Should I go on student exchange?

[slothpomba]

Coming from a super curious year 11,

If I end up doing med at Monash, are there still these exchange opportunities available?

Alternatively if I did commerce at Melbourne, where can I find the available university list from?

 

I dont think med will allow it. It has a very strict course structure and timeline. The only reason other degrees allow it is because they have some "electives", some wiggle room and Malaysia often (but not always) offers similar or the same subjects as Australian campuses.

It's important to note since Monash has a Malaysia campus (as in, its owned by them), they will pay your flights, accomodation and even give you some cash to spend.  If you go to a university not owned by Monash (which is obviously...all of them basically), you will have to pay for all these things yourself. You will get a cash scholarship but its no where near as amazing as the Malaysia one. Given UoM doesn't have overseas campuses, this applies to them too.

[Clara_tanone]

Fewer than what should be the case, considering the benefits.

Also, by any chance do you know whether there's a restriction on the number of monash uni students who can do student exchange to the offshore campuses?

Is it easy to survive with just English in Malaysia? I speak a bit of Indo.

[Russ]

Medicine usually allows for you to go overseas, either on formal exchange as part of the course (Melbourne will send you to Oslo I think) or as part of an optional elective. I know lots of people who went to various places around the world.

I would caution people against assuming that they can just fix their marks later and everything will be okay; it's a nice idea that isn't always borne out in reality.

[Clara_tanone]

I would caution people against assuming that they can just fix their marks later and everything will be okay; it's a nice idea that isn't always borne out in reality.

Russ, what did you mean exactly by this?

With my marks when I said bumping my average higher, I just meant I would have more opportunity to increase or decrease my average marks if I didn't go on exchange. If I were to go on exchange those units I complete wouldn't contribute to my average at all so if I'm currently unhappy with my average there's more of a restriction on how much I can bump it up to. Hypothetically what if I needed a 70 average for postgrad courses and hypothetically let's say I'm sitting on a 67 at the moment. If I have 8 more units to complete, I have more opportunity to bump it up over 70 but whereas if I had only 4 units which will contribute to my average, it may mean that it could potentially be more difficult as you would have less opportunity due to working with fewer units which will contribute to that average.

Though, it could work for me strategically if I picked all the harder units to do while on exchange and just did the easier units back in my home campus. I wish I actually thought about doing this earlier on as I've already done most of my easier units in first year/second year and in my uni whether it's a first/second/third year uni they all carry equal weighting to your total average.

[Russ]

A lot of people say things like (paraphrased):

'My average is 65, I need an 80 to qualify for an Honours scholarship'
'I failed a couple of subjects in first year but it's okay, I'll do really well in second year so I can get an internship/clerkship/whatever in my third year'
'My GPA isn't very good, but I have a lot of experience to talk about in the interview'

My point is that the best predictor of the future is the past. If you (general sense of the word) haven't been doing well, what makes you think that you're going to suddenly convert your passes into HDs? If you can point to a specific, concrete problem that had that can be remedied or was a one-off events (family emergency, didn't study topic X for the exam etc.) then that's fine. I just see a lot of people buying into the idea that things will just get better because /now/ they're going to study.

In the contemporary setting of record numbers of young adults graduating from university, it's now much harder to skate by on average marks if you want to get your dream job/post grad place/scholarship etc. There are just so many candidates that the traditional story of doing poorly in your first year or two and then turning things around is no longer a narrative for success. I know several genuinely hardworking and intelligent people with good entrance exam scores (GAMSAT) who are unable to obtain interviews for medical school due to their low GPA.

I think your situation is a little different, in that you're just attempting to sequence your study to achieve your best result and your desired increase in grades is reasonable. Turning a 67 into a 70 in a year is a realistically achievable goal and if you want to go on exchange, I wouldn't let that hold you back, especially if your grades have increased over your time at university.

[Clara_tanone]

Medicine usually allows for you to go overseas, either on formal exchange as part of the course (Melbourne will send you to Oslo I think) or as part of an optional elective. I know lots of people who went to various places around the world.

Do you think it's the same case for nursing?

[pi]

Do you think it's the same case for nursing?

Usually not the same with nursing.

[Clara_tanone]

My point is that the best predictor of the future is the past. If you (general sense of the word) haven't been doing well, what makes you think that you're going to suddenly convert your passes into HDs? If you can point to a specific, concrete problem that had that can be remedied or was a one-off events (family emergency, didn't study topic X for the exam etc.) then that's fine. I just see a lot of people buying into the idea that things will just get better because /now/ they're going to study.

In the contemporary setting of record numbers of young adults graduating from university, it's now much harder to skate by on average marks if you want to get your dream job/post grad place/scholarship etc. There are just so many candidates that the traditional story of doing poorly in your first year or two and then turning things around is no longer a narrative for success. I know several genuinely hardworking and intelligent people with good entrance exam scores (GAMSAT) who are unable to obtain interviews for medical school due to their low GPA.

Hypothetically, if you have been getting predominantly subpar marks in university (passes/credits), do you think it's worth completing one's degree? Would it be better if one just transferred to a different course one thought they might be able to get D/HD in?

What minimum WAM/CWA/GPA do you think one should have after completing half of one's units (e.g. 12 units in a 3 year degree) already to justify continuing with one's university degree?

If it's still within the P/C average range after 1.5 years of studying (and having completed 12 units), would it better if your typical university student just transferred/discontinued from their current course? Do you think there's any real benefit to continue for these sorts of students taking into consideration the over supply of university graduates applying for limited vacancies and the state of the current job market?

Usually not the same with nursing.

Would a nursing student be able to do exchange? Or is it harder for them?

What about if they are completing an entry level masters with an unrelated bachelors?

[Russ]

I think consideration of sunk costs is also important. If you're two years in, then you're probably better off finishing even if you're going to scrape by with Ps. A completed degree is by no means worthless. If you want to transfer to a different course, it would need to be for a particular reason beyond 'I can get better marks' (can you?).

I don't think there is much value in having an arbitrary metric for deciding whether to continue with a degree at the halfway point. It's more complex than that and relates to what the individual wants in the future, how they feel about their prospects and so forth. Achieving lower marks isn't inherently bad, it simply reduces your flexibility for employment and ability to obtain certain things. Just because we have an oversupply of students, doesn't mean you will never find a job; nor does it mean you are less meritorious of graduating. I'm simply advocating for people to be realistic about their prospects and avoid an overly idealistic/rosy perspective.

[Joseph41]

Did you notice any differences in quality of education between offshore campus and your home campus or were the differences relatively minor?

Were the lecturers easy to understand in the Malaysian campus? Would the Monash Uni staff members over there be largely expats or Malaysians?

Relatively minor differences. My lecturers/tutors have varied over here just as they would back home. As it is still a Monash institution, it is quite similar. Even the library feels the same.

The lecturers are easy to understand, yeah. I'm hesitant to label the majority 'Malaysian' as such, but the vast majority would be from somewhere within the region. I don't think I've come across a single Australian lecturer. One Canadian. This has been an advantage, I think; you tend to get exposed to different perspectives.

Coming from a super curious year 11,

If I end up doing med at Monash, are there still these exchange opportunities available?

Alternatively if I did commerce at Melbourne, where can I find the available university list from?

From what I have gleaned, you can study in Malaysia whilst doing Med at Monash. However, options are much more limited and it's something that you would have to plan for.

Also, by any chance do you know whether there's a restriction on the number of monash uni students who can do student exchange to the offshore campuses?

Is it easy to survive with just English in Malaysia? I speak a bit of Indo.

There is no restriction that I know of. If anything, more students are being encouraged to study abroad. This may change in the future as the numbers change, but I don't think it's anything to be concerned about at this time.

And yep, more than easy with just English. Essentially everybody speaks at least basic English. If you know a bit of Indonesian, too, you'll be cruising.