Biomed vs science

[magicmachine]

Hello I am an international student and got a biomed offer recently. Due to some private reasons, I am not able to start my class on sem1 so which is better if i study science on sem 2 or defer 1 year to 2019 for commencing the biomed course.?
Thank You

[AngelWings]

Hey Magicmachine!

It is possible to defer for just one semester if you want to still study biomed. I have an international friend who did not receive their secondary results until early 2015 and started in semester 2 that year. The only differences it will cause are that you’ll finish one semester later and you could potentially find things a little disjointed as you will be doing the second semester before the first (ie your timing will be displaced and you’ll officially be a second year student in semester 2 2019). Fortunately, the majority of units at uni are designed to be self-contained and, since a number of students defer, take gap semesters or have failed (usually compulsory) units before, this means that there will have been people before you who’ve done the same thing. I think you should consider just deferring for one semester - it’ll just push the ‘pause’ button to your degree and essentially become a ticket for the waiting line with no dire consequences. However, I’d contact the uni and double check if that’s ok with them before you go ahead with this, as deferrals may be slightly different for international students.

[magicmachine]

Hey Magicmachine!

It is possible to defer for just one semester if you want to still study biomed. I have an international friend who did not receive their secondary results until early 2015 and started in semester 2 that year. The only differences it will cause are that you’ll finish one semester later and you could potentially find things a little disjointed as you will be doing the second semester before the first (ie your timing will be displaced and you’ll officially be a second year student in semester 2 2019). Fortunately, the majority of units at uni are designed to be self-contained and, since a number of students defer, take gap semesters or have failed (usually compulsory) units before, this means that there will have been people before you who’ve done the same thing. I think you should consider just deferring for one semester - it’ll just push the ‘pause’ button to your degree and essentially become a ticket for the waiting line with no dire consequences. However, I’d contact the uni and double check if that’s ok with them before you go ahead with this, as deferrals may be slightly different for international students.

The biomed course is only available in sem1 intake and there are many compulsory subjects aside. What you mean is that if I can defer one semester in semester 1 in 2018, I could skip my sem1 subjects temporary and resume my studies like others?

[AngelWings]

My apologies. I didn't check and assumed this was Monash Biomed, but it should likely be applicable for UoM too. They get a number of students who likely would've missed the first semester as well.

The biomed course is only available in sem1 intake and there are many compulsory subjects aside.

Deferring is not quite the same as the intake itself. It means that you have been given an offer, accepted that offer and have chosen to halt your studies temporarily. This is typically allowed, particularly if you're coming from a country that doesn't end their school year at the end of the year like Australia (we get our results in December). As I previously mentioned, double check with UoM before doing this, as not all departments allow this to happen.

What you mean is that if I can defer one semester in semester 1 in 2018, I could skip my sem1 subjects temporary and resume my studies like others?

What I meant is that you can often stagger your units, even compulsory ones, as long as you eventually do them. It might be easier to think of it as a 'flipped degree'. Typically in first year, the units in semester 1 are not pre-requisites for semester 2 for this purpose. This trend sometimes continue into further years (usually you just need one unit from the previous year, rather than the previous semester).

This is essentially what your degree would look like in this scenario, according to this:

Spoiler

1st semester 2018: accept offer + defer semester for reasons you listed
2nd semester 2018: start uni + complete compulsory first year second semester units (BIOL10003 + MAST10011/ MAST10016 + PHYC10007/ PHYC10006 + choose 1 unit - Note: typical starting full-time workload is 4 units.)
1st semester 2019: compulsory first year first semester units you missed + other units (BIOL10002 + CHEM10006 + MAST10011/ MAST10016 - whichever one you missed + choose 1 unit)
2nd semester 2019: start second year second semester units + other units (BIOM20002 [2 units' worth] + choose 2 units)
1st semester 2020: second year first semester units + other units (BIOM20001 [2 units' worth] + choose 2 units)
2nd semester 2020: third year second semester + other units (BIOM30001 + choose 3 units)
1st semester 2021: third year first semester + conclude degree if you passed all units (BIOM30002 + choose 3 units)

Note that wherever I wrote "choose [insert number] unit(s)", these usually are subjects that count towards the major, biomed/science discipline subjects or breadths (see "Degree Structure" from blue link above). 

Again, I would highly recommend that you check this sort of thing with the university, just to be fully certain.

[magicmachine]

Thank You.
So it is allowed to study sem 2 course before starting sem 1 in first and second year. Did anyone do it like this before?

[AngelWings]

Thank You.
So it is allowed to study sem 2 course before starting sem 1 in first and second year. Did anyone do it like this before?

The answers to both are a (rather hesitant) yes. Please check with the university before doing so.

[Alter]

Confirming the above from a UoM perspective -- it'd just mean that you do all of your biology cores in the swapped order. None of the sem 1 biology subjects are prereqs for sem 1 to allow for people to not have to wait a year if they fail a subject or come in late. Also chem for biomed (which you need for 2nd year biol) is available in sem 1 when you do your 2nd bio subject.

Genes and Environment (sem 2) --> Biomolecules and Cells (sem 1) --> HSF (sem 2) --> MCB (sem 1) --> Frontiers in Biomedicine (sem 2) --> Molecule to Malady (sem 1)

I have a pretty decent knowledge of the structure of the degree and it looks like it's possible. You'd just really have to visit a course planner and make sure everything adds up properly, and acknowledge the fact that you won't really be with one distinct 'cohort' of people (e.g. the people you do Genes and Environment with would go on to do MCB next sem; you wouldn't). This is a lot easier if you do it through science because many of the subjects are available in both semesters (for example: Chemistry, Anatomy, Physiology, and Biochem).