Monash Majors and Minors (science)

_sophiestudies_

Hi! I'm in first year, doing a Bachelor of Science at Monash, and taking first year biology and chemistry units (so far really enjoying it). I was wondering what's possible in terms of majors and minors, or how they can be combined? I know that 12 first year units (i.e. first year sequence) can count for up to 2 majors or a major and minor (according to their course advice and the current handbook). However, can someone do a major and minor using one sequence as their prerequisites, and then do another minor using a different sequence for the prerequisites, or is it not possible to do more than one minor alongside a major (or at least for the units to count as a minor)? Same goes for doing two majors. Could you also do a minor on top of that from a different science faculty/using a different sequence (not my plan, but just wondering and trying to wrap my head around the requirements/rules, especially when I have many interests haha)?

Billzene

_sophiestudies_ You absolutely can have 2 minors in addition to a major. To illustrate, I received credit for BIO1011 + 1022, CHM1011 + 1022 and PHY2011 + 2042 from my studies in Monash biomed. I also got awarded credit for MCB2011. If I were to take MCB2022 this sem, I’d have minored in both physiology and molecular bio because I can choose to double count the CHM sequence towards my major + PHY minor, and the BIO sequence towards the molecular bio minor (didn’t do this because I need to take enough chem units to be eligible for postgrad MTeach ~~and to launch my street pharmaceuticals empire~~)

Theoretically, you can have 2 majors and a minor because the single degree gives you enough space to fit in a major with your electives alone, even if you don’t double count a level 1 sequence. Your 2 majors will account for 16 units, 2 units are compulsory (maths unit + SCI1000). Since the total number of units is 24, that gives you 6 extra units (2 x level 1 and 4 x level 2 or 3) to take a minor. Please keep in mind that if the major you took with your 8 electives is outside the sci faculty, these 6 extra units must be taken inside sci disciplines.

Just a disclaimer, I’m not a substitute for a course advisor as I’m just some random guy who’s familiar with BSci course requirements as I had to research them to maximise my credit transfer. Please seek course advice through the official form as well: https://forms.monash.edu/course-advice

AngelWings

Billzene Just a disclaimer, I’m not a substitute for a course advisor as I’m just some random guy who’s familiar with BSci course requirements as I had to research them to maximise my credit transfer. Please seek course advice through the official form as well: https://forms.monash.edu/course-advice

Ditto here. Not a course advisor either.

Just my 2c as a BSci grad (2015-2017), so my info is now outdated but you absolutely can. I completed an extended major in genetics (taking pretty much every possible genetics unit, which I think was 10 total units alone, and this extended major incorporated a minor in molecular bio too, but not listed in my official transcript), and minors in both chemistry and Japanese studies (via my elective units), so there’s a lot of flexibility if you play your cards right and plan your course accordingly.

Typically I see:

1 major + 1-2 minor(s)
2 majors + no minors (because of room and compulsory units)
The 2 majors + 1 minor is super rare but may be doable in theory but I am not sure about the logistics of it.

Questions for you:

What units have you done so far?
What sorts of major(s)/minor(s) are you considering?
Are you trying for postgrad med and/or postgrad courses in general? (This will have a large bearing on which units you’ll be doing.)

_sophiestudies_

AngelWings thank you! You and @Billzene's advice is really helpful, and definitely helps it all make more sense. I'll probably chat to a course advisor at some point anyway to check my course progression/clarify this in case of any issues. I also definitely don't plan on doing two majors, since I want more space for a range of other units, but it makes sense that it could theoretically work with a minor.

AngelWings questions and my answers:

Last semester I took BIO1011, CHM1051, SCI1300, and SCI1020. This semester I'm taking BIO1022, BIO1042, SCI1000, and CHM1022.
I'm planning to do a minor in biochemistry (using chemistry sequence units), and I'm currently looking at majoring in either immunology, anatomy and developmental biology, or pharmacology. I'm also very interested in PHY2011, which is part of pharmacology/physiology, and BIO2040 as well). That said, it changes all the time haha. All I know is that I love anything human biology, as well as molecular science, climate change, and conservation biology (I'm a biology nerd all the way haha).
Definitely interested in postgrad of some sort (or at least I'll probably end up doing postgrad), but absolutely not med haha. I honestly don't know what I want to do yet, so I'm just trying to focus on studying what I'm interested and passionate about.

Billzene

_sophiestudies_

I'll try to spill some tea on the units/majors since I have friends who did them. Keep in mind that this is 2nd hand info as I've only taken units in biomed (my previous degree), chem (my previous electives and my current major) and 1 MTH unit (MTH1020).

With the BCH minor, I heard that the 2nd year BCH units are baits for the 3rd year ones. Level 2 BCH are taught very well and are very easy (I've seen the content and it's easier than the biochem we covered in 1st year biomed), but BCH3XXX units are all very difficult with really high workloads.

I heard that IMM and PHA are hard, although they're well run. There was one year where IMM had an exam that didn't allow you to come back to questions you've skipped, but that was just an one-off thing during remote learning.

PHY2011 is a well-known WAM booster, the unit coordinator (Ramesh) has achieved legendary status among the Monash sci cohort for knowing every student in the annual ₇₀₀ strong PHY2011 cohort by name. His assessments are all open book. I've seen people get 96-98 HDs in that unit with very minimal effort.

DEV is a great major from everyone doing it. It wasn't my cup of tea because I hate flashcarding absolutely every detail and rote learning. The 2nd year DEV units are well run with a similar reputation to BCH2XXX, although they made both DEV2011 + 2022 in recent years harder apparently so they're not as WAM-boosty as before. Everyone I know who did DEV also loved the 3rd year units, but they're very difficult while being equally rewarding at the same time

I'm not very familiar with the school of biological science ie with conservation bio, I only know about biomed-related electives.

However since you indicated that you're looking at postgrad, definitely consider doing a 3990 unit (research project unit). Even though I never planned to go into research, doing a 3990 unit really improved my oral and written communication skills and I was able to research + reference much faster in later units.

Also, please do your research on the costs-benefit of postgrad. My CHM3941 TA last sem told us to "definitely do 3990 units, definitely do honours, but as soon as your supervisor in honours starts sweet-talking to you about starting your PhD, run for the door". He was in his final months of a PhD and told us PhD kids are essentially heavily exploited as slave labour, so you may want to take into account the anecdotes of different PhD students before you make a decision

AngelWings

_sophiestudies_ All I know is that I love anything human biology, as well as molecular science, climate change, and conservation biology (I'm a biology nerd all the way haha).

I did molecular biology myself (MCB2011/2022) and my partner majored in conservation biology. I also work two jobs in healthcare (the main one is in a laboratory and probably closest to human pathology/ haematology). I have friends/ colleagues who have studied pretty much all areas you’ve listed and genetics is classified under the School of Biological Sciences, which I did my Honours with.

If you’re interested in research, I’d suggest having a look at the Winter/ Summer Research Scholsrship Program, many which are geared at second or third year uni students.

But back to majors/ minors, you might be able to narrow down the list by seeing what pathways they lead to, which ones will give you more leeway (e.g. I did mcb2011/2022 purely for interest but it also actually allowed me to divert between a genetics or biochem major (and have a molecular bio minor)), and which ones will end up being prereqs for future goals e.g. if you’re looking at Honours or Masters by research you will need a certain grade average (which you might favour your “better” units to ensure you make it, depending in how you fare). (Side note: most of the people I know who went in to higher study often made it in by the skin of their teeth, while for jobs most that ended up hired weren’t the ones with great grades but the ones with lots of experience (especially while studying) so make the best of it while you can! If you can fit in the science internship unit and find one at a lab like CSL, that will do you wonders post-Uni. But of course, don’t neglect your grades ‘cause academia/ research will still need a minimum Distinction average most of the time to progress, apart from PhD entry which is often 85 WAM from Hons (even if you don’t want to do a PhD after Hons, I’d recommend the higher marks for other purposes, particularly if you want a prestigious research job).)

If you are going towards the climate change and conservation biology route, pretty sure you’ll take BIO3011 which I loved (it’s one of the units I had with my partner, so maybe I’m biased) since it’s the honours prerequisite.

_sophiestudies_

Billzene thank you! That helps a lot. Yes, I've heard about the PHY2011 unit coordinator haha, and it definitely sounds like an interesting unit (at least from what people have told me and the handbook). I've also heard plenty of not so great stuff about PhD's, so yeah. We'll see what happens haha, but I'll definitely be doing heaps of research down the track.

_sophiestudies_

AngelWings thank you! Yep, I've got lots of research to do haha. I'll definitely look into the internship unit and the research scholarship program, and definitely research more into the pathways that my interest areas lead into.