Thinking about studying at Macquarie? (1 Viewer)

[AsyLum]

Here is a short list of common questions/queries we get here. Hopefully this will help dispel some of the myths and give you a better understanding of university.

Is x degree at A better than y at B?

Yes, no, maybe, perhaps. The question really cannot be answered in any great details in most cases because they're usually different from the course structure to the subjects you study in each degree. Want to do a much better comparison? Have a look at the relevant courses and subjects and see if you'd be interested in them.

I heard that x degree is more prestigious at B!

Then by all means, go to that university. Frankly, most degrees in Australia are about the same and you will receive a fairly standard education right across the board. Things people don't understand is that prestige in Australia means very little overseas or in the grand scheme of things. You need the marks first and foremost, without that, you're not going to be hired or taken on board anyway.

Also, be wary of taking named degrees by their face value. Take the Bachelor of Arts, derided in Australia as 'worth toilet paper'. Well if you go overseas, this is the common first step for many people in the US and UK, the Australian aversion to named degrees created a false sense of prestige. Many people will use the B Arts to transfer into anything because of its flexibility to take on many units that fulfil the criteria for a range of degrees, so don't be so quick to dismiss this.

I heard from my friend that...

Ok, unless your friend is a current student or academic advisor, don't listen to them. Most likely they are actually just like yourself, about to enter university, so why the hell are you trusting their information? Take some time to do some research, this involves visiting the future students website: http://mq.edu.au/future_students/undergraduate/

How's the social side at Macquarie?

The social side is there, if you want to participate in it, there's clubs, societies, common interest groups, gym and sporting teams, etc. You get the idea. However, its up to you to participate in things, if you're going to turn up to uni and do nothing but go to classes, then you're not going to get much out of the social scene, likewise if you do nothing but turn up to social stuff, you'll most likely fail. It's about finding a balance.

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If you can think up of any more, post them in and we'll try and help you and add it to the rest of this.

 

[-may-cat-]

Naw Asylum, you do care

I'm not sure if degree x is right for me or not....?

Don't caught up in the names of degrees, this often leads people to make (wrong) assumptions about what they will actually be studying.

Instead, look at the program itself. Have a look at the core units, see if they interest you; people are often surprised to find that they will have to study things they weren't expecting, such as statistics or languages. Further to this, the way that various disciplines are approached at uni can be very different to how they are presented in high school - reading the actual unit descriptions will give you some idea as to what you will really be studying (ie. don't expect it all to be Freud, feelings and screwing your parents if you plan on doing Psych).

Think about how much flexibility you want in your degree, then see if the program you are looking at offers that. Do you want plenty of electives to test the water and see what you are interested in in your first year? Or are you happy to jump right into a heavily structured program? Often the only difference between the named degrees and the BA/BSci is that the former is heavily structured with cores, whilst the latter gives more flexibility with electives & major/minor choices - though named degrees do sometimes give you the opportunity to take more advanced units early on.

In short, CHECK EVERYTHING about the degree you are thinking about doing, here: http://handbook.mq.edu.au/2013/

This should become your bible to understanding your degree; if it's not in the handbook, it's not true.

If you are having trouble understanding what the hell the handbook is on about (understandable), ask.


I'm still unsure about whether i really want to study degree x

Cool, join the 90% of all new students who probably feel the exact same way as you. If you know you want to go to university but aren't really sure what you would like to study, it can be a good idea to start off in something flexible like a BA or BSci. Don't get put off by the stigma surrounding these degrees, most people who put them down are pretentious wankers who don't understand how university actually works and fail to see how useful they can be.

What's really good about these is that you can try out a range of different things and find out what you enjoy and are good at without locking yourself in to a structured core filled program. Once you've figured out what you would like to do, you can choose to major in it within the BA/BSci or transfer to a more structured named degree, if you wish. So many people at uni do this, it is very, very common. Don't feel as if you have to know exactly what it is that you want to do now, once you're in the uni system it is very easy to change things about (provided you have half decent marks).