2012 Semester 2 UNSW Chatter Thread (10 Viewers)

[maratyeu]

whats your wam atm?

HD, note I'm a Geology and Econ major

 

[Riachain]

HD, note I'm a Geology and Econ major

You're an Econ major and you do Geology. Not sure how much Maths is in Geology, but I know that Economics requires quite a bit of Maths at the higher levels and the concepts get trickier to wrap your head around at the higher levels. It's kind of a "no wonder" thing that you find FINS1613 easy.

Somebody that hasn't done any prior courses, hasn't had any experience in the Finance field, absolutely sucks at Math, and isn't taking something that's difficult to understand - you tell me how you're finding FINS1613. Easy or difficult?

(It all really does depend on the person though. Some people just find Finance easy. Others find it difficult. Personally, as someone who absolutely sucks at Math, but who is also absolutely determined to do Commerce... I find it difficult. Can't even imagine doing a Maths degree.)

 

[maratyeu]

@Riachain

But the maths is not complicated. Its "basic algebra", plug it into the formula.

In all honesty if your hung up over the maths you should consider taking some bridging maths courses since that should be the least of your problems.

I don't understand how people can have conceptual issues. Are you so close minded that your not taking it in?

 

[Riachain]

@Riachain

But the maths is not complicated. Its "basic algebra", plug it into the formula.

In all honesty if your hung up over the maths you should consider taking some bridging maths courses since that should be the least of your problems.

I don't understand how people can have conceptual issues. Are you so close minded that your not taking it in?

Actually, I should take some bridging Maths courses, just to solidify my understanding of Maths, but that costs extra money, so I'm not going to bother.

As for the conceptual issues thing, in Finance, it's mainly my Maths abilities that get in the way. Give me a formula that looks complicated, even if it's not, and give me a concept to go with the formula, and it'll take me longer than the average person to work my head around both of them. Add terrible teaching and a textbook that needs fixing into the mix, and you've got a person (me! and others!) who has to struggle to get through Finance.

But if you're talking about economic concepts, I'm actually doing fairly well in my Microeconomics course, thank you. I'm just saying that because it requires a slightly different way of thinking, for some people, it can take some time to fully understand the concepts.

I would also like to add that it's quite ironic that you're calling me close-minded when you're not open-minded enough to understand why others may have problems understanding concepts that you understand. Some people just have difficulties with certain topics or certain fields of study. That's the reason why not everybody goes into fields like Engineering, Medicine, Economics, etc. Yes, if they put lots of effort into it, they can probably get the grasp of those concepts. But not everyone has the time to do that sort of thing. =/

PS: Strange thing is, I can understand Accounting concepts better than Finance concepts. And they both require the same basic understanding of Maths. Which just proves my point - again, it depends on the person.

 

[maratyeu]

Yes, if they put lots of effort into it, they can probably get the grasp of those concepts. But not everyone has the time to do that sort of thing. =/

Then you have to commit the time if you want to get a better grade.

Think about it, FINS and other commerce courses have 3hrs of contact time totaling 12hrs a week, assuming your a full time student ideally you should commit 40hrs a week to studying.

Of courses nobody does this but if you don't understand something this time span should be more than enough. There are so many resources available to you. I mean do you even go to the consultation times allotted for the lecturer?

 

[4025808]

Ideally yes, but effective study >>>> studying in terms of hours produced.

 

[maratyeu]

Ideally yes, but effective study >>>> studying in terms of hours produced.

Agreed but that was not my point.

It was that if you don't understand it within those 40hrs of ideal study time, then your really missing the fundamentals.

 

[halapenyo]

a really big mistake i made this semester was putting my tutorials on a monday. anyone future first years reading this dont do that at all.

 

[blindedinchains]

a really big mistake i made this semester was putting my tutorials on a monday. anyone future first years reading this dont do that at all.

or putting them on at 9am

 

[wantingtoknow]

...

yeah, part of me thinks you guys not performing well in FINS1613 is because you don't put enough effort into it. I mean, riachain, you even stopped attending your lectures lol. I understand that you find the lectures not very helpful/really confusing but that's because it's the first time you're coming across these concepts. I don't think anyone ever comes out of a finance lecture feeling they've fully comprehended everything. from my past experiences, I find that it's actually a lot easier to study for something when I have key points from the lecturer and read them along with my textbook.

and why do you keep saying that consultations are useless? it's up to you to schedule an appointment if you need help with anything. in uni, there isn't going to be someone holding your hand every step of the way.

yes, maths-orientated people may have an advantage in this subject over other kids like you. but I think with a little more effort, you can perform just as well as them. my friend's doing FINS1613 this sem as well and he sucks at maths but getting pretty high marks.

 

[Riachain]

Agreed but that was not my point.

It was that if you don't understand it within those 40hrs of ideal study time, then your really missing the fundamentals.

yeah, part of me thinks you guys not performing well in FINS1613 is because you don't put enough effort into it. I mean, riachain, you even stopped attending your lectures lol. I understand that you find the lectures not very helpful/really confusing but that's because it's the first time you're coming across these concepts. I don't think anyone ever comes out of a finance lecture feeling they've fully comprehended everything. from my past experiences, I find that it's actually a lot easier to study for something when I have key points from the lecturer and read them along with my textbook.

and why do you keep saying that consultations are useless? it's up to you to schedule an appointment if you need help with anything. in uni, there isn't going to be someone holding your hand every step of the way.

yes, maths-orientated people may have an advantage in this subject over other kids like you. but I think with a little more effort, you can perform just as well as them. my friend's doing FINS1613 this sem as well and he sucks at maths but getting pretty high marks.

Since both of you are saying similar things, I'm grouping my answers for both of you together. Sorry 'bout that. ;(

Now... where to begin? I guess I'll start with the lectures. I stopped attending them, yes, but it wasn't just because I was confused. As you (wantingtoknow) said, nobody comes out of a lecture feeling as if they fully comprehended everything. And that's to be expected, because you're learning new content. No, the reason why I stopped attending the lectures was because unlike you, I didn't learn anything from the lectures. It's not just that I was confused, but it was that I literally learnt nothing in the lectures, and that's why I stopped attending. Perhaps I just needed more time in-between each slide to understand how to change the formulas or, heck, I don't know. But the textbook, terrible as it is for me, taught me quite a bit more than any of the lectures I attended did.

Moving on to the "not putting enough effort" issue, I fully admit that I haven't put enough effort into the subject. But that's because my time management skills suck. I'm learning how to live alone for the first time, without any room mates, in a totally new continent, while juggling my first part time job with my studies. I know some people can balance those things perfectly well, but I'm not those people, and adjusting to it has been somewhat difficult for me. The result is that I've been focusing on my other subjects, which I'm doing better at because I understand those more easily with less effort, and pushing Finance aside.

So yes, part of the reason why I'm not doing well in Finance is because I haven't put enough effort into the subject. But that's only part of the reason. The other reasons are still perfectly valid. The lecturers really were terrible and the textbook really isn't, at least for me, all that great. It would also help if they had more student support in the form of PASS classes. Consultations help, but only if you know what you need help with. I don't even know where to begin for me. (Right from the basics, I guess. The fundamentals.)

*shrugs* Anyway, all I'm saying is that Finance isn't as easy as everyone says it is, and I've listed my reasons why. To those that think that Finance is easy, with or without effort, congratulations, glad you find it easy. But I certainly don't find it easy.

Don't want to keep debating about this, since everyone has different opinions and I want to remain civil with you all. I think you're all good people, after all. We just happen to disagree on a certain topic.

So that's that.

Oh, but before I move on to other things, like studying for the exam on Friday...

or putting them on at 9am

Why not put them (tutorials) on at 9am? o___o; (My FINS1613 tutorial was at 9am...)

PS: Studying for the exam now. YouTube videos are helping me quite a bit. Should've considered watching these videos to learn the content earlier. Ah well...

 

[Shadowdude]

studied from like 11-6pm today

did like 5 questions

stared at problem sheet for about two hours cumulatively going 'wtf is going on'


~bodes well~

 

[halapenyo]

studied from like 11-6pm today

did like 5 questions

stared at problem sheet for about two hours cumulatively going 'wtf is going on'


~bodes well~

a question every hour and 24 minutes. teach me your skills oh master of productivity.

 

[Shadowdude]

The questions are ridiculous.

I don't even know what's going on. And I'd love to understand what's going on, but... yeah. not going well.


So tomorrow I'll be doing the same thing, and then on Thursday, and then on Friday and then on Saturday morning. Exam that afternoon.

And then on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and then Wednesday morning - English exam cramming.

And then on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and then Thursday morning - a mix of my two remaining maths subjects, Analysis and Algebra.


i think that's a pretty good exam study timetable

it'll work

it'll work

it should work

it may work

might work

probably will

hopefully

 

[4025808]

Studied at macquarie uni today.

Got some finance questions done, so much theory I haven't even read, guess I'll need to do that. but on top of that, FUCKING ACTL1001 work as well.... *sigh*

And then I have MATH1251..... which is on the monday the 5th =_=

 

[halapenyo]

so annoying because you want those four glorious months of holidays to start but at the same time you want time to slow down so you have time to cram for the exams.

 

[Riachain]

so annoying because you want those four glorious months of holidays to start but at the same time you want time to slow down so you have time to cram for the exams.

Took the words right out of my mouth!

 

[Kickass_Dude]

or putting them on at 9am

I'm coming to UNSW next year, please explain why monday tutes and 9am tutes are bad?

 

[halapenyo]

I'm coming to UNSW next year, please explain why monday tutes and 9am tutes are bad?

monday tutes are bad because:
1. obviously less time to cram. in uni an extra 1-2 days are extremely helpful.
2. if the quiz or midsem is harder than expected you wont know while people in later tutes will find out its hard and they can be prepared for it. (especially true if they do/ask something unexpected)
3. If you have a good friendship network you can actually find out the questions from the quiz from people who did it earlier on in the week. like a friend of mine got shit marks in quiz 2 for fins1613 which was the easiest. but he managed to get hold of the exact questions for quiz 3 and he got 10.

 

[Kickass_Dude]

OK that makes sense
I'm assuming people don't like 9am tutes because they can't get up in time?