FINS1612 or FINS1613 Sem 1? (1 Viewer)

[pomsky]

Hey guys,

Is FINS1612 or FINS1613 better for semester 1? I'm looking to end up doing 1 of the two in the first semester and the other one in the second semester. Would you recommend FINS1612 then FINS1613 or 1613 then 1612? (in terms of content, lecturer, weighting etc.) Hoping to major in finance.

I was looking at the course outlines (keep in mind these are only the 2015 ones though) for the differences 1st and 2nd semester and I noticed that the assessment layouts were slightly different (in terms of weighting). In FINS1612, this was the assessment details for semester 1.

Quiz 1: 20%
Quiz 2: 30%
Tutorial Participation: 5%
Final Exam: 45%
Lecturer in charge: Prof Jason Zein

And in semester 2

Quiz 1: 20%
Quiz 2: 20%
Tutorial Participation: 15%
Final Exam: 45%
Lecturer in charge: Dr Natalie Oh

For FINS1613, this was the assessment details for semester 1:

Tutorial attendance and participation: 10%
Homework: 10%
Tutorial Quizzes: 30%
Final Examination: 50%
Lecturer in charge: Robert Tumarkin (although I heard somebody else took this position)

FINS1613 Semester2:
Tutorial attendance: 5%
Tutorial participation: 5%
Midterm exam: 40%
Final Exam: 50%
Lecturer in charge: Kyung Shim

Is a larger emphasis on tutorial participation generally considered good or bad? Do they overlap in terms of content? And any thoughts on the lecturers in charge?

Feel free to PM me if you'd prefer to share your opinions on a less public setting.
Thanks!

 

[mreditor16]

First of all, if you search up "FINS1613" on BOS, you'll find an overall consensus along the lines of:

FINS1613 is better in SEM1 for the following reasons:

- Course is all MC and all the class quizzes are pretty straightforward so easy marks there
- If you can add, subtract, multiply and divide, the quantitative parts of the course should be very simple (70% of the course is quantitative anyways)
- Much easier to D/HD in SEM1 than SEM2

I heard FINS1613 in SEM2 is treated differently, since there is a different lecturer in charge and the assessments are not all MC q's i.e. includes short answer etc. and that the actual course tends to be harder since assessments are not as easy as SEM1

However, as noted by many BOSers:

Historically, Sem 1 has been the way to go (due to the head lecturer/course co-ordinator, the structure of assessments e.g. quizzes and no mid-sem, lower overall difficulty, etc).

However, I think the difficulty gap between Sem 1 and Sem 2 is closing (the discrepancy between student numbers in Sem 1 and in Sem 2 makes it obvious to lecturers so they are implementing appropriate measures).

Still possible to do well in Sem 2 though.

So, long story short, it is indeed preferable to complete FINS1613 in Semester One.

Now, as for the question of doing 1612 or 1613 first - from what I can see, you're starting your first year of your degree this year, and have already chosen your major of Finance. Now, note that FINS1613 is a compulsory core course (regardless of whether you undertake a Finance major or not), whereas FINS1612 only needs to be completed, if undertaking a Finance major. So, hence, I would highly recommend that you do FINS1613 first, just to make sure that a finance major is what you want to do. And then, if your desire is confirmed, then doing 1612 the next semester.

 

[pomsky]

What about higher assessment weightings on tutorial participation? I've heard more than one person complaining about class participation so was wondering whether, in the future/for other subjects, that should be taken into account.

Sent from my XT1068 using Tapatalk

 

[RivalryofTroll]

What about higher assessment weightings on tutorial participation? I've heard more than one person complaining about class participation so was wondering whether, in the future/for other subjects, that should be taken into account.

Sent from my XT1068 using Tapatalk

FINS1613 CP is relatively easy to get 10/10 (or full marks) in, if you contribute once or twice a tutorial each week.

Commerce CP is mainly about quantity honestly, whereas Arts or Law CP are more about depth and quality.

 

[sdthird10]

do fins1612 in sem 1 cuz its a wam booster and do fins1613 in sem 2 cuz its all multiple choice and its really easy i got 95+ easily just did tutorial questions and do them every week.

 

[sdthird10]

kyung is awesome he helps u alot and also people skip lectures in sem 2 alot for some reason for fins1613 so u can just sit in the front and its like a 1 on 1 lecture lol, but there will be like 50-60 students in the lecture hall. fins1612 is wam booster in sem 1 u get apro zein who scales average to 75-80 so its easily achievable to get 95+

 

[photastic]

kyung is awesome he helps u alot and also people skip lectures in sem 2 alot for some reason for fins1613 so u can just sit in the front and its like a 1 on 1 lecture lol, but there will be like 50-60 students in the lecture hall. fins1612 is wam booster in sem 1 u get apro zein who scales average to 75-80 so its easily achievable to get 95+

Misleading information here, he did not scale to that extent and i dont think any lecturer in charge does it tbh unless its an advanced course.

 

[Notsuree]

Jason applied no scaling when I did FINS1612 in sem 1, 2015, which was notwithstanding the average for the 2nd exam being around 50%.

 

[photastic]

Jason applied no scaling when I did FINS1612 in sem 1, 2015, which was notwithstanding the average for the 2nd exam being around 50%.

He scaled it by 2 marks for the second quiz this semester to a credit average, he must have had a bad mood last yr.