First Year BBiomed queries

[Limista]

Hi! So, I'm a total and complete novice at unimelb jargon etc. , so I have some questions that I'd like to ask, which I've been tossing around in my mind.

* if I don't major in Bioengineering Systems, is it possible for me to graduate as a biomedical engineer?

* some maths/physics subjects in this undergrad degree are more advanced than others. Like Calculus 2 is more advanced than calculus 1. I'm just wondering whether the type of subject you pick (where you have a choice) influences your GPA?

* does the major you pick influence your career choices?

* are there 4 compulsory breadths that are picked for you already by the uni? And then you have to pick another 2 at level one? Should the 2 breadth subjects you choose relate to the major you're thinking of doing, or can they be something random?

thanks

[vox nihili]

Hi! So, I'm a total and complete novice at unimelb jargon etc. , so I have some questions that I'd like to ask, which I've been tossing around in my mind.

* if I don't major in Bioengineering Systems, is it possible for me to graduate as a biomedical engineer?

* some maths/physics subjects in this undergrad degree are more advanced than others. Like Calculus 2 is more advanced than calculus 1. I'm just wondering whether the type of subject you pick (where you have a choice) influences your GPA?

* does the major you pick influence your career choices?

* are there 4 compulsory breadths that are picked for you already by the uni? And then you have to pick another 2 at level one? Should the 2 breadth subjects you choose relate to the major you're thinking of doing, or can they be something random?

thanks

It is possible, but you'd still need to do the undergrad maths requirements and would add on a year to the masters of Eng. So you'd need to do calc 2 and linear algebra

The subject you pick of course could influence your GPA. Calc 1 is specialist maths essentially. Calc 2 is uni calculus.

The major you pick is not absolute, but of course it can influence where you head career wise, particularly if you want to go on to further study.

The uni does not select your breadth. You select your own. I would encourage you to pursue things that interest you and not worry about their relevance whatsoever.

[Limista]

The uni does not select your breadth. You select your own. I would encourage you to pursue things that interest you and not worry about their relevance whatsoever.

So I have to pick 6 breadths?

[Shenz0r]

I'm not too sure about your first question, so I'll leave it to somebody who's actually majoring in Bioengineering to answer that.

If you're in Biomed, you don't have a choice on what maths subjects you can pick unless you do a concurrent diploma. Normal 1st year biomeds are forced to do stats and Maths for Biomed since they're 1st year cores, but if you choose the Bioengineering stream you have to do Calculus 2 and Linear Algebra instead. And nope, the type of subject you pick does not influence your GPA (for MD admissions that is - for other GPA systems, some subjects might be weighted more than others but that depends on how many credit points they're worth).

I don't think your major is tremendously crucial to your career choices - but it would be pretty important for things like Honours years, etc. If you apply for post-graduate health science courses it almost makes zilch of an impact.

And no, your breadths are entirely picked by you alone. But a breadth is a subject that is outside of your course, i.e, an arts subject if you're doing a science/biomed degree. So it won't relate to the major you're thinking of doing. You only need to do a minimum of 4 breadth subjects over your degree, and only a maximum of 3 of your breadths can be level 1.

[Limista]

The subject you pick of course could influence your GPA. Calc 1 is specialist maths essentially. Calc 2 is uni calculus.

I'll just clarify what I mean here:

Is it the score you obtain in the subject that they look at, or which subject you do? Like would you be given a higher GPA if you did calculus 2 because of the greater complexity of the subject? What I mean is, is calculus 2 more favourably looked upon than calculus 1 for GPA calculation, just because it's more advanced?

Hopefully this is comprehensible.

[vox nihili]

I'll just clarify what I mean here:

Is it the score you obtain in the subject that they look at, or which subject you do? Like would you be given a higher GPA if you did calculus 2 because of the greater complexity of the subject? What I mean is, is calculus 2 more favourably looked upon than calculus 1 for GPA calculation, just because it's more advanced?

Hopefully this is comprehensible.

Sadly no. Long gone are the days of scaling.

[Shenz0r]

It's just the scores, not which subject you do. There's not really any scaling between subjects like there is in VCE.

[Limista]

If you're in Biomed, you don't have a choice on what maths subjects you can pick unless you do a concurrent diploma. Normal 1st year biomeds are forced to do stats and Maths for Biomed since they're 1st year cores.

That's strange. I distinctly remember the student handbook giving us a choice; can't we pick the one maths subject we want to do out of calculus 1/2, accelerated maths and linear algebra?

And no, your breadths are entirely picked by you alone. But a breadth is a subject that is outside of your course, i.e, an arts subject if you're doing a science/biomed degree. So it won't relate to the major you're thinking of doing. You only need to do a minimum of 4 breadth subjects over your degree, and only a maximum of 3 of your breadths can be level 1.

How many breadths did you pick this year? 2?
So the breadth subject you pick HAS to be totally unrelated to the biomed degree; at the same time being something that interests you?

Also, do you mind explaining what a breadth track is?

[vox nihili]

That's strange. I distinctly remember the student handbook giving us a choice; can't we pick the one maths subject we want to do out of calculus 1/2, accelerated maths and linear algebra?

How many breadths did you pick this year? 2?
So the breadth subject you pick HAS to be totally unrelated to the biomed degree; at the same time being something that interests you?

Also, do you mind explaining what a breadth track is?

You can't pick, you have to do Maths for Biomed unless you do BioEng.

And the number of breadths you do each year is your choice, though overall you do a minimum of 4 max of 6.
Has to be unrelated.

Track is a series of related breadth subjects.

[Shenz0r]

I do know a few people picked accelerated maths, but they were doing a maths diploma as well as their degree. Apart from that, you don't get a choice in 1st year biomed really lol. 1st year is probably the most inflexible part of the degree, the only subjects you can actually pick are your breadths.

Yeah, I picked 2 breadths this year. In semester 1 it was a linguistics sort of subject (lvl 1), in semester 2 it was like the history of medicine (lvl 2). Many people do languages, drawing, music, there's a lot.

A breadth track is something like doing Spanish or Chinese as breadth for three or more subjects, which get progressively difficult. In a breadth track, the subjects tend to focus on the same things but they get more and more advanced.

[Limista]

And the number of breadths you do each year is your choice, though overall you do a minimum of 4 max of 6.

Are there exams/assignments/tests on breadth subjects? Do these marks contribute to our GPA?

[Scooby]

That's strange. I distinctly remember the student handbook giving us a choice; can't we pick the one maths subject we want to do out of calculus 1/2, accelerated maths and linear algebra?

You might have been reading the 2012 handbook 

[vox nihili]

Are there exams/assignments/tests on breadth subjects? Do these marks contribute to our GPA?

Absolutely. Breadth subjects are normally just "normal" subjects in other degrees. They count just as much to your GPA as do Biomed subjects.

[Limista]

I do know a few people picked accelerated maths, but they were doing a maths diploma as well as their degree. Apart from that, you don't get a choice in 1st year biomed really lol. 1st year is probably the most inflexible part of the degree, the only subjects you can actually pick are your breadths.

Yeah, I picked 2 breadths this year. In semester 1 it was a linguistics sort of subject (lvl 1), in semester 2 it was like the history of medicine (lvl 2). Many people do languages, drawing, music, there's a lot.

A breadth track is something like doing Spanish or Chinese as breadth for three or more subjects, which get progressively difficult. In a breadth track, the subjects tend to focus on the same things but they get more and more advanced.

So we need 75 breadth points over the 3 years of our bbiomed degree, yes?

This means if I do 2 breadths in 2014, I'll have 25 points. Which leaves me with 50 more points, meaning I have to do 2 breadths in level 2 and level 3, right?

In a breadth track, isn't there 5 breadth subjects? Does this mean that the breadth track you choose compensates for the entire 3 yrs of the bbiomed degree?

Would you recommend going with the breadth tracks option, or handpicking your own breadths? And why? THANKS!

[Limista]

You might have been reading the 2012 handbook 

quite possible, but pretty sure it was the 2013 one? hmmm.