Introduction
Having received an offer yesterday, I thought this may be a good opportunity to begin documenting my forthcoming university experiences. Lately I’ve noticed that I really don’t remember much as far back past two to three years ago, and to be honest, it’s been a bit unsettling. All those memories seem so distant and blurry, as if they were a lifetime ago. In response, I’ve decided to be more mindful regarding the rate at which time passes (and at which memories can pass), and I figure writing something like this over the next four years will help.
Offers day
Offers day was an uneventful experience (and probably one I’d forget if I didn’t write this). I knew I’d be happy my offer as I was well above the clearly in ATAR requirement, so I enjoyed a nice sleep in, but it was still such a great feeling knowing that all my hard work over the last two years had paid off. I landed myself a spot in my preferred course, the Bachelor of Science Advanced – Research (Honours) at Monash Clayton.
Choosing my degree
My decision was only ever really a binary one, BSc at Melbourne or BSc at Monash. Although I did, at times, consider Biomed, Engineering and Computer Science, I never put any serious thought into it, as I’ve always known, somehow, that science was the place for me. The decision to choose Monash, surprisingly, didn’t end up being as arduous as I initially thought.
Going into 2017, I was undecided, but leaning towards UoM. I had been involved in the Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars program that helped me get a little more comfortable with the UniMelb campus, and I grew to love its location (being in the city is so much fun!) and the beautiful architecture.
However, over the year my preference began to shift quite rapidly. UoM progressively became a less attractive option for me.
•I began to grow tired of the idea of travelling 1.5 hours on PT each way to University every day, and although I did recognise that the location is amazing once you’re there, I also noticed that a lot of the buildings were, shall we say, failing to age gracefully? I know this is a bit superficial but I’ve always been a sucker for modern architecture.
•I didn’t like and still don’t like the ‘Melbourne Model’. I think that it’s a great structure for some people (and for UoM’s pocket!), and that the variety of units is more diverse and interesting than available at Monash. But the restrictive nature (i.e. mandatory breadth) and the huge cohorts really didn’t appeal to me. There are so many people at Melbourne, it was slightly overwhelming.
•The real nail in the coffin, however, was my open day experience. I don’t know if anyone else felt this was, but to me, it just felt ‘cold’ , ‘uninviting’ and rather ‘corporate-like’. I understand they’re there to make money and that it may be difficult to judge campus culture from a single day, but I just felt uncomfortable. Those presenting didn’t make attempts to convince me ‘why’ I should study at Melbourne, instead they explained what I could. Frankly, I could have read the brochure and been just as informed. I left that day with the impression that perhaps UoM where relying too much for me on their ‘prestigious’ name.
Don’t get me wrong, I think UoM is still an outstanding university, but at the end of the day, I felt that it just wasn’t the right one for me.
I had almost the complete opposite experience as I researched and attended the Monash Clayton open day.
•It was much closer to my house, only taking a half hour or so drive. I still wish there was public transport (cars are expensive eeeek), but I would save 2 hours a day in comparison to UoM, and that was really important to me.
•I really enjoyed my time on the Clayton campus. It just felt homey and inviting for some reason. Not to mention some of the Science buildings *looking at you Green Chemical Futures* are gorgeous! (again, this probably isn’t the best reason to choose a university but whoops) Spoiler
(http://www.lyonsarch.com.au/assets/Research/Green-Chemical/_resampled/SetWidth1280-03.jpg)
•The BSc Advanced degree appeared to be significantly more flexible than what I could do at Melbourne, and it also seemed to be more individualised too, in that requests to accelerate subjects would be taken more on a case by case basis, perhaps due to the smaller cohort size?
•The open day was impressive. All the speakers I heard sold their faculty extremely well; it wasn't just informative, it was persuasive too. Everyone was so friendly and willing to answer questions; I felt like I could assimilate more easily into the community they presented in comparison to that of UoM.
About BSc Advanced – Research (Honours)
From what I understand, this degree is quite similar to the standard BSc at Monash, the main difference being greater flexibility in subject choice and ‘more’ opportunities to pursue research projects. Also, the course is four years instead of three due to a compulsory honours years, which I’m very much looking forward to. There’s also a dedicated study area for students doing this degree, which is shared with those doing the BSc Advanced – Global Challenges, which is nice I guess. I also heard there is some sort of camp being organised, but I don’t know if it’s still going ahead. The idea of having a smaller cohort was one the resonated with me (apparently last years was 40 or so, much smaller than standard BSc courses); I felt like I’d have an easier time finding people who could assist me in figuring out exactly what I want to do and how to get there in a ‘smaller’ course.
Units and Career aspirations
Despite not having much difficulty figuring out what degree I wanted to pursue, figuring out what I want to get out of it is a different story. I presume this course is targeted at students hoping to pursue a career in research, but I have no idea where I envision myself in coming years. I don’t understand what real scientific research entails, so it’s difficult to say whether it would be something I’d enjoy; I guess that’s what the next four years are for.
Not only do I have no idea what career I’d like to pursue, I don’t even really know what units I want to take first year. During high school, I really enjoyed biology, chemistry, physics and spesh, and have since developed quite an interest in computer science. As of now, I’m leaning towards a mixture of chemistry, computational science and maths, but I’ve got some hard decisions to make in the coming weeks! (If anyone has any advice about such decision its more than welcome!)
That’s all for now I guess. I’m hoping to keep this updated over the foreseeable future, as I see how this next chapter unravels 😊