At Sydney Uni you need to enroll to accept your offer, and when you enrol you need to pick your subjects. So here are some handy tips for picking subjects and how to structure your degree.
Ooooh, what’s the Buzz, tell me what’s a happenin’? (Jesus Christ Superstar, great song) Hope your good, if not, its time to get right! In preparation for enrolment you will need to start picking subjects for your first year of study. This is actually quite fun, there are lots of options and it’s all very exciting, so I think that’s the frame of mind we should approach it with.
There are a couple of ways to look up what subjects you can do, and the first and easiest way is to get a copy of the Faculty Handbook. The Handbook sets out what subjects you can do, with descriptions of what you are getting yourself in for. You can buy these online at http://www.usyd.edu.au/handbooks/
The Other way to learn more about UoS is to search Faculty Websites. This is what I do but it is only because I know my way around the sites, so I can find what I’m looking for, but it is quite hard to do if your not sure what’s happening. What you can do too is contact the faculty. It is often quite hard at this time of year to get people on the phone but there are advisors that can help you make decision and the like, so you can always do that too.
I would say that you should start to suss out the subjects sooner rather then later, just because you can lock that away before you begin to deal with the entire enrolment process. I do tend to leave things to the last minute, but it would be so much easier if you got everything done nice and early so you don’t have to worry about it!!
So that’s the go. Leave a comment if you want too, would be quite exciting to hear from you (I do worry!)
See ya Spooner or Later,
Brendon
Comments
I've got a copy of the Handbook for the faculty of Science but it's all very confusing. What exactly do i choose from? Say if i want to do a bachelor of science, how do i know wat subjects are on offer for such a general degree. I need a little help here :S thanx
Posted by: tina | January 18, 2006 02:12 PM
i downloaded the handbook, i'm still confuse as to which subjucts to choose. i doning B. visual arts.
Posted by: jess | January 19, 2006 09:47 PM
ummm hi. I was trying to figure out my subjects, and I was reading the science handbook, but its totally confusing. I was just wondering if you could tell me what it means when it says, next to the unit of study, "Semester 1, summer"?
Posted by: shanti | January 20, 2006 11:58 AM
Shanti - That means that the subject you're looking for is on offer in semester 1 or during summer school. Good luck! :)
Posted by: Sarah | January 23, 2006 03:36 PM
Hey ladies!
Ok, one question at a time.
Tina - you poor thing, I'm sure you're confused. Don't worry, I was and so is everybody else! The most important thing to remember is that you are meant to have 24 credit points for a full study load each semester. Each subject is generally worth 6 credit points. This means that you will do 4 subjects a semester. Based on that, you need to pick 4 subjects from the Science Handbook that look appetising...there are lots there, so get cracking!
Jess - the first year of Visual Arts is a foundation year. This means that you'll study a wide range of disciplines to start with, then in later years you can specialise. The simplest explanation I've found is at this web page: http://www.usyd.edu.au/handbooks/sca/04_undergrad.shtml#units
Shanti....you and I are on the same wavelength, here. Handbooks can be trifling things! When it reads 'Semester One, Summer' that means the subject is offered during Semester One and also during Summer School (which is for people who fail courses, or people who want to study over the summer to accelerate their degree.)
There you go, girls. Hope it helps.
PS This is such a crazy week - reminds me of when I enrolled. It was raining, I had no idea how to get from Redfern to uni...but it all ended happily. If you guys have any enrolment horror stories, post them up. We'd love to hear them!
Posted by: Lauren | January 23, 2006 04:49 PM
Thanx Lauren, i'll keep reading that huge handbook :)
Posted by: Tina | January 24, 2006 02:32 PM
hey! thanks heaps for all the blogs written by everyone, i did my enrolment on tuesday for liberal studies, was crazy with all the people and looonnnngg lines but it was greatly helped by all your guys info, so keep it all coming!! thanks again, Jen =)
Posted by: Jen | January 26, 2006 11:27 AM
Ok I've read the handbook online, but I'm still a little confused. Do we pick subjects for the entire year on the day we enrol or just semester 1?
And most of the units I have been looking at are only offered in Semester 1 with no corresponding Semester 2 course, so what should I be looking for?
Posted by: Loren | January 20, 2007 08:13 PM
hi loren,
you do need to choose subjects for the whole year, but you are still able to change them online before semester starts.
most subjects should have a corresponding second semester subject, which subjects didn't!?
if you're still confused please call our helpline on 1300 362 006 and you can talk to someone directly about the subjects, that might be the easiest option!
Good luck!
Asako
Posted by: asako | January 23, 2007 09:04 AM
Hi i just enrolled in economics and social sciences/law yesterday and was wondering how i could change the subjects i picked for first and second semester. I know i have to finalise my subjects for first semester before i start uni but can i change my subjects for second semester later eg during june/july?
Also in the leaflet for the economics and business faculty it said a major in government and international relations was available as part of the commerce/law degree but in the handbook it said it wasn't - if this is possibe is there any way i could switch to commerce/law now, before i start. So confuesed...
Posted by: Confuesed | January 23, 2007 11:06 AM
Dear Confused,
The good news is, you have stumbled on an eternal truth: while some people think the most difficult part of this whole HSC/UAI/uni process is actually getting in, they are wrong. Enrolment is the hardest part by far.
You can definitely change your subjects online, for both first and second semester. When you accepted your UAC offer, you should have activated your student profile. Here, you should have been given a unikey and a password. Go to our homepage, click on 'current students' and then 'login to my uni'. Click on Student Administration and use the unikey and password to access this page. Then you can change your subjects through the 'enrolment variation' option. For first semester, the last date to change subjects is 31 March, and for second, it's August 31.
Government and International Relations is offered as a major in Economics and Social Sciences, not Commerce. You can complete it as a subject, but not as a major, in your Commerce degree. If you would like to change your degree, speak to Admissions on 9351 4118.
Best of luck,
Lauren
Posted by: Lauren | January 25, 2007 02:57 PM
Hey,
what's a Art(major) junior unit and ho does it defer from a senior unit... are only cirtain subjects junior units?
Posted by: Zainab | December 9, 2007 01:02 PM