UoM General Chat

[Russ]

Since the new exams didn't affect postgrads I actually didn't pay attention; what were the changes that people are so upset about?

[Belgarion]

Since the new exams didn't affect postgrads I actually didn't pay attention; what were the changes that people are so upset about?

Exam timetable was condensed because "apparently" students complained exams were too spread out. From memory i think it was mon, wed, and fri were two 3 hour exam slots whilst tues and thurs were three 2 hour exam slots or maybe the other way around but you get the idea. For example last sem my exams were spread over 3 weeks, this sem they were all within 5 days. You could call me the lucky one lol because many people had exams on consecutive days or the same day

[charmanderp]

I had all one of my exams on one day! No breaks or anything. Cruelty.

[Gloamglozer]

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/N2G57TP

Awesome.  Even though I'm not a UoM student anymore, I can do the survey and spit...

profanities in the 'additional comments'.

[simpak]

I don't care if exams are in the morning idgaf, it's all about having to wake up at 4:30am which is just ridiculous.  If I lived like where I do now, during the exam period, I doubt I would have cared at all.  But heaps of local students live a long way from uni and it's just not fair.

Additionally, the chances of having more than one exam per day increase greatly.

[vox nihili]

I don't care if exams are in the morning idgaf, it's all about having to wake up at 4:30am which is just ridiculous.  If I lived like where I do now, during the exam period, I doubt I would have cared at all.  But heaps of local students live a long way from uni and it's just not fair.

Additionally, the chances of having more than one exam per day increase greatly.

I live out in the country...5am to get to a bloody exam. So much fun!

[scribble]

^the thought of waking up at 5am makes me cry inside.

[BelVP]

Funnily enough, despite them trying to condense the exam period... My exams were actually more spaced out than ever o_O

& Am I the only one here who normally gets up between 3-4am each day?

[Russ]

[simpak]

BelVP that's when I typically get to sleep, so yes.  Russ, living a long way from university is not a conscious choice people make. Sorry but that's extremely ignorant. Not everyone can afford to live out of home, many are forced to live where their parents choose to live. Not everyone can get in to college or afford the fees, not everyone is eligible for centrelink. I wasn't before my dad died, my parents were earning too much. To assume that anyone that lives a long way from the city CHOOSES to do so is just really stupid. You're lucky to have lived relatively close to university with simple public transport options. I had three forms of public transport to catch to get from my family home to uni and many others are the same. I'm looking forward to living a 15 minute tram ride from uni now, but I'm never going to stop being empathetic towards others that travel a long way to uni because their options are work 20 hours a week and do poorly in classes or live at home and deal with the travel times.

[Ballerina]

Simpak's game is raw, yo ♥

I hadn't realize how beautiful our logo is until I began doodling the logos for Victorian universities. Our Latin motto is also somewhat preferable to 'ancora imparo'. coughcough I am still learning...how to tie my shoes.

edit, removed identifying information

[Russ]

[Turtle]

It's still a choice. I said it was a crappy choice but in most circumstances people choose to stay at home for the support and to not have to do the shitty work/study combo. I am well aware I was lucky with my living situation in undergrad but that's not the point I was making.

Sorry Russ, but you have dug yourself a bit of a hole here...

So for someone who lives in Dandenong for example, or Mentone for example, or any outer suburb...you expect their entire family to pack up and move closer to the CBD?

Firstly, usually its not someone's choice where they live, if they live with their family. It's their parents choice.

Secondly, not everybody wants to work 30 hours a week to pay $250 a week for rent. It's hard to work that much and do well at uni. It's even harder if you are involved in anything outside of university, such as sport.

Furthermore, although Simpak doesn't live at home, for other people-not everybody wants to move away from their parents either. You can't except all 20 year olds to have the maturity to move out of home because everybody's different.

There is no circumstance in which it is appropriate for you to comment about someone's living situation, without knowing all the facts.

[vox nihili]

It's still a choice. I said it was a crappy choice but in most circumstances people choose to stay at home for the support and to not have to do the shitty work/study combo. I am well aware I was lucky with my living situation in undergrad but that's not the point I was making.

Yes, it may very well be a choice, but it is a choice that is made because of people's personal circumstances. People who don't live in the centre or Melbourne or who can't afford to do so have every right to the same quality of education as those who do and it is unbelievably arrogant to suggest that measures that clearly disadvantage them are not unfair because they "choose" to live out of the city.

[simpak]

Sorry Russ I wasn't trying to call you out and say you didn't appreciate your undergrad living situation or anything if that's how it came across!  I was just trying to point out that even if you don't live 'too far' from the city km wise the further out you get the worse the PT is - you have to take so many forms to get in to the CBD and with each different form you have to account for the possibility that it will be late/not arrive (buses anyone?) and all that possibility means you leave even earlier etc etc

Re Turtle's post: I 'chose' to stay at home for support somewhat, financially somewhat but also because I wouldn't have wanted to move straight after my dad had passed away and leave my mum and brother alone so soon.  I agree with what you say about some people having reasons not to want to move out of home.  I just finished my degree and I still feel to young to have moved out lol.  There are many reasons that a student might live at home when they study and often the path isn't as simple as get job ---> live away from home.

I just think that everyone has the right to go to university based on desire to study a course and based on merit without having to factor in that university's distance from their home.  Exams are worth such a large chunk of the final grade and I do think that it's unfair for that much of somebody's deciding assessment to come down to one morning on which they had to wake up at a completely ridiculous time...or one day in which they had an exam at 8:30am and then one at 4:30pm...when they had to wake up at 4:30am just to get to the first one so they're starting the second 12 hours later!  I just don't think that the timetable works for many local students.  Our low population density (leading to infrequent transport) and the fact that such a high proportion of domestic students live quite a long way away by any mode of transport (as opposed to somewhere like the US where most live on campus or very close to) means that in my opinion it just doesn't work.