Decisions, decisions (Science/Law at Monash University)

[cdsda]

Hi!

I've enrolled in First year Science/Law at Monash University.

As my timetable stands right now, with psych/chem/bio/law I'm going to have a ton of timetable clashes and have to listen to those lectures online (I have no idea what I'm supposed to do when a lab session clashes with another lab session)....

Surprisingly enough, that's not my main problem.

I have two options regarding the Units I choose to study, and I'd like to know which you think would be more beneficial in the long run. I'll only be addressing the sections that change, so you can just assume that I'm studying law alongside no matter what.

a) I study Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology in the first semester, and then choose my favourite two Subjects and continue with them until the end of the course. In this way, I will be able to choose which ones I prefer, and I'll have a diverse degree- having studied three subjects. This then enables me to continue as a lawyer, or into any field which would require/appreciate a background in eg: Biology and Psychology, but no specific JOB that I can think of.

OR

b) I study | Biology OR Chemistry|  AND Psychology in First semester, and continue with those subjects all the way through the course. (Alternatively, I could randomly select Chemistry units as electives later and still do bits of each subject, if I seriously *hate* one of the subjects I'm studying.) In this case, I would then have the ability to complete the APAC Major in Psychology, which means that with 3 more years of study- the Psychology honours year and 2 years masters- I can be a psychologist, as well as a lawyer, and work in any position which would appreciate my (minor) background in Bio/Chem. The downside is that I have to choose between Bio/Chem right NOW, and if I make the wrong decision, I basically have to live with it- because as far as I'm aware, there are no 'catch-up' classes, and I can't study eg: chem units during the summer holidays so as to be able continue with it as a minor.

What do you think? a or b as the better option?

(also, I should mention that b comes along with quite a bit of rearranging of schedules...and, like I said, both have timetabling clashes- I'm not sure which would have *worse* timetabling clashes, though)

...

More questions:

1. Does anyone have any experience with the Psychology, Biology, or Chemistry subjects at Monash? Are any of these particularly complementary/really difficult to study simultaneously?

2. If I go with option a) ...how could I then go about becoming a professional Psychologist in a reasonable amount of time?

ie: if I were to only study the 48 credit Major (or 24 credit Minor) of Psychology, and complete the double degree, what would I need to do in order to complete the remainder of the 60 credit APAC Major and continue into the honours year of Psychology? Would I need to enrol in another course and repeat the units I've studied, or is there are way to just study the remaining units and continue?

OR should I plan to study the course in a different Uni altogether, and would the units I'd have studied in Monash impact he duration of the course?

3. Does anyone know if Monash Psychology Units are offered in the summer holidays?

4. Back to the timetabling issue: is there an efficient way to work out the best timetable possible?


I'd really appreciate any advice you could give me! (*winning smile*)