Commerce/Engineering @ Macquarie - What's it like? (1 Viewer)

[x.Exhaust.x]

For the people who have known me in the past, yes, I am definitely transferring from UNSW to Macquarie. Why do you ask? Because I can't be screwed travelling 1.5 hours to University and back for another whole year. I'd rather hop on the M7 motorway and get to Macquarie North Ryde in 20 minutes, and I may be working around there which will be very convenient. Plus, I don't believe UNSW will offer me Commerce/Engineering since my WAM isn't particularly pleasing. (fails, passes, credits, and distinctions are all over the place, so I'd rather start fresh with a new transcript).

Since I have a passion in physics and mathematics, and most of my friends from high school and the gym go to Macquarie (poor reason, but meh, you guys have a reputable business faculty), I'm willing to study at Macquarie. For those people who are currently undertaking this double degree (or even Commerce by itself), what's it like? How would you rate its difficulty? Any regrets?

Macquarie have already made an account for me, and they're pretty desperate to get me into their University. In that sense, they've convinced me! I was thinking of majoring in finance (for comm) and civil (for engineering), but I'm not entirely sure yet. One thing's for sure, I am definitely avoiding accounting, since it destroyed my WAM at UNSW. There goes 2 years down the drain...

Thanks.

 

[kaz1]

Their choice of engineering majors is pretty limited: Computer, Software, Electrical and Telecom I think.

 

[x.Exhaust.x]

Oh sigh, I read that somewhere in the handbook, but wasn't too sure...FML. Cheers Kazi.

 

[Atlas]

For the people who have known me in the past, yes, I am definitely transferring from UNSW to Macquarie. Why do you ask? Because I can't be screwed travelling 1.5 hours to University and back for another whole year. I'd rather hop on the M7 motorway and get to Macquarie North Ryde in 20 minutes, and I may be working around there which will be very convenient. Plus, I don't believe UNSW will offer me Commerce/Engineering since my WAM isn't particularly pleasing. (fails, passes, credits, and distinctions are all over the place, so I'd rather start fresh with a new transcript).

Since I have a passion in physics and mathematics, and most of my friends from high school and the gym go to Macquarie (poor reason, but meh, you guys have a reputable business faculty), I'm willing to study at Macquarie. For those people who are currently undertaking this double degree (or even Commerce by itself), what's it like? How would you rate its difficulty? Any regrets?

Macquarie have already made an account for me, and they're pretty desperate to get me into their University. In that sense, they've convinced me! I was thinking of majoring in finance (for comm) and civil (for engineering), but I'm not entirely sure yet. One thing's for sure, I am definitely avoiding accounting, since it destroyed my WAM at UNSW. There goes 2 years down the drain...

Thanks.

- plan your timetable so you don't need to travel during peak hour, M2 during the peak is just like a carpark
- Difficulty: depends on what you are good/bad at, I presume that if you picked finance, math is not your weakest area - if you are interested in the area, it shouldn't be too difficult if you put in some work. There may be a few units in the latter part of your degree that may be hard, but the first year shouldn't be a problem. You should get decent marks if you put in some effort and study before assessments/exams.
- Overall, the campus is fun, the bar is okay, student societies on campus are active, good internship opportunities/career services etc

Have you seen the newly renovated gym? Are you getting any credit transfer etc?

 

[x.Exhaust.x]

- plan your timetable so you don't need to travel during peak hour, M2 during the peak is just like a carpark
- Difficulty: depends on what you are good/bad at, I presume that if you picked finance, math is not your weakest area - if you are interested in the area, it shouldn't be too difficult if you put in some work. There may be a few units in the latter part of your degree that may be hard, but the first year shouldn't be a problem. You should get decent marks if you put in some effort and study before assessments/exams.
- Overall, the campus is fun, the bar is okay, student societies on campus are active, good internship opportunities/career services etc

Have you seen the newly renovated gym? Are you getting any credit transfer etc?

- Thank you for reminding me about peak hour. I would've totally disregarded that if you didn't mention it in your post.
- Yeah I think I'm alright with Mathematics, since I did 3U/4U in high school. I actually miss the harder concepts. The reason why I'll major in the area of finance is because I'd like to work in the financial services line in a bank such as the CBA, and learn more about the market. I remember meeting a Macquarie graduate who works there during some UNSW scholarship GAP program, and he's absolutely loving it.
- That's good to hear! It's just the friendly and social atmosphere that drives me to go to Macquarie. My Dad prefers me to finish off the rest of my degree (he's still hooked into the prestige of UNSW), but after 2 distinctions and 2 fails this semester (total of 4 fails for the entire 2 years), I think I want to start fresh while putting in the best effort I possibly can at Macquarie. The last thing I'd want is for employers to look at my transcript and see those 4 failed subjects associated with my majors, with a terrible WAM of 61 as well.

One of my mates invited me to the newly renovated gym, and apparently it's really good! I'll definitely be visiting there once the first semester of 2012 starts (once my fitness first membership expires lol). As for credit transfers, I'm not entirely sure yet, hopefully UAC considers that for the main round. It would be nice if I could get credits for the subject I received "decent marks" in (credits and distinctions), but I definitely want to avoid the pass and fail grades... It'll be 5 years to complete it (so I'll be graduating in 2017) whereas if I had initially started off with Macquarie back in 2009 when I graduated with my HSC, I would've been graduating in 2015. This is the only thing that puts me off, but idc, I'm not that desperate to get into the workforce, still a youngin.

What are you currently studying atm Atlas? Grades wise, are you doing alright?

More advice is greatly appreciated, I'm leaving myself out in the open (with grades and all) lol.

 

[Atlas]

- Thank you for reminding me about peak hour. I would've totally disregarded that if you didn't mention it in your post.
- Yeah I think I'm alright with Mathematics, since I did 3U/4U in high school. I actually miss the harder concepts. The reason why I'll major in the area of finance is because I'd like to work in the financial services line in a bank such as the CBA, and learn more about the market. I remember meeting a Macquarie graduate who works there during some UNSW scholarship GAP program, and he's absolutely loving it.
- That's good to hear! It's just the friendly and social atmosphere that drives me to go to Macquarie. My Dad prefers me to finish off the rest of my degree (he's still hooked into the prestige of UNSW), but after 2 distinctions and 2 fails this semester (total of 4 fails for the entire 2 years), I think I want to start fresh while putting in the best effort I possibly can at Macquarie. The last thing I'd want is for employers to look at my transcript and see those 4 failed subjects associated with my majors, with a terrible WAM of 61 as well.

One of my mates invited me to the newly renovated gym, and apparently it's really good! I'll definitely be visiting there once the first semester of 2012 starts (once my fitness first membership expires lol). As for credit transfers, I'm not entirely sure yet, hopefully UAC considers that for the main round. It would be nice if I could get credits for the subject I received "decent marks" in (credits and distinctions), but I definitely want to avoid the pass and fail grades... It'll be 5 years to complete it (so I'll be graduating in 2017) whereas if I had initially started off with Macquarie back in 2009 when I graduated with my HSC, I would've been graduating in 2015. This is the only thing that puts me off, but idc, I'm not that desperate to get into the workforce, still a youngin.

What are you currently studying atm Atlas? Grades wise, are you doing alright?

More advice is greatly appreciated, I'm leaving myself out in the open (with grades and all) lol.

- No worries, the morning peak hour is the worst, unless you leave extra extra extra early - you will always be walking into your class late. Afternoon peaks aren't as bad.
- Great, if you're interested in the area, you should be fine. Make sure you join some student societies and keep an eye out for internship opportunities etc, you can enrol in FBE200 and FBE300 to get academic credit for it. The faculty puts up info/news etc on their facebook page: http://on.fb.me/tSE7du
- Don't worry, it's really friendly and laid back at Mac And about the transcripts, I see what you mean, but so long as you get okay marks, and have an ability to sell your strengths and show your interest and experience in the area/industry, a few fails isn't the end of the world.
- Try to join the gym with a friend, I think they give out discounts.
- Don't worry about the year you finish, your past years of study have given you valuable experiences one way or the other.

Grades - I'm your typical average student who gets the odd distinction but mainly credits and passes. I've never been too bothered about my grades since getting into uni. LOL I must sound terrible to you.

 

[x.Exhaust.x]

- No worries, the morning peak hour is the worst, unless you leave extra extra extra early - you will always be walking into your class late. Afternoon peaks aren't as bad.
- Great, if you're interested in the area, you should be fine. Make sure you join some student societies and keep an eye out for internship opportunities etc, you can enrol in FBE200 and FBE300 to get academic credit for it. The faculty puts up info/news etc on their facebook page: http://on.fb.me/tSE7du
- Don't worry, it's really friendly and laid back at Mac And about the transcripts, I see what you mean, but so long as you get okay marks, and have an ability to sell your strengths and show your interest and experience in the area/industry, a few fails isn't the end of the world.
- Try to join the gym with a friend, I think they give out discounts.
- Don't worry about the year you finish, your past years of study have given you valuable experiences one way or the other.

Grades - I'm your typical average student who gets the odd distinction but mainly credits and passes. I've never been too bothered about my grades since getting into uni. LOL I must sound terrible to you.

- Haha true. Approximately before 9am, the peak hour traffic is absolutely horrible. After 10am, it doesn't get so bad, so I'll structure my timetable post 10am, while avoiding to go home at 4:30pm-6:00pm.
- Thanks for the tips on the subjects selection, I'll definitely look into that! The only thing I'm worried about out is Macq's new Engineering program (which opened in 2011 I believe), since it's new and "untested". The majors are pretty limited, but that shouldn't deter me from enrolling at Macquarie.
- That's what I want to hear! Hmm, I supppose so. In a sense, the few fails at UNSW kind of contradicts my purpose of transferring into Macquarie. BUT while taking into account the social/extra convenience/past friends factors, s'all good, it's all for the best. Need to leave my fails behind, and focus on the future...
- Will do!
- Thanks for that, I really appreciate this comment. Hopefully I can get credit for some subjects and finish a year earlier (or possibly even two, that would be a dream come true). We'll see how that works and goes...

LOL that's fine, as long as you don't fail any subjects, you're doing fine. What are you studying by the way?

 

[Atlas]

- Haha true. Approximately before 9am, the peak hour traffic is absolutely horrible. After 10am, it doesn't get so bad, so I'll structure my timetable post 10am, while avoiding to go home at 4:30pm-6:00pm.
- Thanks for the tips on the subjects selection, I'll definitely look into that! The only thing I'm worried about out is Macq's new Engineering program (which opened in 2011 I believe), since it's new and "untested". The majors are pretty limited, but that shouldn't deter me from enrolling at Macquarie.
- That's what I want to hear! Hmm, I supppose so. In a sense, the few fails at UNSW kind of contradicts my purpose of transferring into Macquarie. BUT while taking into account the social/extra convenience/past friends factors, s'all good, it's all for the best. Need to leave my fails behind, and focus on the future...
- Will do!
- Thanks for that, I really appreciate this comment. Hopefully I can get credit for some subjects and finish a year earlier (or possibly even two, that would be a dream come true). We'll see how that works and goes...

LOL that's fine, as long as you don't fail any subjects, you're doing fine. What are you studying by the way?

- No worries, hope the construction on M2 finishes soon.
- No worries, for the Commerce subjects, I think most of the subjects are pretty good, there may be one or two that are a bit more challenging, but other than that, I would say that they are all pretty consistent in terms of assessments, content and teaching. Only tip about tutorials is that if you don't like a tutor's teaching style, change tutorial classes at the very beginning - so when you arrange your timetable, just have a few time slots open for potential changes.

If you are aiming to finish slightly earlier you have other options as well. I hope that they give you the credit for previous subjects. Either way, consider doing some subjects in Session 3 (previously, called summer school) - if you do 4 subjects in session 3 say for 2 summers, you have already shaved away a semester or 6 months of study (tip here is to check which units will be offered through summer school since not all subjects are available, here's a link to what is going to be offered this year: http://bit.ly/tNLKnn ). Your other option is to overload and take an additional subject in a semester - to do this, you will need to get special permission - personally, I think it is possible to do an additional unit in a semester if you plan your subjects well. What I mean is pick the subjects that you are good at/interested in and the extra subject doesn't feel like it's that much of a burden. However, expect to be very busy during semester if you pick this option especially around assessment time.

Hahaha I did fail a subject once - I thought it would motivate me to do more work, but it didn't Marketing, lol must seem like a soft option for someone picking finance and engineering.

 

[minzoir]

This was a very informative post guys, thank you very much!
(both repped)