotechnology students complete mostly different subjects in third year, with Bioscience students studying first-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
   
Here is the study plan for BSc - Animal Health major - Veterinary Bioscience specialisation. General Animal Health subjects are in purple and subjects for Bioscience are in orange.

   
Aside from the above subjects, there is space for 3 science electives (grey) and 6 breadths (not shown).


   Part II: Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (3 - 4 years)

Henceforth known as DVM. This course takes 3 years for those who studied Veterinary Bioscience and 4 years for all other students (Bioscience students do DVM 1 in their final year of BSc). The first 1-2 years of DVM are theory-based and are taught at the main campus in Parkville; final two years are taught at Werribee where students receive clinical training.
   
In DVM we can choose to specialise in one of four tracks - Small Animal, Equine, Livestock, and Policy & Conservation.
   
Here is the DVM Course Plan (excluding first year):

   
The fourth year subject, Veterinary Professional Practice, goes for the entire year and is worth 100 credit points. It includes 21 weeks of rotational clinical training at Werribee Animal Hospital, 17 weeks of external placement, and 2 weeks of research.
   
And after all that... Congratulations! You're a veterinarian!
   
This journey will be a long one. I'm 17 right now, by the time I graduate I'll be 23!

Apart from your course, what else are you looking forward to studying?

Spoiler

I mentioned this briefly in my VCE journal, but I actually found out recently that I am allergic to cats... how convenient for an aspiring vet! Since I'm around cats all the time at work, I assume it's mild, but I will be using my breadth/electives to explore possible pathways just in case I can't become a vet due to my allergy.
   
At the moment, I'm looking into maths and commerce. I like maths, in VCE they were among my best subjects, though I have no experience in commerce/business. However, I'm keen to explore new areas and also to challenge myself with some uni-level maths!
   
I'm also planning on doing some subjects from VCA (Victorian College of the Arts). Science isn't my forte after all.

So what's the plan for this year?

Spoiler

(purple = animal health subjects, blue = electives, green = breadths)
   
I'm planning to do 9 subjects this year by taking a winter intensive at VCA. Dance has always been a passion but I was really disappointed with how I went in VCE. My other breadth is finance, which I know ~nothing~ about, but I guess it is something I must learn sooner or later.
   
As for my science subjects, chem, bio, and maths should just be a continuation of VCE so they should be fine; I'm just REALLY worried about physics as I dropped it first chance I could in year 9, and I've forgotten everything I learnt before that. So far I've been reading through the physics section of my youngest brother's year 10 science textbook just to give myself an introduction.
   
A lot of older UoM science students have told me that I might die in semester 1...
   
Oh and last but not least, this is the timetable I'm hoping to get!

28 contact hours!!! If I do get this timetable though, there's no way I'm showing up on Wednesdays.

What goals do you have for yourself, both this year and in the long run?

Spoiler

Academic-wise, my goal is to maintain a 75+ WAM. While I only need a 70 to keep my DVM guarantee, aiming higher doesn't hurt. I'm also hoping to not get below H3 in any subject.

I also want to make the most of UoM's social atmosphere. I'm not exactly a social butterfly (my MBTI test results say I am 96% introverted lol) but I really want to challenge myself to come out of my shell in uni.

My goal for this journal is to give any aspiring BSc/DVMed students a comprehensive insight into the course. For some reason, there aren't many resources around for this course even though it's so popular!

That's quite the ramble so I'll stop there for now and continue another time! Please feel free to give me any advice regarding science or uni in general, because I'll need it! And if you have any questions with animal health and/or vet medicine, I'll try my best to answer!

[ArtyDreams]

Yay I'm so glad you made a Uni Journal - this was super insightful to read! Cant wait to read about your adventures in Uni - good luck!!

[Jimmmy]

Great to see you make this Uni journal Colline! Looking forward to keeping up to date with your Uni journal here. I'm in awe of your diversity of interests. Science, Veterinary Medicine, and Dance! Quite amazing.

28 contact hours seems like such a lot, even though my experience of hearing about contact hours is limited. How do you think you'll approach that? My double degree at Monash doesn't have the breadth that the Melbourne Model contains, so I think I'm maxing out at 14-15 hours.

[Sine]

Great to see a university journal from you. Looking forward to updates in the future to see how you find it! 

28 contact hours seems like such a lot, even though my experience of hearing about contact hours is limited. How do you think you'll approach that? My double degree at Monash doesn't have the breadth that the Melbourne Model contains, so I think I'm maxing out at 14-15 hours.

28 is definitely a lot on paper (depends on whether someone goes to lectures or not), most science degrees (depending on majors) can have quite a bit as most units will have a practical and/or workshop on top of 2-4 lectures.

[Jimmmy]

So keen for your journal too! When does uni start for you?

We have O-Week in the last week of February, and start first week of March. How about you? 

[colline]

I remember wondering last year why the University Journals section is so inactive compared to the VCE Journals, and telling myself that when *I* make a uni journal, I'll definitely update weekly and keep everyone in the loop about my studies.

Oh boy was I wrong.

So I've received a few PM's about my first year of veterinary science, but I honestly don't know how valuable my insights will be. I did however, feel the moral obligation to update this journal in regards to my first post, where I had given an overview of the course progression into Veterinary Medicine. Unfortunately, a lot of that is no longer relevant, as my old major is now kind of non-existent. So, out of the fear of accidentally misleading fellow aspiring veterinarians with an outdated post, here I am.

Previously, the Animal Health and Disease major was split into 2 streams - Biotechnology (standard progression) and Bioscience (accelerated progression). But starting 2021, Bioscience is becoming its own separate major.

The slightly scary part is that, unlike other science majors which require the completion of 50 points (4 subjects) in third year, Bioscience students must do 100 points (8 subjects)! Essentially, as a Bioscience student, you would study a two-year Bachelor of Science as opposed to three; meanwhile, your "third year" of your undergraduate degree is actually DVM 1.

Putting that into perspective, that means next year is technically my final year of undergrad, but I still feel like I just finished high school!

Anyway, I'll leave some useful links for prospective vet science students below:

Veterinary Bioscience major handbook: https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/2021/components/b-sci-major-45
Veterinary Bioscience major course plan: https://study.unimelb.edu.au/find/courses/major/veterinary-biosciences/what-will-i-study/
Honours in Veterinary Bioscience: https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/2021/components/bh-sci-infspc-27/course-structure
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) entry: https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/2021/courses/mc-dvetmed/entry-participation-requirements

In terms of actual academics, I did 9 subjects this year since online learning gave me a lot more spare time. My subjects this year were:

Semester 1
   - BIOL10009 Biology: Life's Machinery (77 - H2A)
   - CHEM10003 Chemistry 1 (75 - H2A)
   - PHYC10009 Foundations of Physics (90 - H1)
   - MAST10005 Calculus 1 (95 - H1)
Semester 2
   - BIOL10011 Biology: Life's Complexity (78 - H2A)
   - CHEM10004 Chemistry 2 (80 - H1)
   - BCMB2002 Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (70 - H2B) yiiiikes
   - MAST10010 Data Analysis 1 (99 - H1)
   - FNCE10002 Principles of Finance (85 - H1)

(Core subjects | electives and breadths)

My rambling thoughts

I'm, on the whole, happy with my scores; but I do feel some frustration over my awful performance in Biochemistry. I hadn't planned on doing it initially, but at the suggestion of a few friends (and my own desires of challenging myself to do a 2nd-year subject), enrolled in it last-minute. By the time I realised it was too difficult for me to handle, the census date has passed.

Going from averaging high-90s in high school to suddenly getting a below-average score was super frustrating. As selfish as this sounds, seeing others who didn't do as well in VCE outperform me in uni makes me worried that I'll become one of those "I-peaked-in-high-school" people.

My other worry (I worry a lot, in case you haven't noticed) is the fact that, despite being a veterinary bioscience major, I seem to suck at bio and chem. I mean, c'mon - how did I do better in FINANCE? Looking at both my uni and VCE results, one thought that plagues my mind is whether or not I am actually good enough to be a vet. I only got the ATAR needed thanks to subjects that have nothing to do with veterinary science. In uni, I got scores below my WAM for ALL bio/chem subjects.

I don't think I've ever talked about this in detail, but as much as I'd like to say VCE is behind me, my horrendous raw 33 in biology still bothers me. In my bio classes, I'm surrounded by people who achieved spectacular scores in bio, including 50s. How am I supposed to compete with them?

Not going to lie, I had considered (and am still somewhat considering) swapping to a maths major, or at least adding a maths diploma - but how useful will that be?? I get the stereotype of "maths majors are unemployable" is very much false but it still doesn't offer the stability and employment guarantee that DVM can. And I'm not just doing my current course for the job prospects - I truly want to become a vet - I have more passion for veterinary science than I ever will for maths, so why don't my grades reflect this??

One other reason I considered dropping veterinary science is the sheer amount of people telling me not to do it every since I started uni. Seriously, where were y'all when I was in year 12? Some gems:
https://prnt.sc/wcplwb
https://prnt.sc/wcpm7t
https://prnt.sc/wcpk4y
https://prnt.sc/wcpkkg

But while I'm taking all this into consideration, for now, I am going to power through undergrad veterinary science and make a decision for myself later down the track.

For next year, my planned subjects are:
Semester 1
   - VETS20019 Frontiers in Veterinary Science
   - ANSC20005 Companion Animal Biology
   - MAST20031 Analysis of Biological Data
   - ECON10004 Introductory Microeconomics
Semester 2 (Plan B)
   - ZOOL20006 Comparative Animal Physiology
   - ANSC20003 Topics in Animal Health
   - ECOM20001 Econometrics 1

I'm particularly excited for ANSC20005 Companion Animal Biology and MAST20031 Analysis of Biological Data. For the former, I had previously witnessed a class - and there. were. doggos. As for Analysis of Biological Data, it combines my worst subject - biology, with my best - maths. Hopefully, it could help me "get" bio a bit more.

But why 'Plan B' for semester 2? I hear you ask ok you probs weren't asking but whatever. Well, my PLAN A is to go on exchange! I wasn't looking into before, but after *2020*, I'm 100% ready to go overseas the first chance I get. It is actually my dream to study at UC Davis (no. 1 veterinary school in the world!), but it all depends on whether I get accepted and of course, whether international travel will even be a thing in 2021.

Next year will be my final year of exploring various fields before I enter DVM, since I won't get any electives or breadths in 3rd year. For anyone interested, here's my 3rd year: https://prnt.sc/wcq3yy

Anyway, this was just supposed to be an update on the outdated information in my opening post, and somehow turned into a full on ramble, so I'll leave it here for now. Might come back and update again this time next year.

[waterangel82]

Yay finally a long-waited update! Very excited to see you haven't left this journal haha.

I 100% understand your frustration with your performance in first year, I experienced the same feelings too. But I want you to remember this: you should be proud that you were able to power through first year with a solid H1 grade, and some impressive subject scores (especially Calc 1 and Data Analysis)! First year is hard, and I'm not exaggerating, it actually is. First year biology and chemistry were the hardest subjects I've ever done, because there's so much content that is crammed into 12 weeks. Although you are disappointed with biochemistry, it is a subject designed to be taken to be taken at second year, and you overloaded with difficult subjects too, so that is a huge achievement in itself!

For many people, it gets better second year and onwards as you do more specialised subjects, and I think you might experience the same too. Personally, my first year average was similar to yours, but as the subjects I did in my 2nd and 3rd year were ones I enjoyed, my 2nd and 3rd year averages were 6-10% higher than my first year average. Generally people find more specialised subjects easier because they enjoy them more, and personally, I don't feel they cram as much content as first year (bio and chem) subjects.

I understand your raw 33 in biology still bothers you, but it's important to remember that unlike in VCE, you're not competing against anyone in uni (especially in undergrad science). VCE does not define you, and your uni marks don't define you either. Yes, maybe a raw 33 biology suggests you still have a lot to learn, but that's the same case for everyone (even those who got 50 in VCE)! First year bio/chem marks don't really indicate anything much either, because they're so broad and most content you're exposed to might not be your forte/or interesting. Personally, I didn't score as highly in first year bio and chem compared to what I got in VCE because I found most of the content really dry and the new content difficult to grasp because they were so vague.

Since maths is your strong suit, I think it's definitely good to keep the option of a maths major or maths diploma (latter might be better for you, since vet bioscience is your biggest passion) open. People who do maths majors, especially more applied maths/data science, are quite highly sought for in the industry. Many biomedical research labs, including Peter Mac, actually recruit those with maths majors (who also have programming backgrounds) in bioinformatics/data analyst positions. If you have a background in both biology/vet science and maths, this will provide you with many more opportunities than doing bio/vet science alone.

Right now, I think you should continue veterinary science. But maybe if you find that you don't enjoy your second year as much, then you could decide to change majors or add a maths diploma. Although I understand you have a lot of passion for vet science, if you happen to do more maths subjects, you might find that maths may be a strong passion for you too - not saying that this will be definite, but generally what people enjoy does change as they progress through uni, and it's important to listen to your heart! I've barely studied positive psychology, but since you achieve very highly in maths-related subjects, it could be due to the fact that you really enjoy maths too? We tend to perform well in things we enjoy doing, and I find that to be true for me (and many others).

As with the subject MAST20031 Analysis of Biological Data, I personally haven't done it, but from reading past reviews it seems that the only 'biology' involved is literally their case studies/examples. Apparently it's very maths/stats heavy and pretty much no bio, so I think you should be good for it!

Finally, best of luck for 2021 and good luck for second year!

[ashmi]

Hey colline!!🥰🐍

*Oh boy I have waited for this day to come!*

First of all, a two-year Bachelor of Science and then DVM 1 sounds really interesting! Like WOAH it looks so short and I cannot believe you are technically in your final year.

Spoiler

I just want to say, a massive congratulations on your scores! You did a really good job, especially for it being such a weird year so give yourself a pat on the back. Like look at those H1 grades .

In regards to Biochemistry, you stepped out of your comfort zone to challenge yourself and realised at that point in time, it was too much. That is 100% ok. I'm sure you learnt some valuable stuff from that experience and it's alright if things don't go to plan. After all, it's your ups and downs in your journey that help shape you to become better than your previous self. Yeah I know exactly what you mean about being used to receiving a certain score and then all of a sudden you get something that is very far below it. It is alright and things happen sometimes.

As selfish as this sounds, seeing others who didn't do as well in VCE outperform me in uni makes me worried that I'll become one of those "I-peaked-in-high-school" people.

Let me just tell you one thing, you are not one of those "I-peaked-in-high-school" people. I think the easiest way for me to describe this is that you have always been hard-working Colline so your results are usually pretty consistent (think like a horizontal straight line on a graph that is very high up). Because of this, you probably haven't seen much rate of change with yourself which may be why you feel the way you do? You also got to remember that during VCE, everyone is at different maturity levels, so it's not like you have gotten worse, it's just some people around you may have matured a bit more. I don't know if what I said makes any sense but I hope it helps in a way!

Girl, you ARE good enough to be a vet! It is alright to not be doing as well as you want in bio/chem, but don't let that fog up your vision of wanting to be a vet. You have GOT this. It's will take some time but you can do this. (After all you are exposed to more maths more frequently in school in comparison to bio/chem specifically). It is also alright to feel bothered by your Biology score in VCE, however, don't let that stop you from feeling like you are not good enough. People can change a lot in one year (I would be concerned if you didn't change...) and I'm sure that you have gotten much better at Bio than you think. After all, the real competition is not the people around you, it's actually you yourself. Have you become better than your yesterday self? But yes, do your best to leave VCE behind because you have a new chapter to start from scratch!!  Ok sorry I rambled on quite a bit there.

Very off-topic here, but are you a Top Fan of UMLL? (I can't seem to keep mine for more than 2 months haha). And yes I remember seeing that post a while ago! It was quite interesting to read the comments of it and I can see why you have the doubt now. Maybe add on a maths diploma to open out your options?

An exchange sounds amazing and let me say UC Davis sounds so cool!!! Make sure to take some pics of the doggos for us when you take that specific class (we want to see the cute guys ).

Thanks for the update Colline and good luck for 2021! I'm looking forward to seeing another update later in the future

[colline]

Waterangel 🧡

Hey waterangel!!

Thank you so, so much for your encouragement and your insights! 🧡🧡 You probably won't rememember but you helped me out massively at the start of last year when I almost enrolled in the wrong bio subjects! 😂 Literally thank you so much.

I understand your raw 33 in biology still bothers you, but it's important to remember that unlike in VCE, you're not competing against anyone in uni (especially in undergrad science).

I think VCE has definitely programmed my brain into viewing everything as a bell curve, thanks so much for reminding me it's no longer a competition at uni! Also, it's such a relief knowing 2nd/3rd year chem and bio subjects don't cram as much content. I do hope that the course will get better as I progress through it.

As with the subject MAST20031 Analysis of Biological Data, I personally haven't done it, but from reading past reviews it seems that the only 'biology' involved is literally their case studies/examples. Apparently it's very maths/stats heavy and pretty much no bio, so I think you should be good for it!

Not gonna lie, that is such a huge relief hahha!! I'm definitely very looking forward to taking this subject!

Honestly thank you so, so much for all your advice and wise words! Wish you the very best of luck for the new year too! 🧡

Ashmi 🧡

Ash my Slytherin buddy! 🐍

Thank you for your words of encouragement! 🧡 Defs made me feel a lot better! Really, really appreciate everything you said. Thanks for reminding me to update this journal too, btw, I would've definitely be still putting it off otherwise!

Very off-topic here, but are you a Top Fan of UMLL? (I can't seem to keep mine for more than 2 months haha).

Hahah gotta love UMLL. I don't actually have Facebook (I mean, I did, but I deleted it) so no prestigious top fan badge for me. 😂

Congrats on your amazing results too and all the best with your first year at UniMelb! Looking forward to seeing your uni journal pop up in the future

[homeworkisapotato]

Hi colline! A long time ago I read your vce journal and maybe commented as well. Your uni journal so far sounds sooo cool and fun assss! I know it can be a bit disheartening to hear soo many people telling you not to be a vet but I believe in you and I believe the choice you made is the right one! UC Davis sounds sooo cool. I think it's a fabulous idea to do a maths diploma (I'm considering doing one too in uni maybe) since you're so passionate in math! Looking forward to the next one

[colline]

Soooo, I have (un)officially finished Bachelor of Science

Honestly feels pretty unreal to think that after this, I'll be (technically) starting my first year of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. I still feel like I'm fresh out of high school.

Despite that though, this was a super hectic year as well. Part of me feels like I just left high school, but the other part feels like I've changed so much since year 12. University is such a different world.

In my last update from a year ago (wow it has been a while, hasn't it?), I mentioned that I wanted to pick up a maths diploma. Well, I did, but then immediately unenrolled only after a few weeks for really minor reasons (HECS, workload, and doubts over whether a maths diploma actually has any use).

Now I'm back in good old Science/Vet Med. I hate to admit it, but I feel kind of stuck. DVM was my dream course back in high school but now I'm worried I went into it for all the wrong reasons. High school me naively thought being a vet meant working in a cool, non-corporate environment while being in a stable, high-demand industry with great pay. I really didn't do my research properly.

Earlier this year, I got a job at a clinic, and now work there as a junior vet nurse while studying a Cert II. The vets I work with all warn me to not go into DVM for the reasons I had back in high school (stability + pay). I also realised I can't imagine myself working in a tiny vet clinic for the rest of my life - it just feels so claustrophobic.

So I guess I'm having a quarter life crisis??

Anyway, the question I'm now facing is - what am I going to do now? I technically start DVM 1 soon, and that is scary. High school me would've expected me to be counting the seconds till I call myself a DVM student, but in reality, my feelings are more of doubt and confusion.

I'm not sure whether I want to study DVM. I don't think I have the right motivations. But what am I going to do with my life if I don't study it? What can I even do with a undergrad bioscience major?

So I made the decision to defer my final year of studies. Instead, I'm currently interstate doing an internship at the Department of Agriculture, in their animal biosecurity division. I've also found another vet clinic and I'm planning to work there full time for a year as a vet nurse before I make the decision on whether or not to do DVM.

I hope that working full time at a vet clinic will give me a much better idea as to whether this is something I'd be able to do in the future. I don't want to graduate DVM bright eyed and bushy tailed, land my first job as a veterinarian, realise I actually hate the job, and either cop it for the rest of my working life or switch fields, in which case I've wasted 6 years of my life.

My subjects and grades because I guess I should actually talk about uni stuff in my uni journal

Did 7 subjects last year, VETS20019 being the only compulsory subject for my major.

Semester 1
   - VETS20019 Frontiers in Veterinary Science - 75 - H2A
   - ANSC20005 Companion Animal Biology - 82 - H1
   - MAST20031 Analysis of Biological Data - 94 - H1
   - ECOM20001 Econometrics 1 - 90 - H1

Semester 2
   - ANSC20003 Topics in Animal Health - 92 - H1
   - FNCE20005 Corporate Financial Decision Making - 88 - H1
   - FNCE30012 Foundations of FinTech - 65 - H3 (lmao)

It definitely hurt when my only Veterinary Science subject so far ended up being my second worst unit.

I'm also really sad that my exchange plans to UC Davis went down the drain. Maybe I should re-enrol in the maths diploma just to extend my degree by a year so I can go lmao.

To finish off this post, here's a ranking of all the subjects I've done at uni!

Spoiler

Veterinary & Animal Science Subjects / Core Science Subjects / Electives and Breadths

   1. ANSC20005 Companion Animal Biology
      Easily the best subject hands down. Super interesting, not difficult, and the subject organisation was also absolutely fantastic!!
   2. ECOM20001 Econometrics 1
      Something about drawing conclusions about society from a giant, messy set of data was just so satisfying. I wish I had space to do Econometrics 2 as well.
   3. MAST20031 Analysis of Biological Data
      I felt like this subject is the bio version of Econometrics 1. Doing both together in one semester was super helpful because there was such a huge overlap.
   4. FNCE30012 Foundations of FinTech
      Wow ok this subject was a struggle. But the content was absolutely fascinating. It did murder my WAM (thank god for WAMnesty) which is why I'm depriving it of top 3 spot.
   5. MAST10010 Data Analysis 1
      Easy H1. StudentVIP reviews don't do it justice.
   6. FNCE20005 Corporate Financial Decision Making
      Very glad I chose this over FNCE20003 Intro Personal Finance, despite the content being somewhat dry at times.
   7. FNCE10002 Principles of Finance
      PoF gets a bad rap and when I was doing it I sometimes felt the content was straight up depressing. Looking back on it though, I'm really glad I took it.
   8. ANSC20003 Topics in Animal Health
      The lecturer's name is Dr Cakebread lol. I still crack up every time I think of the review on StudentVIP - "Dr Bland was great, Dr Cakebread was frustrating". I thought it was a joke at first. Subject itself was decent.
   9. VETS20019 Frontiers in Veterinary Science
      Putting my first (and so far, only) Veterinary subject dead centre because while it wasn't bad, it wasn't as interesting as the Animal Science subjects I've taken.
   10. MAST10005 Calculus 1
      Not a bad unit. It made me wish I did Spesh in VCE. A very easy subject to score well in if you put in the effort.
   11. PHYC10009 Foundations of Physics
      So this was compulsory for Veterinary students back when I was in first year, then the next year they made it optional lmao. Content was not bad though. Also made me wish I did physics in VCE.
   12. CHEM10003 Chemistry 1
      Meh.
   13. CHEM10004 Chemistry 2
      Meh.
   14. BIOL10011 Biology: Life's Complexity
      I found the subject quite a struggle, and the exam was way too long and difficult.
   15. BIOL10009 Biology: Life's Machinery
      Gave me anxiety.
   16. BCMB20002 Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
      Almost made me reconsider my course.
   17. Dishonourable mention: ZOOL20006 Comparative Animal Physiology
      This was a "recommended" subject for vet students. I dropped this subject for ANSC20003 Topics in Animal Health because it was giving me a mental breakdown.