Doing 5 VCE subjects + UMEP?

[Interficere]

I'm only doing one 3/4 this year, and I was wondering if it's possible to do 5 subjects next year, as well as a uni extension subject. Would the main concern be the workload, or the timetabling?

I'll probably do either UMEP History or Philosophy. If I were to do UMEP Philosophy, would it be advisable to drop 3/4 Philosophy? It's not a requirement for UMEP Philosophy, but hey, if doing the VCE version of a uni subject would help, then I'd rather keep that and drop something else.

[thushan]

It's a LOT of work, 5 subjects + UMEP, from experience.

[wildareal]

It's a LOT of work, 4 subjects + MUEP, from experience!

[Jdog]

don't do 6 if you can help it.

doing 7 doesn't add anything!

i am unfortunately in a situation where i am doing 7, enforced by school.

[Interficere]

It's a LOT of work, 4 subjects + MUEP, from experience!

I'm not sure that my school will let me get away with doing just 3 VCE subjects next year, and either way, I'd like to have six subjects. Hopefully I'll be able to handle four + uni Philosophy. (:

[tram]

It's a LOT of work, 4 subjects + MUEP, from experience!

I'm not sure that my school will let me get away with doing just 3 VCE subjects next year, and either way, I'd like to have six subjects. Hopefully I'll be able to handle four + uni Philosophy. (:

haha three plus uni is what i got away with but my school had now tightened up a lot...

as for your original concern, 5+uni would be a bit of a stretch i would think... don't do it unless you have to...

[thushan]

Ditto.

[Aurelian]

I'm doing 5 + UMEP Philosophy this year, and did VCE Philosophy last year.

It's definitely manageable; it can be a bit of a pain at times, but both major assessments (each semester's 1400 word essay) fell - at least for me - in the holidays and hence I was never overly stressed for them. Aside from that, the other assignments are only ever like 300 word 'minipapers' (which is so stupid but that's for another time...) and can be done in like, 30 minutes. Furthermore, lecture attendance really isn't integral to success; I don't go to the lectures at all (only the tutes) and simply doing the readings should suffice.

That said, I don't know what kind of student you are, or how competent you are at philosophy, so you'd have to take that into consideration when making a final decision.

However, whatever you do, don't do UniPhil in place of VCE Philosophy. I notice that you don't appear to be doing Philosophy 1/2 and I think it would be a mistake to go straight into university level philosophy without having done any at high school level.

[Interficere]

I'm doing 5 + UMEP Philosophy this year, and did VCE Philosophy last year.

...

Heh, thanks - it's good to hear from someone who's doing UMEP Philosophy. Hope you don't mind answering a few more questions - did the readings overlap with what you'd learnt the previous year in 3/4 Philosophy? Philosophy 1/2 didn't run at my school this year, so I've only ever taken it as an elective. (So that being said, I'm going to take your word for it, and do Philosophy 3/4 as well as UMEP Philosophy) What are the tutorials like?

[Aurelian]

Heh, thanks - it's good to hear from someone who's doing UMEP Philosophy. Hope you don't mind answering a few more questions - did the readings overlap with what you'd learnt the previous year in 3/4 Philosophy? Philosophy 1/2 didn't run at my school this year, so I've only ever taken it as an elective. (So that being said, I'm going to take your word for it, and do Philosophy 3/4 as well as UMEP Philosophy) What are the tutorials like?

There is some overlap, yes. The Descartes you read, for example, is the exact same Descartes you read in Unit 4. That said, most of the stuff will probably be new to you if your only experience with Philosophy is going to be 3/4 VCE Philo. Unfortunately, it's in the 1/2 course that a lot of the Sem 2 work is covered (mind you I didn't do that anyway).

The quality of the tutorials is a bit of chance to be honest, depending on the tutor you happen to get. Some tutors are fantastic, others are abysmal. Mine have been okay. The tutorials themselves are generally pretty boring I find, particularly if you're not having any trouble with the readings. I just sort of sit there most weeks lol. Nevertheless, occasionally you can get some really stimulating discussion I imagine for someone who's new to philosophy, the tutes would be more enjoyable - what you have to remember is that these first year university philosophy courses are designed as introductory ones for people who, in the majority, have never actually done any formal philosophy before.

EDIT: Oh, I see you said you've taken philosophy as an elective? If you let me know the kind of things you've studied, I'll be able to be more helpful regarding 'overlapping'

[EvangelionZeta]

If you're smart, you'll breeze through UMEP.  Speaking as a first year uni student as well, it makes things much better once you hit uni - you can count more subjects towards your degree, or take time off (since you did subjects in year 12).  (:

[Interficere]

...

My year 10 elective focused on pre-Socratic philosophers for half the year, and then looked at Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Honestly, I don't mind if we review that content next year in either UMEP Philosophy or 3/4 Philosophy - I'm more curious as to how those two will overlap. It'd be helpful if 3/4 Philosophy covered similar content to UMEP, even if it could get a little repetitive.

If you're smart, you'll breeze through UMEP.  Speaking as a first year uni student as well, it makes things much better once you hit uni - you can count more subjects towards your degree, or take time off (since you did subjects in year 12).  (:

That's the problem, though. I'm not sure exactly how 'smart' is smart enough.

Thanks for all your replies, because it's been tough finding students at my school who are studying UMEP Philosophy - there's a real shortage of students who prefer the humanities over science. >.>

[Aurelian]

Yeah, look to be honest there isn't really that much explicit overlap between the VCE course and the UMEP course, aside from that Descartes stuff I mentioned. I guess, also, some of the Personal Identity unit could be considered as overlap with the Philosophy of Mind you do in Unit 4 (but not really, because they do it terribly).

Despite those being the only real areas of explicit overlap, though, the more philosophy you the more capable you will invariably become - I imagine that UMEP would help VCE Philo in the same sort of way that Spesh helps Methods.

[Interficere]

That's fine too, I guess. I just hope I don't get too overwhelmed by all the reading I'll inevitably have to do next year, considering my subjects. Now, all that remains is to maintain that A+ average. >.>

[wildareal]

don't do 6 if you can help it.

doing 7 doesn't add anything!

i am unfortunately in a situation where i am doing 7, enforced by school.

Then leave and go to CAE or TAFE to finish VCE-flexible hours and more time to study.