Do subjects scale?

[acrimony]

I've heard that some subjects scale up or down according to difficulty, is this true?

[Russ]

Subjects never scale. Some subjects have quotas for the maximum amount of H1s they can give etc and some  may give bonus marks, but your final mark will always stay the same relative to other subjects

[Gloamglozer]

I think it depends on the subject.  Notoriously difficult subjects such as MAST20026 Real Analysis with Applications have been scaled up in the past.

But in the end, it is up to the discretion of the subject coordinator(s).

[dc302]

There can be internal scaling, so even if you get 80% on every single assessment, your final mark may not be 80. Chinese is a good example..

[azure]

.... so would Chinese generally be scaled up or down?

[dc302]

.... so would Chinese generally be scaled up or down?

Down due to all the hc internationals unfortunately... unless you are a hc international!

[azure]

Unfortunately no Did my Chinese for vce in year 11 and since the exam, I've forgotten almost everything... Generally what stream do they throw post-vce students into? Is it level 7 that has been mentioned a couple of times here or an even more difficult one? I can listen but am pretty poor for all other areas.

On a side note, how did you find Jap? And does Jap scaled down as well?

[dc302]

Unfortunately no Did my Chinese for vce in year 11 and since the exam, I've forgotten almost everything... Generally what stream do they throw post-vce students into? Is it level 7 that has been mentioned a couple of times here or an even more difficult one? I can listen but am pretty poor for all other areas.

On a side note, how did you find Jap? And does Jap scaled down as well?

Are you chinese background though? If so then most likely 7. Otherwise, a lower level. Japanese was easy for me, but that's because I've been studying japanese since yr9 (unlike chinese, which I studied for a few years in primary school...) It also doesn't really scale afaik because there are hardly any international japanese students. In japanese 4a (japanese 7) you're pretty much competing with chinese internationals, who are good at kanji (obviously), the people who've been on exchange for a while, and generally people who are just good at japanese.

[azure]

Yep, I'm Chinese. In this case, it seems to be an unfortunate situation lol.

I think my Japanese is around the same standard as my Chinese except I'm better at writing, worse off in listening/speaking but also maybe at the same time less rusty seeing as I finished last year. Will my weaknesses become a big problem...? Did you find Jap interesting & did it have a heavy workload? Is the course fast-paced?

[dc302]

Yep, I'm Chinese. In this case, it seems to be an unfortunate situation lol.

I think my Japanese is around the same standard as my Chinese except I'm better at writing, worse off in listening/speaking but also maybe at the same time less rusty seeing as I finished last year. Will my weaknesses become a big problem...? Did you find Jap interesting & did it have a heavy workload? Is the course fast-paced?

Since you can read decently, you should find japanese pretty easy I think. You will probably be placed into japanese 5/6, although the lecturer is pretty bad I think. Overall I wouldn't have enjoyed 5/6 at all (I crashed a few lectures with some of my friends who were doing it). Luckily I did 7/8, which was much better. I think you will find japanese 5/6 pretty easy. I don't think your weakness will be much of a problem. I don't think the course is fast either (in fact I don't think any uni subject I've done to be fast paced...except maybe anatomy, since it's hard to remember so much..)

[stonecold]

If and when the MAGPA is introduced, subjects will most likely scale.  I'd imagine it being very similar to VCE subject scaling.

Melbourne Adjusted Grade Point Average (MAGPA): GPA calculated by a method in which subject results are adjusted statistically to compensate for variation in subject difficulty and marking practice, being trialled for possible introduction across the University from 2012.

http://policy.unimelb.edu.au/UOM0415

[Russ]

That won't scale subjects, it'll just scale them during the conversion to (MA)GPA

[stonecold]

That won't scale subjects, it'll just scale them during the conversion to (MA)GPA

Which is the most important part... particularly if you need a certain GPA for post grad.