Units?

[G-lain]

This might sound ridiculous, but units don't really make much sense to me.
I understand the idea, but I'm having trouble understanding how they relate to your major/minor.

It would be super awesome if one of you guys could shed some light on this, sorry if it's a bit dumb hahaha.

[JinXi]

May we know what degree are you enrolled in so we can refer the relevant major/minor page to you?

Basically, the first step to completing a degree is having the minimum credit point requirement. (Most units awards 6 credit point). Secondly, within a degree, you normally get to choose one or two major. To complete that major, they also have a set of units that you must complete.

Consider this analogy, your degree in university is the same as VCE. Within VCE, you must complete English and some other subjects. These subjects are like your major (except you only get 1/2 in uni). To satisfy the English subject in VCE, you must complete your outcomes etc., which is comparably to the units within a major in uni.

Hope I didn't confuse you even more with this

[G-lain]

Whoops, I'm enrolling in a Bachelor of Science.

Thank you, that cleared things up a lot. But do I have to plan ahead for the first year? I'm not really sure what I want to major/minor in yet.

[JinXi]

For science,

This page tells you how to complete your degree,
Link.

And this page tells you how to complete a major, which is necessary to complete your degree in science.
Link.

Also the science handbook has some general information about first year units etc.
Link.

Have a read up on them and if you have any other questions just ask

[G-lain]

Thank you for those links, two more question though.

Do I have to decide my major/minor now? Say for example I wanted to major in developmental biology, and I hadn't done a perquisite first year unit, would I be able to do that unit in second or third year?

And finally, how many units can we choose a semester? I'm assuming we do four a semester right?

[JinXi]

Thank you for those links, two more question though.

Do I have to decide my major/minor now? Say for example I wanted to major in developmental biology, and I hadn't done a perquisite first year unit, would I be able to do that unit in second or third year?

And finally, how many units can we choose a semester? I'm assuming we do four a semester right?

To get a major, all you have to do is complete all the required units. However, do take note that some required units have pre-reqs. that are not part of your major, so in fact it'll be necessary to do more units than what is stated to complete a major. Also, yes, if you haven't done a pre-req first year unit, you can do that in second/third/fourth - tenth year. There is no fixed structure in uni, and as long as you meet all the requirements for your degree, you can apply to graduate.

The average workload for a semester is 4, but you are allowed to overload with 5 units (generally not advisable for 1st semester 1st year) on WES without official approval (even though you actually need approval, but WES lets you do it). To overload with 6 or more units, you need to see your course adviser and get them to add the extra unit in. You got to have a damn good reason for doing so though.

[G-lain]

Thank you so, so much, you've been a great help!