fluffylamington
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as the thread title states, this is a (relatively) simple guide for those who are unfamiliar with the general undergraduate degree structure. in advance, i would like to say that i will be mainly using abbreviations and terms used by the university of new south wales, and make side notes to what terms are used by the university of sydney. despite this, there is very little difference between the majority of nsw universities in their choice of terms and abbreviations and it is unlikely that you will find my choice of terms confusing.
units of credit (UOC) or credit points: the unit of credit is the fundamental building block of a degree. within your respective undergraduate degree, you will be provided with a specific quantity of UOC that determine the quantity of courses you will be permitted to undertake throughout the duration of your degree. typically, within a semester (one half of the academic year) you must elect 24 UOC worth of courses.
course or unit of study: a course is simply a series of lectures/tutorials/practicals including assignments and examinations centred on a particular topic area in your degree. a course generally accounts for 6 UOC and spans one semester of the academic calendar. furthermore, there are several courses which are reffered to as core courses, which are courses that are simply compulsory.
major/minor/electives: during the early stages of your bachelor degree (typically in the second year) you must elect a major, and depending on your university of choice, you may be allowed to elect a second major, a minor and several electives. a major is a specialisation in a particular aspect of your degree, and your choice of specialisation is determined by the available areas of study (or subject areas) offered by the university. these areas of study comprise a variety of courses connected by a similar topic. a major typically consists of 5-8 courses which are studied over the duration of your degree. a minor is simply a secondary specialisation which is usually studied in lesser scope than your major, that is, a minor accounts for less UOC's than a major. electives are those courses which you may elect to account for the remainder of your UOC after you have satisfied the compulsory requirements of your degree (including selecting a major or majors, minors, electives and studying core courses).
for those of you who may still consider this confusing, i have included an example with one of the most (to the extent of my knowledge) popular courses at the unsw, the bachelor of commerce. it may also be worthwhile to have a read of the unsw page on the bachelor of commerce: http://www2.fce.unsw.edu.au/nps/ser...ggedOutInheritableArea&maxWnd=_Future_UG_BCom
for the bachelor of commerce at the unsw, you have are provided with 144 UOC which amounts to 24 courses which you may study over the 3 years duration of the degree. in the case of both electing a single major or a double major, one must study the 6 core courses (worth 36 UOC at 6 UOC per course). if one were to select a double major, they would select 7 courses for the first major and a further 7 courses for the second major with 2 electives that may be used to elect whicever course they wish. alternatively, if one were to select a single major they would select 8 courses for a major and a further 4 courses for a minor with 4 electives remaining. general education requirements are particular of the unsw and are explained in excellent detail by sunny in his guide @: http://community.boredofstudies.org...wales/78835/general-education-gen-ed-faq.html
i hope this guide has been some help and if you have any comments or questions, feel free to pm me.
units of credit (UOC) or credit points: the unit of credit is the fundamental building block of a degree. within your respective undergraduate degree, you will be provided with a specific quantity of UOC that determine the quantity of courses you will be permitted to undertake throughout the duration of your degree. typically, within a semester (one half of the academic year) you must elect 24 UOC worth of courses.
course or unit of study: a course is simply a series of lectures/tutorials/practicals including assignments and examinations centred on a particular topic area in your degree. a course generally accounts for 6 UOC and spans one semester of the academic calendar. furthermore, there are several courses which are reffered to as core courses, which are courses that are simply compulsory.
major/minor/electives: during the early stages of your bachelor degree (typically in the second year) you must elect a major, and depending on your university of choice, you may be allowed to elect a second major, a minor and several electives. a major is a specialisation in a particular aspect of your degree, and your choice of specialisation is determined by the available areas of study (or subject areas) offered by the university. these areas of study comprise a variety of courses connected by a similar topic. a major typically consists of 5-8 courses which are studied over the duration of your degree. a minor is simply a secondary specialisation which is usually studied in lesser scope than your major, that is, a minor accounts for less UOC's than a major. electives are those courses which you may elect to account for the remainder of your UOC after you have satisfied the compulsory requirements of your degree (including selecting a major or majors, minors, electives and studying core courses).
for those of you who may still consider this confusing, i have included an example with one of the most (to the extent of my knowledge) popular courses at the unsw, the bachelor of commerce. it may also be worthwhile to have a read of the unsw page on the bachelor of commerce: http://www2.fce.unsw.edu.au/nps/ser...ggedOutInheritableArea&maxWnd=_Future_UG_BCom
for the bachelor of commerce at the unsw, you have are provided with 144 UOC which amounts to 24 courses which you may study over the 3 years duration of the degree. in the case of both electing a single major or a double major, one must study the 6 core courses (worth 36 UOC at 6 UOC per course). if one were to select a double major, they would select 7 courses for the first major and a further 7 courses for the second major with 2 electives that may be used to elect whicever course they wish. alternatively, if one were to select a single major they would select 8 courses for a major and a further 4 courses for a minor with 4 electives remaining. general education requirements are particular of the unsw and are explained in excellent detail by sunny in his guide @: http://community.boredofstudies.org...wales/78835/general-education-gen-ed-faq.html
i hope this guide has been some help and if you have any comments or questions, feel free to pm me.