ATAR Notes: Forum
Uni Stuff => Universities - Victoria => University of Melbourne => Topic started by: CossieG on March 06, 2014, 08:34:59 am
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Lets cut to the chase. I'm in first year, and these are my subjects:
Semester 1:
Physics 1
Calculus 1
Introductory Microeconomics
Philosophy: The Big Questions
Semester 2:
Physics 2
Calculus 2
ESD 2
Linear algebra
Now, I'm starting to have reservations about semester 2. Its quite a large workload and I'm thinking that I might not be able to cope. Because of this, I'm considering dropping linear algebra altogether, and taking it up in first semester next year. That would leave me with 3 subjects in semester 2 and a more manageable workload.
Now, as for the rest of my degree, I came up with this:
2015 Sem 1
Linear Algebra
Engineering Mechanics
2015 Sem 2
Engineering Mathematics
Engineering Materials
Earth Processes for Engineering
2016 Sem 1
Risk Analysis
Fluid Motion
2016 Sem 2
Systems modelling and design
As you can see, I've only included the subjects that - to the best of my knowledge - contribute to the civil systems major.
Thank you for reading this far down. Now for my questions:
Will dropping linear algebra negatively effect me in any way? Namely, would dropping it mean I'm not taking the required number of points in first year?
Have I included all the compulsory subjects for a civil systems major?
Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.
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You don't exactly need to complete 100 points in your first year of study, but you need 300 points to be able to graduate with your BSc before you're able to apply for your Masters. (with each subject being 12.5 points)
Unless you're aware you have to do other subjects as well but didn't include it in your post(i.e breadths), you can't stick with those subjects and graduate.
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I took the same as you in Sem 2 year 1 except I took Biology instead of Physics (which is a heavy workload too). It was a tough semester and I'm not great at maths either, but I did put in a lot of work and got pretty good grades in the end. So it's doable and I think if you have the discipline you should do it.
You do need to take a full time load every semester in order to finish your degree in 3 years, unless you want to work over summer.
Yes you have included all the compulsory subjects towards the major. You now need to add at least 2 more non-science breadths (assuming Philosophy and Micro are both breadths) and a few other subjects in Level 2 and 3 that interest you or compliment your major. If you like, you can take subjects that keep a different major open (like Mechanical Systems or something) in cast you feel you might have a change of mind. Try to make those "free" subjects count.
Hope this helps.
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May as well do Semester 2 as the full-load. It's (only) first year and you'll get used to studying high loads, which is really beneficial as you progress through your degree and don't have a choice later on (Engineering contact hours 3rd year onwards is approx 20 per week). It's also good to get Linear Algebra knocked out quickly, so you can take Engineering Mathematics in Semester 1, 2015.
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Will dropping linear algebra negatively effect me in any way? Namely, would dropping it mean I'm not taking the required number of points in first year?
I'd keep it for the first few weeks of semester and then decide whether or not to drop it then. As long as you withdraw before the census date (generally after week 3 or 4 of a semester) you don't get a "withdrawn mark" on your transcript or have to pay any fee.
Unless you're working solid hours, managing a full-time load shouldn't be too difficult, especially in semester two when you should be well into the swing of things.
That said, I ended up doing only 3 subjects in my first semester largely unintentionally. I'm doing Civil Systems via the Environments course and picked Virtual Environments, a former first year subject (now second) known to many as one of the most full-on at the university in terms of workload. I ended dropping this before the census date, but after the cut off where you could enrol for a new subject, so ended up with only three subjects.
So then I had to pick up one in the summer to make up for it. I had done Calc 1 in 1st Sem and Calc 2 in 2nd, so I chose to do Linear Algebra over summer for precisely the reason that Hancock mentioned above: so I could do Eng Maths in Semester 1.
In the end, this was a really good decision. I found the intensive summer schedule to be advantageous for my style of learning, and the summer lecturer, Alex Ghitza, was fantastic. I ended up getting a mark of 87 for Linear Algebra compared to an average of 66 for Calc 1, Calc 2 and Eng Maths collectively.
So, overall I would recommend at least attempting the full load in semester 2 and preferably sticking to it, yet don't be scared of leaving it for summer if you don't mind the 15 days of solid work you'll need to do when you could otherwise be at the beach.
Have I included all the compulsory subjects for a civil systems major?
I think you're missing Structural Theory and Design, a 3rd year subject.
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I was actually thinking of doing linear algebra over the summer semester but the subject enrolment webpage only shows it in semester 1 and 2. Do the summer semester subjects appear later?
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I was actually thinking of doing linear algebra over the summer semester but the subject enrolment webpage only shows it in semester 1 and 2. Do the summer semester subjects appear later?
Yeah, you can't enrol for summer yet.
I can't decide whether or not doing linear algebra would be worse in a full-time semester or condensed over summer.
I needed a long time to get my head around the material, I couldn't have done it in 6 weeks or whatever.
But I know some people thought it was totally fine.
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Yeah, you can't enrol for summer yet.
I can't decide whether or not doing linear algebra would be worse in a full-time semester or condensed over summer.
I needed a long time to get my head around the material, I couldn't have done it in 6 weeks or whatever.
But I know some people thought it was totally fine.
I'm strongly going towards doing linear algebra over the summer. This opens up another option: drop philosophy from this semester and be left with 3 subjects, and take up intro macro in the 2nd semester (which I was originally going to do). AHHHH. too many decisions :-\
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I dont have time to see my student centre tomorrow, so I'm hoping someone here can help.
Is this allowed:
Sem1
Physics 1
calc 1
intro micro
sem2
physics 2
calc2
esd2
intro macro
summer sem
linear algebra
Thank you and sorry for being annoying
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I dont have time to see my student centre tomorrow, so I'm hoping someone here can help.
Is this allowed:
Sem1
Physics 1
calc 1
intro micro
sem2
physics 2
calc2
esd2
intro macro
summer sem
linear algebra
Thank you and sorry for being annoying
I don't see any issues with that.
It leaves Civil, Mechanical, & Electrical Engineering Systems streams open to you down the track.