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How hard is uni? (1 Viewer)

Crazy Fingers!

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So I'm gonna be doing a bachelor of science next year and was just wondering how hard uni is going to be...cos to be honest I'm scared I'm not going to be able to cut it at uni.

So how hards the stuff were gonna be learning? Is it just like a gradual continuation on from high school?

Is it necessary that I understand everything from high shcool to be able to understand the stuff were gonna be learning in uni? Or will they briefly revise the highschool stuff before explaining new shit?

Oh and I got a UAi of about 77...so be brutally honest...am I going to struggle?
 

Demandred

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It's just very fast and very stress. Consider this, 1 semester = 13 weeks, add 2 weeks for STUVAC or mid semester break, you have 4 units (subject), a typical unit usually has 3-4 assignments, so that's 12-16 assignments due through the 15 weeks, not including the final semester exams. Uni also induces you to bludge, which worsens the problem - most uni students attend 3-4 days a week + you don't have to attend all the classes.
 

iamsickofyear12

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Uni isn't difficult to pass. As long as you turn up at least most of the time and put it some effort you should go alright. You might not get any distinctions but you won't fail.

Problem is by the second semester people start turning up only if it is a requirement for them to pass and really don't put in any effort at all. That is why people fail and even give up and quit.
 

iambored

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natstar said:
For some its like doing 2 HSC in 14 week periods. You just have to be organised and manage your time well, and go to your classes
it's like that. it's not 9-3 though so you get more time to do work
 

iamsickofyear12

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It's not like the HSC because you only need to pass. Of course it's better to get higher marks but to do that you actually need to try pretty hard.

You do have time off. But you are meant to spend that time studying and doing assessments. Kind of difficult for most uni students who have jobs. I'd do more work if I didn't have a job. This week I have the week off to study for exams but have spent more time working than the previous 3 weeks combined.
 

Four Yrs Wasted

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Having been to uni for more than 5 years, I can safely say this to you:

- Dont fall behind. There is alot of material to cover, and falling behind is not an option.
- Ask Questions. Its not High School anymore. Youll struggle if you studying from the lecture notes.
- Attend tutorials.
- DONT FAIL A SUBJECT!!! Doesnt look good on your transcript when you apply for a job.
- Time Management. Good time management will also allow you to enjoy other things in life.


Hope that helps.
 

Four Yrs Wasted

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Four Yrs Wasted said:
Having been to uni for more than 5 years, I can safely say this to you:

- Dont fall behind. There is alot of material to cover, and falling behind is not an option.
- Ask Questions. Its not High School anymore. Youll struggle if you studying from the lecture notes.
- Attend tutorials.
- DONT FAIL A SUBJECT!!! Doesnt look good on your transcript when you apply for a job.
- Time Management. Good time management will also allow you to enjoy other things in life.


Hope that helps.
I wish those advice was given to me when I first started uni.
 

bscienceboi

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Crazy Fingers! said:
Oh and I got a UAi of about 77...so be brutally honest...am I going to struggle?
First year science shouldnt be too hard. A lot of revision in some cases.

But as you progress it does get hard, just make sure you do well first year and develop a good study pattern and you should be fine.
 

Generator

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Four Yrs Wasted said:
Having been to uni for more than 5 years, I can safely say this to you:

- Dont fall behind. There is alot of material to cover, and falling behind is not an option.
- Ask Questions. Its not High School anymore. Youll struggle if you studying from the lecture notes.
- Attend tutorials.
- DONT FAIL A SUBJECT!!! Doesnt look good on your transcript when you apply for a job.
- Time Management. Good time management will also allow you to enjoy other things in life.


Hope that helps.
There's no need for such a broad statement with regards to the fail grade. Yes, a fail isn't what one should look forward to, but at the same time 'earning' such a grade doesn't mean that the end of the world is near or that a student's employment prospects will suffer dramatically. Of course, that all depends upon the number of fails one recieves, the strength of the transcript as a whole, whether a fail for a particular unit is considered to be 'the norm' given failure rates or whether it's largely unheard of, etc., etc..

Apart from that, the above appears to be helpful.
 

Four Yrs Wasted

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Generator said:
There's no need for such a broad statement with regards to the fail grade. Yes, a fail isn't what one should look forward to, but at the same time 'earning' such a grade doesn't mean that the end of the world is near or that a student's employment prospects will suffer dramatically. Of course, that all depends upon the number of fails one recieves, the strength of the transcript as a whole, whether a fail for a particular unit is considered to be 'the norm' given failure rates or whether it's largely unheard of, etc., etc..

Apart from that, the above appears to be helpful.
Im not trying to scare anyone regarding failing subjects. Its just that some employers use failing a subject as a method of culling candidates for a position, regardless of their other marks, skills, and life.

"I see X, I reject"
 

Raiks

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Remember Year 11... it was hard work wasn't it and Year 10 seemed so much easier. It's like that for Uni, you're basically doing the HSC every 6 months but you just get used to it. By 3rd or 4 year, you can write 2000 word essays or finish non-essay theoretical problems with complete ease, starting and finishing it the night before and still getting decent marks...

It requires a lot of work, but it's not as stressful as you think, because somehow you still find the time to socialise like there is no tommorrow. How hard uni is depends on one thing, you're ability of time management, if you can do it well, then you won't have a problem.
 

stazi

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iambored said:
it's like that. it's not 9-3 though so you get more time to do work
none the less, even if you have 12 hours a week the workload is high enough to warrant HSC comparissons. I think the workload is actually equal to a full high school year, but more difficult.
However, if you like what you're doing its bundles of fun :)
 

stazi

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Four Yrs Wasted said:
Im not trying to scare anyone regarding failing subjects. Its just that some employers use failing a subject as a method of culling candidates for a position, regardless of their other marks, skills, and life.

"I see X, I reject"
I'm interested where you're getting that assumption from? I think it'd be more likely for them to just look at WAM rather than scroll down through the list of your numerous subjects for X's. A fail also is equal to 40 as a mark, if I'm not mistaken for your WAM. I mean some fails could be expected, especially if someone does some prereq subject like ecmt with a 30% failure rate.
 

Four Yrs Wasted

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stazi said:
I'm interested where you're getting that assumption from? I think it'd be more likely for them to just look at WAM rather than scroll down through the list of your numerous subjects for X's. A fail also is equal to 40 as a mark, if I'm not mistaken for your WAM. I mean some fails could be expected, especially if someone does some prereq subject like ecmt with a 30% failure rate.
Ive heard this directly from the horses mouth - My lecturer, from the faculty of business (Yes, Engineers also need to understand how something as simple as balance sheet, or a T ledger works). I've also heard it from other respected authorities, and friends.
 

ballerinabarbie

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stazi said:
I'm interested where you're getting that assumption from? I think it'd be more likely for them to just look at WAM rather than scroll down through the list of your numerous subjects for X's. A fail also is equal to 40 as a mark, if I'm not mistaken for your WAM. I mean some fails could be expected, especially if someone does some prereq subject like ecmt with a 30% failure rate.
you think a 30% failure rate is bad?? our stat 100 subject (which all 1st year science, ag science, rural science, computing science, enviro science, nat res students have as a prereq) is a 70% failure rate... why they haven't changed the course i don't know, but a 30% failure rate is not bad
 

LeftrightOut

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ballerinabarbie said:
you think a 30% failure rate is bad?? our stat 100 subject (which all 1st year science, ag science, rural science, computing science, enviro science, nat res students have as a prereq) is a 70% failure rate... why they haven't changed the course i don't know, but a 30% failure rate is not bad
Stat100 is a great class, I should know I failed it a number of times :) It's a wake up call for many.


Uni isn't really "hard" it's just "different". Some people can handle different some people can't, i've seen people who struggled at school go brilliantly at uni and ones who went well in school simply fall out of the bottom. As long as you enjoy the subject matter you will most likely survive 3 years of it or more. Unfortunately most unis make you do some subjects that just aren't in the area you are interested in which you might not care about and neglect.

In the end I haven't seen many graduate from uni in the minimum time period with 0 fails. You can get through with 0 fails but it will need creativity and you most likely won't be done in the minimum time. Before any hard working uni people disagree I say look at the people you are in classes with, there's a bell curve for a reason and the reason is people must fail, even in your final year.
 

Raiks

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I am by far not the hardest working student but I get my assessments in and sit on BOS with only an hour to go before final exams (such as now)... and I haven't failed anything yet. So it's not hard to get through some degrees without failing, but it's quite easy to fail a subject along the way.
 

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