Intensity

[appianway]

Is it just me, or is science actually a reasonably intense degree?

So many contact hours, so many assignments, so many lab reports... I was expecting uni to be a bludge, but alas...

[Russ]

In a few years it'll be a bludge but 1st year science is a really high workload. It's also that the difference from VCE is pretty obvious and you'll have to adapt

[Gloamglozer]

Uni is only a bludge if you're an arts student.

Otherwise, even for a typical commerce student to survive, extensive reading outside of classes is needed provided they want to do well.

But what Russ said really encapsulates the essence of a science degree. First year is where all the contact hours are and where they try to weed the adults from the children so to speak.

[Russ]

Uni is only a bludge if you're an arts student.

Pfft, go look at my timetable in the UoM thread

[/0]

I purposely avoided doing lab subjects this year... so lazy lol

[humph]

For science students, it's only busy if you do subjects with lots of labs, like experimental physics/chem/bio. None of that in maths, thankfully.

P.S. /0, are you doing that ASC with B-Wang as an add-on to Analysis 2? Just saying, I did the exact same thing. Also it was pretty rubbish. Heads up.

[TrueLight]

In a few years it'll be a bludge but 1st year science is a really high workload. It's also that the difference from VCE is pretty obvious and you'll have to adapt

omg that is so wrong...

just because you have no labs! lol
3rd year is the hardest i would say
and then if you decide to do honours it gets way harder...

[vexx]

Is it just me, or is science actually a reasonably intense degree?

So many contact hours, so many assignments, so many lab reports... I was expecting uni to be a bludge, but alas...

i think year 12 is more intense than science.. (for me at least) having hardly any stress makes more difference then anything.

[TrueLight]

also i guess organisation is a big thing as well. if your very organised that will help alot

[Edmund]

In a few years it'll be a bludge but 1st year science is a really high workload. It's also that the difference from VCE is pretty obvious and you'll have to adapt

omg that is so wrong...

just because you have no labs! lol
3rd year is the hardest i would say
and then if you decide to do honours it gets way harder...

Yeah true... As you progress through the years, the lectures and material get more demanding, and few contact hours doesn't always equate to 'bludge' Also, many contact hours in first year doesn't make it difficult, it's simply a 'busy year'

[appianway]

It's not really an organisational thing - I'm finding that the workload's constant, whereas in VCE it peaked around exams (but you didn't have to work excessively hard the rest of the time). I have to keep a HD average, which doesn't help - and I have two lab subjects (which isn't too much, at least), and one of the subjects that I'm taking has four exams this semester. On top of that, basically every subject that I'm doing has a weekly test or assignment (and that's excluding assessed labs and term papers). Sigh, it makes year 12 seem like a breeze.

[/0]

True... it's pretty busy compared to highschool, but (at least i think) there's less pressure than in highschool. Making mistakes is common in university, in VCE it can mean death.

P.S. /0, are you doing that ASC with B-Wang as an add-on to Analysis 2? Just saying, I did the exact same thing. Also it was pretty rubbish. Heads up.

Aww well... at least it is complemented by my other subjects... thx for the heads up. What ASCs have you done that are good?

[Russ]

Mmm, I found 1st year the hardest and the next two have been easier. Might just be me though *shrugs*

[TrueLight]

It's not really an organisational thing - I'm finding that the workload's constant, whereas in VCE it peaked around exams (but you didn't have to work excessively hard the rest of the time). I have to keep a HD average, which doesn't help - and I have two lab subjects (which isn't too much, at least), and one of the subjects that I'm taking has four exams this semester. On top of that, basically every subject that I'm doing has a weekly test or assignment (and that's excluding assessed labs and term papers). Sigh, it makes year 12 seem like a breeze.

yes but organisation helps to pace you through all the work. if you leave it to the last minute it makes it more intense.

[humph]

True... it's pretty busy compared to highschool, but (at least i think) there's less pressure than in highschool. Making mistakes is common in university, in VCE it can mean death.

P.S. /0, are you doing that ASC with B-Wang as an add-on to Analysis 2? Just saying, I did the exact same thing. Also it was pretty rubbish. Heads up.

Aww well... at least it is complemented by my other subjects... thx for the heads up. What ASCs have you done that are good?

Hmmm well my favourite ones where number theory ones I did in 3rd year, though that's to be expected considering I ended up doing honours in number theory. Analytic number theory is tres cool but you'll need to do complex analysis first (although the amount you do in 2406 should be enough to get started). Also if you want a cushy subject to do next semester, do number theory and cryptography, easiest HD you'll ever get (and you could probably do an add-on then with my old honours supervisor, Richard Brent).
I did an interesting ASC on the Banach-Tarski paradox from a more philosophical point of view with Jason Grossman from the philosophy department, which was excellent. If you want to do something more philosophical (with connections to maths or physics, obviously) then he's your man.
Also did ASCs on hyperbolic geometry and on convexity and the isoperimetric inequality with Andrew Hassell, both of which were decent, and certainly not too challenging. Over summer I did a summer research scholarship with Andrew on quantum unique ergodicity, which you'd probably find quite interesting (kinda a mathematical way of seeing how close quantum mechanics and classical mechanics are to each other), but you'd probably have to have done Analysis 3 to do that. It'd probably make a great honours topic though.