ANU PhB Science vs Sydney (1 Viewer)

[HJ]

Hello
I just finished high school last year, and have been offered the PhB science course at ANU (got a call in december). I put it as my first preference but I asked a Usyd administrator who told me I'd definitely be able to get into the B Science (Adv) if I applied late round Usyd. ...Questions/dilemmas as follows:

1) I live in Sydney. So...is the PhB course worth moving away from home? Just in your opinion.

2) How possible is it to schedule lectures so I could come home for the weekends? Ths Usyd admin I talked to conincidentally went to ANU law and said that is what she did for the first year...

3) Similar to 1) but ....how many people get into PhB science?? It seems like everyone on this forum (reading some other threads) does it?? Just wondering...

Yeah, I'm just stuck on 1) mainly, cause all my teachers and uni people I've talked to say ANU is great...but, I REALLY want the opinion of someone actually doing the course, or someone who has done it. AND IN PARTICULAR, someone who lived elsewhere (another state) and had to move to go there? Do you think it's worth it?

Argh...so hard to decide.

so...is it worth it?

thanks heaps

 

[HJ]

Also what the residential colleges are like? Which you would recommend?

...yeah....is the course as good as the uni makes it out to be? as in, intellectually stimulating etc? Or is it just average...don't really feel it's exciting etc??

 

[I am here!]

HUMPHDOGG, WHERE ARE YOU!?

I suggest PMing him BTW, very in the know that dude is.

P.S. I'm coming to ANU next year (to take a PhB in Arts) from goddamn WA, so you sure as hell won't be alone in your situation.

 

[Eriny]

I'm planning on doing the Arts PhB this year and I'm from Melbourne. Humphdogg is doing the science one at the moment and he's from Melbourne.

As for 2, I think it could be possible depending on lecture/tute times. But would you actually want to go home during weekends? What happens if you have an essay due and you need the library facilities to finish it? What if you want to go out with friends on the weekend?

I think 30 people or something like that get into PhB science. It's pretty prestigious...

 

[jas0nt]

well in sydney you get the degree titled Bachelor of Science ("Advanced") (wooo scary stuff)

in ANU you get the degree titled Bachelor of Philosophy (Science)

/thread

 

[jas0nt]

re: scheduling lectures...

you can cherry-pick units you want to do based on their convenience due to the high flexibility of phB. but to be honest, if you have your mind set on chemistry and not doing it just because it has a shitty time seems stupid.

other than that you can make sure your labs/tutes are at times you want.

not that the drive from CBR to SYD is long anyway (2.5 hours).

 

[humphdogg]

mmokay then

Hello
I just finished high school last year, and have been offered the PhB science course at ANU (got a call in december). I put it as my first preference but I asked a Usyd administrator who told me I'd definitely be able to get into the B Science (Adv) if I applied late round Usyd. ...Questions/dilemmas as follows:

1) I live in Sydney. So...is the PhB course worth moving away from home? Just in your opinion.

in my opinion, definitely. i have no regrets coming to ANU to do the PhB (like eriny said, i'm originally from melbourne).

basically, PhB science is the best science undergraduate course you can do in australia. it's certainly more prestigious than the equivalent versions at Monash and USyd (i'm pretty sure both were created after the PhB was created, back in 2003 or so, so ANU's the frontrunner in this area).

as for moving from sydney - well, one of my friends at college moved from sydney to go to ANU and do PhB, and he loves it here (though his girlfriend also moved to canberra. convenient eh). i guess all the people i know doing PhB (and about half of them are from out of state) enjoy doing it.

i won't lie and say everyone who moves from out of state loves ANU - i've known a couple of people (2-3 maybe) who got too homesick and moved back to sydney after a semester or two. but they're really in the vast majority.

2) How possible is it to schedule lectures so I could come home for the weekends? Ths Usyd admin I talked to conincidentally went to ANU law and said that is what she did for the first year...

it depends. a girl i know doing commerce/law managed to schedule all her classes on monday through wednesday, so had thursday and friday off - she'd drive up to sydney every thursday for the weekend to be with her boyfriend and family etc.

with science courses, it's a bit harder, because they are more likely to have courses on friday (and certainly monday). that being said, it is possible. you are nearly certainly able to choose the tutorials that you go to so that they're not on friday, and most (but by no means all) subjects don't have lectures on friday.

even if you do have lectures on friday, you're by no means obliged to go. all science subjects (and most subjects at ANU) provide either lecture notes or lecture recordings, or both, online after every lecture. so if you're smart enough, you can get by with just reading the lecture notes (though obviously it depends on the subject, some are more hands-on than others). i think i went to about 2 friday lectures last semester (i had one at 9am on a friday, and was rarely awake and/or sober and/or bothered). but i had a good enough grasp of that subject to get by with just the lecture notes (ended up getting 93 for the course ).

so yeah. choose your subjects wisely if you really want a day off, but otherwise remember that you don't have to go to classes...

3) Similar to 1) but ....how many people get into PhB science?? It seems like everyone on this forum (reading some other threads) does it?? Just wondering...

Yeah, I'm just stuck on 1) mainly, cause all my teachers and uni people I've talked to say ANU is great...but, I REALLY want the opinion of someone actually doing the course, or someone who has done it. AND IN PARTICULAR, someone who lived elsewhere (another state) and had to move to go there? Do you think it's worth it?

Argh...so hard to decide.

so...is it worth it?

thanks heaps

about 30 or so people get in to PhB science, 10-15 PhB arts. only reason why so many people on this forum do it (and there aren't that many, really) is because BoS is full of high-achievers.

but yeah, i can't recommend PhB enough. so glad i moved to canberra for uni - staying at college is nothing short of awesome, and i'm loving my degree.

 

[humphdogg]

Also what the residential colleges are like? Which you would recommend?

...yeah....is the course as good as the uni makes it out to be? as in, intellectually stimulating etc? Or is it just average...don't really feel it's exciting etc??

oh, another post.

the course is as good as the uni makes it out to be, to be honest. ANU has a world-class science department, and the science courses are challenging but very good (UAI requirement for normal BSc is only 75, but i can't see how people with a UAI of 75 would be able to get more than a pass in lots of science subjects, they're hardly easy...).
and as a PhB student, you do get to lord it over all the other science studentes
... well not really, but still. you definitely feel like your degree is something special (more attention, learn a lot more than the average student, get to know lecturers and professors, researchers in the department of your interest, etc etc).

and it's certainly intellectually stimulating - it can be incredibly challenging at times (getting an HD average takes a fair amount of work) but it feels worth it. like i said, the courses really aren't all easy...



as for the colleges - well, i think there are several threads in this forum about it, so look there. i'm at bruce and i personally think it's the greatest, but evilo on this forum will go on about johns a fair bit best thing would just be to read the other threads.

 

[Evilo]

as for the colleges - well, i think there are several threads in this forum about it, so look there. i'm at bruce and i personally think it's the greatest, but evilo on this forum will go on about johns a fair bit best thing would just be to read the other threads.

It's true im biased, but i <3 johns lol (well except today cos im angry, but otherwise yeah)

hes right about the other threads though.

BTW - every anu brochure that mentions accomodation says in big letters "Don't wait until you recieve an offer before applying for accomodation". oh well.

 

[jas0nt]

the course is as good as the uni makes it out to be, to be honest. ANU has a world-class science department, and the science courses are challenging but very good (UAI requirement for normal BSc is only 75, but i can't see how people with a UAI of 75 would be able to get more than a pass in lots of science subjects, they're hardly easy...).

my mate got a UAI of 74, got 4x Passes in the first sem and 2x fails in the second. poor guy