Why have a submajor? (1 Viewer)

[wakeywakey]

I'm studying Business (Accounting) and I wanted to ask if a submajor would really make a difference to my degree in accounting.

I'm tossing between the idea of just choosing supposedly "easy" units to boost my GPA, and the idea of taking on a submajor to supposedly make me more qualified in a certain area.

Would a submajor really count for much in accounting?

Thanks

 

[boris2003]

yeah the sub-major is important. I suggest picking Management as a submajor. 1. It's not hard
2. It will boost your GPA
3. It is related to accounting. Accounting professionals in larger organisations get up to 150K, however top accounting managers get up to 1 million.
They are always in need, just like accountants.
Anyways, what's you gpa atm and how hard were the units of financial applications for accountants and management accounting fundamentals.

 

[wakeywakey]

What year are you in boris?

Management as a submajor sounds alright, but I just think extra units in management won't help me that much. We all have to start off in an entry-level job, anyway, so I don't really see the point (other than to learn more about management). I don't see it giving me any 'edge'. As for my GPA, it's a fail average, 3.5, so I need at least a pass average so that I don't embarass myself.

I think you were talking about Financial Accounting Applications? I enjoyed this unit, and I understood the logic behind it. Connie was one of the best tutors I've had (if you're in Parra). I got 75 for this unit.

Management Accounting Fundamental was harder for me. I wasn't uptodate in my reading and homework, which shows in my final mark of 63. Michael W (if you're in Parra) was one of the best lecturers I've had. You can understand him, he knows his stuff and he cracks jokes.

 

[boris2003]

Hey, I am in the first year. I know many accounting students, cousins, friends, of the friends, etc... who pick either Management or Finance (it goes well and complements accounting, however it is a bit harder) as a submajor in their accounting degree.
Which one were you thinking of choosing anyways, perhaps marketing is also easy - but a completely separate world from accoutning.
About your gpa, mine's also very bad 3.75 (can't believe i failed the easiest unit bas ). About the units of fina app and mng fundamentals, i am asking as i just finished AIM with a distinction (wanted some insight into what i can expect - whether it would be hard or not as in Spring i am erolled in:
Financial Applications for Accountants.
Managament Accounting Fundamentals, (i hate overheads and cost accounting)
Statistics for Business
Introduction to Business Law
maybe a bit too much, maybe i should drop one of these.
Also, did you fail any subjects, if so which one?

 

[wakeywakey]

Hey boris,

I was thinking of choosing no submajor, and just choosing random units that I think will either be interesting or easy.

You're in first year (and have just finished first semester, I would assume) so I think your GPA of 3.75 is definitely something that can be fixed, just don't fail any more, and get higher marks from now on.

I've actually enrolled to do BAS for Spring, how come you failed it? I thought it was easy?

The subject I failed was Accounting Information Systems. It was my fault, though, since I didn't study from the start. From what I've heard, many people failed, too. I had 3 absent fails from my first year (I didn't realise that I had to unenrol, which was stupid of me).

MAF is pretty much all about cost accounting. I don't like it either, haha. But this subject teaches you very important things that will be repeated again and into more detail in later units. If you do your homework each week, you should be fine.

I liked FAA. It was probably because my tutor was really good and I was motivated to study it well. FAA is another unit that is repeated and explored further in later units. It is very important that you understand it.

If you enjoyed or understood 2u math in high school, then you'd enjoy Statistics for Business.

Introduction to Business Law had Pam as lecturer, who I think is one of the bests I've had. My tutor was really good, too, although some of my friends had bad ones. I found this unit difficult to understand at first. Law has a specific way of answering questions. You will be reading about a lot of cases. You will also be introduced to all these different law terms, which are, again, important for later units, namely Taxation Law.

OK, I'm going to stop blabbing on. I hope I helped.

I think doing 4 units is fine. Just remember to always do your homework, and never fall behind. I think Law is the worst subject to fall behind in.

What was AIM about? That's a new unit that I didn't have to do.

 

[tubtub]

FAA and MAF is hard if you don't study for it. I had Connie too for FAA and she was good, i liked her teaching style. I reckon you should do accounting info systems in summer school, it will be much easier.

wakeywakey, have you done tax law yet? any hard?

 

[boris2003]

Hey boris,

I was thinking of choosing no submajor, and just choosing random units that I think will either be interesting or easy.

You're in first year (and have just finished first semester, I would assume) so I think your GPA of 3.75 is definitely something that can be fixed, just don't fail any more, and get higher marks from now on.

I've actually enrolled to do BAS for Spring, how come you failed it? I thought it was easy?

The subject I failed was Accounting Information Systems. It was my fault, though, since I didn't study from the start. From what I've heard, many people failed, too. I had 3 absent fails from my first year (I didn't realise that I had to unenrol, which was stupid of me).

MAF is pretty much all about cost accounting. I don't like it either, haha. But this subject teaches you very important things that will be repeated again and into more detail in later units. If you do your homework each week, you should be fine.

I liked FAA. It was probably because my tutor was really good and I was motivated to study it well. FAA is another unit that is repeated and explored further in later units. It is very important that you understand it.

If you enjoyed or understood 2u math in high school, then you'd enjoy Statistics for Business.

Introduction to Business Law had Pam as lecturer, who I think is one of the bests I've had. My tutor was really good, too, although some of my friends had bad ones. I found this unit difficult to understand at first. Law has a specific way of answering questions. You will be reading about a lot of cases. You will also be introduced to all these different law terms, which are, again, important for later units, namely Taxation Law.

OK, I'm going to stop blabbing on. I hope I helped.

I think doing 4 units is fine. Just remember to always do your homework, and never fall behind. I think Law is the worst subject to fall behind in.

What was AIM about? That's a new unit that I didn't have to do.

BAS was easy all the way through and i passed all my assessments with ease. However the last essay i stuffed up (the exam 500 words so much information we didn't know the topics before we came in. Also i was at the review session couple of days ago and there was a massive line of people waiting who failed - prob around 700-800 of them had to wait 4.5 hours just to talk to them). I also saw on the computer how some students failed all of their assessments but did good in the last one and passed the unit. It sucks

I like budgeting (cash receipts, sales, purhcase and production budgets. I also like performance reports. I hate overheads. Stupid overheads)
I am definitely prepared to work hard now. I have only chosen to work on weekends from now on.
I did General Maths in High School, but my brother should be able to help me with it.
I like remembering things, especially when it comes to jargons.

AIM is the new name for reports and decisions (previous unit). The first half of semester focussed on financial accounting (assets, liabilities, owners equity, ratio analysis, equations, transaction accounts -financial statements, basic calculations. Second half was about management accounting which i found a lot easier (not that finacc was hard) that was about cost accounting, budgeting, cvp analysis, etc)

Yeah i can't believe i failed. I guess I'll work more harder. I'll try do BAS again next year in autumn. It really sucks how assessing one essay decides whether a student has business academic skills or not.
Anyways so is Info Systems the only unit you failed...

 

[boris2003]

FAA and MAF is hard if you don't study for it. I had Connie too for FAA and she was good, i liked her teaching style. I reckon you should do accounting info systems in summer school, it will be much easier.

wakeywakey, have you done tax law yet? any hard?

sorry to buzz in, but I have heard that tax law is one of the hardest units there is in the accounting major.

 

[Lara1986]

If you are after something that won't hinder your ability to do well but will be relevant - i'd really recommend a Human resource management/industrial relations submajor (if it's still available? not sure after the restructuring of courses etc).


It's not the easiest of the business areas, but it is relevant to just about anything and everything. It is (in my experience/opinion) an interesting area so that makes it easier to study.

It's a pretty broad area too so if you don't want to be doing something that's narrow and therefore of limited use, it would be an area to consider as you cover bits and pieces of management, political issues, legal issues, IR issues etc.

Seems that from my experience and from what lecturers told us when i was doing the HRM/IR course that employers see it as a valuable area of knowledge to have given that it gives you more i suppose, practical knowledge about how business and the industrial environment works as opposed to a straight management or marketing or other area that is more narrowly focused (from what i'm told).

 

[mb87]

I reckon majoring in another field would greatly open your options both academically and career wise.

In my case, majoring in supply chain management which will go hand in hand with a sub major in international business as alot of supply chain practices are conducted globally. OR I could as major in marketing Having the knowledge of another field gives you an broader understanding.

It also doesn't hurt due to the fact that most departments in an organisation work together e.g. marketing department introduces a new line of brands which work in correlation with supply to forecast materials, relevant suppliers, supply/demand planning etc.

 

[wakeywakey]

wakeywakey, have you done tax law yet? any hard?

I did Tax Law for 3 weeks and then dropped it before census date.

You MUST do the homework from the very beginning, otherwise the reading overwhelms you. If you've seen the pack of 3 textbooks they make you buy, you'll see how much reading there is to do. Tax Law is definitely harder than Law of Business Organisations and Introduction to Business Law. I think many people failed the unit in Autumn 2008 (but I am not really sure of this).

Also i was at the review session couple of days ago and there was a massive line of people waiting who failed - prob around 700-800 of them had to wait 4.5 hours just to talk to them).

It's ridiculous how many people failed. It doesn't seem like it's very fair, either. How could people do so well in the assessments, and then fail in the end? Did anyone have successful reviews of their final exam result? I'm going to do BAS this Spring semester, but I might change to Managing People at Work.

If you are after something that won't hinder your ability to do well but will be relevant - i'd really recommend a Human resource management/industrial relations submajor (if it's still available? not sure after the restructuring of courses etc).

A submajor in HRM/IR sounds interesting, actually. It's sounds like this submajor can help me know more about my rights as an employee.

But, yeah, I don't think they offer this submajor anymore. I can't find it on the website, but I'll contact the uni to make sure. Would you know if Managing People at Work is a common prerequisite for HRM/IR units? I might do Managing People at Work instead of BAS this Spring semester.

It also doesn't hurt due to the fact that most departments in an organisation work together

Yeah, that's true. Though I guess my situation is different because I really need to choose supposedly 'easy' or interesting units in order to make sure my GPA isn't a fail average. I think it looks crap to have that on my transcript

 

[mb87]

But then again if your doing well in your given major I don't see how its goin to affect your overall gpa in your major. Im sure you'd want to raise your gpa but don't employers go specificallly to you majors gpa e.g. your wam major in Accounting.

 

[wakeywakey]

But then again if your doing well in your given major I don't see how its goin to affect your overall gpa in your major. Im sure you'd want to raise your gpa but don't employers go specificallly to you majors gpa e.g. your wam major in Accounting.

Oh, but my GPA is currently sitting at an ugly fail average, unfortuantely. So, yeah, I wanted to weight the pros and cons of having a submajor. I'm not sure about whether employers will look at the WAM. Hmmm. I just don't like the idea of graduating with a fail average overall...

 

[tubtub]

I did Tax Law for 3 weeks and then dropped it before census date.

You MUST do the homework from the very beginning, otherwise the reading overwhelms you. If you've seen the pack of 3 textbooks they make you buy, you'll see how much reading there is to do. Tax Law is definitely harder than Law of Business Organisations and Introduction to Business Law. I think many people failed the unit in Autumn 2008 (but I am not really sure of this).



damn......im scared now because i enrolled in it this semester. but i gotta do it cause im an accounting major too. are you doing tax law this semester?

 

[wakeywakey]

damn......im scared now because i enrolled in it this semester. but i gotta do it cause im an accounting major too. are you doing tax law this semester?

I'll do it in Summer School haha. I'm just not ready to do four level 3 units in Spring Semester, along with part-time work. Since I don't need Tax Law as a prerequisite for any units, I'm going to delay it to a time I can concentrate on it.

Yeah, I can't really offer good advice on the unit since I only attended classes for 3 weeks. But one big tip would be to start reading the sections they ask you to read before the tutorials. Do your homework each week. There's a 40% assessment due in the middle of the semester, I think, and the final is a 60% essay (they give you the question prior to the exam so that you can prepare an answer to memorise for the final, I think).

 

[tubtub]

I'll do it in Summer School haha. I'm just not ready to do four level 3 units in Spring Semester, along with part-time work. Since I don't need Tax Law as a prerequisite for any units, I'm going to delay it to a time I can concentrate on it.

Yeah, I can't really offer good advice on the unit since I only attended classes for 3 weeks. But one big tip would be to start reading the sections they ask you to read before the tutorials. Do your homework each week. There's a 40% assessment due in the middle of the semester, I think, and the final is a 60% essay (they give you the question prior to the exam so that you can prepare an answer to memorise for the final, I think).

i thought about doing tax law in summer school this year, but i am from the campbelltown campus. the thing is, i probably have to get cross campus permission to do it at parramatta and considering they only run 2 classes at summer, i probably wont get in..........tax law is popular in summer school.

i have delayed doing tax law for a while too so i cant dodge it this time. hey, what other accounting units and electives have you done so far?

 

[Lara1986]

A submajor in HRM/IR sounds interesting, actually. It's sounds like this submajor can help me know more about my rights as an employee.

But, yeah, I don't think they offer this submajor anymore. I can't find it on the website, but I'll contact the uni to make sure. Would you know if Managing People at Work is a common prerequisite for HRM/IR units? I might do Managing People at Work instead of BAS this Spring semester.

When i was doing the Business degree (HRM + IR) MPW was a 1st year core unit so i would think it would still be now even after the changes.

Even if that one isn't offered anymore, there may be another HR style submajor that you could do? If nothing else, at least, as you said, it'd be a useful area to study for your own personal knowledge and it would also double up as being useful should you choose to go into any sort of training or management or policy kind of role in your future workplace.


As far as Tax Law goes for those discussing it - it would be difficult for a non-law student as you wouldn't be used to the type of work or intensity i guess so if you're not sure you really want to do it and marks are a concern, stay away from it lol

 

[wakeywakey]

i have delayed doing tax law for a while too so i cant dodge it this time. hey, what other accounting units and electives have you done so far?

The only elective that's not Tax Law and Law of Bus Org is Introduction to Information Systems. I've done all the cores of old accounting course 2507 up until the Spring semester of 2nd year, I think.

As far as Tax Law goes for those discussing it - it would be difficult for a non-law student as you wouldn't be used to the type of work or intensity i guess so if you're not sure you really want to do it and marks are a concern, stay away from it lol

I wish Accounting students could, but Tax Law is needed in order to satisfy CPA/CA requirements for entry into their programs. I agree, if people didn't have to do this unit, I'd advise against it haha.

MPW looks like a good way to start a submajor in HR. Tute rego has come and gone, though, so I'll see if I can make it work.

 

[boris2003]

The only elective that's not Tax Law and Law of Bus Org is Introduction to Information Systems. I've done all the cores of old accounting course 2507 up until the Spring semester of 2nd year, I think.



I wish Accounting students could, but Tax Law is needed in order to satisfy CPA/CA requirements for entry into their programs. I agree, if people didn't have to do this unit, I'd advise against it haha.

MPW looks like a good way to start a submajor in HR. Tute rego has come and gone, though, so I'll see if I can make it work.

Hmm, yeah, btw that Tax pack 2008 is huge. I guess it would help if you are good at memorising a tone of material.

 

[mb87]

I'd definitely put down info sys if u want a hd with minimal effort. Found out how easy the unit is once actually finishing the semester, after the final mc questions exam. And you don't have to be IT leet.