Monash 2014 Jaffy Tips & Questions Thread

[shooterblitz]

First off, the MSA Orientation Festival only runs from Monday to Thursday (as in, the clubs won't be there on Friday).

How long are your compulsory sessions? I didn't have time to see the festival on the days of my compulsory sessions because they were all-day things, and the stalls are only there from 11am to 3pm. They are usually the same each day, but some stalls may only run events on certain days.

Last year, I went for the whole week, because I didn't finish seeing all the stalls in one day (and I also had two all-day compulsory sessions).

I recommend at least one full day of just checking out the Orientation Festival, going around to all the stalls, joining all the clubs, grabbing all the free food. Go with your friends. It's a lot of fun.

I'm at Caulfield campus, would that be the same?

My first session is 8.30-2.00 and the next day its just 10.00-12.00. I'm also doing a seminar from 4.00-5.00 on Thursday.

Haha, I would go with friends, just that no one from my school is going Monash :/ Might make plans with people I may meet during the compulsory course sessions though?

[slothpomba]

We often have vegetarian options at our bbq's.

Interesting...

Hey guys, so for my course, theres 2 compulsory sessions, one on Wednesday, the other on Thursday. Just want to know if the stalls, events and happenings are similar everyday? I'm just planning to go on the last 3 days, or is it good to just go all 5 days? Cheers

Yeah most of them are more or less similar across the week that they're happening in. Honestly, when i did it, i looked around for about an hour, got my books, realised they were heavy as hell and went home (the twine of the bag they gave me was digging into my hand). So, definitely don't buy your books first, you shouldn't even be buying them on campus unless you've left it impossibly late and cant find any 2nd hand.

You can definitely see everything in a day, hell under a day. I cant imagine why you'd need to go back multiple days to do it but that varies based on everyones schedule and wants.

I recommend at least one full day of just checking out the Orientation Festival, going around to all the stalls, joining all the clubs, grabbing all the free food. Go with your friends. It's a lot of fun.

Not everyone is lucky enough to go to a good highschool (good enough so people get into Monash) or have friends going to Monash (this was certainly true for me) Might be worth being a little more considerate that other peoples circumstances may vary.

[shooterblitz]

Yeah most of them are more or less similar across the week that they're happening in. Honestly, when i did it, i looked around for about an hour, got my books, realised they were heavy as hell and went home (the twine of the bag they gave me was digging into my hand). So, definitely don't buy your books first, you shouldn't even be buying them on campus unless you've left it impossibly late and cant find any 2nd hand.

You can definitely see everything in a day, hell under a day. I cant imagine why you'd need to go back multiple days to do it but that varies based on everyones schedule and wants.

Not everyone is lucky enough to go to a good highschool (good enough so people get into Monash) or have friends going to Monash (this was certainly true for me) Might be worth being a little more considerate that other peoples circumstances may vary.

I'm feeling like I've left textbooks to the last minute... I bought 1 book 2 months ago, and now I'm constantly e-mailing/texting all these people for books I may not have a choice now, but to get the trades during o-week :/

Haha, agreed. There's 3 others going to Monash, except Clayton, from my school. So new friends (hopefully) it is!

[Kuchiki]

Not everyone is lucky enough to go to a good highschool (good enough so people get into Monash) or have friends going to Monash (this was certainly true for me) Might be worth being a little more considerate that other peoples circumstances may vary.

Yeah, true, I should have clarified that you can always go with non-Monash friends anyway (provided that they're free on the day). O-Week at Monash (Clayton, at least) is pretty much just a giant festival that anyone can enjoy. It might be hard to make new friends on the day (because it's so busy and loud), but if you meet someone at an orientation session or something beforehand, definitely ask them to tag along.

Or if you don't have any friends at all (which is also perfectly fine), go it alone and you'll get through the stalls a lot faster.

[slothpomba]

I'm feeling like I've left textbooks to the last minute... I bought 1 book 2 months ago, and now I'm constantly e-mailing/texting all these people for books I may not have a choice now, but to get the trades during o-week :/

Buying from the campus bookstore should absolutely be a last resort (its uber expensive usually). Try monashmarketplace (the link is on your monash portal) and textbooksexchange. I suppose you could try buy them new using http://www.booko.com.au but they might take awhile to come. Alternative you could find some PDF's which you have of course would have legitimately paid full price for and everything.

Yeah, true, I should have clarified that you can always go with non-Monash friends anyway (provided that they're free on the day). O-Week at Monash (Clayton, at least) is pretty much just a giant festival that anyone can enjoy. It might be hard to make new friends on the day (because it's so busy and loud), but if you meet someone at an orientation session or something beforehand, definitely ask them to tag along.

Or if you don't have any friends at all (which is also perfectly fine), go it alone and you'll get through the stalls a lot faster.

Oweek is more just to see the sites and collect free shit anyway. It is usually pretty hard to meet new people just walking around as Kuchiki says, you might be able to pick up some friends at the sessions but it might be a bit hard. You don't really need to do oweek, it is mostly optional. You'll have the opportunity to make plenty of friends once uni actually starts too!

[BigAl]

I'm feeling like I've left textbooks to the last minute... I bought 1 book 2 months ago, and now I'm constantly e-mailing/texting all these people for books I may not have a choice now, but to get the trades during o-week :/

Haha, agreed. There's 3 others going to Monash, except Clayton, from my school. So new friends (hopefully) it is!

check this out http://www.alibris.com

[Dallas45]

Tip #1 -: Get a CAVAL Card! - If you don't know about/haven't heard of it before this a card you can get from the university library which allows you to register with other member universities and borrow books and the like from them. Most main libraries and a few smaller tafes/unis are members including UoM and Latrobe. I found this service particularly useful as it meant that during assignment/essay writing time when you're freaking out because you can't get a copy of a resource you need you can 9 times out of 10 find it at another uni (especially UoM and Latrobe). Also use worldcat.org to search for books outside of Monash libraries as this gives you all copies of the required book available in Australia including at universities, public/local libraries and state libraries - saves a lot of time when compared to searching each individual library's database to see if they stock the book or not.

Tip #2 -: There are lockers in the basement level of Menzies (likely some in other areas but these are the ones I know of). Come in really handy if you have a lot of equipment you need on hand for your course, partake in sports/use the uni gym and need somewhere to store your gear. They are on a first come-first serve basis so you may still be able to find one to use.

Tip #3 -: If you are going to be using the Matheson library do not use the elevators if possible. I've gotten stuck or nearly gotten stuck on so many occasions (one time the elevator went up and down three times without opening the doors once even though it dinged to say they were open. Then again, I may just be off elevators in general since one of the Menzies ones dropped 2 floors suddenly while me and another student were in it!)

Tip #4 -: Use sites like bookdepository.co.uk and bookdepository.com + alibris as others have suggested to buy books rather than the Monash shop which is ridiculously priced. You can also use textbook exchange to sell/buy books. If the books are reccommended but not prescribed you can generally get away with just using the library copies. Even if they are prescribed, don't buy them until you have attended your first lecture/seminar etc as the lecturer will generally give you an idea of whether or not you really need them.

[steph753]

Another tip: This is for all year levels, however I'm not sure if this has been posted

To view your timetable early, go onto my.monash and click on Calendar in the Google Apps section (its on the right hand side for me) .
Then use the arrows to navigate to week I and some if not all of your timetable should have appeared

[NothAU]

Not seeing anything new in the calendar

[tcg93]

Another tip: This is for all year levels, however I'm not sure if this has been posted

To view your timetable early, go onto my.monash and click on Calendar in the Google Apps section (its on the right hand side for me) .
Then use the arrows to navigate to week I and some if not all of your timetable should have appeared

That hack stopped working 2-3 semesters ago! They disable it for these few days before they are officially released

[Mafioso]

If I've got a lecture at 8am and I can't be bothered to go, can I just watch it online later? Will I be missing out on much if I do this?

[slothpomba]

No, the lecture is basically a capture of the lecturers microphone and the output of the projector/their laptop for the room. I'm not so sure in terms of atmosphere, experience or some weird learning factor about doing it in person but all the content and facts will be there. Just confirm that it is indeed recorded first (google mulo, theres a list on the website).

It is a bad habbit to get into (although i'm in it so i can hardly talk) but definitely excusable for something like 8am.

[b^3]

I partially wonder if we will actually get a video recording of lectures in S1-4 this year. With the refurbishments and such, they've installed 4 screens in the foyer area of S1-4 which are supposedly going to stream what's happening in the lecture theatre live to the foyer.

http://fsd.monash.edu.au/capital-major-works/s1-lecture-theatre-refurbishment

Although there's a part of me that doubts that we'd get it that good to actually get recordings that way.

[Spider]

Anyone know if this is a useful workshop to attend?

[slothpomba]

I partially wonder if we will actually get a video recording of lectures in S1-4 this year. With the refurbishments and such, they've installed 4 screens in the foyer area of S1-4 which are supposedly going to stream what's happening in the lecture theatre live to the foyer.

http://fsd.monash.edu.au/capital-major-works/s1-lecture-theatre-refurbishment

Although there's a part of me that doubts that we'd get it that good to actually get recordings that way.

Thats more of an architectural design thing rather than a "we're not recording your lectures" kind of thing.