Questions on Advanced Science (UNSW) (1 Viewer)

IBEKEVINN

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Hey guys, recently I've been feeling a bit lost (and a bit discouraged) about my course choices for University. I had been pinning for Science (Advanced) for a good.. 6 months and plan to do a dual degree with Commerce if possible.

My first concern has been the job prospects. I've read through a few topics on this already - on this forum and others, but it never seems to a conclusive answer. It boils down to: Does Advanced Science have "good" career prospects? If so what are some examples? Research is something I am probably aiming for but I've constantly been hearing that research in Australia is severely lacking and so I'm becoming very edgy on sticking with Science.

Secondly, I've been kind of put off by the apparently high standards that Advanced Science requires you to maintain. I couldn't find information on this but apparently if a constantly high mark is not maintained then there's a chance to get booted from the course? Also, I've been hearing that it's better just to do Bachelors of Science as more high distinctions in the course would be better than a bunch of credits in Advanced Science as most employers look for that criteria.

Also - if I were to do Advanced Science and transferred to Bachelor of Science later on, would I be required to complete the first year of B Sci even though they are shared?
 

Shadowdude

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1. Science is broad - what major are you looking at?

2. Advanced Science only requires you to have a 70 average per semester - and if you can't get a 70 average per semester, then you really shouldn't be in an Advanced degree anyway

3. Since most courses in Advanced Science or the Science faculty in general have no higher or lower component iirc, your degree name doesn't matter when it comes to marks. If you get an HD, you get an HD. If you get it while you happen to be enrolled in Advanced Science, all the more better because you have a good degree name plus the good mark.

4. You'll find there is a lot of course overlap between Science and Advanced Science I think
 

Mr_Kap

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1. Science is broad - what major are you looking at?

2. Advanced Science only requires you to have a 70 average per semester - and if you can't get a 70 average per semester, then you really shouldn't be in an Advanced degree anyway

3. Since most courses in Advanced Science or the Science faculty in general have no higher or lower component iirc, your degree name doesn't matter when it comes to marks. If you get an HD, you get an HD. If you get it while you happen to be enrolled in Advanced Science, all the more better because you have a good degree name plus the good mark.

4. You'll find there is a lot of course overlap between Science and Advanced Science I think
How hard is it to transfer from science to advanced science after the first year? What sort of marks/WAM am i looking at achieving in first year, if I don't make Advanced Science and want to transfer to it.
 

Shadowdude

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How hard is it to transfer from science to advanced science after the first year? What sort of marks/WAM am i looking at achieving in first year, if I don't make Advanced Science and want to transfer to it.
Harder because transfers are based on demand. They have minimum average mark requirements and only limited spots - so if you can get into an Advanced course through HSC, do that and then drop down because that's easier than going up.

The minimum average mark requirement for Advanced Science is 70 - but of course with only limited spots available for transfers, you will be competing, so you need to get as high as possible.
 

strawberrye

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Consider this-there's actually hardly any good job prospects for any industry, and it really is up to you to have a think about the sort of commitment you are willing to make-there are top people and good job prospects in every industry if you are willing to put in the hard yards and work for your dream rather than just step back and give up before you have even tried it just because other people say 'there isn't good job prospects'. If you are doing advanced science, you should generally be quite good at science already and are committed to achieving good marks in the first place-advanced science is really for people who are very serious about science. So if you work hard, you don't need to worry so much about not achieving minimum marks or what not. An advanced science degree gets you slightly more doors than a science degree, because there is a compulsory honours year-and honours year is a must for anyone considering doing science research as a career-it is one of the most basic qualifications most, if not all science researchers have. Good luck for achieving your aspirations:)
 

IBEKEVINN

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Thanks for the replies all, I was just concerned because I was hearing requirements of like over 90. As for major, I was planning to do physics.
 

Shadowdude

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Thanks for the replies all, I was just concerned because I was hearing requirements of like over 90. As for major, I was planning to do physics.
Advanced Science is like 95-96, you can just look that up on the UAC website
 

Flop21

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Thanks for the replies all, I was just concerned because I was hearing requirements of like over 90. As for major, I was planning to do physics.
Honestly I'm not really that informed on the job prospects. Would you be interested in engineering? I think you'd like it if you like physics.
 

Flop21

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what about a dual degree of advanced science and computer science?
It depends what career you want after graduating. Honestly I haven't heard good things about people with a science degree (probably including advanced science degree).

If you do CS and apply for a software development job at some tech company - they're obviously not going to care about your science degree. But of course if you're majoring in Bioinformatics (in your advanced science degree) then it becomes a lot more relevant if you're applying for a bioinformatics type job.

Having 2 degrees doesn't make you automatically get more money, it just helps you be qualified for whatever job you want to apply for.

Out of curiosity what are you interested in doing as a carreer, I'm also interested in CS + science (but will prob just do CS and do some science subjects in my electives)
 

DepressedPenguino

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So if you don't get an average of 70 you get kicked out of the course? and what happens after that?
 

wagig

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So if you don't get an average of 70 you get kicked out of the course? and what happens after that?
You get dropped to a Science degree, which may cause you to have to swap majors depending on your particular scenario
 

Flop21

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You get dropped to a Science degree, which may cause you to have to swap majors depending on your particular scenario
Can I ask what you're thinking about doing after uni with those majors? Looks like a fun combo.
 

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