A bit of a whinge - VCAA won't let me do VCE and MUEP Philosophy simultaneously.

[EvangelionZeta]

So on Tuesday, a month after I get my MUEP offer and a week before school starts again, I get a phone call from Monash.

-paraphrased-

"Sorry Vincent, but unfortunately VCAA has ruled that you are not allowed to have both VCE and MUEP Philosophy count towards your aggregate, as the change in the Monash course has apparently made the two courses far too similar."

Monash told me they were happy for me to change to MUEP Maths or Japanese; I'm not attacking them in any sense whatsoever.  However, I was unwilling to do so (Philosophy is more interesting to me, not to mention I want to do it at Uni), and instead opted to drop the VCE subject under insistence from my teacher (who says doing MUEP will be of more benefit to me overall).  Ok.

I'm not happy.

What the hell VCAA?  Why do this, when you let people do both Uni Maths and Spesh, or Uni LOTE and VCE LOTEs simultaneously?  You'd figure there'd be a greater overlap between two courses which are both intended to teach you a language than two courses which cover similar areas of study in an incredibly broad discipline (for the record I had a look at the MUEP and VCE Philosophy courses and there is enough distinction to keep them separate).  Not only that, but some of the kids were more or less forced to drop out of MUEP, as they had done Philosophy 3/4 in year 11 (and apparently VCAA won't let you count MUEP Philosophy PERIOD towards your aggregate with VCE Philosophy).

Has anyone else heard of a story similar to this?  Anyone want to share experiences?

[m@tty]

That is stupid.

[Akirus]

Out of curiosity, what kinds of job prospects are there for philosophers anyway?

[EvangelionZeta]

Academia, writing and teaching.  It also forms a nice supplement for law/politics-based careers.

[vexx]

That is ridiculous!

You should write a complaint-but that probably won't help.

That's so silly as I'm sure there's much more overlap in doing vce chemistry and muep chemistry then doing philo/philo !
(actually everything in unit 3 is explored further in some point of the muep textbook.. so its just an extension!)

But definitely do the MUEP subject over the VCE, it'd be far more interesting and beneficial.

[Akirus]

How useful is the degree itself? I always figured you could do philosophy without actually getting an arts degree (much like writing).

What do you plan on doing personally of the things you listed?

[NE2000]

I understand that you'll be annoyed with this forced change of subjects. But maybe in the future you won't mind? Because if the courses are ultimately so similar that VCAA deemed that you cannot take both, then perhaps it is possible you would have got very bored spending time on two subjects covering essentially the same thing? That doesn't take away from how annoyed you quite expectedly feel, but it's just another perspective on the matter.

And it's effect on your aggregate may be minimal. With how much Jap and Spesh scale, along with your 50 in classics and your definite aptitude for English, Philosophy may have ended up in your bottom 2 anyway.

[m@tty]

I suppose it removes the problem of your exam clash. There's a positive. Sort of.

[stonecold]

vcaa = sluts

facebook doesn't lie
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#/pages/vcaa-sluts/370624185170?ref=ts

[EvangelionZeta]

That is ridiculous!

You should write a complaint-but that probably won't help.

That's so silly as I'm sure there's much more overlap in doing vce chemistry and muep chemistry then doing philo/philo !
(actually everything in unit 3 is explored further in some point of the muep textbook.. so its just an extension!)

But definitely do the MUEP subject over the VCE, it'd be far more interesting and beneficial.

Thanks for the sympathy.  =)  I don't think I'll write a complaint, but I guess my venting goes here.  xD

How useful is the degree itself? I always figured you could do philosophy without actually getting an arts degree (much like writing).

What do you plan on doing personally of the things you listed?

You need a degree generally to be an academic, which is the direction I want to take.

I understand that you'll be annoyed with this forced change of subjects. But maybe in the future you won't mind? Because if the courses are ultimately so similar that VCAA deemed that you cannot take both, then perhaps it is possible you would have got very bored spending time on two subjects covering essentially the same thing? That doesn't take away from how annoyed you quite expectedly feel, but it's just another perspective on the matter.

And it's effect on your aggregate may be minimal. With how much Jap and Spesh scale, along with your 50 in classics and your definite aptitude for English, Philosophy may have ended up in your bottom 2 anyway.

Haha thanks, that's definitely helpful.  I guess there are benefits; I'm just a bit peeved that they stuffed up my epic two years VCE plan.  =(

I suppose it removes the problem of your exam clash. There's a positive. Sort of.

Haha I did consider that when dropping the VCE one.  xD

[m@tty]

I'm just a bit peeved that they stuffed up my epic two years VCE plan.  =(

You can't get 6 50's now

[NE2000]

[I'm just a bit peeved that they stuffed up my epic two years VCE plan.  =(

You can't get 6 50's now

The five 50s and a 5.5 is still on

But a Jap SL 50 is notoriously difficult, as is Lit for that matter....

[EvangelionZeta]

You can't get 6 50's now

xD wasn't gonna happen in the first place.  In terms of raw score, I think Philosophy might have been one of my higher subjects though.  =/

And there's no way in hell I'm going to get five 50s either.  :p 

[Akirus]

How useful is the degree itself? I always figured you could do philosophy without actually getting an arts degree (much like writing).

What do you plan on doing personally of the things you listed?

You need a degree generally to be an academic, which is the direction I want to take.
[/quote]

What exactly does being an academic in the area of philosophy entail? Would your degree need to be a Ph.D, or just a BA?

I'm quite interested, as I've always wanted to do philosophy but I never thought to do a degree for it.

[EvangelionZeta]

To be an academic you'd generally need a PhD.  Being an academic basically involves research and teaching at Universities; if you can picture yourself being a "smart person", then it's basically for you.  xD