Honours (1 Viewer)

[flashyGoldFish]

Interested to know how people chose their honours coordinator, how long they sought out that supervisor (did you pick last minute or did you preemptively pick subjects/ seek out that person a year in advanced?) Would this vary with the demand for that supervisor or how good their lab is?

 

[antheung]

I'd like to hear what people have to say about looking for a supervisor for Honours too.

Anyway, I could share how I tried to look for a supervisor for a summer vacation research scholarship (unfortunately my application was not successful). After doing a unit of study I had a particular area that I was interested in, so I first approached my lecturer for that unit of study. He said that he wouldn't be offering any projects during summer, so he recommended other staff members who had interests in that field. So I sent emails to them one by one and tried to learn about their research.

 

[o0ohouseo0o]

I'm applying for honours to start next year, and this semester I've just gradually met with a few different supervisors to get a better idea of their project and what it'd be like working with them. I'm putting down more than one preference as some labs are quite popular.
As for the summer research scholarship I didn't contact supervisors, I just read about the projects and chose what seemed interesting to me. Since its only 8 weeks i felt it wasn't as necessary to meet with them, but that could vary with different projects/supervisors.

 

[antheung]

As for the summer research scholarship I didn't contact supervisors, I just read about the projects and chose what seemed interesting to me. Since its only 8 weeks i felt it wasn't as necessary to meet with them, but that could vary with different projects/supervisors.

Was your application successful?

 

[o0ohouseo0o]

Was your application successful?

Yes it was! I honestly didn't expect it to be, but I'm so glad it was

 

[antheung]

Yes it was! I honestly didn't expect it to be, but I'm so glad it was

Congratulations! I'm so jealous.

 

[o0ohouseo0o]

Congratulations! I'm so jealous.

Thank you! Depending on what year of uni you're in this year, you might be able to apply next year, as I think they give some preference if you've applied before. I applied last year and was unsuccessful. And i think showing interest in a research career in your cover letter is helpful. Also getting a good academic reference is helpful

 

[antheung]

Thank you! Depending on what year of uni you're in this year, you might be able to apply next year, as I think they give some preference if you've applied before. I applied last year and was unsuccessful. And i think showing interest in a research career in your cover letter is helpful. Also getting a good academic reference is helpful

Unfortunately, I think this year's my last chance to apply for a vacation scholarship, because I'm expecting to graduate in July next year. I spoke with the person in charge of vacation scholarships for my School, and he said that the applicants had a HD average, whereas I only had a mid D average. I guess it's normal for my application to be unsuccessful.

Do you think applying for Honours will be less competitive than for vacation scholarships? Like you pay for doing Honours, whereas you get paid for the vacation scholarships, so it's natural for them to be more selective when they assess your application for the scholarships. In other words, do you know if you're almost guaranteed a place for Honours as long as you meet the minimum requirement (Credit or Distinction average depending on the department you're applying to) and someone is willing to be your supervisor?

 

[OzKo]

I asked my honours supervisor at the end of third year but only expressed firm interest at the beginning of fourth year.

In my faculty, it was first come first serve but I'm unsure how it works in other faculties.

 

[antheung]

I asked my honours supervisor at the end of third year but only expressed firm interest at the beginning of fourth year.

In my faculty, it was first come first serve but I'm unsure how it works in other faculties.

Thanks. I guess I have to start planning and looking for a supervisor next semester.

By the way, is it a common or unusual thing to transfer to another university for Honours? For various reasons, I might prefer doing Honours (if I have the opportunity) somewhere else, so I might need to be contacting academics at another university.

 

[o0ohouseo0o]

Unfortunately, I think this year's my last chance to apply for a vacation scholarship, because I'm expecting to graduate in July next year. I spoke with the person in charge of vacation scholarships for my School, and he said that the applicants had a HD average, whereas I only had a mid D average. I guess it's normal for my application to be unsuccessful.

Do you think applying for Honours will be less competitive than for vacation scholarships? Like you pay for doing Honours, whereas you get paid for the vacation scholarships, so it's natural for them to be more selective when they assess your application for the scholarships. In other words, do you know if you're almost guaranteed a place for Honours as long as you meet the minimum requirement (Credit or Distinction average depending on the department you're applying to) and someone is willing to be your supervisor?

I think that's quite varied based on the project you applied for, as I'm certainly not on a HD average, perhaps the one I applied for was less popular. As for marks, I think it depends on the faculty, I know there are some that if you're the first to express interest, you're basically in, others are more like 20 people apply, those with the 2 top marks get in. But I'd say its less competitive than a vacation scholarship. But it's still worth speaking to multiple supervisors.

I'm not too sure about how common it is to transfer uni's for honours, but I don't think it'd be a problem, just try not to contact them too close to the application deadline

 

[antheung]

I think that's quite varied based on the project you applied for, as I'm certainly not on a HD average, perhaps the one I applied for was less popular. As for marks, I think it depends on the faculty, I know there are some that if you're the first to express interest, you're basically in, others are more like 20 people apply, those with the 2 top marks get in. But I'd say its less competitive than a vacation scholarship. But it's still worth speaking to multiple supervisors.

I'm not too sure about how common it is to transfer uni's for honours, but I don't think it'd be a problem, just try not to contact them too close to the application deadline

Thanks! I'll definitely start speaking to some academics by the end of the year or early next year.

 

[Blue Suede]

Really depends on the faculty/department.

For English, you indicate an interest area, and they allocate you with a suitable academic.

For Psych, you get allocated a supervisor who is often already working on a project and you effectively help them out for a year. You may get to indicate some vague interest area, but no guarantees you'll end up doing what you want.

For HPSC you can either approach an academic yourself if you want to work with someone in particular and they will give you an idea of their subject areas and some thesis suggestions. Or you can go with a topic area and they can allocate you to someone appropriate.

These three processes reflect how many students are in each. For psych where they are up to 200 people who do the honours course, purely for practical purposes it's too hard to try and coordinate everyone approaching different people all the time so they just allocate. For English, you usually have 30-50 honours kids so you can choose the topic area and the department does the rest. For HPS there's between 1-8 people who do honours each year so you get massive flexibility.

 

[flashyGoldFish]

Hmm how about in the sciences like anatomy/physiology/molec bio etc

 

[o0ohouseo0o]

I'm applying with the school of molecular bioscience, and it seems to be the same in other sciences. Talk to supervisors in semester 2 the year before you intend to start honours. Most people wait for the honours info sessions (september-ish) and then contact them, but if you can contact anyone earlier it shows that you're enthusiastic