SIBT or Bachelor of Commerce Accounting at UWS (1 Viewer)

[JamesLee12]

Can anyone pls help me make a decision? My ATAR was below 60 and I just failed 2 subjects out of 4 at SIBT in my first semester - Stat & Acctg . I just got an offer from UWS Bachelor of Business & Commerce majoring in Actg. Can someone please tell me if I should just accept the offer at UWS or is whether I still have hope of making it into Macquarie through SIBT? It seems half of the students failed Acctg 1A which is supposed to be a relatively easy unit.

 

[ChrisAC]

as long as you pass all the first year units in SIBT you will get into MQ. Failing units even twice, then passing on the third time is still enough.

I dont even know if UWS is easier than SIBT so unless you plan to change your attitude to study, then it wont help you get your degree. The main positive to moving to UWS is the $ savings.

Positives to staying at SIBT though are numerous. Even though sibt/mq courses may be more difficult to pass than UWS (are they?) SIBT nurtures your learning to make sure more students pass. Checking your homework, taking attendance, 3 hour lectures instead of 2 hour, lectures with only 60ish people, things explained in more plain english because of the high number of international students. I couldnt believe how easy SIBT was making learning for me. The other positive is the fact that an MQ degree is looked on more favourably than a UWS degree.

Even if you get a bad GPA in SIBT, it doesnt matter, because if you get admitted to MQ, your GPA starts from scratch.

You need to analyse why you failed those units. Stat you get a cheat sheet so if you looked at the lecture examples and tailored your cheat sheet to help you answer similar questions in the exam you shouldnt be able to fail. in ACCG1A again the final exams is basically made up of the lecture examples using different numbers and figures and some elementary theory. Theres no trick questions, everything is given to you in that SIBT 1A book they give you (which is a another positive for SIBT), so if you master that book and the homework without having to look at answers etc the exam should be a piece of cake for you.

You should also analyse why you passed those other units. were they finance/econ? did u put way too much study into those and not enough into stat/1a?

 

[JamesLee12]

Hi Chris - thx for your reply. Do you have any tip on how to pass Finance at SIBT? I heard it has the highest fail rate. Will we get a cheat sheet as well? Appreciate your input. Also what does our final transcript look like if we graduate from MQ coming from SIBT without our yr 1 GPA?

 

[ChrisAC]

i got an 83 in finance despite only getting 56 in 2u maths in the HSC and a 7 year gap between them (safe to say my maths was hopeless coming into it)

Study for it is pretty easy. Do the homework, do the lecture examples. Do them till you can do them without looking at the answers. Any "tricks" in the final exams will appear in one of the examples so if you master the examples you will know how to do the exam. Its pretty simple, most people fail because they just dont do enough work. There are easy marks to be had in the theory (and im pretty sure thats where i lost most of my 17 marks), but you can pass on the maths alone. There is no cheat sheet.

Transcript just looks as if you transferred to MQ at 2nd year with unit credits from SIBT. Your SIBT marks appear on there but dont count towards the GPA.

 

[JamesLee12]

Thanks for your the tip on Finance. Talking about the transcript - does that mean the two 'Fs' I got in Stat and Acctg will remain permanently on the transcript even if they are not counted towards the GPA? That would look bad as well.

So much for worrying about whether or not to stay at SIBT, Macquarie University's just ended their contract with SIBT. That being the case I will probably be the last batch of students. The likelihood of making it into MQ would be even lower.

 

[Sandralee]

James - if SIBT is closing down my advice is for you to get out. It is after all just a business. They probably couldn't careless anymore whether you make it into MQ or not as they have no future reputation to worry about. If I were you I would go to UWS. That's what happened to me last year. At UWS Stat and Finance or not compulsory in yr 1 & you can still finish a Bcomm degree unlike other unis. Also even the F's you got don't count towards your MQ GPA, it does not look good when you're apply for entry level jobs. If you're aiming to become an Accountant, how can you fail Acctg1A? How would you look compared to the UNSW graduates who got either Distinctions or Credits and no Fail?

 

[ChrisAC]

why would u try to avoid finance? you know you need to complete finance units to get your ca/cpa anyway? avoiding them in uni will just make it even harder for you

 

[JamesLee12]

Chris - I actually didn't know Finance units are required in order to get a CPA. But from what I heard at MQ Finance is one of the hardest units with over 40% of the students failing it the first time. Having said that I don't have the stat for SIBT students though but I heard it is also difficult to pass. To be honest I am horrified of failing any core units again. La Trobe University has recently opened a Sydney campus. Shall I go start afresh with a clean slate? I heard that failing core units in your first sem is regarded as unacceptable.

 

[obliviousninja]

Don't doubt the new south!

On a serious note, stick with SIBT for time being. Macquarie is significantly better than UWS.

 

[JamesLee12]

Is it really better than UWS or is it just more prestigeous? I just want to go to a place where it's not that hard to get Credits & Distinctions. I can't afford to have anymore F's on my transcript. Huh.. feeling stressed.