Bachelor of Biomedical Science/Bachelor of Science (Major in Genetics Pharmacology Developmental Biology and Anatomy)
- Jt
- Australia
- Monash University, Australia
- Bachelor of Biomedical Science/Bachelor of Science (Major in Genetics Pharmacology Developmenta...
- Undergraduate Degree
- 2011
So far I am thoroughly enjoying the freedom that university brings compared to high school. THere are no bells no teachers telling you to get to class submit work etc. Since starting uni I feel very independent and I have learnt a lot about organising my time. I love the Campus Centre at Monash- you are bound to bump into somebody you know. I love the arcade downstairs and I love the markets that import clothes jewellary and bags from Asia! I also love the range of clubs available- I have even become a Secretary for my Faculty's society! There are so many opportunities to get involved with extracurricular things- whether it be using the sporting facilities peer-mentoring programs participating in research studies being conducted by Phd students (and often getting paid for it) or being part of (or even starting up) clubs- I LOVE UNI! However with my overall enthusiasm there are also the negatives- such as huge volume of work! However university though a highly social place is after-all a place for furthering your education. I make the most of this too and though there is a misconception that lecturers are hard to contaact or approach I have found that they are more than willing to answer to e-mails or see you upon appointment if you have concerns regarding coursework. Another great thing about university is the huge range of people you meet. Coming from a government school in the suburbs all the people I knew were from my area. Coming to uni I have made friends that live all across victoria not to mention international students who have different perspectives of things because of their own cultural experiences. So this makes things very interesting. University is awesome the social events are so varied and occur throughout the year- you'll never be bored. Monash is so culturally diverse and the educators and tutors are exceptional! University life has exceeded my expectations!
Selection process and gaining admission
I followed the VTAC admission. It was pretty easy to follow. We have to enter our personal details into the website's admission form in a step by step manner. We then entered in our preferences in order of first preference to last preference (we could choose up to 12 preferences). Once this was all completed we registered and were sent an invoice through the mail. After this registration we could not alter our preferences until a specific time period later on. After we received our ENTER we were again allowed another time to change our preferences if we wished. Since I got an ENTER score that was above the clearly in ENTER for the course that I wanted to get into it was easy for me to get into my course. I was offered a Round 1 place and naturally accepted it! There was no interview process or admission test required to get into my course. I received my offer both from VTAC and from Monash University. I also looked up my offer in the Herald Sun newspaper after I signed a declaration stating that my results and course offer would be published in the newspaper.
Funding and scholarships
To my knowledge was no scholarship available for the course I am enrolled in. ..
Your study experience
I've finished my second year of the course and I can happily say that I love the course. Doing a double degree in science and biomedical science has its pros and cons- It is good if you want to transfer into veterinary science (which requires a high distinction average in first year physics chemistry and biology from a science degree) but if you are afraid that you cannot get a place (because it is highly competitive) then at least you have biomedical science - which opens doors to other postgraduate degrees such as medicine pharmacy physiotherapy dentristry and optometry to name a few. Also if you are applying for a job in the scientific field this is better than having just a science degree. (It places you at an advantage if you want to apply for positions where it is advertised that a science degree is required because you have the added qualification of a biomedical science degree which not a lot of people have). Note that- in this degree what I wasn't told before was that your choice of Science major is narrowed to an area of Physics Maths Chemistry or Biological science (genetics zoology ecology and conservation). I wanted to major in Pharmacology- it is a subject handled by the Faculty of Medicine Health and Nursing rather than the Faculty of Science. However if you do Science alone you CAN major in Pharmacology. (Yes this is confusing.) All this information is provided in the course map information which you get on the day of enrolment- it is a bit confusing at first and you have to really do your research. The Monash website has the unit handbook which helps in this process. I found that asking the Faculty of Science HelpDesk staff about this issue was pretty pointless because from the top of their head they will not know what the prerequisites of every uni of every course is etc- so it will be a lengthy process for them to help you plan your course out and they might miss out on details anyway. (They told me that I could not fit in 3 majors but I have found a way to do so since some of my units overlap but they didn't pick up on this.) The course is pretty good value for money in terms of the quality of teaching (with a few exceptions of first year lecturers - one of my first year biochemistry lecturers had such a thick accent that he mispronounced things to the point where even if you sat at the front of the lecture room you had to concentrate so hard to just understand the words he was saying let alone learn the content. It was his first time lecturing and in the end he gave us all his support in preparation for the exams so we did admire his efforts. However throughout those 8 lectures (he only lectured for a topic covered over those lectures in the semester) we complained so that he did not lecture the following year. So I was glad that the Faculty was pro-active in wanting to improve teaching. Indeed that is the only real criticism I have. I have had about 50 lecturers now and most of them have been phenomenal! They are experts in their field and often they are very engaging and really know how to involve the students in their teaching! I love DEV2011 and DEV2022 from the department of Developomental Biology and anatomy. Science units: First year: BIO1011 BIO1022 (biology units) CHM1011 CHM1022 (chemistry units) Second year: DEV2011 (embryology) DEV2022 (organ and human body design)- Professor Jeffrey Kerr is inspirational and professional. His style of lecturing enables the student to absorb new knowledge. He explains complex conepts in a way that you will remember it. Also the text book (supplementary material to the lectures) is written by him! In future DEV units we get the opportunity to study stem cells and regeneration which I am really looking forward to because the recent breakthroughs made by Monash scientists have really been substantial! I am very excited to learn form the very best in th
Your life experience
Area of uni: It's close to Chadstone! (Fashion Capital!) I like to take the bus from the bus interchange to Chaddy after a long day of uni. Also it's about 20 minutes bus trip from Glen Waverly (a lot of great asian food restaurants and cafes as well a the Glen Shopping centre). College/university facilities: The science labs are modern with up-to date facilities. There is a relatively new research precinct for science and technology which has won awards for its architectural design. The building is called S.T.R.I.P. and the cafe within it (Cinque de Lira) boasts highly acclaimed coffee mentioned in The Age newspaper (e.g. there is a green-tea strawberry infused coffee). Also there are plenty of computer labs and there is wireless internet throughout the whole campus- fantastic! The campus centre features an arcarde and pooltables downstairs there is also a recreational room which has a piano and open space as well as couches There are lots of place to sit on the lawns etc. Also there is access to online journals (so you don't have to pay subscriptions) and we received free lessons from the library as to how to use these journals in our studies. The food on-campus ranges from a nice modern(a bit more expensive) restaurant as well as the chips wedges pastas pizza sushi peri chicken fresh salads sandwiches juice and smoothies souvlakis wraps rice paper rolls asian foods (noodles stirfry rice dishes) etc... yum-cha style foods (in other words there is a great variety of food). There is also the recently renovated Sir John's Bar. There is a CommonWealth Bank as well ATMs for other banks Apple shop newsagency Asian grocer hairdresser university shop and second-hand bookstore. There are also televisions in the sports and the campus centre and there is a cinema where old movies are sometimes played. There is also a sporting facility including basketball badminton volleyball and squash courts in addition to a gym and swimming pool and ovals. Part-time work can be found by looking at the Career Gateway. They list jobs placed by people wanting to employ students or people in general and you can apply online. There is also opportunity to work at the university by applying to work at places like the shops/eateries. There is also opportunity to apply for vacation scholarships and lecturers encourage that we seek work experience in the laboratories (for science and biomedical science). Monash Univeristy job-seeking website. There is also a careers counsellor. Sometimes I participate in studies run by PHD students etc in which I get paid! Often they are not very time consuming and can be fun.
Job prospects
I feel that doing a double degree and having so far gotten higher than average grades as well as getting an award in first year for my studies in science and this year being a member of the Golden Key Society (for high achieving students) and gaining leadership roles in the Biomedical Society (student-based university academic club) my job prospects have increased. I have not completed my studies yet but there is a Monash Alumni network as well as a Golden Key Alumni network.