Unravelling The Uni Problem... (1 Viewer)

[LynFay]

Does anyone else not understand all that undergraduate stuff? "recieved your UAC?" etc? what's a UAC? when do you get it, why do you need it???

I really don't know what i want to study in Uni, but it'd help if i knew some basics:

1. How do uni's work?? Is it like school? Do you have roll call? Detention? Do essays get marked? What happens when you fail?? Etc.

2. How do you know what universities are good for what? Like, do they specialise in stuff?? like how you have sporting schools and stuff???

3. How does the course progress? I know you're aiming for something, but what is it? Does it go, Bachelor, Diploma, Master??? Can you take more than one course at a time? How does that work?

4. How do you apply? Do you have to have passed HSC??? Can you just rock up?

5. Does the Uni have to be in your area?? Like, if you live in NSW, it needs to be in NSW??? if not, then how do you cope with not being near home? Live on campus or something??? OR what if the uni's isn't in the same country?? Who helps you out then????

6. What the hell is ivy league???

Basically, i don't know anything about university, or collage or TAFE, and unlike choosing a high school, i have to choose this for myself and i think it matters that i find the right one for me. Likewise for everyone else - it's important that we all find gud higher education, right?

So im asking that you ppl help me put together a thread that outlines Uni's and stuff, so that i know how to make a start. Thankies!!!

 

[NeoSanity]

well ill say 2 things

there is no roll call, its education that requires YOU to make an effort if you want to do well. IMO it should be like this in year 11 and 12 as well. but yeah.. you either turn up or don't, the uni isn't fussed..

to apply you need to have a UAI OR apply when you are 21 (in which case you won't need ANY qualifications, but a year 10 SC would help..).

So if you really want to, you could leave school and get a job now until your 21, then go to uni and do a degree.. some people from my school last year are doing that, i think i may possible do it too since i'm not liking year 11 that much at all right now.

 

[iRuler]

1. How do uni's work?? Is it like school? Do you have roll call? Detention? Do essays get marked? What happens when you fail?? Etc.

No Roll call, not like school, you wear what u want, no uniform, big lecture theaters with about 500 kids in there, you need to keep up with the work, no detention, make sure you do all assignments, everything gets marked, you need to pass (hopefully more then a pass). If you fail you re do the exam (fail 3 times or something and you get kicked out I think?) and I also think you have to pay to re do exams?

2. How do you know what universities are good for what? Like, do they specialise in stuff?? like how you have sporting schools and stuff???

Well All uni's are good, Best one overall is Uni of Sydney, then UNSW, then UMAQ etc... (sorry if I left any out).. UWS (Uni of Western sydney) has a pretty bad reputation... Uni of Sydney is good for law, Maquarie Uni is good for Acturial Studies, UNSW is good for business (My opinions, dont say anything.... 100% my opinions)

3. How does the course progress? I know you're aiming for something, but what is it? Does it go, Bachelor, Diploma, Master??? Can you take more than one course at a time? How does that work?

The course progresses each semester, like you do One subject, next semester you do another subject. You are aiming to do your best at the course and pass with flying colours, hopefully passing with a High Distinction (HD). It goes Bachelor (Undergraduate), then Masters, then PhD.
You can take more then one course at a time if the Uni offers it, such as B. Commerce with B. Law or B. Law with B. Science (taken from UNSW)

4. How do you apply? Do you have to have passed HSC??? Can you just rock up?

You apply through the UAC, ask your school about the UAC and UAI. You need to apply for a UAI through the UAC. YOur UAI is a rank out of 100.00 ranking everyone in the state. The better marks you get for each subject in the HSC the better your UAI will be, for example, for B. Law, you need a uai of 99.40 for UNSW (Uni of NSW) to gain entry for 2009. It changes each year. These results are around 93-96 in each HSC exam (not accurate information, pleace check out SAM at http://www.boredofstudies.org/sam/ ). Put in your subjects, and the marks you think you will get, and check out what your UAI could be (currently based of the 2008 HSC results)

5. Does the Uni have to be in your area?? Like, if you live in NSW, it needs to be in NSW??? if not, then how do you cope with not being near home? Live on campus or something??? OR what if the uni's isn't in the same country?? Who helps you out then????

The uni can be in your area or it can be within Australia, depends which uni you pick as your preference in your UAC application... if you live in NSW it's recomended you go to a uni in NSW. The uni's are located in the city, google them, and I have no idea about living on campus. NO idea if you can apply for overseas uni's with a UAI?

6. What the hell is ivy league???

NO Idea Sorry


I've tried my best to answer these questions, if anyone has more to add or any corrections, please feel free to add.

 

[kevinx2]

1. How do uni's work?? Is it like school? Do you have roll call? Detention? Do essays get marked? What happens when you fail?? Etc.
University consists of Lectures, Tutorials and depending on your degree you might have Labs.
Lectures: It's purpose is to present information and teach a group of up to 1,000+ students through an oral presentation (quite often aided by a PowerPoint presentation) by a lecturer.
Lecture
Tutorials: Are pretty much like high school classes, it gives you an opportunity to ask questions to your tutor which you wouldn't usually be able to in a lecture. You're required to participate in group discussions and more often the not, a mark is given as to how much you have participated in those discussions. You also get homework, assignments, exercises etc and yes the roll is marked here.
Tutorials
Labratories: Like tutorials but in laboratories, the practical component of certain subjects are done here, very common in courses like Science, Engineering, IT etc
If you do fail, you may have to retake the subject at your own financial expense as you might need to have passed the subject in order to continue or complete your degree.

2. How do you know what universities are good for what? Like, do they specialise in stuff?? like how you have sporting schools and stuff???
Don't get into the habit of listening/making wide sweeping generalisations about particular universities based on reputation and such.

3. How does the course progress? I know you're aiming for something, but what is it? Does it go, Bachelor, Diploma, Master??? Can you take more than one course at a time? How does that work?
If you do not have any other prior tertiary education (ie. just finished your HSC), you will likely be considered an undergraduate. Most of the undergraduate courses at uni are Bachelor Degrees and they usually go for 3 years (longer if you're combining degrees) and upon completion of your degree, you are considered a graduate. Those wishing to continue their education beyond this point are postgraduates. Don't worry about this now, but yes, a Masters degree is a postgraduate degree.
You can do more than one course at a time, it will just take longer.

4. How do you apply? Do you have to have passed HSC??? Can you just rock up?
Apply through UAC. Admission is determined by the universities based on your University Admission Index, it is your RANK out of 100. Universities have a UAI cut-off for its courses, it indicates the lowest UAI that they will accept into their course and this cut-off differs between courses, some are higher than others. Certain courses have admission requirements other than your UAI such an interview or another test.

5. Does the Uni have to be in your area?? Like, if you live in NSW, it needs to be in NSW??? if not, then how do you cope with not being near home? Live on campus or something??? OR what if the uni's isn't in the same country?? Who helps you out then????
You can go to any uni you want. You're going to be an adult, i think you would be more than capable of looking after yourself by then; nevertheless you have YouthAllowance, Scholarships, other financial assistance and of course you can probably still leech off parents

6. What the hell is ivy league???
Ivy League - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Google is your friend.

Well All uni's are good, Best one overall is Uni of Sydney, then UNSW, then UMAQ etc... (sorry if I left any out).. UWS (Uni of Western sydney) has a pretty bad reputation... Uni of Sydney is good for law, Maquarie Uni is good for Acturial Studies, UNSW is good for business (My opinions, dont say anything.... 100% my opinions)

Generalisation.

like you do One subject, next semester you do another subject. You are aiming to do your best at the course and pass with flying colours, hopefully passing with a High Distinction (HD)

You usually do 4 subjects a semester (half a year). Higher marks usually open more doors, jobwise and education wise. Grades usually are Pass, Credit, Distinction, High Distinction and Fail.

It goes Bachelor (Undergraduate), then Masters, then PhD.

If we are going to order these into some sort of hierarchy then...
CertI > CertII > CertIII/IV > Diploma > AdvanceDiploma - those are usually undertaken at TAFE. Then at uni comes Bachelor > Honours > Masters(Coursework)/Masters(Research) > PhD
You will also have others as well such as Graduate Certificates/Diplomas and such

These results are around 93-96 in each HSC exam (not accurate information, pleace check out SAM at http://www.boredofstudies.org/sam/ ). Put in your subjects, and the marks you think you will get, and check out what your UAI could be (currently based of the 2008 HSC results)

Don't put in raw marks, SAM is based on aligned marks, not the raw marks you think you will get.
http://community.boredofstudies.org...na/6642/explanation-hsc-marks-moderating.html
eh, don't worry about this yet

if you live in NSW it's recomended you go to a uni in NSW

No. It's probably better for most to stay in the same state/city. But who's to say that an interstate/overseas university is 'not recomended'.

The uni's are located in the city

Unis aren't neccessarily all in the city, quite a few are in rural localities

Of course there are always minor exceptions to all of what i wrote, take this as rather a general overview of uni
Read the stickies
HSC: 2010 - worry bout this later

 

[iRuler]

1. How do uni's work?? Is it like school? Do you have roll call? Detention? Do essays get marked? What happens when you fail?? Etc.
University consists of Lectures, Tutorials and depending on your degree you might have Labs.
Lectures: It's purpose is to present information and teach a group of up to 1,000+ students through an oral presentation (quite often aided by a PowerPoint presentation) by a lecturer.
Lecture
Tutorials: Are pretty much like high school classes, it gives you an opportunity to ask questions to your tutor which you wouldn't usually be able to in a lecture. You're required to participate in group discussions and more often the not, a mark is given as to how much you have participated in those discussions. You also get homework, assignments, exercises etc and yes the roll is marked here.
Tutorials
Labratories: Like tutorials but in laboratories, the practical component of certain subjects are done here, very common in courses like Science, Engineering, IT etc
If you do fail, you may have to retake the subject at your own financial expense as you might need to have passed the subject in order to continue or complete your degree.

2. How do you know what universities are good for what? Like, do they specialise in stuff?? like how you have sporting schools and stuff???
Don't get into the habit of listening/making wide sweeping generalisations about particular universities based on reputation and such.

3. How does the course progress? I know you're aiming for something, but what is it? Does it go, Bachelor, Diploma, Master??? Can you take more than one course at a time? How does that work?
If you do not have any other prior tertiary education (ie. just finished your HSC), you will likely be considered an undergraduate. Most of the undergraduate courses at uni are Bachelor Degrees and they usually go for 3 years (longer if you're combining degrees) and upon completion of your degree, you are considered a graduate. Those wishing to continue their education beyond this point are postgraduates. Don't worry about this now, but yes, a Masters degree is a postgraduate degree.
You can do more than one course at a time, it will just take longer.

4. How do you apply? Do you have to have passed HSC??? Can you just rock up?
Apply through UAC. Admission is determined by the universities based on your University Admission Index, it is your RANK out of 100. Universities have a UAI cut-off for its courses, it indicates the lowest UAI that they will accept into their course and this cut-off differs between courses, some are higher than others. Certain courses have admission requirements other than your UAI such an interview or another test.

5. Does the Uni have to be in your area?? Like, if you live in NSW, it needs to be in NSW??? if not, then how do you cope with not being near home? Live on campus or something??? OR what if the uni's isn't in the same country?? Who helps you out then????
You can go to any uni you want. You're going to be an adult, i think you would be more than capable of looking after yourself by then; nevertheless you have YouthAllowance, Scholarships, other financial assistance and of course you can probably still leech off parents

6. What the hell is ivy league???
Ivy League - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Google is your friend.



Generalisation.

You usually do 4 subjects a semester (half a year). Higher marks usually open more doors, jobwise and education wise. Grades usually are Pass, Credit, Distinction, High Distinction and Fail.

If we are going to order these into some sort of hierarchy then...
CertI > CertII > CertIII/IV > Diploma > AdvanceDiploma - those are usually undertaken at TAFE. Then at uni comes Bachelor > Honours > Masters(Coursework)/Masters(Research) > PhD
You will also have others as well such as Graduate Certificates/Diplomas and such
Don't put in raw marks, SAM is based on aligned marks, not the raw marks you think you will get.
http://community.boredofstudies.org...na/6642/explanation-hsc-marks-moderating.html
eh, don't worry about this yet

No. It's probably better for most to stay in the same state/city. But who's to say that an interstate/overseas university is 'not recomended'.


Unis aren't neccessarily all in the city, quite a few are in rural localities

Of course there are always minor exceptions to all of what i wrote, take this as rather a general overview of uni
Read the stickies
HSC: 2010 - worry bout this later

Ahahhaha lol

Thanks for the corrections... most of it up there was my personal opinion...

Anywho.. Good Job

 

[phosphorescent]

Ivy League refers to a group of American universities, my friend.

There's a similar thing going on for Australian universities, but I forget the name, and it's not particularly important.

By the way, iRuler, a HD in university is much harder than you think. Most people receive Credits, and some Distinctions.

 

[spence]

Ivy League refers to a group of American universities, my friend.

There's a similar thing going on for Australian universities, but I forget the name, and it's not particularly important.

By the way, iRuler, a HD in university is much harder than you think. Most people receive Credits, and some Distinctions.

I think the closest thing Aus has to the Ivy League is the Group of 8

 

[iRuler]

Ivy League refers to a group of American universities, my friend.

There's a similar thing going on for Australian universities, but I forget the name, and it's not particularly important.

By the way, iRuler, a HD in university is much harder than you think. Most people receive Credits, and some Distinctions.

HAHA.. yea I know, I have a few friends who average a HD every year... one is crazy with medicine... he's doing MBBS @ UNSW... he said he was pretty much on top of the class... or something like that, third or fourth year for him...

 

[spence]

I have a mate who just transferred into law at USyd - his average for first year was like 88 or something ridiculous. He was on the dean's list for that