ATAR Notes: Forum

Uni Stuff => Universities - Victoria => University of Melbourne => Topic started by: bucket on August 28, 2008, 04:01:55 pm

Title: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: bucket on August 28, 2008, 04:01:55 pm
I heard that compared to other unis, engineering and Melbourne suckssxxx.
Is this true? If it is, how so?!
=]
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: Flaming_Arrow on August 28, 2008, 04:12:51 pm
not really, there are lot of rumours around saying melb uni is too theory based but i don't think that's true
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: BA22 on August 28, 2008, 04:14:49 pm
I think you'll find he's being facetious
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: bucket on August 28, 2008, 04:18:17 pm
Still, I'm serious, the lower enter required to get into an engineering course at melbourne compared to the requirement for monash is appealing, however these 'rumours' are making me think twice about where I place it in my preferences.
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: Ken on August 28, 2008, 05:30:36 pm
doesnt matter which uni u go to, u still learn the same thing and end up in the same position
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: costargh on August 28, 2008, 05:31:29 pm
doesnt matter which uni u go to, u still learn the same thing and end up in the same position

Worse advice someone has ever given on VN.
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: Ken on August 28, 2008, 05:41:28 pm
then why do uni's offer the same course?
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: costargh on August 28, 2008, 05:45:00 pm
They aren't the same course. They have the same course name. The subjects which comprise each course differ. What you learn at one Uni may be quite differnt from another Uni. The teaching standards would almost certainly be differnt depending on which Uni you went. Employers care about what Uni you went to and what marks you got in your course, otherwise people wouldnt give a shit which Uni they went to.

/end rant
back to thread
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: Ken on August 28, 2008, 05:51:47 pm
i've got a cousin that goes to melb uni and is currently doing 1st year engineering. I asked him about it being too theory based or not and he said that this year's course has changed and so he can't really tell from being a first year student.
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: Collin Li on August 28, 2008, 06:40:54 pm
I'm a 2nd year student and I don't think it's "too theory based." In reality, what you do in university, regardless of how "practical" it is, isn't likely to be what you'll actually be using in your future career. Technology advances so fast. It's much better to have theory (the ideas behind fishing) than merely knowing how to use the current technology (how to use the fishing rod), for in an ever-upgrading world, who knows what they'll be using tomorrow?

Nothing is more practical than most good theories ;). That's my opinion anyway.
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: excal on August 29, 2008, 02:05:02 am
I'm a 2nd year student and I don't think it's "too theory based." In reality, what you do in university, regardless of how "practical" it is, isn't likely to be what you'll actually be using in your future career. Technology advances so fast. It's much better to have theory (the ideas behind fishing) than merely knowing how to use the current technology (how to use the fishing rod), for in an ever-upgrading world, who knows what they'll be using tomorrow?

Nothing is more practical than most good theories ;). That's my opinion anyway.

Studying a technology degree, I couldn't agree more.
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: AppleXY on August 29, 2008, 07:37:15 am
I'm a 2nd year student and I don't think it's "too theory based." In reality, what you do in university, regardless of how "practical" it is, isn't likely to be what you'll actually be using in your future career. Technology advances so fast. It's much better to have theory (the ideas behind fishing) than merely knowing how to use the current technology (how to use the fishing rod), for in an ever-upgrading world, who knows what they'll be using tomorrow?

Nothing is more practical than most good theories ;). That's my opinion anyway.

Yeah, that's exactly what Prof. Paul Kofman said in his Finance information session at Open Day. Instead of teaching how to operate today's equipment, the University teaches the theory and foundations behind it, meaning that you can operate today's and tommorrow's equipment.
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: Collin Li on August 29, 2008, 07:43:33 am
The important question that follows is: do other universities fall in the trap of choosing the opposite? I'm pretty sure RMIT does. I've heard they're all about computer software packages and hardly do/understand any of the maths.
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: ell on August 29, 2008, 05:18:08 pm
I'm a 2nd year student and I don't think it's "too theory based." In reality, what you do in university, regardless of how "practical" it is, isn't likely to be what you'll actually be using in your future career. Technology advances so fast. It's much better to have theory (the ideas behind fishing) than merely knowing how to use the current technology (how to use the fishing rod), for in an ever-upgrading world, who knows what they'll be using tomorrow?

Nothing is more practical than most good theories ;). That's my opinion anyway.

That's a good point. Although I think people should steer clear of UoM if they want to pursue something in IT. IMO the theory there is largely irrelevant (see UoM vs. RMIT software engineering course structure). I'm not too sure on other unis.
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: Collin Li on August 29, 2008, 06:24:30 pm
Yeah, that's a valid criticism, and IT at Melbourne is quite bad, I hear.
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: nak on September 05, 2008, 06:38:45 pm
They aren't the same course. They have the same course name. The subjects which comprise each course differ. What you learn at one Uni may be quite differnt from another Uni. The teaching standards would almost certainly be differnt depending on which Uni you went. Employers care about what Uni you went to and what marks you got in your course, otherwise people wouldnt give a shit which Uni they went to.

/end rant
back to thread

to be honest the "teaching quality" at melb uni aint that great at all. i guess it just all comes down to personally preference.

but yeah, anyone from any uni do get good job prospects with a degree though dispite what uni they go to.

it doesnt mean that if you get a degree in melb uni you will be guaranteed get a job. employers look for many qualities differently.

let's say you are an employer and you have 2 graduated applicants, one from melb uni and one from rmit.
the one from melb uni just scrapes a H3 average and the one at rmit has an average of H1(in melb uni marking scheme) i think its pretty obvious who you would pick to work for you.

and most unis do teach the core subjects, as engineering is a professional degree which must meet Engineers Australia criteria in order to gain approval for their degrees.
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: humph on September 05, 2008, 07:15:13 pm
They aren't the same course. They have the same course name. The subjects which comprise each course differ. What you learn at one Uni may be quite differnt from another Uni. The teaching standards would almost certainly be differnt depending on which Uni you went. Employers care about what Uni you went to and what marks you got in your course, otherwise people wouldnt give a shit which Uni they went to.

/end rant
back to thread

to be honest the "teaching quality" at melb uni aint that great at all. i guess it just all comes down to personally preference.

but yeah, anyone from any uni do get good job prospects with a degree though dispite what uni they go to.

it doesnt mean that if you get a degree in melb uni you will be guaranteed get a job. employers look for many qualities differently.

let's say you are an employer and you have 2 graduated applicants, one from melb uni and one from rmit.
the one from melb uni just scrapes a H3 average and the one at rmit has an average of H1(in melb uni marking scheme) i think its pretty obvious who you would pick to work for you.

and most unis do teach the core subjects, as engineering is a professional degree which must meet Engineers Australia criteria in order to gain approval for their degrees.
I don't think it's pretty obvious whom you would pick to work for you. The UMelb graduate will have learnt a lot more than the RMIT graduate, because the content and level of difficulty of UMelb courses far outstrip their RMIT counterparts.
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: costargh on September 06, 2008, 08:38:00 am
Many large organisations have an unwritten Melbourne/Monash University only policy.
Title: Re: UoM - Inferrior in engineering?
Post by: excal on September 10, 2008, 01:37:31 am
They aren't the same course. They have the same course name. The subjects which comprise each course differ. What you learn at one Uni may be quite differnt from another Uni. The teaching standards would almost certainly be differnt depending on which Uni you went. Employers care about what Uni you went to and what marks you got in your course, otherwise people wouldnt give a shit which Uni they went to.

/end rant
back to thread

to be honest the "teaching quality" at melb uni aint that great at all. i guess it just all comes down to personally preference.

but yeah, anyone from any uni do get good job prospects with a degree though dispite what uni they go to.

it doesnt mean that if you get a degree in melb uni you will be guaranteed get a job. employers look for many qualities differently.

let's say you are an employer and you have 2 graduated applicants, one from melb uni and one from rmit.
the one from melb uni just scrapes a H3 average and the one at rmit has an average of H1(in melb uni marking scheme) i think its pretty obvious who you would pick to work for you.

and most unis do teach the core subjects, as engineering is a professional degree which must meet Engineers Australia criteria in order to gain approval for their degrees.
I don't think it's pretty obvious whom you would pick to work for you. The UMelb graduate will have learnt a lot more than the RMIT graduate, because the content and level of difficulty of UMelb courses far outstrip their RMIT counterparts.

Not necessarily...but
Many large organisations have an unwritten Melbourne/Monash University only policy.

Very true in some industries. I recall hearing from a partner at a family law firm who said that they 'toss out all the CVs of anyone who didn't do Law at Melbourne or Monash (in Victoria)'.