UMEP Philosophy!

[HossRyams]

Hey guys I'm quite interested in taking UMEP philosophy in 2013 as philosophy is by far my favourite subject and I would just love the experience and everything, so I was just wondering if anyone knows much about the course itself or did it this year or before and could tell me a bit about it as well as how they manged their year 12 subjects, transport, hobbies and all that!
It would be much appreciated, thanks in advance

[krith]

Hello! Sorry for the lateness of this post but here goes..

I did UMEP Philosophy this year as well as having done 3/4 Philosophy last year in year11. I'll be honest, although Phil was one of my favorite subjects mainly because it's one of the few that can actually change and impact you to a greater degree than other subjects, it wasn't simple doing UMEP philosophy and this isn't because it was ridiculously difficult or anything but it had more to do with the balance I kind of lacked between uni and school. I don't live far from Melbourne uni and from my school it's a 25 or so minute tram ride away but nonetheless transport in regard to times does make a difference. In first semester, I had to travel three times a week (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) for two lectures and a tute and despite most of them being between the times of 3-6pm, it does take a lot out of you to come home at 7ish on some days and then get straight into homework or study for sacs the next day, etc. Also for some days, you might need to take time off from some classes (e.g. I took about half an hour off every Monday and Wednesday to make it to my lectures and subsequently had to miss out on half an hour of Chem and psych each week). If you live further than me like some other UMEP kids I met, it's pretty draining but worse comes to worse, you can always listen to the lectures online and there are always notes attached and only spend one day a week going to the tutes if transport becomes an issue. The subject itself is pretty great especially if you enjoy the VCE course because there's some overlap whilst there's also a lot of new philosophers and topics you discuss. It's also really great for meeting new people (despite the weird looks you might get once they find out you're still in year12 ), particularly in your tutes 'cause it's a small group of people. The lecturers are also really good and funny and the tutors are helpful, so in that regard I say go for it if you enjoy the subject but still remember that if you can't balance school with this kind of course, maybe think twice because sometimes I wish I did when I chose it. Also with exams, it became a bit stressful because I had all my VCE exams (during mid years, my philosophy exam was on the same day as both my Psych and Chem exam o.O and although I got it changed and did a supplementary exam, stress nonetheless). The assignments aren't too difficult although I left most till the last minute, but note that the way you approach them might be a bit different from the philosophy work you might do at school (e.g. They really really discourage you from using other resources for critiques of philosophers and rather you do your own critique which is good to test your understanding of the topics but is difficult when in high school you might have used a crapload of external sources for yr12 Philosophy) wow I realised this is getting really long but I hope this helped you a little bit and if you have any questions feel free to ask

[HossRyams]

Hey thanks so much for your reply!!

 I'm really hoping for my school to allow me to be a part-time student and have 3 VCE subjects and this course as my 4th. (Did you do 4 VCE subjects and UMEP philosophy in year 12?) However I think due to funding issues, I'll most likely have to do 4 VCE subjects + UMEP, and I'm worried it'll be too much. Philosophy is definitely my favourite subject - I'll be doing year 12 alongside the university course though - do you think that's an issue? My school didn't offer it as a subject you can take early as it is new.

Transport will be an issue for me unfortunately, I think I may be able to only attend one lecture per week maximum, but I'm fine with watching them at home, I think I have good self-discipline lol.
But I really would love the experience and I suppose I could always drop out if it really does impact my work too much. And well at least for the mid-years, they don't exist next year so I shouldn't have that problem. And I believe their end of year exams are in October (I think, from the lecture I visited... Not 100% sure) so that won't be a problem either.

I think I'm pretty good at balancing things overall, I did two 3/4s this year and still kept up with music and out of school sports and still had heaps of time to loiter around on the internet and I still studied hard I say. But I really just have no idea to what degree this UMEP will affect my VCE subjects D:

[krith]

One of my friends did the part-time thing and did three VCE subjects and uni biology and I think she found it pretty manageable. I think you'll find it really helpful if you got to do that, if possible and you've done two 3/4s this year (my friend also did two 3/4s in year11 but I think it's just really up to your school and whether or not they'll let you). I personally did four VCE subjects (english, psych, chem and revs) with uni Phil as did two of my other friends and it's really just a balance issue which you seem to have pretty much mastered You pretty much have to treat it like another one of your subjects so tutes are essential to do to like your classes, etc but it's a bit more lenient (like you don't need to go to all the lectures, which is good in regard to transport problems, unless the lectures are conveniently at the same time as your free periods). All up, it's really about balancing everything and if you can do that, it shouldn't make too much of a big deal as to whether you're doing 3 or 4 subjects at school, but it would obviously be preferable for your sanity during year12 to do 3 as well as to reduce a lot of stress, but it's not essential as everybody else who did a UMEP subject at my school (about 5 or 6) all did 4 VCE subjects + UMEP

Not sure if they're changing the end of year exam for Philosophy, but mine's next Wednesday and definitely not in October (I think they do change from year to year though) but again balance, if it's a day after or before one of your VCE exams, obviously focus more on your VCE exams but still prepare for Philosophy (remember that if it does get too stressful that your UMEP subject will automatically be counted as your 6th subject regardless of how high you get so definitely put more focus on your VCE and treat UMEP as more of an enjoyable experience that you have to study for to a lesser degree)

It really was a good experience though, when I think about it and you will meet a lot of different people and it's a good kind of break from the stresses of the school environment, etc. If you have any more questions feel free to ask again (I'll tell you one thing though, if your exam is scheduled one whole week after your last VCE exam, it's one hell of a bitch to study for also don't forget there's a lot of reading to do, but you'll be used to that when you're doing Philosophy next year )

[HossRyams]

Ahh thanks again so much, you've really helped
I guess I'll just have to hope I can be an exception to my school's rule - I know they don't want to allow 3 subjects + UMEP because it will encourage other students to do so, but maybe if I could just say if I got these marks... then get them, then I should be allowed. If I could do that, it would be the perfect year for me, 4 subjects, half of them philosophy then English and politics *dreams come true*
I'm so keen on the experience aspect and meeting new people though! I think it'll be really cool to meet people from other schools with similar interests and I'm also interested to see the standard of university work.

Thanks again! I may or may not message you in the future if I have any queries

[Azerel]

Ahh thanks again so much, you've really helped
I guess I'll just have to hope I can be an exception to my school's rule - I know they don't want to allow 3 subjects + UMEP because it will encourage other students to do so, but maybe if I could just say if I got these marks... then get them, then I should be allowed. If I could do that, it would be the perfect year for me, 4 subjects, half of them philosophy then English and politics *dreams come true*
I'm so keen on the experience aspect and meeting new people though! I think it'll be really cool to meet people from other schools with similar interests and I'm also interested to see the standard of university work.

Thanks again! I may or may not message you in the future if I have any queries

Good luck, Youshine - I hope you get in! 

[Aurelian]

If it's any comparison I did 5 3/4 subjects in year 12 as well as UMEP philo and I found the workload fine =) I'd definitely recommend doing it, if only so you can go straight to second year philosophy subjects if you want to do more philo at uni.

[HossRyams]

Ahh thanks again so much, you've really helped
I guess I'll just have to hope I can be an exception to my school's rule - I know they don't want to allow 3 subjects + UMEP because it will encourage other students to do so, but maybe if I could just say if I got these marks... then get them, then I should be allowed. If I could do that, it would be the perfect year for me, 4 subjects, half of them philosophy then English and politics *dreams come true*
I'm so keen on the experience aspect and meeting new people though! I think it'll be really cool to meet people from other schools with similar interests and I'm also interested to see the standard of university work.

Thanks again! I may or may not message you in the future if I have any queries

Good luck, Youshine - I hope you get in! 

Thank you!

If it's any comparison I did 5 3/4 subjects in year 12 as well as UMEP philo and I found the workload fine =) I'd definitely recommend doing it, if only so you can go straight to second year philosophy subjects if you want to do more philo at uni.

Oh wow! You must be incredible at managing your time, haha!

[nisha]

It is possible. One of my friends completed Physics, Methods, Specialist Maths, English Language, Media and UMEP Maths, all in the one year. Plus she was a part of the leadership team and worked on making movies for chapels and assemblies. But that meant that she only came to certain classes as she was always tied up doing something.

[krith]

Ahh thanks again so much, you've really helped
I guess I'll just have to hope I can be an exception to my school's rule - I know they don't want to allow 3 subjects + UMEP because it will encourage other students to do so, but maybe if I could just say if I got these marks... then get them, then I should be allowed. If I could do that, it would be the perfect year for me, 4 subjects, half of them philosophy then English and politics *dreams come true*
I'm so keen on the experience aspect and meeting new people though! I think it'll be really cool to meet people from other schools with similar interests and I'm also interested to see the standard of university work.

Thanks again! I may or may not message you in the future if I have any queries

Sorry for this ridiculously late response...exams and everything finished so I buried myself in catching up on tv shows and wasting my life Seriously, I'd love to help in any way I can so feel free to message me. I got my results yesterday and seriously UMEP Phil did help out, so on top of the awesomeness of Philosophy, it really is good in contributing towards your ATAR