UoM General Chat

[Aurelian]

Anybody know how we can request review of our exam papers for sem 2 exams?
I did pretty bad on one of them and just wanna see where I went wrong.

Just email the subject coordinator and ask =)

[charmanderp]

Is there any chance of getting a grade from semester 1 revised? Just an issue of individual graded assessments not adding up to my final grade, which I hadn't noticed until recently. Is it worth bothering the subject coordinator?

[hobbitle]

Choosing majors sucks.  Why can't I just figure out what I want to do (or find some miraculous non-existent career path that incorporates everything I want from a career...)

[charmanderp]

Choosing majors sucks.  Why can't I just figure out what I want to do (or find some miraculous non-existent career path that incorporates everything I want from a career...)

English and Theatre Studies yay.

[hobbitle]

Theatre Studies

Did it for 10 years out of high school!

[Ballerina]

Become a masseuse!! The pay is ridiculously awesome and inflated. On a related note, I AM A MASSEUSE AS OF THIS WEEK. GOODBYE, MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY!

[hobbitle]

Become a masseuse!! The pay is ridiculously awesome and inflated. On a related note, I AM A MASSEUSE AS OF THIS WEEK. GOODBYE, MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY!

I will make a petition for a 36th Science major to be added…. Massage Therapy.

[Ballerina]

I will make a petition for a 36th Science major to be added…. Massage Therapy.

Yes!! With a minor in ~*~*~smelly candles~*~*~.

Oh and ahhhh I can't wait until honours! I toured the genetics building on the weekend, with the tiny desks for Masters students and  inside jokes/graffiti strewn around the offices. Michelle Lupton's signature is on the door, back when she was a student and not a demonstrator. It seems warm and home-like, more home-like than Bio21. We tried a bunch of microwave 'cake in a mug' recipes (highly recommend) in the breakroom (genetics students require muchos comfort food, judging from their fridge) and they look hideous, but taste phenomenal. Banana bread - who lives in a pineapple under the sea? http://i.imgur.com/Ov7Zph0.jpg

[hobbitle]

Aren't you doing a neuroscience/physiology major?  Are they in the genetics building too?
I'm stuck between two totally different engineering majors… one offers some aspects of a career that i want, the others offers the rest of the things that I want.  It's possible to unofficially double major but it means sacrificing a lot of 'extraneous' subjects that I was really looking forward to doing (like PHYS20008 which I am currently watching lectures for as I type).

[Ballerina]

I am! If a neuroscience student wants to give me their swipe card, y'know, no pressure! There is a separate neuroscience building.

Write a pro and con list for both majors so we can offer input? I was torn between four different majors, and then being terrible at chemistry narrowed it down to one! Thank you, chemistry! ♥

[hobbitle]

I posted a Pro and Con list on another forum.  Here it is:

Here are my desires:
- want to contribute to medicine (this can be through research, trying to do postgrad Med instead, or working as a Biomedical Engineer)
- want to remain mostly Australia-based but really would like to be able to travel, undertake projects in other parts of the world (anywhere) for months or years at a time.
- be able to earn a decent salary eventually (my definition of decent is $80k-ish+ after 5-10 years)
- fully prepared and want to network and meet people over the next 4 years but i don't want to be fighting for a job for the decade after graduating.  I've been there, done that.  Doing something with good career prospects is a priority at this late(r) stage in life for me.

SO:

Pros of a Biomedical Engineering Major:
- medical field (my driving force behind going back to uni)
- keeps a few options open: postgrad medicine, honours (research career), or Masters of Engineering
- I am most passionate about this field, I love biology and chemistry

Cons of the Biomedical Engineering Major:
- Crappy career prospects especially in Australia, and this is for real.  It's almost beyond the point of "if you're really passionate about it, you'll be fine".   They truly suck.
- Kind of a small and vague field… I feel like I would graduate from the Masters being a sort-of-mechanical, sort-of-electrical, sort-of-computing engineer… but not really good at any particular field…
- Not that open to travelling
- Probably require a PhD in the future… not the end of the world but I'm not getting any younger here!

Pros of a Civil Major:
- lots of opportunities for travel, working for a company like SMEC, working on projects in developing countries.
- lots of work available in Australia and overseas
- probably wouldn't have to struggle through the rest of my life trying to get funding for research or whatever, much better job stability, opportunities to start my own consulting business.

Cons of a Civil Major:
- Overall I find the course content pretty dry (I'm kind of a jack-of-all-trades kind of person and don't have any particularly exceptional skills in maths or physics which is why it makes things difficult to choose. I enjoy a lot of things and am 'pretty good' at a lot of things.)
- Might get bored (for the above reason) but then also might be totally not bored (because there's travel opportunities).
- I have to forgo the 'contribution to medicine' thing.
- Probably don't get to do awesome elective subjects like Physiology, Biochem & Molecular Biology, Pathology.

[simpak]

Civil is overstocked.

[Ballerina]

I'm guessing Whirlpool? Love Whirlpool.

Pros of a Biomedical Engineering Major:
- I am most passionate about this field, I love biology and chemistry

Cons of the Biomedical Engineering Major:

It's almost beyond the point of "if you're really passionate about it, you'll be fine".   

This is salient to me. It's a difficult decision, but you're in a STEM field which is as aligned as you can be with your list of desires without sacrificing personal happiness. The job market is competitive in most fields, but the differences in opportunities within engineering appear narrower than between engineering and other fields. And yeah, the market is over-saturated with civil eng graduates.
------------------------------------------------------
I decided a bit late that I want to take FINA20026 Painting Techniques in February. I was able to enroll about 10 days after enrollment opened, but  the subject overview states

'This subject has an enrolment quota and therefore places are limited. Selection is based on students firstly enrolling via the portal and then having fully registered successfully. Students enrolling but not registering cannot be accepted. You are advised to enrol early so that you can register as soon as the registration system opens. Confirmation of your successful enrolment and registration will be provided by the VCA & MCM Student Centre at least one week prior to teaching. Students who have not successfully completed both enrolment ad registration will also be advised.'

I checked my registration status and FINA20026 is included on the page, but I can't register as

'Action Required   
No Classes Available
Registration Closed'

According to a separate page,'Class registration for Summer Semester, 2014 will open at 10am on Monday 2nd December.

Class registration for Semester 1, 2014 will open for all classes at 10am on Monday 3rd February.'

Is this to say that I can't register because the quota has been met? Or that I can't register because it's not so much a Summer subject as it is a February subject? I can't find the contact information for the subject coordinator anywhere, and was hoping to know if I was accepted sooner so that I can inform work or see if I can wrangle a different class instead.

[hobbitle]

Hey Ballerina,

The 2014 Handbook for that subjects says:

"An enrolment quota of 144 students applies to each availability of this subject this year.

Please note that there are no places left for the February availability.

For the February availability, selection is based on the order in which students register for classes through the class registration system, following enrolment via the portal. More information about class registration is available here:

http://ask.unimelb.edu.au/app/answers/detail/a_id/5775/kw/class%20registration

Class registration will open at 10am on Monday January 6th, 2014. Students who are successfully registered will be contacted by the VCA & MCM Student Centre. Unsuccessful students will be asked to withdraw from the subject and find an alternative elective."

That should answer your questions?

[Ballerina]

You are a superhero, Nicola!! That excerpt isn't included in the same webpage I saved on 11/12/2013, and I believe I enrolled on that day.  I'm not sure if that means I just slipped in, though. It appears that an excess of students enrolled, and who is selected is dependent on  who registers first on 06/01/2014? They seem a bit disorganized.