University General Chat

What is this thread for?

Welcome to the University general chat thread. ;D This thread is for anything University-related from any university. If you have general questions, ask them here. If you don't know where to ask something, ask it here. If you want to vent about your day at uni, do it here. If you want to chat about your subjects, do it here. Basically, whatever you want - this is the place for it. šŸ‘Œ For more specific discussion there are threads available for particular universities.

Who can post here?

Anybody! Most will be current students at the university, but even if you're considering studying at university in the future, you're absolutely more than welcome to post! Providing different perspectives is incredibly valuable.

Hello!

I just want to know if anyone's doing an engineering degree, because I really wanna know what its like. I'm planning to do engineering next year so if anyone can provide advice it'd be great!

Thank you,
-jinx_58

    jinx_58
    Its pretty good, I've enjoyed most of the subjects I've taken! But since it is a general science degreel I've had to do a lot of irrelevant subjects. What engineering were you looking at specifically?

        ArtyDReams
        Do you prefer doing a Physics degree then going into engineering or doing a general science degree then going into engineering?
        I am unsure what engineering I want to do yet (they all seem so cool), so my first preference is going to be a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours), and in the first year, you get a taste of all the subjects and you choose your major in the 2nd year.

          3 months later

          Joseph41

          Yep, currently in exam season but thankfully it wraps up this week. Really looking forward to the break!

              Joseph41

              Yep, had an exam last week and another one tomorrow for maths. Didn't have too many this time around - 4 exams last semester killed me - no clue how Year 12 me survived 6+ exams.

              Its a bit annoying though as I'm getting a final assignment on Monday which I have another week to do - dragging a bit longer into November this time.

              How are you doing?

                  ArtyDReams Nice one! Hope it goes well tomorrow for you.

                  Yeah, I don't know how I dealt with so many exams through Year 12 either, haha. I had four in my first two uni semesters, and then after that I don't think I ever had four again. Do you reckon first year units typically have more exams? Maybe it's just coincidence.

                      Joseph41

                      Thank you! I do think that is a possibility - really depends on the subject combo you do - most maths/sci subjects always have an exam unfortunately šŸ™

                        Joseph41
                        Next weeks my last ever week of in person uni classes! Which is exciting but I'm also super nervous about leaving uni! I have placement in term 1 next year & then I've graduated!!

                          My NEET life continues at the moment, hopefully I'll receive a November round offer. I'm studying MTH1020 content in advance and I'm really questioning why I didn't do spesh in high school, it ain't as hard as everyone makes it out to be

                            7 days later

                            Hello, itā€™s me again with more uni questions haha.

                            How do you do the ā€œsubject selectionā€ process at uni? How can you choose which units to do? How many units should one do per ā€œtermā€?

                            Also, any laptop recommendations for uni? Iā€™m looking for a touch screen laptop that can fully flip over or something so I can write on the screen to take notes.

                            Thanks a bunch,
                            -jinx_58

                              jinx_58
                              Hey jinx_58,

                              I'll probably let someone else inform you of the uni subject stuff as they can probably explain that better than me (also because my degree forces me to do specific 4 courses every semester so we can't choose).

                              In terms of laptops, I am currently using a Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 which is touchscreen but it cannot flip over so it's kind of difficult to write notes on. It does depend on your budget but here are a few options for 2-in-1 laptops*:

                              *Ensure you buy your laptop in the Black Friday deals or Boxing day or something like that because that's when I got my laptop last year. I highly recommend figuring out what specs you need and then finding your laptop. If you are using only for uni, then my minimum recommendations are in bold but take them with a grain of salt (I am no expert):

                              • Core: i5 or i7 or AMD (šŸ˜†) etc.? i5
                              • Storage: 256 or 512 GB etc.? 256 GB
                              • Memory: 8 or 16GB RAM etc.? 8GB
                              • Screen size: 13" or 15" etc.? 13"
                              • Battery life (very important if for uni): 10 hours or more? Probably min. 12 hours*
                              • Ports: this can vary a lot but ensure it at least has a USB-C port but also a headphone jack, USB-A port and an HDMI would be a bonus (note: I believe most, if not all, Microsoft laptops do not have an HDMI)

                              *You might think that's a lot of battery life but trust me to stay on the safe side, you want to divide the advertised battery life by like half and see if you're happy with that. You will regret it in uni if you have a bad battery life.

                              This was a way longer post than I expected but hope that helps. Good luck with everything and feel free to ask any questions as always.

                              • PP

                                  jinx_58 personally i recommend a tablet like a surface pro or an ipad. most laptops that can fully flip over (2 in 1s) are pretty bad for not taking.

                                      Thank you PhytoPlankton and nolongerhuman for the tips, I appreciate it!

                                      If I want to do engineering next year, how would I prepare for it? Like, how would I study ahead? What textbooks should I borrow? Any other general tips?

                                      @PhytoPlankton hey dude, also Iā€™m curious as to what youā€™re studying and where if thatā€™s cool? You donā€™t have to, as I understand the whole privacy thing haha

                                      Thanks yā€™all,
                                      -jinx_58

                                            jinx_58
                                            Hey jinx_58,

                                            Again, I will probably let someone else tell you in more detail about the engineering course. However, I tried to also study ahead for my courses (which I will tell you below) so I emailed the course coordinators beforehand to ask the same question. They referred me to the course outline which, in some detail, goes over the content needed to study. What university are you expecting for engineering? I have a few friends that does engineering that I can ask if you like.

                                            As for what I do (that's all good for asking haha), I study the Bachelor of Med Sci at UniSC which is for pre-med students. So, as long as I maintain a GPA of 5.0, I get a place in Griffith MD program.

                                            Hope that helps!

                                            • PP

                                                PhytoPlankton

                                                Thank you! I plan to go to engineering at QUT so if you could ask around, thatā€™d be really awesome because I have no friends in uni haha šŸ˜…

                                                And damnnnn a 5.0 GPA??!!!! I would have dropped in the first 3 weeks šŸ˜‚

                                                Thanks again,
                                                -jinx_58