UNSW Chit Chat Thread 2014 (4 Viewers)

[jonsploder]

I believe that there is interest on HECS, however it is the bare minimum which takes into account inflation. So in reality, it's not really extra interest.

I'm intending to take the following courses in my Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) degree. Does anyone have any suggestions?
MATH1141, MATH1081, SCIF1121 (I think this is mandatory. I could choose another mandatory one instead, both sound very boring.)
Additionally I like the sound of COMP1917.

Any comments or suggestions on my choices?

Also does anyone have many recommendations for uni life in general? E.g. should I join in many clubs and societies, is there much else I can do other than study at uni? How's uni life in general? I feel living on campus is probably too expensive. How often are social events hosted there, daytime or night-time?

 

[Thief]

What is the studyload like for engineering?

Do you get to do homework during the tutorials?

 

[Web Addict]

You don't need to pay anything if you elect to delay your payment. I haven't paid a single cent of my uni fees yet. We will pay when we meet an income threshold (like $40,000 - can't remember the exact figure). Same thing for SA-HELP (Student amenities fee)




No, a course only runs for the length of one semester. It may be offered in both semesters, but the course itself is run over one semester only.

The Handbook may not specifically tell you which semester to take it in, but you do need to think about it - for example, you couldn't take MATH1231 before MATH1131, and so it would be advisable to take MATH1131 in semester 1, then MATH1231 in semester 2. Think about prerequisites and whether a specific course is only offered in a certain semester. You can tell this by looking at the class timetable - generally, if it only has a certain semester listed, it will only be offered in that semester. You can look at past years to deduce whether it will be likely that the course is offered in another semester.

I'm going to do MATH1141, PHYS1131, COMP1911 and ENG1000 in Semester 1. Does this mean that I do 1 other course and 3 electives in Semester 2?

 

[Thief]

I'm going to do MATH1141, PHYS1131, COMP1911 and ENG1000 in Semester 1. Does this mean that I do 1 other course and 3 electives in Semester 2?

Well you do the higher maths 1B + 3 electives.

 

[D94]

I'm going to do MATH1141, PHYS1131, COMP1911 and ENG1000 in Semester 1. Does this mean that I do 1 other course and 3 electives in Semester 2?

Yeah, so the other 3 courses should end up being 1 or 2 core courses and 2 or 1 first year engineering electives. For example, if you decide to choose ELEC1111, MMAN1300 and a random elective, the ELEC1111 and MMAN1300 would be core for Mechanical if you were to choose that major (and as a result, you would need to do another elective).

But if you were to do say CHEM1011, MMAN1300 and a random elective, and you decide to do Chemical Engineering, then CHEM1011 becomes the core course, then MMAN1300 and the other random elective would become your 2 first year engineering electives.

So decide your electives based on what major/s you are thinking of doing.

 

[D94]

What is the studyload like for engineering?

Do you get to do homework during the tutorials?

Well, there's around 24 hours a week, so that is already significant. In terms of homework, you usually do it before the tutorials - you may be given a set of tutorial problems, you attempt them and if you have problems with the questions, you ask in the tutorials.

The workload is manageable, considering many of us cram a bit - so if we can do 2 months of tutorial questions in 1 week (obviously spending a lot of hours just doing questions), then the workload over 2 months is fine. It's really just managing your time well.

 

[Thief]

Well, there's around 24 hours a week, so that is already significant. In terms of homework, you usually do it before the tutorials - you may be given a set of tutorial problems, you attempt them and if you have problems with the questions, you ask in the tutorials.

The workload is manageable, considering many of us cram a bit - so if we can do 2 months of tutorial questions in 1 week (obviously spending a lot of hours just doing questions), then the workload over 2 months is fine. It's really just managing your time well.

Alright, thank you. How many hours of a part-time job do you think is manageable on top of an engineering workload?

 

[Examine]

Is it good to have lectures with hardly anyone in them?

 

[Thief]

Is it good to have lectures with hardly anyone in them?

They'd probably fill up as time goes on. My friend going to unsw didn't even know that you make your own timetable so I'm sure other people might be in the same boat/leaving it til the last minute.

 

[Shadowdude]

I believe that there is interest on HECS, however it is the bare minimum which takes into account inflation. So in reality, it's not really extra interest.

I'm intending to take the following courses in my Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) degree. Does anyone have any suggestions?
MATH1141, MATH1081, SCIF1121 (I think this is mandatory. I could choose another mandatory one instead, both sound very boring.)
Additionally I like the sound of COMP1917.

Any comments or suggestions on my choices?

Also does anyone have many recommendations for uni life in general? E.g. should I join in many clubs and societies, is there much else I can do other than study at uni? How's uni life in general? I feel living on campus is probably too expensive. How often are social events hosted there, daytime or night-time?

Oh good, another Adv. Maths kid! welcome

Okay let's see... COMP1917 you probably have to do anyway, so you could do that. If you're taking it by itself, I'd leave the fourth spot for anything you're interested in. Maybe a finance course, or a science course, or even an Arts course.

Uni life is what you make of it. You can sit in your class and go home after every class, or you can join all the societies and try and meet tons of people - it's up to you. Heck, you can sit in the Unibar all day and drink if you want. You don't even have to show up!

More seriously, I think you should join as many societies as you are interested in - I'd suggest MathSoc as a first stop (you are a maths student after all), and during O-Week, go through the stalls and pick out any you like. Some might have a slight cost, but it's like $5 at most - for the whole year.

Societies may have weekly events, others have monthly events, but use those as a tool to meet people, like-minded people. Some societies have night events, some societies have day events - but especially during the early part of the year, there'll be a lot of social events, just to get new people in and acquainted with the society.

So... yeah!

Is it good to have lectures with hardly anyone in them?

Well, I feel bad for the lecturer if that happens. I had a lecture with only 15 people in it, and the enrolment was 80...

But doesn't really matter.

 

[williamdaft]

Took me like 4 hours to skim through everything and accept conditions, and create timetable last night.

Now I need to read back my saved tabs on HECS, and etc.

I got a good timetable Now to apply for HECS........

 

[crazy_paki123]

How is GENM0703?

 

[wildchild666]

Took me like 4 hours to skim through everything and accept conditions, and create timetable last night.

Now I need to read back my saved tabs on HECS, and etc.

I got a good timetable Now to apply for HECS........

You actually did that?

 

[williamdaft]

You actually did that?

LOL yeah well kinda.. obviously I didn't ready every single word, otherwise that would've literally took me more than 7 hrs. Hence "skim"... haven't even read HECS pdf, and some stuff.. while I'll do later.

 

[wildchild666]

LOL yeah well kinda.. obviously I didn't ready every single word, otherwise that would've literally took me more than 7 hrs. Hence "skim"... haven't even read HECS pdf, and some stuff.. while I'll do later.

Took me like 15mins to get through it all. lol

 

[williamdaft]

Took me like 15mins to get through it all. lol

I didn't want to go too fast coz I didn't want to do something wrong

 

[EpikHigh]

You know how you can pay that $500+ contribution fee for a 10% discount is it worth doing/do you have to pay it every semester or just once?!?

 

[williamdaft]

You know how you can pay that $500+ contribution fee for a 10% discount is it worth doing/do you have to pay it every semester or just once?!?

I think you pay it before the semester starts,, and if it's worth it.. I think paying thousands are worth it if you have a part time job or a lot of money.. 10% off thousands, you can save hundreds.

 

[hellohello8]

You would say no. Some degrees take 5.5yrs so I assume that question applies to them?

This refers to people who are about to complete their degree, so not first-years

 

[Bored_of_HSC]

Took me like 15mins to get through it all. lol

When i saw i got into my course last year i went full retard and finished the whole process in like 3 minutes. Didn't realise i didn't defer my fees to HECS and had to pay 1st sem fees upfront LOL (iirc a bit over 4.6k).

In an ironic twist it was better that way as i got a 10% discount. But my bank account hasn't recovered till that day...