In the absence of anything particular that i'd like to critique (whinge about) this week, I thought that with this blog I'd go to the effort of outlining a couple of subjects that form the basis for several courses- it goes without saying that first year subjects of Mechanical Engineering and Molecular Biology would give a pretty good idea of what an education in these areas would entail. I know several people now, for example, who have taken Engineering to discover almost immediately (supposedly) how wrong it is for them- I'm hoping that the bits and pieces I'll throw out to you here can give you a better idea of what course is actually right for you. Then again, nothing beats the experience itself, so don't go taking my word for absolute truth ;)
I'll start with Molecular Biology. The standard course is known as MBLG1001, while there are two other variants- the advanced course (MBLG1901) and the pharmacy course (specifically for pharmacy students...of course). Most of the content is related to the study of DNA and RNA, as well as other specific molecules necessary for life. If you've done Chemistry or Biology at high school – think of it as a fusion of them both, rather than a separate course all together. There's a fair bit of dabbling in the chemical side of things (the Chemistry influence) while still being hit with an overwhelming swathe of information about cellular activity.
That's all well and good. Like any science course, practicals make up a considerable amount of time – ours are actually 4-5 hours long. Although daunting at first, the fact that these are only on every second week makes them a bit more bearable. Why it takes so long? Molecular Bio is all about growing and testing things – in various cases, this can take some time, so often cultures need to be left to do their thing while students study/copy down notes/sleep. I'll let you guess which is my favourite.
To top it all off, there's more than a little bit of maths involved – a little challenging for a 2 Unit student (for a little while) and no problem at all for someone with a 3 Unit + background. Most of this is centred around molar calculations, albeit on a much smaller scale than most examples in Chemistry (try have 0.001mg of DNA in something that barely counts for a droplet). All in all (please take into account my rather geeky background) I find the theoretical part of the course absolutely fascinating, and the prac work interesting although sometimes tiresome. First Year Molecular Biology is pretty much the basis for anyone hoping to work in a medical/pharmacological field- so get used to playing with those pipettes.
Engineering Mechanics – whoa. There's two courses that come under this label in first year, most specifically Statics and Dynamics. One could quite easily guess that the former regards things that don't move (and are hence static), and the second is about things that do (and are hence... dynamic.) A whole bunch of people do both – I'm just doing Statics at the moment due to my double degree, although it is usually regarded as being the harder one.
Unlikely most mathsy subjects, Statics doens't have an exam, instead assessing progress with assignments and class tests. This is a fact that I'd possibly say has saved many young engineer's lives – the pure fear and terror inspired by the prospect of a 3 hour exam in this subject is enough to make anyone's brain melt out of there ears.
Yes. It's pretty freaking hard. But that's all relative, I guess. A mark of 7/15 for a test isn't too bad if several people around you got ones and twos.
Doing four unit in Year 12 and/or Physics would help a lot. There's a lot of force calculations, and moments (kind of like a torque) around points in 2D and 3D. Expect to go through a lot of paper, time, and band-aids (from banging your head on the table in anguish). Then again, it's not all that bad. Usually the questions given as practice in the text book are considerably harder than those in the actual tests, so you're always prepared for the worst. Not to mention the minding numbing elation felt when, after 2 hours and 45 minutes, you finally get the answer to that really hard question. And the fact that you can lord your abilities over pretty much anyone else.
“Neurosurgery? Bomb disposal? Child birth? Oh yeah, well I can do Engineering - beat that.”