iffy ATAR for first preference - any info on internal transfers in Semester 2? (1 Viewer)

[star2468999]

I was hoping to get into unsw Bachelor of Arts to major in psychology, but I dont think I can make the atar cut-off (i got 77.00 incl. bonus points). I think I can get into Social Science (2012 atar cut-off was 75) and then transfer into BA in Semester 2 if my WAM is high enough.

^ Assuming all this goes well, can I still major in psych if i start BA in semester 2 or are majors limited?? - and if I can still pick Psych as a major in semester 2, will I be starting from the beginning of the course, or jumping in with everyone who started in Semester 1, or would it be better to just start BA(psych) in 2014??? --- OR should I just go to UWS, ACU or some other uni?

Really confused at this point. ANY advice or info would be helpful, please?

 

[passionxmusic]

Have you considered the B Liberal Arts and Science degree at Sydney University (cut-off @ 70.00)? You have the option of majoring in either the arts or science. For Psychcology you will be studying it through the science stream. Stick to UNSW B Arts as your first preference - all preferences are considered equally in the main round - doubt you will miss out unless you don't reach the reqs.

IDK about UNSW but first year Psychology exams at Sydney U are MC and not many people have the knack for it and fail (it is worth 65% of your final grade).

 

[Timothy.Siu]

I was hoping to get into unsw Bachelor of Arts to major in psychology, but I dont think I can make the atar cut-off (i got 77.00 incl. bonus points). I think I can get into Social Science (2012 atar cut-off was 75) and then transfer into BA in Semester 2 if my WAM is high enough.

^ Assuming all this goes well, can I still major in psych if i start BA in semester 2 or are majors limited?? - and if I can still pick Psych as a major in semester 2, will I be starting from the beginning of the course, or jumping in with everyone who started in Semester 1, or would it be better to just start BA(psych) in 2014??? --- OR should I just go to UWS, ACU or some other uni?

Really confused at this point. ANY advice or info would be helpful, please?

i think you can only internal transfer after completing 36 UOC (i.e. at the end of the year after you finish 2 semesters which will be 48 UOC). It's risky because if you don't want to do Social Science at all, and then say you dont get the marks/WAM you need to transfer then you'll be stuck...
but if you do get the marks it could be okay. btw, i thought they stopped psych majors in arts degree @UNSW.

 

[PiperCat]

In 2012 you could not major in Psychology through an arts degree but i think that that may have changed for 2013. If not you can apply for the bachelor of science and do a major in psychology. You can only transfer after you have completed enough units, provided you get the required WAM which i think is 65 (credit) to transfer into arts. I will say however, that if you intend to study Psychology at UNSW and wish to do honours you must be prepared to put in a lot of hard work because it is extremely competitive. The course also places a strong emphasis on statistics, which is difficult if you are not that way inclined. I would suggest that you apply to UNSW for arts and b.science and also apply at Sydney for arts.
Goodluck......

 

[D94]

Enrol into Social Science (or which ever), and just do the courses for Psych. At UNSW, you are not restricted as to what courses you can choose (except for like Medicine and really specific programs), so you can choose to enrol in the courses necessary for Psych. You will then need to transfer in second semester provided you have the necessary WAM and other requirements.

Don't worry about doing Social Science courses, you're just wasting your time and money.

 

[star2468999]

Have you considered the B Liberal Arts and Science degree at Sydney University (cut-off @ 70.00)? You have the option of majoring in either the arts or science. For Psychcology you will be studying it through the science stream. Stick to UNSW B Arts as your first preference - all preferences are considered equally in the main round - doubt you will miss out unless you don't reach the reqs.

IDK about UNSW but first year Psychology exams at Sydney U are MC and not many people have the knack for it and fail (it is worth 65% of your final grade).

Thanks so much for the suggestion, this degree gives me more options and i still get to study psych - even though I'd prefer unsw, i love that there's such a broad range of majors, so I've added it in my uac prefs... Thanks again for the advice

 

[star2468999]

i think you can only internal transfer after completing 36 UOC (i.e. at the end of the year after you finish 2 semesters which will be 48 UOC). It's risky because if you don't want to do Social Science at all, and then say you dont get the marks/WAM you need to transfer then you'll be stuck...
but if you do get the marks it could be okay. btw, i thought they stopped psych majors in arts degree @UNSW.

The unsw site says min. 24UOC to transfer to BA (which offers a psych major in 2013), but some people have told me it would be better to just wait for 2014 so I don't get a messed up program, is this true?

And I don't mind doing Social Science, I was looking into majoring in marketing as a second choice anyway..

 

[star2468999]

In 2012 you could not major in Psychology through an arts degree but i think that that may have changed for 2013. If not you can apply for the bachelor of science and do a major in psychology. You can only transfer after you have completed enough units, provided you get the required WAM which i think is 65 (credit) to transfer into arts. I will say however, that if you intend to study Psychology at UNSW and wish to do honours you must be prepared to put in a lot of hard work because it is extremely competitive. The course also places a strong emphasis on statistics, which is difficult if you are not that way inclined. I would suggest that you apply to UNSW for arts and b.science and also apply at Sydney for arts.
Goodluck......

Thankyou for the advice, my cousin does psych at usyd and seems to think I have the knack for it, and I was good in statistics in hsc maths - unfortunately I got a band 3 in English where the rest of my subjects were high 80s which brought my atar way down, so I don't think I'll make the usyd or unsw arts cut offs -- I added usyd arts to my uac prefs anyway, worth a shot .

Also, do you know if I'm eligible to apply for the psych honours year if I do my psych major through the arts stream?

 

[star2468999]

Enrol into Social Science (or which ever), and just do the courses for Psych. At UNSW, you are not restricted as to what courses you can choose (except for like Medicine and really specific programs), so you can choose to enrol in the courses necessary for Psych.

How would i do the courses for psych if i've enrolled in Social Science?? I asked the girl at the psych tent on unsw open day something similar and she said that wasn't possible -- could you elaborate or post a link please?

 

[Timothy.Siu]

wow, sorry, I stand corrected. Yeah its just 24UOC as you said.
Well, you're not meant to enrol in courses not in your program but you can...its kinda weird.
But basically if you're taking this route, you can just enrol in courses as if you were doing psychology, and then hopefully next semester you get accepted for transfer.
The downside of this is if you don't get accepted then you would have done courses for nothing.

 

[pokeme]

alrite, since this is on topic about internal transferring,
id like to know if i get into B.Science, would i be able to transfer to Psychology Science(about 5atar difference)
if i average credit - distinction or something?

 

[D94]

How would i do the courses for psych if i've enrolled in Social Science?? I asked the girl at the psych tent on unsw open day something similar and she said that wasn't possible -- could you elaborate or post a link please?

I'm currently enrolled in Eng/Sci, but I could easily enrol into Commerce courses or Arts courses etc. We are not restricted as to what courses we can choose, except if it's medicine or a specific course within a program like Mechanical/Biomedical Engineering (Anatomy).

You are able to follow the Psychology plan, like as if you were a Psychology student. Sure you are enrolled in Social Science, but there aren't any course restrictions. I have a friend who was enrolled in Architecture, but she soon decided to do Commerce/Science, so she spoke to the Commerce/Science faculties and they told her to choose Com/Sci courses so she didn't need to waste time and money on Architecture courses.

Unless there are certain restrictions imposed in the course, i.e. you must be enrolled in the program, you can freely choose that course.

It makes no sense to force students to do courses which ultimately won't contribute to their desired degree. You'll obviously need to do well enough to transfer.

wow, sorry, I stand corrected. Yeah its just 24UOC as you said.
Well, you're not meant to enrol in courses not in your program but you can...its kinda weird.
But basically if you're taking this route, you can just enrol in courses as if you were doing psychology, and then hopefully next semester you get accepted for transfer.
The downside of this is if you don't get accepted then you would have done courses for nothing.

I don't see any by-law or ruling which states you cannot. How else are students meant to do their General Education electives if they are not meant to enrol into courses not under their program? Not all General Education electives are GENS. I'm sure you had to do a few General Education electives, and they could not be a GENS course or under the Faculty of Science, so please explain how that would work if you could not enrol into courses not under your program?

If they are genuinely interested, allow them another chance to get the marks to get in.

alrite, since this is on topic about internal transferring,
id like to know if i get into B.Science, would i be able to transfer to Psychology Science(about 5atar difference)
if i average credit - distinction or something?

ATAR isn't considered for internal transfer, it's just your WAM which counts. As high as possible because even if you meet the requirement, it's the amount of places which really decides whether you can get in or not.

 

[star2468999]

I'm currently enrolled in Eng/Sci, but I could easily enrol into Commerce courses or Arts courses etc. We are not restricted as to what courses we can choose, except if it's medicine or a specific course within a program like Mechanical/Biomedical Engineering (Anatomy).
[...]

I don't see any by-law or ruling which states you cannot. How else are students meant to do their General Education electives if they are not meant to enrol into courses not under their program? Not all General Education electives are GENS. I'm sure you had to do a few General Education electives, and they could not be a GENS course or under the Faculty of Science, so please explain how that would work if you could not enrol into courses not under your program?

Thankyou so much for elaborating! I thought all General Education electives were limited to GENS courses dont suppose you know if the psych courses are restricted to certain degrees? If not, dont worry about it - I'll ask someone on info day thankyou again

 

[PiperCat]

I am at UNSW now and they changed it so you couldn't major in psych through an arts degree which meant that you could not apply for honours. However, i spoke to someone who works in the faculty of science and they told me that next year (2013) it is likely to change and that new students starting in 2013 will be able to do a major in psych through arts, thus enabling them to apply for honours. Psychology is not difficult per say, the concepts are fairly straight forward to understand, but because it is so competitive you really have to stay at the top of the year. If you really want to go to university now (as oppose to waiting for a few years and applying as a mature age student) apply for anything that has a lower atar and transfer. Transferring is an easy option. To get an WAM of say 65 is not difficult. Also, if you really want to transfer, go into the faculty office and speak to someone and make yourself known to the people who work there, i did this and i found them extremely helpful and then you are not just a number to them but a person.

 

[Timothy.Siu]

I don't see any by-law or ruling which states you cannot. How else are students meant to do their General Education electives if they are not meant to enrol into courses not under their program? Not all General Education electives are GENS. I'm sure you had to do a few General Education electives, and they could not be a GENS course or under the Faculty of Science, so please explain how that would work if you could not enrol into courses not under your program?

yes there is a rule. this is part of the commonwealth supported places rule, the government doesn't want to pay more than they have to. I guess if you're paying full fee then theres no rule.
you're not allowed to do any courses that wont count towards your degree, i.e. more courses than you need to. although this isn't enforced. Sure, of course they let you enrol in General education or whatever, but they could just not let you enrol when you reach the limit for general education/electives or whatever. it wouldn't be that hard.

 

[D94]

yes there is a rule. this is part of the commonwealth supported places rule, the government doesn't want to pay more than they have to. I guess if you're paying full fee then theres no rule.
you're not allowed to do any courses that wont count towards your degree, i.e. more courses than you need to. although this isn't enforced. Sure, of course they let you enrol in General education or whatever, but they could just not let you enrol when you reach the limit for general education/electives or whatever. it wouldn't be that hard.

On 14 September 2011, government passed legislation abolishing the SLE meaning students aren't restricted as to how much study as a CSP student they can do. Also, students are only restricted as to what courses they can choose if they study under a different provider whilst enrolled at their current provider (cross institution study).

However, can you provide a link which explicitly says you cannot select courses not under your program whilst being a CSP student?

Plus, UNSW has guided students in choosing courses not under their program based on the fact that the student intends on transferring. If what you're saying is law, then UNSW are guiding students into violating the law.

 

[Timothy.Siu]

On 14 September 2011, government passed legislation abolishing the SLE meaning students aren't restricted as to how much study as a CSP student they can do. Also, students are only restricted as to what courses they can choose if they study under a different provider whilst enrolled at their current provider (cross institution study).

However, can you provide a link which explicitly says you cannot select courses not under your program whilst being a CSP student?

Plus, UNSW has guided students in choosing courses not under their program based on the fact that the student intends on transferring. If what you're saying is law, then UNSW are guiding students into violating the law.

Ok, I'm wrong. You are right. There's no restrictions.
Anyway, of course you can select courses not under your program, as you said above, otherwise you won't be able to choose GE courses and no, UNSW would never guide students in violating the law!

PS: For the OP, the original advice still stands. You can enrol in what you would be doing if you were doing a psych major, and hopefully get the WAM and then get accepted for IPT. Then you won't be behind at all. However, you should have a back up plan in case you don't make it, but your back up plan could just be to try again the semester after, after which if you don't make it again you could reassess your options/plans.

 

[star2468999]

Psychology is not difficult per say, the concepts are fairly straight forward to understand, but because it is so competitive you really have to stay at the top of the year. If you really want to go to university now (as oppose to waiting for a few years and applying as a mature age student) apply for anything that has a lower atar and transfer. Transferring is an easy option. To get an WAM of say 65 is not difficult. Also, if you really want to transfer, go into the faculty office and speak to someone and make yourself known to the people who work there, i did this and i found them extremely helpful and then you are not just a number to them but a person.

Thanks for the info on psych - and thanks SO much for the faculty office suggestion, I wouldn't have thought to do that so the advice was really helpful

 

[ZombieApocalypse]

UNSW is being mean. I sent babs an email about their handbook being unclear and asked for it to be clarified, but they've completely ignored my email.


I SEE THAT I AM VALUED, UNSW

 

[D94]

UNSW is being mean. I sent babs an email about their handbook being unclear and asked for it to be clarified, but they've completely ignored my email.


I SEE THAT I AM VALUED, UNSW

To be fair, it is the Christmas holidays.