UoM General Chat

[Aqualim]

A half-rant/half-advice-seeking post (from a UoM BCom student):

So...on ATARNotes, especially in the results thread, I see plenty of people averaging high 80's and even in the 90's in a semester's work, even in 2nd- and 3rd-year with much harder subjects, irrespective of the discipline. And it seems that they've done that whilst also having a part-time job and a decent social life, while I'm sitting here typing this with an 84.3 WAM, a few friends who I only see at uni and nowhere else, no involvement in societies (CSS, FMAA, etc.), and no job, apart from an internship at a boutique consulting firm for a month - only because the MD knows me personally. Not to mention that I keep overestimating my final grades by around 5-10 marks half the time - although I have scored 83 or better in 10 subjects out of my 14, and have 11 H1s (I have 2 H2Bs and an H2A that are responsible for dragging the wam down).

The main issue is, that I don't waste anywhere near as much time on social media and clickbait as last year, and I certainly do feel that I've worked a lot harder this semester than any previous semester. But I feel that some of the effort has gone to waste, having made careless mistakes in all 4 exams this semester (making careless mistakes in life has been a part of me since childhood), and recording my lowest semester wam in my degree (83) - albeit by less than 2 wam points.

I was aiming for Dean's List this year, but I feel that it's out of my reach now. So to those who are on Dean's List...I (and perhaps plenty of other ATARNotes users) would like to know what it takes to reach your level. Is it all genetics and natural selection, or is it some other formula of productivity, efficiency, and memorisation? Or maybe it starts with a 99+ ATAR and years of being studious, where the foundations for effective learning are already laid out?

And also, is it poisonous to internally set high (and maybe a tiny bit unrealistic) standards for oneself? I feel like every 90+ score I've got (4x) has come from just taking it easy and not thinking about the end result, i.e. "Just Do It" - Nike. Maybe the pressure makes people choke in the exam...

(on a sidenote: I did spend half of my life trying to be a professional sportsperson, during which I did the bare minimum when it came to studying. But after quitting - for undisclosed reasons - I like to think that I've caught up to the rest of my peers to a decent extent)

Sincerely,
2nd-year BCom student

This sounds all too familiar to how I view myself. I am like you and always end up setting myself up for a score in the 90s and then make small careless mistakes in the exam (or just not being able to answer what seems to be an easy question) which pushes me into the middle to low 80's. I'm finishing my Masters presently and consistently score between 83-87. I have 5 subjects with the overall grade of 87 and one with an 88. What I've learnt is that it all comes down to stress for the small mistakes and just not knowing the topic well enough for the other questions. As I know immediately after the exam exactly where I made a mistake and what I should have written instead. Also I fell victim to the idea that wrote learning gets you a good grade and I never properly learnt why we were doing the concept in the first place, which stumbles majority of students. You're a BCom student, so you might relate to this. I took a class where we had to learn how to calculate a swap (in Finance), I knew all the math behind it, however when it came to the exam, the question that was asked was not how to calculate it, but why you calculate it in the first place. So in the practice exams the calculation was worth 6 marks, but in the exam the calculation was only worth 2 marks and the explanation was worth 4 marks. I had no idea and had to guess, obviously I didn't get it correct, and if I did it wouldn't have been full marks since I wrote 1-2 sentences.

So I realised this and this previous semester I went out of my way to FULLY understand why we did things and why they exist in the first place, and not just memorise or wrote learn the process of calculating something. Least to say this was my best semester I've had results wise. I scored my highest ever, which was a 99 in an Econometrics subject.

Now, why did this shift improve so much? Because in the exam, especially at masters level, a lot of students (I hate to say it, but a lot of international students) just wrote learn answers and don't understand the backing behind them. Due to this, lectures know that if they want to make the exam harder, they ask questions that can't be wrote learnt and test understanding. When you go out of your way to fully understand the WHY and HOW behind a concept, almost no question will stump you, and during reading time as you go through the exam, you'll actually be relieved because you feel you can answer every question, rather than stressing and making small mistakes.

[alchemy]

Is there a quota for the subject?

Nope, doesn't say that in the handbook, which is why i'm curious..

[exit]

Hey already asked some people but might as well post here,

I'm currently a 1st year BCom student and was planning on majoring in Actuarial studies. However, I was thinking of adding a Finance major too, although I will only be able to gain a max of 6/8 of Part I exemptions.. (not sure yet)

What variations to the Actuarial course plan do I need to make (aka do I need to change any subjects or anything if I choose to double major)?
Am I able to gain my part II exemption by doing a Master of Commerce (actuarial science) if I choose to double major?(i know you can't enter actuarial  honours if double majoring)

Also a fun question! Is it possible to get a mark of 100 for a subject after a subject scales? I got 99 for Principles of Finance, so was just curious about this haha

[notes3075]

What variations to the Actuarial course plan do I need to make (aka do I need to change any subjects or anything if I choose to double major)?
Am I able to gain my part II exemption by doing a Master of Commerce (actuarial science) if I choose to double major?(i know you can't enter actuarial  honours if double majoring)

G'day, 2nd-year student here. I did do Actuarial in sem 1 of my first year, but have since changed majors (now I'm doing Eco/Fin). Best to consult M909 about this.

Also a fun question! Is it possible to get a mark of 100 for a subject after a subject scales? I got 99 for Principles of Finance, so was just curious about this haha

I did Principles in sem 1 last year, where the exam was scaled up by 6 marks (printing error on the last question - 8 marks - which was announced via speakerphone in REB with 15 min left). And I do know someone who achieved the holy grail of 100 in the subject (probably a historical record), which obviously was after scaling due to the printing error - everyone in the cohort would have benefitted from the scaling (maybe except those who full-mark the exam), and the marks showing in my.unimelb are after all scaling has been done.

And a somewhat relevant afterthought...I think that subject grades are capped at 100 in uni, irrespective of the scaling, unlike VCE study scores, where spesh goes from 50 to 55. Just an afterthought though, I might be wrong.

By the way, you will be famous for your 99 haha...expect it to spread like wildfire if you've told a few of your friends about it   

[chekside]

Just making sure I'm reading the breadth requirements correctly for science, it says at least 12.5 points of breadth at Level 2 or Level 3 and I have done 25 points at Level 2, so this means I don't need to do any breadth at Level 3?

[Escobar]

Just did class registration. There is an unavoidable lecture clash for ACTL30003 and ACTL30005, both are 3rd year actuarial subjects (and affect all actuarial students) so I didn't expect that
Is this intended? Are we expected to attend both lectures?

[Wilsonj]

Just making sure I'm reading the breadth requirements correctly for science, it says at least 12.5 points of breadth at Level 2 or Level 3 and I have done 25 points at Level 2, so this means I don't need to do any breadth at Level 3?

Yep, as long as you've done Level 2 breadth you don't need to do a level 3.

[stolenclay]

Just did class registration. There is an unavoidable lecture clash for ACTL30003 and ACTL30005, both are 3rd year actuarial subjects (and affect all actuarial students) so I didn't expect that
Is this intended? Are we expected to attend both lectures?

You could raise it up with the subject coordinators. Potentially an oversight, unless it's a rotational lecture (which happened with AMI, AMII, and FM3 in my year in the form of a 3-way "clash" of lectures on the timetable).

[96n_n]

Hello! If anyone has completed Stochastic Modelling last year or modern applied Statistics and has the PDF or lecture slides/recordings for this subject, can you please pm me

[aw090]

Hey, for COMP10001 Foundations of Computing, do you NEED a laptop for the workshops? My old Macbook has bit the dust and I'm thinking to switching to a cheap chromebook for this semester.

[alinewang]

Hi there,

I feel so embarrassed to post on here. But, i'm so scared right now.  So any help I can receive would be so greatly appreciated.
- I'm in my 2nd year of Commerce at Uni Melb.
- I failed, 6/8 subjects in year 1 due to severe family and financial situations.
- I attended a CUPC meeting and the outcome was my study load being reduced to 3 subjects per semester.
- I did summer school and failed 1 subject.
- I passed 2/3 subjects this semester.
- I have to attend another CUPC in July.

I feel sick to the stomach. I need some advice on how to ensure that i'm not kicked out. I'm not a bad student, I went to a select entry school, I'm just a victim of circumstance and lost self esteem. Please please please help!

[Orb]

A half-rant/half-advice-seeking post (from a UoM BCom student):

So...on ATARNotes, especially in the results thread, I see plenty of people averaging high 80's and even in the 90's in a semester's work, even in 2nd- and 3rd-year with much harder subjects, irrespective of the discipline. And it seems that they've done that whilst also having a part-time job and a decent social life, while I'm sitting here typing this with an 84.3 WAM, a few friends who I only see at uni and nowhere else, no involvement in societies (CSS, FMAA, etc.), and no job, apart from an internship at a boutique consulting firm for a month - only because the MD knows me personally. Not to mention that I keep overestimating my final grades by around 5-10 marks half the time - although I have scored 83 or better in 10 subjects out of my 14, and have 11 H1s (I have 2 H2Bs and an H2A that are responsible for dragging the wam down).

The main issue is, that I don't waste anywhere near as much time on social media and clickbait as last year, and I certainly do feel that I've worked a lot harder this semester than any previous semester. But I feel that some of the effort has gone to waste, having made careless mistakes in all 4 exams this semester (making careless mistakes in life has been a part of me since childhood), and recording my lowest semester wam in my degree (83) - albeit by less than 2 wam points.

I was aiming for Dean's List this year, but I feel that it's out of my reach now. So to those who are on Dean's List...I (and perhaps plenty of other ATARNotes users) would like to know what it takes to reach your level. Is it all genetics and natural selection, or is it some other formula of productivity, efficiency, and memorisation? Or maybe it starts with a 99+ ATAR and years of being studious, where the foundations for effective learning are already laid out?

And also, is it poisonous to internally set high (and maybe a tiny bit unrealistic) standards for oneself? I feel like every 90+ score I've got (4x) has come from just taking it easy and not thinking about the end result, i.e. "Just Do It" - Nike. Maybe the pressure makes people choke in the exam...

(on a sidenote: I did spend half of my life trying to be a professional sportsperson, during which I did the bare minimum when it came to studying. But after quitting - for undisclosed reasons - I like to think that I've caught up to the rest of my peers to a decent extent)

Sincerely,
2nd-year BCom student

In all honesty, an 84.3 WAM opens pretty much every door, WAM-wise (provided the rest of your CV is on par). There's 100% no necessity to get a Dean's WAM. If you think about it, it's the top 3% of students, and even if every student studied religiously, 97% of students would miss out.

That's more than 29 in every 30 students.

It isn't poisonous to aim high, but it does get a bit toxic once you attach too much meaning to the outcome. Take it easier on yourself if you feel that you've put enough effort in the process. Your effort this semester isn't measured by your end WAM, in fact the work ethic will spur you to greater heights in the future.

Take a look at what it is that you want most. Is it truly a 87+ or dean's list WAM or is it the doors that the WAM opens up for you? If 87+, then by all means keep striving to get those marks (but ultimately these marks are pretty meaningless compared to what you actually get out of the subject). If the doors, then there is just as much possibility for you to open these doors through other activities unrelated to grades.

Anecdotally, I interned at one of the best consulting firms you could intern at in my 2nd year, my WAM was, at the time, 5 whole points lower than the next lowest intern. I know at least, off the top of my head, 10 friends who had higher WAMs than me (up to as much as 10 whole points higher) but were unsuccessful in the process. The key here is to play to your strengths. Feel free to PM me if you want further clarification or a second opinion.

Hope that helps!

Hi there,

I feel so embarrassed to post on here. But, i'm so scared right now.  So any help I can receive would be so greatly appreciated.
- I'm in my 2nd year of Commerce at Uni Melb.
- I failed, 6/8 subjects in year 1 due to severe family and financial situations.
- I attended a CUPC meeting and the outcome was my study load being reduced to 3 subjects per semester.
- I did summer school and failed 1 subject.
- I passed 2/3 subjects this semester.
- I have to attend another CUPC in July.

I feel sick to the stomach. I need some advice on how to ensure that i'm not kicked out. I'm not a bad student, I went to a select entry school, I'm just a victim of circumstance and lost self esteem. Please please please help!

Reduce your study load further to build up your confidence. There's no use in you trying to strong-arm 3 subjects only to fail 1 (or 2) of them. Instead, do 1 or 2 and make sure you do your very very best for them. After you get your first 70 (or 75, or 80) the self-esteem will naturally come back. Take it easy and look after yourself!

[Meddling]

If there is lecture 2 on Monday, and lecture 1 on Wednesday, does it really matter? (these two slots are the only option for some reason)

Also, i have two subjects, where both of them only have one lecture streams, and they happen to clash -.- So does class registration allow me to register into same time slot for 2 different subjects?

[thesplaaashman]

hello. i've just come out of comp10001 (barely unscathed) and to answer your question, you don't really 'need' a laptop. each week is comprised of two workshops and in the second session, you're escorted to one of the university's computer labs where you can use your student id to log in and work on your weekly exercises/projects. keep in mind though that the official timeslot with which your class is booked at the lab is only for an hour, although i think you can keep your head down and stick around inside if you have no access to a proper computer at home. but, for the most part, any device that runs an internet browser should work fine, since you'll mostly be learning python through groklearning (a website). heck, i used to check on my code on my hunk-of-crap iphone.

hope that helped!

I'm going to do COMP10001 in the coming semester. So are you saying that having a laptop isn't really necessary for COMP10001? Is it still benificial to buy one, or will it not help? Thanks!

[junyper]

I'm going to do COMP10001 in the coming semester. So are you saying that having a laptop isn't really necessary for COMP10001? Is it still benificial to buy one, or will it not help? Thanks!

You don't need to bring a laptop to the computer labs during workshop, but you will need to have one at home so you can do your worksheets and projects as it is impossible to be complete them in the workshops