Subject help! (1 Viewer)

[maro1]

Hey, I'm a first year studying B Sci and Bus.

I have a few qs:
1. I'm interested in a few majors like pathology, genetics etc. and would like to try a variety of subjects this year. Most of the majors I'm interested in require CHEM1011, CHEM1012, MATH1031 and MATH1041. Would it be better to study the above subjects within my first year so I can proceed to stage 2 of whatever major next year? Or can I decide to study the above first year units within my second year? I don't really want to do chem or math, but if it's required then no choice.
2. Is it recommended to complete the 4 compulsory commerce units within the first year? I want to do PSYC1001 and maybe BIOS1101, but my entire year would be filled with the completion of commerce units, chem and math... It would seem like I would exceed the max UOC
3. I've only completed general maths in high school, so would it be best to study MATH1011 first (I assume that's the easiest level of math offered)?
4. When enrolled in advanced chemistry subject e.g. CHEM1031 and CHEM1041, can I drop down to the normal chemistry subject within the semester? I did HSC chem but not sure which chem sub to do.


Thank you!

 

[Shadowdude]

Hey, I'm a first year studying B Sci and Bus.

I have a few qs:
1. I'm interested in a few majors like pathology, genetics etc. and would like to try a variety of subjects this year. Most of the majors I'm interested in require CHEM1011, CHEM1012, MATH1031 and MATH1041. Would it be better to study the above subjects within my first year so I can proceed to stage 2 of whatever major next year? Or can I decide to study the above first year units within my second year? I don't really want to do chem or math, but if it's required then no choice.

Yes, if you want to try a variety - you should get them done as early as possible so you can try the Level 2 courses as quickly as possible. You can study the "level one" subjects next year, but that'll mean you can only do "level two" courses at earliest perhaps two years from now.

2. Is it recommended to complete the 4 compulsory commerce units within the first year? I want to do PSYC1001 and maybe BIOS1101, but my entire year would be filled with the completion of commerce units, chem and math... It would seem like I would exceed the max UOC

Do the ones that you'll need to do higher level courses in, for instance I believe ECON1101 is compulsory - and if you want to do economics as a major, just as I said above, do these courses early on.

Uni is divided into stages. For instance, I did stage 1 English for my degree in my second year, and I'm going to do stage 3 English spread over this year and next, meanwhile I did stage 3 maths last year and I'm continuing stage 3 maths this year.

3. I've only completed general maths in high school, so would it be best to study MATH1011 first (I assume that's the easiest level of math offered)?

Look at what your degree major requires. Some may require MATH1031, others MATH1041, others maybe even MATH1131.

4. When enrolled in advanced chemistry subject e.g. CHEM1031 and CHEM1041, can I drop down to the normal chemistry subject within the semester? I did HSC chem but not sure which chem sub to do.

Yes, provided you do so before the Census Date which is like six weeks into semester.

 

[maro1]

Thanks for the fast reply!
So if I choose to do a variety of subs this year and study some level 1 courses this year (let's say I choose to do 0-1 compulsory business subjects), do I put myself in the position of finishing the degree later? I need to complete 48 business UOC.
I might want to transfer into a B Science at the end of the year so I can do more science electives.

Do you know how difficult MATH1031 and MATH1041 would be? I'm a bit worried at even passing cos I would need good grades to transfer. I was also wondering if there were any uni services or even tutoring programs to help struggling students? I feel quite reluctant to do a bridging course for 2U.

 

[fizzbylightning]

Hey, I've done MATH1041 and I know it's quite different to MATH1011/1131/1141 because with the former, you study applications of statistics in the science world (things like collecting and analysing data) whilst in the latter, you study calculus and algebra. I know that you've done general maths and I think MATH1011 is recommended for that level of maths but you should have no worries doing MATH1031/1041 because they are relatively easy subjects which should not have any assumed knowledge.

In regards to not wanting to do chem or math, I wasn't too keen on doing chem in first year because I knew I would be bad at it but it's just something that is compulsory for science degrees and you can rejoice in the fact that you'll be done with it after first year. Many people will be in the same boat.

 

[maro1]

Thanks for the reply!

I'm not good at math nor do I have any knowledge on calculus :/ But for MATH1031 it says this on the handbook: "Assumed knowledge: A level of knowledge equivalent to achieving a mark of at least 60 in HSC Mathematics. Students who have taken General Mathematics will not have achieved the level of knowledge which is assumed in this course."

After doing chem in high school, I honestly don't want to study it again Since I've done HSC chem, do you think it'll be best if I study CHEM1031 and CHEM1041? Not that confident in bonds =__=

Oh, and I see you've done BIOS1101 iirc in the subject review thread. How'd you find it? The major I'm interested in the most, pathology, requires it but it seems quite bland. I'm thinking of doing it next year.

 

[fizzbylightning]

Thanks for the reply!

I'm not good at math nor do I have any knowledge on calculus :/ But for MATH1031 it says this on the handbook: "Assumed knowledge: A level of knowledge equivalent to achieving a mark of at least 60 in HSC Mathematics. Students who have taken General Mathematics will not have achieved the level of knowledge which is assumed in this course."

After doing chem in high school, I honestly don't want to study it again Since I've done HSC chem, do you think it'll be best if I study CHEM1031 and CHEM1041? Not that confident in bonds =__=

Oh, and I see you've done BIOS1101 iirc in the subject review thread. How'd you find it? The major I'm interested in the most, pathology, requires it but it seems quite bland. I'm thinking of doing it next year.

Yeah now that I think about it, MATH1031 does involve calculus. I personally didn't do it but I remember helping out a friend and seeing their tutorial set. It's worthwhile visiting this page: http://www.maths.unsw.edu.au/currentstudents/revision-worksheets . It has revision worksheets of HSC mathematics I think and you can spend some of your break reviewing topics. I don't think it's incredibly thorough but it has example problems for you to do which is good. I think the mathematics bridging course for UNSW starts tomorrow but I can see why you wouldn't want to spend ~$400 on it. I think it's that much. But alternatives: get your hands on a 2 unit maths textbook and just go through fundamental topics including differentiation and integration (do a search on google for MATH1031 or whatever first year subject it is and find the course outline on the UNSW site and it might give you a list of topics covered so that you won't have to cover all the topics in the HSC textbook). Maybe go to your local library and go to the HSC collection area if they have one and a textbook should be easy to locate there. You don't have to slave away doing every question. Just get a general idea as to how to do things.

The recommendations for choosing between CHEM1011 or CHEM1031 for first semester depend in how well you went in HSC chem. I recommend you search these subjects in the UNSW handbook and like maths, it may tell you a minimum mark for you to base your decision on. I personally didn't do chem in high school so chose to select lower chem. there's more covered in university chemistry than bonds and I know you guys study very specific topics in year 12 chem that I don't think are too relevant to uni chem. I think the basics like balancing equations, acids and bases, bonds, periodic table trends, are more useful in entering uni. However, I can't tell you how similar HSC chem and uni chem are so maybe find someone who can.

Yeah LOL I did BIOS1101 and don't be too disheartened but you'll find that a lot of first year subjects are more on the general side and with this particular course, they tried to cover a lot in a short amount of time which made things very broad and random when trying to study for the subject. It was probably my least favourite subject in first year because it skimmed the surface of biology. However, if you've done HSC biology, many concepts are reinforced. If you are interested in pathology, definitely don't let bad reviews on prerequisite subjects deter you.

 

[Shadowdude]

Thanks for the fast reply!
So if I choose to do a variety of subs this year and study some level 1 courses this year (let's say I choose to do 0-1 compulsory business subjects), do I put myself in the position of finishing the degree later? I need to complete 48 business UOC.
I might want to transfer into a B Science at the end of the year so I can do more science electives.

I don't think so, mainly because most Commerce courses are available in both semesters so it doesn't matter where you put them, I think.

Do you know how difficult MATH1031 and MATH1041 would be? I'm a bit worried at even passing cos I would need good grades to transfer. I was also wondering if there were any uni services or even tutoring programs to help struggling students? I feel quite reluctant to do a bridging course for 2U.

Uhh... to be brutally honest, they're probably the easiest maths subjects by far offered at the university. There however is the Student Support Scheme which is a thing run by some students, a drop-in service where you come in with questions, and they'll help you out. A friend does that, he didn't do MATH1031/41 but he can answer pretty much anything from that.