ATAR Notes: Forum
Uni Stuff => Universities - Victoria => University of Melbourne => Topic started by: howlingwisdom on January 18, 2016, 08:44:00 am
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Hi everyone!
I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on what would be some easy or enjoyable breadth subjects for a student studying Biomedicine?
I'm currently looking at some semester 1 (level 1) breadths and am extremely indecisive. Are there any that you would recommend/ not recommend me doing?
Thank you! :)
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Have you considered continuing on with French or perhaps even picking up a new language?
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I find intro micro interesting. Easy H1 if you're interested in commerce subjects
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Have you considered continuing on with French or perhaps even picking up a new language?
I've been contemplating on continuing with French or Latin but I'm worried about the time commitment/I would like to explore other areas of study :P
I find intro micro interesting. Easy H1 if you're interested in commerce subjects
Are the commerce breadth subjects manageable for someone who has no background in commerce?
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Are the commerce breadth subjects manageable for someone who has no background in commerce?
I studied a bit of accounting in high school but had no background in economics. One of the assignments that was worth 15% was kinda hard but the other assignment, MST and end of sem exam were pretty alright. But I think I left the assignment that I didn't do well on until few days before the due date so don't be like me haha and start earlier. The assignments will be available two to three weeks before the due date but some content will only be taught in the week before the due date.
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I highly recommend World Music Choir 3 (or any type of singing breadth).
Upon graduating, this was definitely a highlight of my time at uni. Even more fun if you have some friends with you. The assessment is easy if you have any music knowledge and willing to come to singing class and participate.
I wrote a review a while back so have a read if you like!
Re: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings
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Genetics Health & society is pretty good, especially if you want to do med, you learn about ethics in health and whatnot which I thought was pretty interesting. It's pretty easy to score well in, everyone in my assignment group got H1 overall. I think the only major downside is there is a 60% exam and it's probably not as relaxed as choir, music psych etc.
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Hi everyone!
I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on what would be some easy or enjoyable breadth subjects for a student studying Biomedicine?
I'm currently looking at some semester 1 (level 1) breadths and am extremely indecisive. Are there any that you would recommend/ not recommend me doing?
Thank you! :)
In all honesty, just find something that you really enjoy. In most cases non-Science subjects tend to be lighter than your first year cores so it shouldn't to be an issue. For example I studied Italian and while languages might be perceived as having a heavier workload than other subjects it was still lighter than all my core subjects.
In general Biomedicine students tend to be a little bit pesky and find subjects that align somewhat closely with their interest in sciences. Commerce subjects, psychology subjects, linguistics subjects (if not languages themselves), subjects that still require the use of maths and multidisciplinary subjects with a focus in biomedical science all tend to be quite popular.
I highly recommend World Music Choir 3 (or any type of singing breadth).
Upon graduating, this was definitely a highlight of my time at uni. Even more fun if you have some friends with you. The assessment is easy if you have any music knowledge and willing to come to singing class and participate.
I wrote a review a while back so have a read if you like!
Re: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings
Genetics Health & society is pretty good, especially if you want to do med, you learn about ethics in health and whatnot which I thought was pretty interesting. It's pretty easy to score well in, everyone in my assignment group got H1 overall. I think the only major downside is there is a 60% exam and it's probably not as relaxed as choir, music psych etc.
These are level 2 subjects, first years can only really do level 2 subjects in semester 2 after they've completed 50 credit points of level 1 subjects.
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In most cases non-Science subjects tend to be lighter than your first year cores so it shouldn't to be an issue. For example I studied Italian and while languages might be perceived as having a heavier workload than other subjects it was still lighter than all my core subjects.
In general, the step up from vce languages e.g. italian 3/4 -> italian 5 or italian 6 is quite big compared to say studying a beginner's or intermediate level language where the possibility of a H1 is much more achievable. The problem with studying languages at a more advanced level is that often they do require as much study as your cores. I hear good things about beginner level languages such as spanish 1 howlingwisdom.
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In general, the step up from vce languages e.g. italian 3/4 -> italian 5 or italian 6 is quite big compared to say studying a beginner's or intermediate level language where the possibility of a H1 is much more achievable. The problem with studying languages at a more advanced level is that often they do require as much study as your cores. I hear good things about beginner level languages such as spanish 1 howlingwisdom.
Maybe Italian 5 is an exception because people said it was still manageable, just not taught and co-ordinated well. But yes, you're right: languages at levels 1-4 tend to be good breadth options.
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I've been contemplating on continuing with French or Latin but I'm worried about the time commitment/I would like to explore other areas of study
Hey!
I'm a Classics major who specializes in Latin. It is incredibly demanding (so unless you want to dedicate hours every night to memorization I suggest French). It is also quite difficult. Over half the entire cohort dropped it after the first semester so I suppose that demonstrates a lot (there were only about 15 people in Latin 4 last year). It's usually reserved for those who want to major in Classics and from what I hear, there has been quite a lot of discussion about removing it from the intensive altogether since many students have complained about its difficulty. You have to be very passionate to put up with Latin but if you love it, then you won't mind the workload.
Hope this helps :)
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Hey!
I'm a Classics major who specializes in Latin. It is incredibly demanding (so unless you want to dedicate hours every night to memorization I suggest French). It is also quite difficult. Over half the entire cohort dropped it after the first semester so I suppose that demonstrates a lot (there were only about 15 people in Latin 4 last year). It's usually reserved for those who want to major in Classics and from what I hear, there has been quite a lot of discussion about removing it from the intensive altogether since many students have complained about its difficulty. You have to be very passionate to put up with Latin but if you love it, then you won't mind the workload.
Hope this helps :)
Strange post above. I did all the Latin subjects at Melb Uni as breadth, not sure what the poster above is talking about. There were lots of people doing it as breadth. Also, some of us found that it was quite a bit easier than Year 12 Latin: lots of spoon-feeding and giving you the answers (especially in unseens, where they tend to give you almost every word in 2nd year Latin subjects; moreover, the lecturer would always tell you which author would be on the unseen, unlike in Year 12 when it is completely random). Not sure why the poster above is saying that it involved 'hours of memorisation' every night; I get the sense that he/she is exaggerating the difficulty of the subject for some odd reason. In second year (the year of breadth I presume the main poster is thinking of doing) you didn't have to memorise much at all compared to year 12: all you had to learn was the translation, without having to memorise all of the extra points of poetic tropes, essay ideas, etc., and just like at school the lecturer Sonya Wurster goes through the translation slowly and clearly in tutorials. Sure, Latin is a little harder than the straight-out essay subjects, but the marking scheme is straightforward and it's not too hard to get a mark in the 90s if you put in a decent effort and respect the subject. The thing is most people are deluded if they think they can waltz into a subject, do no work, and get a top mark; you're gonna have to work for good marks at uni.
I just didn't like how the poster above tried to make it sound like Latin at Melb Uni is the most difficult subject in the world-it was quite disingenuous and unhelpful for the main poster who is genuinely interested in doing the subject and who might have preferred a genuine outline of how the subject. I'm also slightly confused about the above poster's comment 'I'm a classics major who specialises in Latin': when I was doing Latin the people actually majoring in Classics would 'specialise' in both languages (Latin, Greek, and usually to a lesser extent in something else too for a semester, like Syriac, Egyptian, Akkadian, Sanskrit) to the same very high level. Weird to do Classics and specialise in Latin: making things extremely difficult if you want to do Honours. Are you instead doing the Diploma or have they changed it so that, quite bizarrely, you can do Classics without being able to read both languages with equal high fluency (which is basically a waste of time, according to the Classics majors I met who did both and were brilliant at both, since you won't be able to read 'half' the evidence properly, and you have to be able to read Greek plays almost off-the-cuff in Honours)?
I can't comment on French since I haven't done it at Melb; but I have heard good things about it. You will find that there is certainly more memorisation in the French course, however, because as I've heard you usually have to learn words from reading every week in addition to writing mini assignments in French and/or oral presentations, so you're always actively looking at new words and having to use them whereas in Latin you're usually reading, finding new words, and just remembering them for next time you come across them in reading.
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For breadth subjects, choose something that is interesting and useful to you, rather than just going for an easy pass.
At the end of your course, it's much better to do a breadth subject that even though you don't do so well but you learn something interesting and useful, than going for an easy pass and getting nothing meaningful out of it.
With that said, I'm currently doing Japanese as breadth a I'm loving it :D I did Positive Psychology last year called Wellbeing, Motivation, Performance and it was really good. There are many possibilities; such as commerce, programming, new language, psychology etc. Definitely take your time to choose something you'll really like and find useful :)
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Strange post above. I did all the Latin subjects at Melb Uni as breadth, not sure what the poster above is talking about. There were lots of people doing it as breadth. Also, some of us found that it was quite a bit easier than Year 12 Latin: lots of spoon-feeding and giving you the answers (especially in unseens, where they tend to give you almost every word in 2nd year Latin subjects; moreover, the lecturer would always tell you which author would be on the unseen, unlike in Year 12 when it is completely random). Not sure why the poster above is saying that it involved 'hours of memorisation' every night; I get the sense that he/she is exaggerating the difficulty of the subject for some odd reason. In second year (the year of breadth I presume the main poster is thinking of doing) you didn't have to memorise much at all compared to year 12: all you had to learn was the translation, without having to memorise all of the extra points of poetic tropes, essay ideas, etc., and just like at school the lecturer Sonya Wurster goes through the translation slowly and clearly in tutorials. Sure, Latin is a little harder than the straight-out essay subjects, but the marking scheme is straightforward and it's not too hard to get a mark in the 90s if you put in a decent effort and respect the subject. The thing is most people are deluded if they think they can waltz into a subject, do no work, and get a top mark; you're gonna have to work for good marks at uni.
To each their own but for some reason A LOT of people dropped out of Latin in my year level because they found it difficult. I actually left a subject review, detailing this and I've spoken to a few of the professors about it as well. Perhaps that was the issue with the students in my level (it wasn't my place to ask if they had actually been putting in the effort when they decided to drop out) but OP has specifically asked for an easy breadth and like you said, there needs to be decent effort. Glee Singing or Choir requires minimal effort unlike Latin, which does have a demanding workload in the beginning. At least, that's how I felt. I am certainly not exaggerating and I would hope that none of my peers were either. Latin completely drained me in the first year of uni but that was MY experience. I can only share my experience and the experience that others have shared with me. I really wish that more people studied Latin since I think that it's such a lovely language.
Glad you had a good experience though! I was not intending to sound rude, so sorry if it came across as such?
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Glee Singing or Choir requires minimal effort unlike Latin
Effort is relative to the person, Latin might require less effort that Glee Singing for some.
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do uni subjects get scaled relatively at all? just worried in terms of gpa. For example i could choose to do accelerated mathematics 1 - which is a lot harder than calculus 1, or say calculus 2 vs calculus 1 - how does the uni factor this, if at all?
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do uni subjects get scaled relatively at all? just worried in terms of gpa. For example i could choose to do accelerated mathematics 1 - which is a lot harder than calculus 1, or say calculus 2 vs calculus 1 - how does the uni factor this, if at all?
To my knowledge some Arts subjects are bell-curved but otherwise scaling only really ever occurs if the entire cohort has done poorly and there is some sort of legitimate reason for modulating the results (e.g. overly difficult assessment or perhaps a mistake somewhere). In addition, some subjects are marked weirdly in that H1s are seldom awarded. Otherwise, results tend to stay the same. Choose wisely.
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To my knowledge some Arts subjects are bell-curved but otherwise scaling only really ever occurs if the entire cohort has done poorly and there is some sort of legitimate reason for modulating the results (e.g. overly difficult assessment or perhaps a mistake somewhere). In addition, some subjects are marked weirdly in that H1s are seldom awarded. Otherwise, results tend to stay the same. Choose wisely.
would it not discourage students who want to attain a high gpa or make the deans list if they were to pick the harder subjects?
I could pick the "easier" breadths and attain higher marks rather than pick difficult math subjects / anything else, but then it defeats the purpose of learning. Is this just a choice one has to make? it just seems unfair in that respect, it's not something i want to extensively complain about but i thought it would be something the Uni took into account (just like the VCE system did - to some extent at least).
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would it not discourage students who want to attain a high gpa or make the deans list if they were to pick the harder subjects?
I could pick the "easier" breadths and attain higher marks rather than pick difficult math subjects / anything else, but then it defeats the purpose of learning. Is this just a choice one has to make? it just seems unfair in that respect, it's not something i want to extensively complain about but i thought it would be something the Uni took into account (just like the VCE system did - to some extent at least).
I don't have the same experiences as other students have but scaling is quite common in the maths and commerce subjects I've done.
Also, I'd argue that a lot of students choose subjects they're interested in, rather than something that is perceived as easy, since doing a subject you don't care about is (imo) generally a terrible experience.
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I've heard anecdotally that sport coaching is an easy H1.
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For the people who have done language breadth subjects, which entry point were you put in and did you struggle? I was put in Japanese 5, but it sounds like a big jump from VCE Japanese and I would prefer to be in Japanese 3 from the description. Is it difficult to organise to swap levels? Thank you!
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would it not discourage students who want to attain a high gpa or make the deans list if they were to pick the harder subjects?
I could pick the "easier" breadths and attain higher marks rather than pick difficult math subjects / anything else, but then it defeats the purpose of learning. Is this just a choice one has to make? it just seems unfair in that respect, it's not something i want to extensively complain about but i thought it would be something the Uni took into account (just like the VCE system did - to some extent at least).
That's more or less the way it works at university, although as pointed out there are exceptions. But as notveryasian said, I don't think there really are any "unanimously easy subjects" - ease is subjective and what one finds easy another finds hard. Hence, it's important to study what you enjoy and work hard at it.
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In regards to breadth subjects, particular the ones that Biomedicine students can do, what are generally the sought of subjects that students do when completing biomedicine. Currently, I face the dilemma of trying to go through every course outline seeing what it has to offer, and that strategy kinda sucks in relation to finding something that I want to do. Also,being specific would help.
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In regards to breadth subjects, particular the ones that Biomedicine students can do, what are generally the sought of subjects that students do when completing biomedicine. Currently, I face the dilemma of trying to go through every course outline seeing what it has to offer, and that strategy kinda sucks in relation to finding something that I want to do. Also,being specific would help.
The breadths I did were:
Critical Reasoning: a very good and useful subject that was the subject I scored highest for at uni. Sadly, I don't think it is offered anymore
Business Law: Did this to get a taste of law did poorly in it though but I don't regret it as was a learning experience.
Finance 1: probably one of the most useful subjects I did plus fair marking and can also be done over summer.
Microeconomics: another very interesting and cool subject
Personally I recommend commerce subjects as breadth as they are useful and interesting :) .
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I checked out introduction to microeconomics and it seems interesting. Just a question, when it says study period commence - semester 1, semester 2, does it mean that the subject goes for a year or just one semester? Also, in terms of difficulty and maintaining a balance with Biomedicine coursework is it an ideal breadth subject?
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I checked out introduction to microeconomics and it seems interesting. Just a question, when it says study period commence - semester 1, semester 2, does it mean that the subject goes for a year or just one semester? Also, in terms of difficulty and maintaining a balance with Biomedicine coursework is it an ideal breadth subject?
It is a one semester subject, it's just that it is offered in both sem 1 and 2.
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I checked out introduction to microeconomics and it seems interesting. Also, in terms of difficulty and maintaining a balance with Biomedicine coursework is it an ideal breadth subject?
One of the assignments might be a bit difficult but overall the subject should be an easy H1. The tutorials are really useful, don't miss any of them. Choose it if you're interested in economics. For breadth subjects, don't choose something just because some people said it's easy but you're not interested. Last semester a few of my friends did finance 1 with me cause they heard it is an easy H1 but they did not enjoy it and didnt do well.
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Hello,
For myself I found Introduction to political ideas and introduction to politics as interesting subjects. However, I was told that it might be a little challenging for me especially as these subjects tend to be the subjects that attract the eyes of arts students who basically enrolled in their bachelors degree to specialise in this area. Am I right in saying that I should check something else out? I really want to achieve I high GPA.
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Would doing IT as a breadth subject be a bad idea if I don't have a laptop/macbook/tablet?
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Is ecological history of humanity (unib10003) an enjoyable breadth subject for a science student? I've heard it's easy so that's a plus.
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Is ecological history of humanity (unib10003) an enjoyable breadth subject for a science student? I've heard it's easy so that's a plus.
I have heard myself that it is, yes, but it can be a bit dry at times - specially if you are not in the whole non-science/humanities field.
Can someone explain to me, if we can only take 37.500 points of level 1 breadths, then how can we get the remaining levels from level 2 breadths, will that not be hard? Like doesnt that mean we will be doing a breadth that is a high level = very hard and we do not have the experience and knowledge, in first year? Or am I right now on that page choosing my breadths for my whole 3 years at Biomedicine?
CHEEEEEEERS :)