Difficulty of getting H1s

[Soul_Khan]

Hey guys. Just wondering the difficulty of getting H1s at Uni. I've been told by many people that it is extremely hard to do so.. but how hard would you say it is in a Science or Biomedicine degree? How many hours would you study, the type of studying that you would do and how you would compare it to getting say a study score of 45 or an A+ in a particular subject in VCE.

This is assuming that you don't get a 'brilliant' enter but a decent one (using SEAS) which satisfies the entry requirements for the degree.

I know that it differs for everyone but I'm looking for a general idea of the difficulty. I'm planning on doing Science at Melbourne or Monash in the hopes of undertaking postgraduate studies afterwards and need to know what I'm getting myself into.

[golden]

You will realise how hard it is actually to say how much you studied a week because it is so varied in University - things are going all over the place, and you just have to adjust to the University life.

Getting H1 is hard, no doubt, but you can get them even without doing a subject related to it in VCE provided you just do the right thing. As you might already know, 80-100 constitutes an H1; just ensure that you attend the tutorials for aspects you are confused with, and ask when you don't know something. Lots of the lectures are recorded, so if you don't attend, you haven't missed the whole lecture itself. Some people don't go to the lectures because it doesn't help them that much, and it's something that you need to decide for yourself whether it benefits you or not.

I think the answer to your question about studying should be addressed next year, by yourself, because people study so differently.

A good aspect is that everyone is on a more level playing field as compared to VCE, but other than that, get the work done that they set and you're already ahead of many (a lot of people actually don't do the work they may give out)!

[Starlight]

Out of my first semester I got 3/4 H1s. Most of it (so far) is rote learning, so if you work consistently, and have a decent study plan for exams (I started studying about 3 weeks before swotvac which is one week) then it's definitely possible to get H1s. A lot of people completely bomb out in Uni after doing year 12, i don't know why but I guess they just start to get lazy after such a long holiday. I'd say most work pretty hard though, because we all want a good GPA

It's really not as hard as people say it is, not if you work at it.

It's MUCH MORE EASIER than getting a SS of 45+ I didn't even get an SS above 35. Anyway, a subject goes for 1 semester anyway, and then we start sem 2 with new subjects. (holidays are fun in that respect, no need to look over semester 1)

Edit: As golden mentioned, lectures are recorded. This helped me a hell of a lot, esp. with chemistry, often I didn't understand something at all, revisited the lecture again at home (listening to it again), and it just helped so much.
Regularly attending tutes is important, starting assignments early, attending topic tutorials (they have these for bio- v. helpful), and visiting tutors during consultation hours helps too

[ligands]

the hardest way to get a H1 is by going to monash

[Starlight]

the hardest way to get a H1 is by going to monash

Monash students? Agree/ Disagree?

[Hancock]

I didn't get any raw scores above 45 (see below), but getting a H1 is all about consistency. As long as you put in the work, you will get rewards. I made sure I did extra work throughout the semester, such as extra questions in the recommended physics book, which all paid off when I got all my H1's being 90+. Start SWOTVAC early and make sure you go to all your tutorials, it's where most of the content was learnt, for me anyway.

[pi]

the hardest way to get a H1 is by going to monash

Monash students? Agree/ Disagree?

Definitely agree.

If I got a Credit average I would be happy, no joke.

[Russ]

It's a joke because Monash doesn't have H1s lol

[Starlight]

It's a joke because Monash doesn't have H1s lol

Oh yeah they have HDs lol, forgot about how their grading scheme worked for a moment

[anonymous1]

Like others have said at university the amount of effort you put in is directly proportional to the exam result you get, this is unlike VCE because in VCE someone can rote learn for example biology but still not pull off a good mark because you need to apply your knowledge, thus far I have found that majority of uni exams are based on how much you have memorized the lecture slides with a few application questions. But I've only done one sem. Also it depends on the subject, for example most science subjects are like this but not arts...arts is weird and difficult!!

[Hancock]

Just a note, don't worry about lower ATARs, unless you have guaranteed entry into Med/Law/other post-grad stuff? if doesn't really mean anything. My best mate didn't get into Melb Sci with an 81 ATAR, does Mech Eng at Swinburne now and got 3 HDs this semester. While it isn't Melbourne like you asked, it's still a great accomplishment in my book.

[Soul_Khan]

Thanks for the reply guys. May I ask why is it so hard to get a HD at Monash?

[pi]

Thanks for the reply guys. May I ask why is it so hard to get a HD at Monash?

I just find it's nearly impossible. I'm working harder than I did in VCE and I doubt I will ever get there

But then again, I only have one exam for the semester, so they make it pretty damn tough (and the cohort is extremely bright - if using ATARs is a good reference).

(or maybe I'm just not very good...)

[Russ]

Going from high school into uni is a big enough jump, throwing a med degree in is even bigger. If you'd done science etc. then you'd probably be finding it easier to get HDs

[Starlight]

Thanks for the reply guys. May I ask why is it so hard to get a HD at Monash?

I just find it's nearly impossible. I'm working harder than I did in VCE and I doubt I will ever get there

But then again, I only have one exam for the semester, so they make it pretty damn tough (and the cohort is extremely bright - if using ATARs is a good reference).

(or maybe I'm just not very good...)

I guess it's all applications on the exam?