Combined Bachelor of Enginering (honours) + Bachelor of science at Usyd (1 Viewer)

[jinglebells1464646]

Hello Everyone
This will be a long post: to anyone who can answer any of these queries, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. No joke.
I am interested in doing this combined degree at usyd BHENGSCI-05 https://www.sydney.edu.au/handbooks...engineering_honours_combined_resolutions.html

However,
It says in the course resolutions two concerning things:
a) " Candidates who qualify for the Dalyell stream must complete another Engineering stream in conjunction with the Dalyell stream". Does that mean I have to complete an engineering stream (say mechatronic) AND complete another engineering stream that is integrated with Dalyell course units? Or did it mean I have to complete and engineering stream that is integrated with Dalyell course units?


The 2nd issue is:
b) "For the Bachelor of Engineering Honours component of a combined degree:
Majors are not available.
Breadth Specialisations are not available.
Stream Specialisations are not available in the Aeronautical, Chemical and Biomolecular, Mechanical, and Mechatronic Streams"

What does it mean I can't major? For this combined degree, I can still pick units that would normally, for a single degree, be listed as majoring options...right? Since I can't major, does it mean there is reduced content depth in the units I choose to study?


Workload/ social life/rest concerns
What exactly I want to do is the Full-time USyd Combined Degree: Bachelor of Engineering (with honours year) (Mechatronic) + Bachelor of Science (Maths) hopefully within the Dalyell program.
- How easy will it be to balance social + study + part-time job + personal leisure + good sleep if I organise myself well?
- How easy is it to organise myself well?
- Will I be able to do academically the best that one should? This degree kinda sounds like crazy kids doing 13 units (non-accerelated) and not doing so great in hsc year.

Smart move within my long term plan?
In case I don't do well in my UCAT next year and thus fail to get into undergrad medicine, I am looking to apply for graduate-entry medicine at UNSW or western-syd when I complete the degree. I heard GAMSAT requires some medical or some physics knowledge.
- Is this bachelor's degree in science useful or contribute anything that an engineering degree does not?

Is there even any point doing bachelors of science (majoring in maths) at all? The selection rank guarantee is 80+ which is low. Im worried that the course will not be challenging enough and I also didn't work my ass off this year just to pop into something like that. I am also worried about employment prospects.
- Will I learn anything or feel very intellectually stimulated?

- Will I create anything substantial like they do in mechatronics?

- Would I just better off doing a single degree in engineering (mechatronics)?



I am also considering the single degree in maths.
- What is the difference between majoring in Mathematics versus in in Financial Mathematics and Statistics versus Mathematical Modelling and Computation?

- I heard that doing a degree in maths is better than a degree in engineering (Mechatronics)/actuarial/computer sci/fundamental sciences (eg physics) because the stuff taught in those degrees are already covered by maths degree say "UNSW's Advanced Mathematics Bachelor's degree (with the honours year)" and therefore I stand a chance for a wide array of jobs. So an employer for a robotics company would look at my hypothetical profile of bachelors in maths and go "yeah, you're in" ???

- Is the undergraduate program for mathematics better at USYD OR UNSW??? AGE OLD CHEESE. I know unsw is ranked higher overall by QS but I am concerned about the undergraduate program. Who teaches more interesting and diverse content?

- It may be simply my ignorance but when I look at course codes like MATHXXXX called differential calculus, I get a little put-off because it sounds like just a lot of algebra. I know its get harder as the DEs to solve gradually become wack but, is there anything else that simply isn't "Oh let's see what happened to the bunny population after t years" and algebra-bash? It seems like a one-dimensional unit. I think it is my ignorance.

- What is the difference between "bachelor of science" and " BACHELOR OF SCIENCE AND BACHELOR OF ADVANCED STUDIES"

- Why does the usyd website feature in the degree's 'studies' tab two columns of "Majors ....Programs"? There is a little description of programs as "larger volumes of study...combination of units of study". Does a program include majors? It is so awfully confusing. ((



Enjoy!

 

[jimmysmith560]

I can answer some of your questions. First, the Bachelor of Advanced Studies is essentially an additional year of study, during which a student can either take advanced coursework subjects or complete an Honours year. This is useful if the student wishes to gain more knowledge about their field of study, and if the student intends to pursue further study in the field (such as through a PhD). The Bachelor of Science takes 3 years to complete full-time, whereas the Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Advanced Studies takes 4 years to complete full-time.

UNSW is not ranked higher than USyd overall, it is the other way around, on both QS and THE, with the difference being greater on THE. However, overall ranks on their own are not enough to make an informed decision. Both QS and THE publish rankings by field, and it would be more useful to consider field-specific rankings for the field that you are interested in than making a decision purely based on the overall rankings. Generally speaking, in the case of USyd and UNSW, you are likely to receive a good quality education at both for most fields, meaning that you cannot go wrong with choosing either university.

You have described the difference between a major and a program fairly accurately. A major is the field that you choose to specialise in within a degree. For example, you may wish to specialise in Physics within a Bachelor of Science. You will therefore complete a certain number of physics-related subjects that make up the Physics major. USyd uses the term "program" to refer to the concept of an extended major, which is a combination of subjects that "offer you the opportunity to explore an area of study in greater depth than a major". Yes, a program includes at least 1 relevant major. For instance, you can choose the Psychology program under a Bachelor of Science, which will technically include the Psychological Science major.

I hope this helps!

 

[carrotsss]

hopefully i can provide some help as a usyd maths major who is friends with plenty of engineers

1) You don’t have to do 2 engineering streams, just one with 2 random dalyell units across ur degree

2) The only impact of this is that you can’t do extra specialisations within engineering streams, so like for example you can do a specialisation within aerospace engineering or aerospace systems, with this program you’d just do aerospace engineering. imo not really a big deal, the specialisations just add a couple extra random units rlly not a big deal

How easy will it be to balance social + study + part-time job + personal leisure + good sleep if I organise myself well?

not too bad, uni definitely isn’t easy but as long as ur not doing too many hours for your part time job it’s very much achievable too balance all of those things.

How easy is it to organise myself well?

I mean it depends on who you are and the specific unit, in first year they hold your hand a lot and you’ll honestly be fine if you just keep on top of all the assigned work but in later years they don’t hold your hand quite as much. you do definitely have to keep yourself accountable though, it helps to have friends in similar degrees to keep you accountable asw

Will I be able to do academically the best that one should? This degree kinda sounds like crazy kids doing 13 units (non-accerelated) and not doing so great in hsc year

this degree won’t actually be any harder than doing just the aerospace or just the maths separately, the thing with uni is you take 4 units per semester no matter what so adding extra stuff just adds more degree length, it doesn’t change the workload

Is this bachelor's degree in science useful or contribute anything that an engineering degree does not?

depends entirely on your major and choices of electives. usyd’s bachelor of science is extremely flexible i literally have zero units in common with someone majoring in like bio or something like that

Is there even any point doing bachelors of science (majoring in maths) at all? The selection rank guarantee is 80+ which is low. Im worried that the course will not be challenging enough and I also didn't work my ass off this year just to pop into something like that. I am also worried about employment prospects.
- Will I learn anything or feel very intellectually stimulated?

ATAR requirements are not everything, a maths major is not easy at all - i know multiple 99.95 kids who do maths majors and plenty other 99+ kids. don’t worry at all about a lack of challenge lol, and yes it will be very intellectually stimulating. employment prospects are there but you won’t be just doing maths, it’s more in stuff like quant trading

Will I create anything substantial like they do in mechatronics?

depends how you define create i guess. a maths major is a very broad base you can go into a lot of stuff from it

Would I just better off doing a single degree in engineering (mechatronics)?

depends how much you like maths i guess, you can always start off with the double and move or vice versa since you will most likely have to take the maths units for engineering anyway and then make up your mind without extending your degree. a maths major is great if you really love and are good at maths, but no one wants to hire a mid maths major

What is the difference between majoring in Mathematics versus in in Financial Mathematics and Statistics versus Mathematical Modelling and Computation?

you can look up “[major] unit of study table usyd” to see specific differences but basically for maths it’s just straight up maths applied or pure, financial maths starts with maths and then goes into some data/stats stuff and then in 3rd year you do a few units applying that stuff to finance. mathematical modelling and computation is a new major so I don’t know what’ll be in it, probably just a combination of stats maths and comp sci units.

heard that doing a degree in maths is better than a degree in engineering (Mechatronics)/actuarial/computer sci/fundamental sciences (eg physics) because the stuff taught in those degrees are already covered by maths degree say "UNSW's Advanced Mathematics Bachelor's degree (with the honours year)" and therefore I stand a chance for a wide array of jobs. So an employer for a robotics company would look at my hypothetical profile of bachelors in maths and go "yeah, you're in" ???

i mean you don’t get the engineering qualification so for something like robotics not so much, you’d have to do some extra stuff to get a proper qualification, similar deal with actuarial you need to do some extra stuff at the end. it’s definitely true for comp sci though, and in general you do get a decently broad range with maths, there is a bit more uncertainty though you have to be ok with not having a super set pathway from the start

the undergraduate program for mathematics better at USYD OR UNSW??? AGE OLD CHEESE. I know unsw is ranked higher overall by QS but I am concerned about the undergraduate program. Who teaches more interesting and diverse content?

i read into this a fair bit and the general consensus was that they’re both pretty similar quality, usyd has a bit of a better range of later year units though iirc. you can’t really go wrong with either though, it’s not like engineering where it’s cut and dry that unsw wins

It may be simply my ignorance but when I look at course codes like MATHXXXX called differential calculus, I get a little put-off because it sounds like just a lot of algebra. I know its get harder as the DEs to solve gradually become wack but, is there anything else that simply isn't "Oh let's see what happened to the bunny population after t years" and algebra-bash? It seems like a one-dimensional unit. I think it is my ignorance.

uni maths is a lot less one dimensional than high school trust me, especially if you do the advanced versions things get a lot more theoretical and there’s a lot more focus on stuff like proofs rather than dumb algebra bashing.

What is the difference between "bachelor of science" and " BACHELOR OF SCIENCE AND BACHELOR OF ADVANCED STUDIES"

advanced studies basically just adds honours for most people. you can also do advanced coursework instead but that’s pretty much just for people who don’t get a 65 wam and can’t do honours

Why does the usyd website feature in the degree's 'studies' tab two columns of "Majors ....Programs"? There is a little description of programs as "larger volumes of study...combination of units of study". Does a program include majors? It is so awfully confusing. ((

programs is stuff like mathematical sciences, most programs just add a few extra cool units of study or give you extra capabilities, like for example doing mathematical sciences means i can do a masters in 1.5 years instead of 2. majors are the main important thing

hope this helps

 

[liamkk112]

doing a degree in maths by itself, if you're looking for engineering jobs such as robotics, simply will not make you as competitive as someone with an engineering degree in 99% of cases, at least in australia. one issue is accreditation, in that you won't be an accredited engineer with a math meaning that you're already restricted on what you can do in a lot of cases. past that, if you have a math degree you'll be lacking the specialised that an engineering graduate will have (which a math degree will not teach), and majority of industry employers will care about that, e.g. in robotics you probably won't have touched heavily on control theory, or manufacturing process, or materials needed to construct things, business stuff etc. it's not impossible to get an engineering job with a math degree, but if you want an engineering job then it's much much better to just get an engineering degree.

in terms of courses at uni, not everything is just a lot of algebra bashing, in fact a lot of subjects stray away from computation and you get further into proofs, which of course have algebra but it's not like things suddenly become 10 variable simulataenous equations everywhere (and when that happens, you have more sophisticated tools to deal with it). things get harder mostly because they become more abstract and you're doing more generalisations of things, for example you talk about every continuous function rather than a particular one, and again the algebra isn't where most of the difficulty lies. things certainly aren't one-dimensional for that reason, in fact they become more sophisticated and interesting.
you will have some courses like vector calculus which will be computational/applied, but even then it won't just "be harder algebra" and there will be a bit more to it in terms of concepts and applying it to more interesting situations. depending on the units you take you might be implementing things on computers too, i have a few subjects that involve programming and implementing algorithms eg to approximate solutions to differential equations where there's no formulaic solution, but again in these more "applied" units it doesn't necessarily all break down into really complicated algebra that you have to do by hand.

the undergrad programs at both usyd and unsw are pretty well respected, i will say that usyd seems to have slightly more variety of classes at the undergraduate level than unsw but tbh it's basically neck and neck, i'd moreso pick off of what uni u prefer and trimesters/semesters because it's really not that strong of a difference. additionally atar requirements really say nothing about the course or whatever, plenty of people with high atars do a bachelor of science because it's a flexible degree and also has a lot of interesting majors. studying math definetly won't be boring if you're interested and also will be challenging, however if you're looking to "create something substantial" then engineering is just the better degree for you imo, engineering has projects and labs and math kinda has that but not really. employement opportunities in math are also lower than engineering in general, lots of jobs in data science and the like though an engineering degree is generally a "safer" degree, so if you just want a safe bet it's better to engineering (only if you're interested in it though).

if you're 100% set on med, i don't see why you don't just study something related like medsci or chemistry/biology, you'll be the most prepared for gamsat that way. otherwise, in a bachelor of science you can take units/major in one of those fields, that will familiarise yourself with the medical stuff. so i guess in that way a bachelor of science would contribute better towards med than engineering, although biomedical engineering exists which would allow you to get some related knowledge. also, a double in eng and math will be hard in terms of content lol, though if you keep up week to week it won't be impossible by any means. if you just want a free degree (if such a thing exists) to get into med though, it's not really the best option

 

[carrotsss]

if you're 100% set on med, i don't see why you don't just study something related like medsci or chemistry/biology, you'll be the most prepared for gamsat that way. otherwise, in a bachelor of science you can take units/major in one of those fields, that will familiarise yourself with the medical stuff. so i guess in that way a bachelor of science would contribute better towards med than engineering, although biomedical engineering exists which would allow you to get some related knowledge. also, a double in eng and math will be hard in terms of content lol, though if you keep up week to week it won't be impossible by any means. if you just want a free degree (if such a thing exists) to get into med though, it's not really the best option

don’t study stuff like medical science unless you’d be happy doing the degree if you had a 0% chance of getting into med. the people are intolerable, it’s super competitive and it’s hard to get a good wam, which will hurt your chances a lot more than a slight advantage in gamsat. also really hard to get a job I’ve heard because of all the sweaty med hopefuls who don’t quite get in

imo just do what you’d be doing if you had a 0% chance of med, and then spend time studying for gamsat and hopefully things work out and you get med otherwise you’re still happy

 

[liamkk112]

don’t study stuff like medical science unless you’d be happy doing the degree if you had a 0% chance of getting into med. the people are intolerable, it’s super competitive and it’s hard to get a good wam, which will hurt your chances a lot more than a slight advantage in gamsat. also really hard to get a job I’ve heard because of all the sweaty med hopefuls who don’t quite get in

imo just do what you’d be doing if you had a 0% chance of med, and then spend time studying for gamsat and hopefully things work out and you get med otherwise you’re still happy

yeah that’s why i said only if you’re 100% on med and you won’t be happy doing anything else, chem/bio have more pathways than medsci tho. imo not really more difficult than eng/math classes, but to each their own

 

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You haven't told us what's your aim, are you trying to become a Scientist? An Engineer? Going to Academia? Going into Industry?