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March 29, 2024, 04:39:47 am

Author Topic: hairs9's fancy science degree journal  (Read 6544 times)

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hairs9

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hairs9's fancy science degree journal
« on: January 14, 2021, 12:47:06 pm »
+15
I have received my offer for a bachelor of science advanced research degree at Monash and thought it was a perfect time to start this journal.

Why Advanced Research? Why Monash?
I chose this course over a regular science degree for a few reasons.
1. Having a higher atar requirement gave me something to strive for in year 12 and I felt like I was actually using my high atar for something
2. The ability to accelerate units easier. This is especially useful because I have already done 2 first year maths units through Monash and I don't want to have to jump through as many hoops to be able to do second year subjects this year
3. All of the small perks like a camp(fingers crossed it actually happens), study area and exclusive subjects.
4. The mandatory double major(I know you can do it in a science degree but it's nice having everything planned out)

None of those reasons involve research which would probably be the main reason why people choose this degree. I'm not sure if I want to do research. I probably would not want to go into academia but it wouldn't be bad doing research for a company. I'm hoping this degree will give me clarity about whether research is something I want to pursue. High school doesn't really give that much opportunity for research(especially in fields like maths) so I'm hoping to understand more of what it's like.

I chose Monash over Melbourne(even though it'd be easier to enroll with my prior credit) because Monash offers a double major for science and Melbourne doesn't. Also because it's closer(but pretty much inaccessible by public transport, at least until the rail loop gets built).

Why the name?
I have called this journal my fancy science degree journal because that's how I refer to it. I feel like constantly saying bachelor of science advanced research is long-winded and pretentious, and no one really understands what it is.
 
Enrolment/major:
I got my offer at about 7 am(if I knew it was that early I would've set my alarm). I enrolled as soon as I woke up, which was at about 8. Or at least enrolled in the first step(it has been 4 and a half hours yet still no email from Monash to set up my password). But at least it's given me plenty of time to think about my subject selections/course map(although I have been thinking about that for years because I'm that pedantic).
I would like to do a double major in mathematics(maybe applied mathematics?) and chemistry and I would probably like to do my honours year in chemistry. Chemistry is more my 'fun' major and I feel like it has more possibilities for good in the world(in terms of things like climate action). However, I don't know if there are a lot of jobs in it. Maths on the other hand I still really enjoy but I know I can probably get a job at the end of it(based on my research on SEEK because once again, I'm pedantic, a lot of jobs in things like data analytics want someone with an analytical degree, which includes maths). I'm leaning towards applied maths because I hate proofs and am not as interested in the probability side. I don't really know much about maths research, especially applied maths research but maybe it will end up being something I enjoy.

Subjects:
Like I said earlier, I did two university level subjects last year at Melbourne University, based on their first year maths sequence, which is different to Monash's first year sequence. According to the person I talked to on open day, I should be able to get credit for a first year maths sequence(MTH1030 and a first year maths elective). Because the subjects are different, I'm pretty sure MTH2021 is a similar subject to the linear algebra I did at Melbourne(except only the hard parts :/ maybe it will get easier the second time around?)
But anyway, before I can even get credit for the subjects, I have to enroll in subjects, so I guess I'll do the first year sequence for maths and add a couple of psych subjects?

But, my course plan for first year(once I hopefully get credit) looks something like this:
CHM1051     FIT1045     MTH2010     MTH2021
CHM1052     FIT1008    MTH2032     MTH2051

I am very excited for the advanced chemistry units. I hope that the ATAR/study score cut off means that everyone in class will be more dedicated and not wanting to mess around a lot during labs.
I chose computer science subjects because I enjoy coding and want to learn properly how to do it, especially since so many STEM jobs require it. I could've done advanced subjects but I'm semi-new to coding and also I feel like there can be a toxic computer science culture, especially for people that think they're better than everyone else and I'm trying to stick clear of this.
I chose the mandatory subjects for applied maths(all the third year subjects I want to do have different prerequisites). I didn't choose the advanced linear algebra unit, partially because I'm not sure if I qualify, but also because I do not want to extend myself in that subject.

I guess that's about everything. I'm hoping to push my electives into third year because I'd like to study abroad and I think that would make my life easier. This course only gives a maximum 4 non-scientific electives anyway, but I might just do more science subjects instead. I'm trying to avoid doing too many essays so the more subjects I find without essays, the better.
2019-Methods [45], Psychology [41]
2020-English [38], Chemistry [43], Spesh [43], UMEP maths [4.5], ATAR: 99.05
2021-2024: Bachelor of Science - Advanced(Research) at Monash

Bri MT

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Re: hairs9's fancy science degree journal
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2021, 01:10:07 pm »
+8
Hey :)

Congratulations!

Last year I was the president of the Monash Advanced Science and Science Scholars Society (mass^3) & I know that the president this year (who is in your degree) really wants to help the first years have a sense of community. The advanced science common room can be pretty easy to miss given there are a few signs with 19 Rainforest Walk on them. It's where the ramp is in the undercover space in front of the flying fox sculptures (they look like metal bats on the wall) at the first year bio labs on rainforest walk (hopefully that description helps once you're actually there!). You'll need your student id in order to get in.

I personally did find that CHM1051 and CHM1052 had good group work & people actually contributed etc.

Best of luck for your uni journey!

keltingmeith

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Re: hairs9's fancy science degree journal
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2021, 01:27:16 pm »
+7
Oh wow this is strange lmao.

Waddup, I did this course way back in 2014-2017 (was MASS^3 president in 2016, that thing that Bri mentioned above, though I think I'm now officially part of the "forgotten" group of cubians lmao. Highly recommend joining, it's a good time). I also majored in chemistry and maths - I even took it one step further and got a double major in chemistry and a major in mathematical statistics. Let me know if you have questions - my knowledge is slightly out of date, but I can still help you if your questions are opinion on chem stuff or what maths subjects will complement chemistry. (speaking of: if at any point you think you need some stats to help you with chemistry, do NOT do STA1010 - do MTH2232 instead. They cover the exact some statistical tests, but MTH2232 does it a lot more rigorously and is way more interesting of a unit, and not that much harder - basically not harder at all if you have some solid maths background, with the bonus of actually understanding the maths behind everything. I also just generally recommend MTH2222 - it's a basic probability unit, and it's just generally a good idea to do the basic probability, applied, and pure maths units if you're interested in doing lots of maths. You've already got the basic applied unit, MTH2032, and the basic pure unit was probably on your radar already - MTH2140/3140. I recommend the third year unit, because third year units are more important for major requirements, and from what I hear all the content is the same, just that 3140 has like, 2 harder questions in the exam or something)

Good luck with everything!

Sine

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Re: hairs9's fancy science degree journal
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2021, 01:36:29 pm »
+5
congratulations on your offer!

tbf I think even in the non-advanced science units most people are pretty good at getting their work done.

Joseph41

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Re: hairs9's fancy science degree journal
« Reply #4 on: January 18, 2021, 04:21:44 pm »
0
Great to see this journal, hairs9. :)

On less of a subject level and more of a uni experience in general level, what are you most and least looking forward to in 2021? I hope that question makes sense haha.

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hairs9

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Re: hairs9's fancy science degree journal
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2021, 08:49:20 am »
+1
Thank you to everyone who is reading this and/or responding!

Great to see this journal, hairs9. :)

On less of a subject level and more of a uni experience in general level, what are you most and least looking forward to in 2021? I hope that question makes sense haha.
I'm looking forward to joining clubs and hopefully meeting new people that I can vibe with. I'm not looking forward to that initial period of not knowing anyone and feeling lost/alone on campus. But hopefully that doesn't last too long.
2019-Methods [45], Psychology [41]
2020-English [38], Chemistry [43], Spesh [43], UMEP maths [4.5], ATAR: 99.05
2021-2024: Bachelor of Science - Advanced(Research) at Monash

hairs9

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Re: hairs9's fancy science degree journal
« Reply #6 on: January 25, 2021, 09:15:49 am »
+5
A bit of a life update:
A few days ago I got the credit for my uni subjects I did last year. It was what I predicted(MTH1030 and a first-year maths subject). Which is good because it means I only have to do 4 more first-year science subjects, and my course map works.
Before I got the credit, I went a little crazy on Monplan and realised I technically had space to do an extended major+major. But, when I got the credit, the people sent me a course map and basically said I couldn't do that :/
It was a bit ambitious anyway, and I do hopefully want to study abroad at some stage(probably to Monash Malaysia so it's not crazily expensive) so I should probably save some elective units for then.

Allocate+ opens today to put in timetable preferences so I've been doing last minute refining to get a great timetable. At the moment, I'm planning to have 2 days on campus, 2 days off-campus, and 1 day off. I have 8 lectures spread over the 4 days and only 2 are recorded so I can watch later. Which basically means I have to watch some of the live stream lectures on campus which is...interesting. But I assume a lot of people would be in the same boat.

I've been looking more at the clubs and I'm trying to figure out which, if any, to join. I'll definitely join MSA for that Clayton Maccas discount and probably MASS^3 and MSS. Idk how many you can join before it becomes too overloaded but I might join SOCS if it isn't too much.
I'm also planning on joining the Monash Dance Society for a bit of fun.

In non-university related news, I've been applying to a lot of jobs because I am broke and unemployed. A majority of them have been tutoring jobs and I've been lucky enough to get interviews for quite a few places. I did my first paid tutoring job yesterday, which worked out pretty well but it was a lot more work than I bargained for.

I guess my life is going to be taken up mainly by uni and tutoring. Hopefully, I can manage my time and find a lot of time to complete all the work/study, as well as enjoying myself.
2019-Methods [45], Psychology [41]
2020-English [38], Chemistry [43], Spesh [43], UMEP maths [4.5], ATAR: 99.05
2021-2024: Bachelor of Science - Advanced(Research) at Monash

Bri MT

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Re: hairs9's fancy science degree journal
« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2021, 09:32:03 am »
0
A bit of a life update:
A few days ago I got the credit for my uni subjects I did last year. It was what I predicted(MTH1030 and a first-year maths subject). Which is good because it means I only have to do 4 more first-year science subjects, and my course map works.
Before I got the credit, I went a little crazy on Monplan and realised I technically had space to do an extended major+major. But, when I got the credit, the people sent me a course map and basically said I couldn't do that :/
It was a bit ambitious anyway, and I do hopefully want to study abroad at some stage(probably to Monash Malaysia so it's not crazily expensive) so I should probably save some elective units for then.

Allocate+ opens today to put in timetable preferences so I've been doing last minute refining to get a great timetable. At the moment, I'm planning to have 2 days on campus, 2 days off-campus, and 1 day off. I have 8 lectures spread over the 4 days and only 2 are recorded so I can watch later. Which basically means I have to watch some of the live stream lectures on campus which is...interesting. But I assume a lot of people would be in the same boat.

I've been looking more at the clubs and I'm trying to figure out which, if any, to join. I'll definitely join MSA for that Clayton Maccas discount and probably MASS^3 and MSS. Idk how many you can join before it becomes too overloaded but I might join SOCS if it isn't too much.
I'm also planning on joining the Monash Dance Society for a bit of fun.

In non-university related news, I've been applying to a lot of jobs because I am broke and unemployed. A majority of them have been tutoring jobs and I've been lucky enough to get interviews for quite a few places. I did my first paid tutoring job yesterday, which worked out pretty well but it was a lot more work than I bargained for.

I guess my life is going to be taken up mainly by uni and tutoring. Hopefully, I can manage my time and find a lot of time to complete all the work/study, as well as enjoying myself.

If you're interested in a few clubs make sure you get your MSA membership first so you get a discount on joining (this will make some clubs and societies free, it's generally a $5 discount) - its sounds like you might have done enough research to already know this anyway. Keep in mind that joining doesn't give any any attendance obligations etc and generally they'll hold free food events throughout the year as well as things more focused on that club or societies interest areas.

Congrats on the tutoring job! Yeah between travel and help requests outside of set times, organising meets etc tutoring can be a bit of work.

hairs9

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Re: hairs9's fancy science degree journal
« Reply #8 on: February 16, 2021, 04:29:37 pm »
+6
Timetables were released today and I was pretty happy with what I got. There were a couple of classes I wasn't too happy with but after making a couple of changes, I've got a pretty ideal timetable. I am only going in for 2 days but one of them starts at 8am. Which is a little annoying but I think(I'll be eating my words by the end of semester) I can handle it if it means I can go home early. I might try to rejig my 8am start on Thursday in a few days if more classes get added. I was also happy to see that one of my lecture series now has an on demand option, which makes sorting out my life easier.
In other news, lockdown has caused me to miss a pre-uni event but the advanced science camp is still going ahead if restrictions ease, so I'm pretty happy and excited about that. I think it will be great to meet like-minded people in my course in a smaller environment and hopefully I'll feel more relaxed about going to uni.
I have been doing some pre-uni work over the last week or so. I know a lot of people say to enjoy your break because uni is hectic but I'm bored and I do enjoy being able to look over things I'm interested in in a relaxed environment. I'm mainly just doing a bit of basic coding and looking over my old notes from my uni maths last year. I started looking at some CHM1051 videos on the youtube playlist and I got over-excited. I forget sometimes why I'm doing chemistry but I really love the content. I do like that there is a bit of crossover into physics(but only the parts of physics I like...screw electricity). I enjoyed some of the year 11 physics content I did and most of the fun stuff is also found in thermochemistry so that's great.
The CHM1051 moodle page got uploaded yesterday and I, along with a bunch of other first years in the messenger chat attempted to get started on the week 0 handbook because we're in lockdown and we're excited jaffies *shrugs*. The content was all revision and the quiz was pretty easy. I tried the advanced activities and it's definitely a little step up, which as much as it annoys me, I probably need. There were a few compounds in there that I had to look up but hopefully it will improve my overall knowledge.

In non-uni news, I got a job! I am going to be working at a swim place near Monash, both teaching kids to swim and doing admin. I will be having 2 shifts a week at the moment which is pretty nice, although it will change each term(which gives me good flexibility with uni). I also currently have 2 students that I am tutoring. I was planning on accepting offers from other tutoring companies and doing more students but I think I'm happy just to start with the 2 students, and slowly build up from there as I adjust to uni life. So overall, I'm working 8 hours a week, which I think is enough for me to both get some money, as well as still being able to have a life
2019-Methods [45], Psychology [41]
2020-English [38], Chemistry [43], Spesh [43], UMEP maths [4.5], ATAR: 99.05
2021-2024: Bachelor of Science - Advanced(Research) at Monash

kauac

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Re: hairs9's fancy science degree journal
« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2021, 12:28:22 pm »
+1
Congrats on the new job! Teaching swimming lessons sounds very exciting!

All the best for the 8am starts! How long does it take you to travel to uni?

Sounds like you are all ready to go for uni! It's great to see how keen you are for all your subjects. :)
2018: HSC

2019: Gap Year

2020-2024: B Science / M Nutrition & Dietetics @ USYD

hairs9

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Re: hairs9's fancy science degree journal
« Reply #10 on: February 25, 2021, 07:23:30 pm »
0
Congrats on the new job! Teaching swimming lessons sounds very exciting!

All the best for the 8am starts! How long does it take you to travel to uni?

Sounds like you are all ready to go for uni! It's great to see how keen you are for all your subjects. :)

Thank you! It only takes me about 30 minutes to drive so not too bad
2019-Methods [45], Psychology [41]
2020-English [38], Chemistry [43], Spesh [43], UMEP maths [4.5], ATAR: 99.05
2021-2024: Bachelor of Science - Advanced(Research) at Monash

hairs9

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Re: hairs9's fancy science degree journal
« Reply #11 on: July 06, 2021, 01:54:39 pm »
+5
Wow it's been a while since I last posted! I guess that's a testament to how little time I had during the semester. With a mixture of working and uni, I was very much flat out, but I made it through.
My weekly schedule was a bit like:
Monday: screw around for the morning, potentially do a bit of work if I hadn't finished it the previous weekend. Watch my FIT1045 lecture and write notes, probably cry a bit about not understanding the content. Then go to tutor my methods student. Finally, come back home, watch my MTH2021 lecture, write notes and relax for the night
Tuesday: Leave at about 8:15 am for my 9:30 am class. Do my MTH2021 applied class and complain about how hard the proofs are, and teach the content to people who haven't watched the lectures. Then watch my MTH2010 lecture that was from the night before. Have lunch, usually with someone but every so often alone. Go to my CHM1051 workshop and finish all the work early. Then, if it was a lab week, have a lab that goes for 3 hours 30 minutes(but we would often leave up to 45 minutes early, sometimes even before the CHM1011 kids). Once the lab was finished, I would go home at about 5:00 pm (which would take a LONG time because it's peak hour) and try to do as much of my lab report as I could. If it was a non-lab week, I'd leave after my workshop at about 2:00 pm and be able to relax, potentially catch up on a lecture, but most importantly, would do the pre-lab work for the next week.
Wednesday: Watch my MTH2010 lecture in the morning if I hadn't the day before and generally relax. Do my zoom FIT1045 tutorial where things actually made sense. Watch my FIT1045 lecture and cry because nothing made sense. Watch my MTH2010 lecture if I had time. Otherwise, relax and do other work needed
Thursday: Leave at 6:55 am for my 8 am class. Go to my FIT1045 lab and usually complete the work within the class, sometimes earlier. Have an hour break where I watched my MTH2021 lecture. Go to my MTH2010 applied class and struggle to stay awake. Then, go home at about 12:40 pm. At home, I'd eat lunch, have a nap, and get ready to go to work. I would do my swim teaching work from about 4-6 pm, but it was still training so I didn't usually have my own class(instead I would be with another teacher helping out). I would often go out afterward on a Thursday night, so I would often be rushing to complete a FLUX poll from a particular class and then would go out with friends or family. If not, I would head home and be pretty drained so didn't do much
Friday: my day off! I would watch my MTH2021 lecture from the day before and do my CHM1051 pre-workshop work(which was probably about 3-4 hours of work, depending on who the lecturer was). I spent a lot of time writing notes, which made it take extra long.
Saturday: Go to work. Hours varied but would start as early as 7:45 am and finish as late as 11:30 am. It was a mixture of swimming teaching and admin, with me eventually getting my own classes. After work, I would have lunch and go to my psychologist appointment. Then, I would do a lot of assignment work.
Sunday: Sometimes go out, spend most of the rest of the day doing uni work.

For me personally, a lot of the time I spent relaxing in the week was trying to replenish my energy from being so drained and so it doesn't feel like that time was used at all if that makes sense. But yeah, I definitely didn't have a lot of time to do things I wanted to do, especially in weeks where there were like 2165784567 assignments due

Subject thoughts:
I've done much longer reviews in the Monash thread so these will be a bit more opinion based. Also mentioning how I found specific classes
CHM1051: at times, this was my favourite class and other times my least favourite. The content was good, although it wasn't my favourite part of chemistry. I sometimes found it overwhelming(especially when reading the workbook content, which was up to 40 pages :-\. Also, the CHM1051 specific content was often hard to grasp) but I really enjoyed revising the content for my exam, as well as doing the questions in the workshops. It's an odd subject in that there's a lab report every 2 weeks(which often coincided with my other assignments being due) but it was the lightest load of assessments and the easiest to do well in. I mean, you get two attempts on the weekly quiz! The lab report only has one section that's hard to do well on. The prelab work gives you unlimited attempts. Overall, my insemester mark was 96%. The exam was also open-book which was helpful(but it did mean the questions were harder).
I struggled quite a bit trying to write an adequate discussion in 300 words. I'm sure there were places that could help me but that takes a lot of energy which I do not have. For the classes, I probably didn't need to go to the workshop and would've skipped it if I didn't know anyone there. They upload the entire workshop so I could've just watched the content online and done the questions at home. You are meant to discuss questions with people sitting next to you but I generally found I didn't need to. I didn't enjoy the labs. I think at least 50% of the annoyance was from having to wear masks(as well as wearing glasses, meaning my ears really hurt) and having it finish so late. But in general, the labs are just really long and it can get quite tiring. It's definitely a lot more independent than high school but I'm just not generally a practical person so did struggle to use a lot of the equipment. I appreciated that the lectures were not scheduled and instead just released online, as it worked with my schedule better
FIT1045: despite all my complaints above, I did like this subject. It was the only subject I took this semester that I had pretty much no experience in. I don't think it's the best subject to introduce coding and computer science but it is what it is. The basic python I did on the holidays really helped me in the first couple of weeks which means that I didn't struggle as much as other people did. But there was a lot of content that was hard to wrap my head around. This subject probably had the most work, with weekly tasks(that granted were easy), two assignments that took up a LOT of time, and two tests. I did appreciate the tests for forcing me to revise the content. At least things were mostly marked nicely and I ended up with an in-semester mark of 95%. There was a lot of content to study for the exam and it was quite hard at times but I think I'm happy that I took this subject in the end. For classes, the lectures were quite hard to understand, but one lecturer was better at explaining than the other. I often left the lecture feeling very concerned and upset. The tutorials were there to help with understanding and were pretty much vital to go to. It was fine for me to do it online but the breakout rooms were often very awkward. Workshops were pretty useless to go to and I ended up skipping a few towards the end so I could sleep in and just doing the work the night before.
MTH2010: probably my favourite subject. I found the content really interesting, especially after I understood it more. It definitely wasn't an easy subject by any means but the assessment wasn't too bad. It was my only subject not to have weekly tasks, but it did substitute it with a lot of assessments. Quizzes were generally pretty easy. Assignments did take quite a long time to do and there were 4 of them, which meant the assignments for this subject were quite stressful to complete, as they just kept coming. The midsemester test was the exact same as the practice, which I appreciated. There were a few marks for participation and lecture polls, which I did have to try hard to get but it was fine in the end. The lecture polls were up for 48 hours, which was helpful but sometimes the lecture wasn't uploaded for a while. I ended up with an in-semester mark of 95%. The exam was also really similar to the practice exam and the final question was one the lecturer did with us for revision. The lectures were pretty well-formatted and I generally enjoyed them, but I found I didn't need to pay a lot of attention to them(but maybe if I did I'd understand things more :P). The applied classes were generally helpful and many questions in assessments were based on them. I found it quite hard to work as a group, especially because some of the members of my group were very confused and took a while, which meant we never finished the questions, while most other groups did. I liked to be able to discuss more before my tutor interfered but it didn't always happen, due to our class being pretty small.
MTH2021: this subject was quite similar to one I did last year, but that didn't mean I found it easy. There were definitely some concepts I was already aware of but most of it was as hard and sucky as it was the first time I did it. I enjoyed learning all the applications(which were new to me), and there was definitely some cross-over between this subject and FIT1045, which was helpful. But there were SO MANY proofs and I absolutely hated them. I'd often turn off a lecture not understanding the proofs but not caring enough to try. One good thing about this subject was only having two assignments. It meant that life was hectic for me when there was an assignment, but chill when there wasn't. The assignments were very hard and the lecturer often gave us a lot of hints, just so we could at least attempt it. We had weekly quizzes, which meant you had to be up to date on the content. They weren't easy but you could at least have the notes to help. We had a midsemester test which wasn't too hard but I definitely had to spend a lot of time trying to understand the content. There were also participation marks and lecture polls, which were only up for 24 hours and I definitely had to really try to answer the polls on time. I ended up with an in-semester mark of 91%, my lowest of all the subjects I took. The exam was similar to the practice but was still quite difficult. The lectures were very boring and I was very lost for a lot of it. The applied class helped me with understanding some of the proofs but I definitely took a long time to understand them. This applied class was a little easier to work as a group because I was as confused as other people, and I had a pretty small group.

General notes/comparisons to what I've said:
I watched pretty much all my lectures as a catchup. Lectures were all done online this semester because of covid so it didn't make a difference. But I found that being able to pause the lectures to write extra notes and to put it at 2 times speed for the particularly slow talkers really helpful.
Two of my classes had marks that you had to attend at least 8 classes to get. But the uni would say not to come if you were sick? I don't think there should be participation marks during covid. It seems counterintuitive. Personally, I found myself coming in when I should've stayed home, just to get the marks.
My belief that it takes 30 minutes to get to Monash was very misguided. Peak hour traffic, parking, and the long walks contributed to my travel time of about 1 hourish. I have still not learned to park properly so I like having early classes to go to the eng carpark and be able to park with no cars nearby. The problem with the engineering carpark is that it's on the opposite end of campus to many of my classes. I've just gotten used to leaving early and walking. At least I can pretend like it's adequate physical exercise.
I didn't end up making a lot of friends at uni. I met a few people at my advanced camp that I could meet up with but other than that, it was pretty much it. I would talk to people in class but we never made plans afterwards and I doubt I will ever see a lot of them again. I did join clubs but nothing really worked out. Nothing I joined had events I felt comfortable going to by myself. I did go to a MASS^3 event but they don't hold a lot of them. I went to one dance class but it was on a non-uni day so I found it too hard to go in.
I ended up dropping down to 1 student that I tutored because the other one was too much for me to do.
I studied as much as I did in high school, which probably was unnecessary but I do enjoy studying and trying to do my best so *shrugs*. I also did want to try to do as well as I could in the semester so if I struggled in the exam, I could still get a HD, or at least a D.
I did pretty much no studying until SWOTVAC, which wasn't bad because we were in lockdown and my exam schedule was spread out. But I don't think that's sustainable so I definitely need to look at starting earlier.

Overall, I did enjoy this semester, especially with learning a lot of new things. I made less friends than I thought but that's life :-\. I wish I had more time in general, which will be something I'll be looking at next semester.
2019-Methods [45], Psychology [41]
2020-English [38], Chemistry [43], Spesh [43], UMEP maths [4.5], ATAR: 99.05
2021-2024: Bachelor of Science - Advanced(Research) at Monash

hairs9

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Re: hairs9's fancy science degree journal
« Reply #12 on: July 07, 2021, 04:37:15 pm »
+1
I got my timetable yesterday, logging in right on 10am so I could have the best chance of changing classes. Technically timetables were released early on my.monash, which means I was able to know what I wanted to swap. I got pretty much all first preferences except 1, and I was able to swap into my first preference by the end of the day. I'm going in 2 days a week-Wednesday 9-5:30 and Friday 9-4. I'm happy with the somewhat early start as it's not too early but it means I can beat out the peak hour traffic and get a good parking spot.
I have work on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and Saturday mornings. I've stopped doing tutoring as my one student dropped methods. I found with tutoring that it's a lot of effort for me to get out of the house to only work 1 hour and so I'd rather just work longer shifts.
With my schedule, it ends up that basically my week is from Tuesday-Saturday, with Sunday and Monday as my "weekend". Well I say that, despite the fact I have a bunch of online lectures on Monday afternoon. But hey, at least I enjoy the content.
I also have 1 lecture on Wednesday(which I'll watch on Thursday), 1 on Thursday, and 2 on Friday(which I'll likely watch on Saturday). Despite most of my lectures being offered on campus, I probably won't go to them and just watch them later. Half of them end up clashing with another class anyway.

My course plan is mostly staying the same so far. My subjects for next semester are CHM1052, FIT1008, MTH2032 and MTH3051. The only difference between my plan at the start of the year and now is that I am doing MTH3051 instead of MTH2051. Doing the third year equivalent means I only have to do 3 other 3rd year subjects to get my major, giving me a lot more versatility. This is needed for my new course plan
Throughout the semester, I have tossed up doing an extended major in maths, a minor in chemistry, but have ultimately settled on a major in chemistry, major in applied maths, and a minor in computational science. Although the minor will not appear on my certificate, completing it will enhance my employability in areas where a degree in maths is important. One of my lecturers sent an email out at the end of the semester, basically saying there are jobs available with maths involved, but you should learn to code too. So I guess that's what I'm doing.

I sent my course plan into a course advisor a little while ago. My current course plan for the next two years is:
Year 2 semester 1: CHM2911 MTH3330 FIT3139 CHM2990
Year 2 semester 2: CHM2922 MTH3310 SCI3920 SCI2030
Year 3 semester 1(in Malaysia): CHM3930 FIT2004 MAT1830
Year 3 semester 2: CHM3952 CHM3922 MTH3000
Things are subject to change(especially with the third year research project, which will determine which honours subject I do, based on what I'm eligible for) but I had to make it a certain way in order to fit specific subjects that are done in Malaysia.
The course advisor basically said my plan was fine but I should do the third year subjects later lol. I also was sent a course plan that was really strange and contradictory but I guess it was meant to show how my subjects chosen fit with the course plan.

As for my subjects next semester, I've heard pretty much nothing about CHM1052, but that's to be expected as it's pretty much the second half of CHM1051. I've heard good things about MTH2032 so am pretty excited for that unit. I have not heard good things about FIT1008, mainly just that it's much harder than FIT1045 and that MIPS is stupid. And as for MTH3051...let's just say that there was a post on stalkerspace warning people not to do it :-[. Apparently the exam was 7 multiple choice questions with negative marking umm. I'm hoping that at least having some Python experience may help me do better, especially since apparently you can ask to do assessments with Python if you want. I am hoping with all the complaining from last year that it will be a better unit this year(and the issues may have been made extra bad by covid) but if not, guess I've got a subject to complain about.
2019-Methods [45], Psychology [41]
2020-English [38], Chemistry [43], Spesh [43], UMEP maths [4.5], ATAR: 99.05
2021-2024: Bachelor of Science - Advanced(Research) at Monash

Billuminati

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Re: hairs9's fancy science degree journal
« Reply #13 on: July 07, 2021, 05:08:05 pm »
+1
I got my timetable yesterday, logging in right on 10am so I could have the best chance of changing classes. Technically timetables were released early on my.monash, which means I was able to know what I wanted to swap. I got pretty much all first preferences except 1, and I was able to swap into my first preference by the end of the day. I'm going in 2 days a week-Wednesday 9-5:30 and Friday 9-4. I'm happy with the somewhat early start as it's not too early but it means I can beat out the peak hour traffic and get a good parking spot.
I have work on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and Saturday mornings. I've stopped doing tutoring as my one student dropped methods. I found with tutoring that it's a lot of effort for me to get out of the house to only work 1 hour and so I'd rather just work longer shifts.
With my schedule, it ends up that basically my week is from Tuesday-Saturday, with Sunday and Monday as my "weekend". Well I say that, despite the fact I have a bunch of online lectures on Monday afternoon. But hey, at least I enjoy the content.
I also have 1 lecture on Wednesday(which I'll watch on Thursday), 1 on Thursday, and 2 on Friday(which I'll likely watch on Saturday). Despite most of my lectures being offered on campus, I probably won't go to them and just watch them later. Half of them end up clashing with another class anyway.

My course plan is mostly staying the same so far. My subjects for next semester are CHM1052, FIT1008, MTH2032 and MTH3051. The only difference between my plan at the start of the year and now is that I am doing MTH3051 instead of MTH2051. Doing the third year equivalent means I only have to do 3 other 3rd year subjects to get my major, giving me a lot more versatility. This is needed for my new course plan
Throughout the semester, I have tossed up doing an extended major in maths, a minor in chemistry, but have ultimately settled on a major in chemistry, major in applied maths, and a minor in computational science. Although the minor will not appear on my certificate, completing it will enhance my employability in areas where a degree in maths is important. One of my lecturers sent an email out at the end of the semester, basically saying there are jobs available with maths involved, but you should learn to code too. So I guess that's what I'm doing.

I sent my course plan into a course advisor a little while ago. My current course plan for the next two years is:
Year 2 semester 1: CHM2911 MTH3330 FIT3139 CHM2990
Year 2 semester 2: CHM2922 MTH3310 SCI3920 SCI2030
Year 3 semester 1(in Malaysia): CHM3930 FIT2004 MAT1830
Year 3 semester 2: CHM3952 CHM3922 MTH3000
Things are subject to change(especially with the third year research project, which will determine which honours subject I do, based on what I'm eligible for) but I had to make it a certain way in order to fit specific subjects that are done in Malaysia.
The course advisor basically said my plan was fine but I should do the third year subjects later lol. I also was sent a course plan that was really strange and contradictory but I guess it was meant to show how my subjects chosen fit with the course plan.

As for my subjects next semester, I've heard pretty much nothing about CHM1052, but that's to be expected as it's pretty much the second half of CHM1051. I've heard good things about MTH2032 so am pretty excited for that unit. I have not heard good things about FIT1008, mainly just that it's much harder than FIT1045 and that MIPS is stupid. And as for MTH3051...let's just say that there was a post on stalkerspace warning people not to do it :-[. Apparently the exam was 7 multiple choice questions with negative marking umm. I'm hoping that at least having some Python experience may help me do better, especially since apparently you can ask to do assessments with Python if you want. I am hoping with all the complaining from last year that it will be a better unit this year(and the issues may have been made extra bad by covid) but if not, guess I've got a subject to complain about.

It’s awesome to hear that you’ve secured yourself a great timetable! I’m doing a 6-unit minor in chem at the moment as well, I’ve completed CHM1022 in 2019 and CHM2911 this sem (still waiting for marks). CHM1052 is very similar to CHM1022 (you just have longer labs and you cover ortho/para and meta directing groups and their implications in electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions, as well as carbocation stability), so if u have any questions u can hit me up. In general the course will be split into 2, if things haven't changed, the first 6 weeks are on organic (some revision of VCE chem in the 1st few weeks, but quickly gets ugly with the introduction of mechanisms) and the remaining weeks were on inorganic (where u look at coordination complexes of transition metals, ligands etc).

I regretted not doing CHM1052 myself (I was eligible but I wanted shorter labs and easier exams to boost my WAM) because it seems the CHM2911 lecturers assume that you’ve completed it when they deliver lecture content, so a lot of CHM1022 kids were lost when Kellie and Phil unleashed more complex mechanisms upon us and they were like "from first year, it's obvious that..."
« Last Edit: July 07, 2021, 05:19:35 pm by Billuminati »
VCE 2016-2018

2017: Biology [38], Further Maths [44]

2018: Methods [37], French [38], Chem [40], English [44]

UMAT: 56/43/80, 57th percentile (LLLLOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL)

ATAR: 98.1

2019-2021: Bachelor of Biomedical Science at Monash (Scholars), minoring in Chemistry

GAMSAT September 2021: 65/67/86, 76 overall (98th percentile)

2022: Chilling

2023+: Transfer to teaching degree

hairs9

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Re: hairs9's fancy science degree journal
« Reply #14 on: January 11, 2022, 11:52:34 pm »
+6
Ok a bit of a life update. I love reading my expectations for new things because I change my mind every time. I remember being in year 10 and being confident I would go do a double degree in engineering/science and I would never change my mind and my careers counsellor telling me I would. Well if he could only see me now :P. But hey, this degree gives me all the flexibility I need so I'm happy.

Year 1 Semester 2 review:
I had one day on campus ahaha. Definitely did not expect to have my entire semester in lockdown but such is life. My psychologist got very worried about me and blames all of my problems on focusing too much on uni work and neglecting everything else but I find it hard to have a balance in lockdown.
I'll give a proper review of my subjects at some point but the vibes/rants go here I guess.
CHM1052 sucked for me and it's because I got to the first week and realised I no longer cared about chemistry. I think I enjoyed it more when there was maths involved, but I also had convinced myself that organic chemistry was my favourite and it just wasn't. I had very little motivation for the labs and was grateful not to have to spend so much time on them in person. I ended up with an 89 HD which is a pretty good effort considering I didn't care enough. It ended up being higher than my semester 1 results but I think that's just because the exam was easier.
FIT1008 was a pretty good subject. I found that they put a lot of effort into making it better. It was definitely frustrating at times, especially with group projects(which my autistic ass hated but my group was fine all things considered) but I was happy, even if I didn't completely understand the usefulness of the content. I put a fuck tonne of effort into the exam preparation and ended up with 100 HD(I don't know how???).
MTH2032 was a letdown, just a very poorly run unit. It made me question what units I wanted to do. The first 6 weeks were good but the second 6 weeks was majority just using the same 3 equations over and over again. It didn't stimulate me mentally but just instead bored me and turned me off. Luckily, the exam was open book and so I ended up with 94HD.
MTH3051 I enjoyed. Was grateful for the warning in advance because the marking scheme was bullshit. But I found the content very engaging and useful. And overall, that's the most important thing in uni. My mark was 81HD, which I was just happy to get a HD. Continuing to go down the road of subjects I enjoy more but struggle with is going to be a bit weird.

Major/second year thoughts:
I have completely changed my mind for my major and instead am planning to do an extended major in applied maths, a minor in computational science, and no more chemistry. This has meant I have had to figure out all my subjects and am currently going with:
Year 2 semester 1: MAT1830 MTH3330 MTH3320 FIT3139
Year 2 semester 2: FIT2086 MTH3020 MTH3060 MTH3170
Year 3 semester 1(Malaysia?): FIT2004, 2 other science electives
Year 3 semester 2: MTH3000 MTH3310 FIT3154

I wanted to do some sort of statistics or data analysis(now that I have extra elective space ;D) and ultimately decided on FIT3154, after it was recommended at some point. It requires FIT2086, which looks interesting, and MAT1830, which I'm pissed about doing because I still have a jaffy mentality. I appreciate an easier subject but I wish I could just get it waved and do a different, more interesting subject. I've been deciding between MTH2140, MTH2132, and MTH3320 for a while and ultimately settled on 3320 because it gives me the flexibility to not do MTH3310 later if I don't want to. The lecturer for 3310 and 2032 is the same and I don't know if I can handle more of him. Plus, if the content is an extension of the bad part of 2032, I will be sticking clear of it. But it does suck to not be able to do 2132(nature and beauty of mathematics). I figure I could always just sneak into a lecture for it if I really want to though, and it probably won't add a whole lot of value to my degree(but it looks fun :/ although the essay scares me). 2140(real analysis) apparently is just important for all maths majors to do but I've fooled myself into thinking I can just learn it myself, as I've found some notes somewhere.

In semester 2, I've chosen MTH3020 as I enjoyed MTH2010 a lot and 3320 has both good reviews and is an extension of 2010. MTH3060 also has good reviews and is based on the part of MTH2032 that I liked. Finally, I have chosen MTH3170 because it looks super interesting and the kind of area I would like to study more about. Plus the reviews are good  ;D

This course plan is not set in stone(except for maybe semester 1 this year). I could definitely move around when I do MTH3170, and could add an internship by taking out either MTH3310 or even FIT3154(as interesting as it is, it's not needed).

I'm also no longer 100% sure about when I want to go to Malaysia. There's a summer program which gives 1 science elective, and could potentially allow me more time to explore the region. I don't think it comes with as many benefits though.
If I did go during the summer, my course plan would be:
Year 2 semester 1: MAT1830 MTH3330 MTH3320 FIT3139
Year 2 semester 2: FIT2086 MTH3020 MTH3060
Summer: SCI1800
Year 3 semester 1: FIT2004 MTH3000 SCI3920(internship)
Year 3 semester 2: MTH3310 FIT3154 MTH3170

I could also do the internship in S2, delete either 3310 or 3154, and be able to do 2132 or 2140 in semester 1. Lots of choices, I just have to chat to an exchange coordinator and figure everything out.

Life updates:
Lots has happened in the past few months but I feel like the biggest changes have all happened in the past month. Biggest change is that I now have a boyfriend??? Very weird and unexpected. He studies maths at Melbourne uni and we're planning to meet up at least once a week during the uni semester to study(laughs now because ofc there weren't be a lot of studying done but I'm trusting myself to have the willpower). I also recently signed up for ballet classes again so I'm gonna see how that goes. I'm looking at going into uni on Tuesday and Wednesday and taking an online class on Thursday. So my schedule would look something like:

Monday:
Uni work at home(FIT3139 workshop, MTH3330 and MAT1830 lectures)
Ballet class in the evening

Tuesday:
Uni(FIT3139 tutorial, MAT1830 applied class)
Work

Wednesday:
Uni(watch MTH3320 lectures, MTH3320 applied class, MTH3330 applied class)
Uni work at home(FIT3139 workshop, watch MTH3320/MAT1830 lectures)

Thursday:
Catch up on lectures
Uni work at home(FIT3139 lab online)
Work

Friday:
See my boyfriend
Watch MTH3330/MAT1830 lectures
Catch up on other work

Saturday:
Work
Extra uni work

Sunday:
Try to relax if I can

Hopefully everything is balanced and I'm not too stressed out or overwhelmed
2019-Methods [45], Psychology [41]
2020-English [38], Chemistry [43], Spesh [43], UMEP maths [4.5], ATAR: 99.05
2021-2024: Bachelor of Science - Advanced(Research) at Monash