What should one consider when selecting breath subjects?

[boysenberry]

When selecting breath subjects what sort of things should one take into consideration?
And do breath subjects count towards one's GPA? If so, then is it a good thing to pick all the easy/interesting subjects (e.g. any foreign languages you may already be proficient in) and not the hard/unfamiliar ones? But would doing this just make doing the breath subjects a waste of money?

Generally, when selecting breath subjects what do you people take into consideration? And what should people take into consideration when making these choices? Does it differ on circumstances? If so, how?

[taiga]

I have no idea what it does for your marks and stuff.


If I was at Melbourne, the breadth subjects I would choose would probably be stuff I would be interested in which falls outside the course I am doing.

Say, I'm interested in Climate Change, but I'm doing a commerce degree; I would still pick that as it interests me (and if you're lucky it may have some application to my main degree).

On the other hand, it could be a hobby/past time, like learning a language.

[IntoTheNewWorld]

how cool the handbook entry sounds

contact hours

male:female ratio

[Russ]

When selecting breath subjects what sort of things should one take into consideration?

Same things as regular subjects - will I enjoy it, is the assessment okay etc. I usually look for a subject without an exam, in order to give myself more study time in SWOTVAC. Don't pick a breadth you have no interest in because you think it's easy, that's not going to end well.

And do breath subjects count towards one's GPA?

Depends on what you're applying for after your degree. They will appear on your academic transcript.

[mikee65]

When applying to PG courses, is it strictly speaking only the GPA which is considered or also the actual subjects eg stacking lv 1's in 3rd year might not look appealing

[Russ]

Depends on what you're applying for after your degree.

[mikee65]

Depends on what you're applying for after your degree.

Really? What about med?

[Russ]

Nobody knows that, given a) the changes to the system and b) the lack of transparency in what the uni does with your transcript

[mikee65]

Nobody knows that, given a) the changes to the system and b) the lack of transparency in what the uni does with your transcript

This is unsettling

[Russ]

How is it unsettling? The only people it would affect are those trying to cheat the system, in which case you really can't complain

[mikee65]

By cheat do you mean choosing illegal subjects?

[Edmund]

@mike

I doubt there will be massive changes to the admissions system. Just complete your degree according to the requirements as listed in the handbook.

[Russ]

By cheat do you mean choosing illegal subjects?

You're meant to be taking level 3 subjects in 3rd year, not level 1 subjects. The uni has an upper limit on level 1 subjects but some people get around that through various subject selections. You're obviously not supposed to make half your final year level 1 subjects, so that's what I mean by cheating the system.

[boysenberry]

Say if you were to do a language from 1A to 3B as your breaths, once your degree finishes, would you be able to continue with studying that particular language from 4A and onwards in university? If so, how could one do this? And is it recommendable? If so, in what cases?
If I were to continue studying the language, it would certainly help communication if I were to visit certain members of my extended family overseas. I know for languages there's a fast track mode (I think) but wouldn't doing the easy languages as breath subjects make it easier to get a higher GPA which would in return also make it easier to get the scholarships for student exchange and being accepted into post-graduate courses if I choose to do those things in future?

[Kennybhoy]

My brother was enrolled in a course which was 99% male. In an attempt to pick up, he took up Spanish.

True story.

Btw, I don't think it worked so he enrolled in Chinese for beginners. Think that worked.