Advice to future Bachelor of Business students at UTS (1 Viewer)

[Dr.Dan]

to think someone is that silly enough to do 1 subject per semester just buggles me, i think we are all being had here. trollface.jpg

 

[Sathius005]

I am not saying that everyone should do one subject each semester but I am advising most UTS students to do two subjects each semester. This method of doing two subjects each semester mitigates failure in a subject and enhances the chances of HD. I want UTS to become the top Business School in Australia. To do these objectives UTS students must mitigate failure in their subjects and enhance their results to HD.

"Ask and you shall receive. Search and you shall find. He/ She who cherishes a lofty ideal in their heart will one day realise it"

 

[blackromanc3]

Speaking as a graduate from UTS (who is also undertaking honours this year) the advice given here isn't very good. More specifically choosing to do 1-2 subjects per semester to enhance your grades is a very naive decision to make. Think about it, if you were to do 1-2 subjects per semester you are looking to spend 6 years of your life in university for an undergraduate degree. People who have started the same time as you will have 3 years of industry experience whereas you have none. Getting a HD average for an undergraduate degree is respectable but in these conditions of academic inflation you are better off getting a D average and do honours or a post graduate degree which you will finish in 4 years. Sorry to burst your bubble but 6 years for one undergraduate degree is one of the worst investments I've ever heard. You said you wanted to do honours...gosh at this rate you are going to be spending a very very long time in university. If you can't keep up with 4 subjects a semester then honours is definitely not for you. I've been told by my lecturers that in your honours year you will learn as much as you have throughout your entire 3 years of your vanilla undergraduate degree. Go hard or go home and that is my advice I would give to future students.

 

[builder2818]

And when you get in the real world, you will use about 5% of what you learnt at uni but you need that piece of paper to get a job.

Unfortunately but fortunately for me, I have to do 2 subjects a semester because I work full time in funds management and I like to party too much on weekends. But I have already been promoted ahead of people with finance degrees, there's even people with masters degrees lower than me, so in reality the piece of paper doesn't mean sh1t if you are a bag of sh1t employee.

Happy job hunting.

 

[blackromanc3]

I agree with you builder2818. What you have going on is solid in my books but cutting subjects purely for grades is beyond my comprehension. I find it commendable that you managed to get so far while studying, kudos to you builder2818.

I achieved a D average for my combined degree with an overall wam of 80 and about 86 for my economics major so I have some credibility when it comes to giving advice to future students. Either do what builder2818 is doing if you want to do part time or try your best with full load if you don't intend to work. As with most university students I chose to do full time and that meant study is the main priority.

Here are some advice I can give
-Know what study method works for you.
-Always do your homework. Most business subjects will base exams off homework with a little twist or changes to the question. Hell sometimes they even use the same questions with different numbers from the tutorials
-Choose your major carefully. I would say this is the most important one. I know it sounds cliche but what you choose to study should be enjoyable. Don't pick a major because all your friends decided to do marketing. Know the level of mathematics expected, far too many people did not know what they were up for in economics or finance.
-Never fall 2 weeks behind the content being taught. I've never ever kept up to date but 2 weeks behind was doable for me.
-Read beyond your textbook. Googlebooks and sources from other university are your friends.
-Maximise your marks during the mid-semester. Most business subjects cover 40-50% of final grades at the mid-semester so the more marks you get the less pressure there is at the end of the semester.
-Final advice is to go hard but also enjoy your time at university.

Good luck!

 

[Dr.Dan]

I agree with you builder2818. What you have going on is solid in my books but cutting subjects purely for grades is beyond my comprehension. I find it commendable that you managed to get so far while studying, kudos to you builder2818.

I achieved a D average for my combined degree with an overall wam of 80 and about 86 for my economics major so I have some credibility when it comes to giving advice to future students. Either do what builder2818 is doing if you want to do part time or try your best with full load if you don't intend to work. As with most university students I chose to do full time and that meant study is the main priority.

Here are some advice I can give
-Know what study method works for you.
-Always do your homework. Most business subjects will base exams off homework with a little twist or changes to the question. Hell sometimes they even use the same questions with different numbers from the tutorials
-Choose your major carefully. I would say this is the most important one. I know it sounds cliche but what you choose to study should be enjoyable. Don't pick a major because all your friends decided to do marketing. Know the level of mathematics expected, far too many people did not know what they were up for in economics or finance.
-Never fall 2 weeks behind the content being taught. I've never ever kept up to date but 2 weeks behind was doable for me.
-Read beyond your textbook. Googlebooks and sources from other university are your friends.
-Maximise your marks during the mid-semester. Most business subjects cover 40-50% of final grades at the mid-semester so the more marks you get the less pressure there is at the end of the semester.
-Final advice is to go hard but also enjoy your time at university.

Good luck!

This. Also acknowledge the fact that 2 subjects is so much easier than studying 4 or 5 (in my case)/semester such that when you eventually do move out into the workforce, the stress and demand of a higher role will be quite overwhelming.

4 subjects/semester teaches you time management skills and how to resource particular subjects. Social aspects would also prove quite difficult, you would still be doing First-year subjects in your 2nd year in a single degree course meaning most people whom you initially networked with will have moved on, thus group assignments will become even more of a pain in the ass.

Bottom line, don't do less than 3 subjects per semester - particularly in your first year. I can't stress it enough. Even big 4 cadets, the one's I've known, have managed to pull off 3 subjects/semester.

First year subjects have the most resources, most attention given to and some of the best lecturers (such as Jonathon Tyler), this is to make passing a lot easier.

Good Luck

 

[nhoustonrocks]

For first years:
- 4 subjects per semester, particularly in 1st year is definitely doable. disregard the crap about 1 subject a semester. I managed to get all credits, a few Ds/HDs, while doing 4 subjects and working 20 hours a week. mind you, I had no social life since I was pretty much studying whenever I wasn't at work
- do your homework every week! especially in accounting, there is a shit load of content in both semesters, and you'll most likely fail/scrape a pass if you fall behind and cram at the last minute
- use your resources well! UPASS is highly recommended for any subject that it's offered for
- open book doesn't make the exams easy
- go to your tutorials, particularly in the first week. you may find that some of your tutors are really shit and/or their accents are so thick that it's impossible to understand what they're saying. if that's the case, you can change tutes in the first few weeks
- enjoy! it only gets harder from 2nd year onwards, so enjoy your time at uni now!