Wednesday, 9pm will be a pretty big moment for you. I thought I might tell you how it went down for me!
Hey Charger, it’s nearly the big day, how are you? I’m sure that you are just as excited as I am, it is really going to be great I’m sure, as any which way it falls, it will be a new experience for you. Due to a lack of response for songs to look up your offer too, lets start that with a few songs to listen to. Some lack any real meaning except for their wonderful groove, but hey, they’re suggestions anywho! They’re not in any order either, just great songs.
1. DUI- Har Mar Superstar: It’s a great party song, great, great song. Love it every time I listen to it!
2. Rock the House- Gorillaz: They want you to just get down, so I think it would be great to rock along with them too. They want you to Rock the House too so I think it would work well.
3. Ooh La La- The Faces: This is dead set my favourite song at the moment. I actually think it has a bit of meaning to it. ‘I wish that I knew all I know now, when I was younger.’ It lets you think about all you know now, and how much more there is to learn, I think it would be pretty tops!!! Yeah, I think this would be great!
4. Changes- David Bowie: This would be another great song to express the changes in your life! Ch Ch Ch Changes! Yeah, great way to go! Puts things into perspective, you will be changing here, so why not sing along with Ziggy Stardust while its happening!
5. Old School Rules- Dangerdoom Featuring Talib Kweli: Another song to make you rock, great beat too. I really love it, and Old School does rule the day. Will set quite a funky and stylish tone for the disc-man on the way to Uni.
6. Move on so easy- Little Barrie: I really love this CD (My sister lost it), and this is a great song, you need to move on and leave your burden! Great little song!
7. Always Worth It- Sarah Blasko: I’ve always liked her voice, and this could be quite a soothing song to get the offer to. The Overture and the Underscore is a great album too
8. Hello Again- The Vandas: This is my mates band, but they’re really good! I like this song, its on Apple iTunes so have a look at it there. They sound a lot like the Easybeats (Hence the Name)
Well, whilst listening to these or other suitable songs, you can set about looking up the offers. I can remember picture perfect when I got my offer in the Main Round, I will never forget it. I drove up in Mum’s car (she had a brand new Astra Convertible, I put the roof down and cruised up, I though I was pretty cool) to the newsagency up at the station, and bought the paper with all the offers in it. I remember opening it, finding my number and then having my heart sink, it was not a code that I was expecting. I walked across the road back to the car, sat in the car and read it three more times before checking which specific course I got. As it turns out, it was my fourth preference, Communication (Marketing) at the University of Canberra. I must say that I was a bit upset, but I checked all the UAI’s (I had the UAI for the cut off from the year before, but it jumped 5 points from that! All my other preferences had jumped too!!) and realised that what I wanted to do was pretty popular, so I started to organise three years in Canberra.
I did accept the offer at Canberra, and I started to do look for accommodation and plan budgets for living away. I did not use many of the resources available to me, but I was lucky in that Sydney Uni contacted me about the Liberal Studies Course, as I was at a bit of a loss to decide what to do. I ended up changing my preferences and fortunately received an offer in the late round, which I accepted.
Now after I’ve finished I think that no matter what route I would have taken I would have had a wonderful time, I think Canberra would have been very exciting and I would have had a great time, but I really loved the time at Sydney Uni. I was lucky, but if I can offer one piece of advice from my experience here it would be to ask lots of questions to see what else you can do. There are lots of people out there to help at the moment, and if you use them, you never know what your luck will be!!!
Well, stay tops, good luck, and write below what songs you listened to!!
Bren
Comments
Hey Brendon and team!
I think it's great what your doing for us newcomers to the uni. I'm always in the mood for some good story-telling so keep the advise rollin!
At the moment I'm a bit frazzled over what my plans are for this year. I've been accepted to syd uni on my second preference - Bachelor of Arts and Sciences - which is fantabulous, but being a double degree will this mean more hours at uni? Im not exactly sure on the difference between full time and part time study, and whether doing a double degree affects your study load in that regard.
I would ideally be wanting to work around 10-15hrs per week at my current job on top of my uni hours. Is this idea advisable or suicidal? Please help!
steph
Posted by: steph | January 19, 2006 03:20 PM
Hey there, Steph!
Great question. Lots of people are confused about what a double degree will mean for them. The Bachelor of Arts and Sciences, though, is just one degree. It is not a combined degree. A combined degree requires you to have at least two majors, from two different faculties. It's tricky, but the B. Arts and Sciences only requires one major (but it can be from either the Arts, or the Science Faculty.)
(If you're thinking this is confusing, don't worry. It is. You are not crazy.)
With double degrees, the Uni makes sure you don't unnecessarily work harder than other students who do single degrees. With a full-time load, you do 24 credit points a semester, so if you're doing a Combined Degree, you will use some of those credit points for one degree, and some for the other. The most difficult part of doing a double degree is that you have to learn to study effectively in what can be wildly different subject areas!
Doing part-time work is a good idea at uni. It'll give you some (much needed) pocket money and it's also a good way to meet new people and have a break from uni. (I have found that using an espresso machine or cash register is very, very therapeutic.) Ten to fifteen hours seems ok, but you might have to revise that during exam time.
Hope you're all having a blast: keep watching the tennis and try not to be too mournful of our Sydney summer (where did it go????)
Lauren
Posted by: Lauren | January 19, 2006 06:40 PM
Brendon/Lauren
What would you say are the advantages/disadvantages of defering for a year in the hope of doing something other than study?
I'm sick of study after the HSC and hoping that a 12-month break would make me a bit more enthusiastic.
What do you guys think?
Matt
Posted by: Matt | January 22, 2006 03:26 PM
Matt, my boy, how are you? Well, firstly, well done on the offer. Thats Well tops! Hope your pretty happy! This is a pretty tough question, and please just take my advice as my opinion and that alone. I think ill preak it down below to pros and cons, might be easier that way. Ill start off by saying that I didnt take a year off, but we will expore that below.
All right, hear we go:
PROS
-Money in the bank: You can travel or just save a lot of money for the time that you will be studying. Lots of people like to go away, I think that if I had a year off I just would have bought silly old cars (well they're only silly in the eyes of my father)
-Aus-Study: Might be a really good thing to look into. If you earn a certain amount of money in a certain period and you qualify, then you can get an allowance from the government while you study. I got it from just my part time work, and it tends to make studying a lot easier
-Re-Charge the Batteries: You will be a lot more 'Study Fresh' after a year off, ready to rock again.
-Maturity: Its only natural that you will grow up a lot after 12 months in the workforce, is a definite advantage for study
CONS
-Loss of Motivation: I didnt take a year off as I knew that as soon as I started work I would find it quite hard to go back to the life of a student. Thats just me, but I thought it would be really hard to go back.
-Year behind your friends: Not a big issue, but you will be with a younger set. They will also graduate before you. I actually think it is better to travel with a degree too so that you can do professional work, rather then work in pubs in London. Just my opinion.
-Loss of study skills: If you continue studying you still have the skills fresh from the HSC. You might forget some of these things in a year.
-Uni is fun. Uni really is tops, its a much more enjoyable environment then school, so it really isnt as bad as you think. Uni is actually well tops, its great to be here.
Well, thats all I can really think of at the moment, but thats really what it boils down to. As I said, I didnt take a year off but that was for my own reasons. I think its a wonderful thing to do, but yeah, depends on how you rock and roll.
Mate all the best, good luck with the choice, and let me know how you go!
Stay tops,
Brendon
Posted by: Brendon | January 22, 2006 03:46 PM
Go you good thing Steph! Thats tops, well done. Yeah, Loz has said it all. Are you doing the / degree or the 'and' degree, so 3 or 5 years? If its the 'and' its only 3, so its not really a double degree, but just filled with wider opportunities. I would also say that working is tops! I think that you should try and keep the work up, its always nice to have a new pair of shoes or a 1972 BMW 3.0 CSI. Have fun too buddy, well done on getting in!!! Thats tops!
Posted by: Brendon | January 22, 2006 03:56 PM
Hi Matt,
Congrats on your offer - big thumbs up.
Like Brendo, I didn't take a year off. I was super-keen to come to ye olde Sydney Uni: I think I came to every day of O-Week (most people only come on one day!) So I can't really put myself in your place. But let's see...
Brendo is right, there are lots of great things about taking a year off, and then there are some drawbacks. I think the best thing about taking a year off is the idea of being completely free. After thirteen years at school, this probably holds a lot of appeal! But then again, being a uni student is a fairly carefree lifestyle. Time management skills are a must, that's true, but generally we aren't as stressed or manic as those poor cats who work full-time (God, imagine....)
I very, very briefly courted the idea of taking a gap year to be an au pair (translation: fancy word for nanny) in New York. I then realised that I wasn't really the most patient of lasses, or the most sympathetic or understanding. So working with a family of four kids may not have been the most sensible option. (Looking back, that family should thank their lucky stars I stayed in Sydney. Mary Poppins I ain't.)
It's a really big decision, and one you have to make fairly soon. But it's completely your decision. It's great to hear advice from lots of people, but keep in mind that it's your life, and your year.
So have fun and enjoy!
Loz
Posted by: Lauren | January 22, 2006 04:58 PM