Questions on Arts Majors (1 Viewer)

[J18134]

Hey,

i just recently completed the HSC. Next year I am planning on doing a BA. The aim is to get that distinction average and transfer into Arts/Law in the second year. Because of this, I want to be very careful with my subject choices in the first year. I want to pick subjects that I enjoy and am interested in but also give me a good chance of attaining the distinction average.

I have been doing a lot of research into possible majors and subjects that I am pursue next year and beyond. The majors I have looked at with some interest are that of psychology, history and linguistics (obviously pick two).

So my main question is what helpful tips people can give me about those majors and especially any tips for the first year subjects that will help me attain the distinction average. Also anything about subjects in the majors they enjoyed and subjects they didnt enjoy.

 

[plasticities]

I don't really know much about history and linguistics, but I did first year psychology. The content is definitely interesting yet very easy to understand. However, at UNSW they treat it as a science, so you will be learning about scientific method and statistics as well. Also, even though the content is easy, I find that they mark pretty harshly in the written reports, which you have to be very precise and articulate, so that may appeal to you if you're considering arts/law.

Also, I don't think you declare your major until the end of first year, plus psychology only has 2 courses available first year, so you'll have to fill units with courses from other streams such as history and linguistics anyway.

 

[J18134]

Thats just the stuff I wanted to know so thanks. You do say it does take a scientific angle to it. How much of a help then would doing biology for the HSC (and scoring well in it)?

 

[plasticities]

Doing any HSC science will give you an advantage because you will already have a really good understanding of aim, hypothesis, method, results and discussion. In semester 1, you complete an entire section on scientific method which is assessable in both the mid-semester and final exams. Depending on what option you did in biology, my friend who did Communication said there was a lot of overlap between that and the perception section of Psychology B, but other than that, content wise you won't be at any greater advantage.

 

[J18134]

Well then doing communications wasn't such a bad option overall. Thanks a lot mate that really helps.

Now for people to give me some tips on those other ones I mentioned.

 

[Kittikhun]

For psych, study the lecture content more than the textbook content for the final exam. In all honesty, I don't think you need to buy the psych textbook. Just borrow it from the library for the mid-sem test, and you should be cool. You should read the chapter summaries first, and look up the definition of the key words in bold as they always ask about them a few times in the mid-sem test.

For history, don't attend the lectures after the first one if they are going to be recorded and posted online. It's better to listen to them at home and to type them out on microsoft word simultaneously. During the tutorials, I honestly don't know what to recommend you to do. Apparently, tute participation counts for a fair portion of your marks. However, I kept my mouth shut during them, and I only asked the tutor questions at the end when the tute was over, and I still just managed to get a D, so maybe participation doesn't count in the mark you get in the end--I'm not sure.

For linguistics, if you are studying a language, read and listen to as much of the language as possible. Go into one of the computer labs in Morven Brown and watch youtube videos in the target language for four hours straight if you have such a long break of that duration. Of course, try to find a buddy who speaks the language fluently to help you when you are stuck as well. There are plenty of these people on the internet that you could find who would also would like to practise their English as well with you, so to use wanky words, develop a symbiotic relationship with one of them in this regard.

 

[htp368]

There are computer labs in the MB building? *facepalm*

 

[Kittikhun]

Yep. I always go in one of the MB comp labs during the long breaks since the library is too noisy, and you can only use the comps in there for only an hour--not the case in the MB comp labs. Comp labs in MB are really quiet and surprisingly quite empty--there are usually just four or five students in there in either one of the two 30 seated labs. They are located on the LG; LG47 and LG49, if I recall correctly.

 

[J18134]

Are there any subjects in psychology or history that people found more/ less interesting or harder/easier?

Also if I am planning to transfer into arts/law in the second year, can I still do 2 arts majors?

And final question, out of interest, how many hours a week would the average UNSW arts degree be?

 

[Huang-Paradigm]

Not sure about history, but there are only 3 psychology subjects available in first year (PSYC1001 in semester 1 and PSYC1011 + PSYC2101 in semester 2). The first two courses are introductory courses where you learn a broad range of topics in psychology, therefore it is hard to label the courses as a whole as 'more interesting' or 'less interesting' because there are many topics which you may find interesting and others that you will hate. The third course will interest you if you are interested in mental illness and methodology.

No I think you are only able to fit a minor and a major for the arts component once you have transferred successfully. From what I read in the 2013 handbook, you can't major in psychology if you are undertaking arts/law, but you can minor in psychology for the arts component. Assuming your mind will not change by the end of next year, you can simply major in history and minor in psychology. I suggest you at least do one subject in criminology to see whether you like it or not because crim and psyc compliment each other whereas not so much for history and psyc. In saying that, if you are set on working in the legal field, it really doesn't matter what you major/minor in for arts because employers are mainly interested in you having a law degree + something else (the something else is quite often, irrelevant). So do what you are interested in.

You should expect about 12 hours per week from an arts degree, granted that you take only subjects within the arts faculty. However, since you want to take psychology subjects, you should expect 14 hours per week since a psychology subject has 5 contact hours per week as opposed to the usual 3 hours per week in commerce and arts subjects. Not that bad really, compared to engineering and science students who get 20+ contact hours.

 

[4025808]

Not sure about history, but there are only 3 psychology subjects available in first year (PSYC1001 in semester 1 and PSYC1011 + PSYC2101 in semester 2). The first two courses are introductory courses where you learn a broad range of topics in psychology, therefore it is hard to label the courses as a whole as 'more interesting' or 'less interesting' because there are many topics which you may find interesting and others that you will hate. The third course will interest you if you are interested in mental illness and methodology.

No I think you are only able to fit a minor and a major for the arts component once you have transferred successfully. From what I read in the 2013 handbook, you can't major in psychology if you are undertaking arts/law, but you can minor in psychology for the arts component. Assuming your mind will not change by the end of next year, you can simply major in history and minor in psychology. I suggest you at least do one subject in criminology to see whether you like it or not because crim and psyc compliment each other whereas not so much for history and psyc. In saying that, if you are set on working in the legal field, it really doesn't matter what you major/minor in for arts because employers are mainly interested in you having a law degree + something else (the something else is quite often, irrelevant). So do what you are interested in.

You should expect about 12 hours per week from an arts degree, granted that you take only subjects within the arts faculty. However, since you want to take psychology subjects, you should expect 14 hours per week since a psychology subject has 5 contact hours per week as opposed to the usual 3 hours per week in commerce and arts subjects. Not that bad really, compared to engineering and science students who get 20+ contact hours.

You can't double major in arts unless if you overload or stay for an extra year or so, just saying. So as for the OP can double major in arts component of arts/law, but he'll have to take summer school/overload or stay an extra year to complete it.

 

[J18134]

Not sure about history, but there are only 3 psychology subjects available in first year (PSYC1001 in semester 1 and PSYC1011 + PSYC2101 in semester 2). The first two courses are introductory courses where you learn a broad range of topics in psychology, therefore it is hard to label the courses as a whole as 'more interesting' or 'less interesting' because there are many topics which you may find interesting and others that you will hate. The third course will interest you if you are interested in mental illness and methodology.

No I think you are only able to fit a minor and a major for the arts component once you have transferred successfully. From what I read in the 2013 handbook, you can't major in psychology if you are undertaking arts/law, but you can minor in psychology for the arts component. Assuming your mind will not change by the end of next year, you can simply major in history and minor in psychology. I suggest you at least do one subject in criminology to see whether you like it or not because crim and psyc compliment each other whereas not so much for history and psyc. In saying that, if you are set on working in the legal field, it really doesn't matter what you major/minor in for arts because employers are mainly interested in you having a law degree + something else (the something else is quite often, irrelevant). So do what you are interested in.

You should expect about 12 hours per week from an arts degree, granted that you take only subjects within the arts faculty. However, since you want to take psychology subjects, you should expect 14 hours per week since a psychology subject has 5 contact hours per week as opposed to the usual 3 hours per week in commerce and arts subjects. Not that bad really, compared to engineering and science students who get 20+ contact hours.

Thanks so much for that. If lets say the legal profession didnt work out, or i really enjoyed psychology and wanted to take it futher, could i do something like honours or even find some sort of work in psychology with it only being a minor?

You can't double major in arts unless if you overload or stay for an extra year or so, just saying. So as for the OP can double major in arts component of arts/law, but he'll have to take summer school/overload or stay an extra year to complete it.

What do you mean by overload? Do more subjects than you need?

 

[Huang-Paradigm]

Thanks so much for that. If lets say the legal profession didnt work out, or i really enjoyed psychology and wanted to take it futher, could i do something like honours or even find some sort of work in psychology with it only being a minor?

Unfortunately no. You cannot proceed to honours in psychology with only a minor because a minor only requires you to do first year and second year psychology courses. Alternatively, you could transfer into science/law and major in psychology for the science component and then proceed to honours. But then, you won't be able to take history courses but rather, you will have to take compulsory science courses outside your psychology major instead. If science is not your thing I do not recommend this pathway.

 

[4025808]

What do you mean by overload? Do more subjects than you need?

Sorry for the late reply, but overloading means that you take more subjects than you would in a particular semester. The standard no. of subs taken is 4 (or 24 UOC). By overloading, you can take a max of 30 UOC (equivalent to 5 subjects).

You should be overloading the subjects you need for your majors (preferably the easier ones). You'll also need a WAM (weighted avg mark) of 65 to overload arts subjects.

 

[Esmerelda49]

How many majors and minors can you do in the first year of Arts? Im really confused about all of that.
And what are the easy Arts subjects?

I want to transfer to Law after first year Arts aswell.

 

[htp368]

Oh no no no... it is pretty hard to get a HD in Arts. Most likely you might get a low end Distinction if you work your ass off. There is a lot of competition in Arts, since the ceiling of difficulty isn't very high.

 

[Shadowdude]

How many majors and minors can you do in the first year of Arts? Im really confused about all of that.
And what are the easy Arts subjects?

I want to transfer to Law after first year Arts aswell.

A major and minor are a set of subjects you do. Like a major is like 9 courses and a minor is like 5 courses. You can't do any in first year. You do some courses in first year, then more in second year, and more in third year - and then after that, you would've done 9 courses of say, English, and then when you graduate - you graduate with an English major. That's how it works.

And what's "easy" for me might not be easy for you. So what you have to do is start your major or minor and hope like hell you do so well so you can transfer.

 

[Martin94]

Hello!I want to ask if the film and video course is good.I would be very grateful if somebody express their opinion.