UQ Student by Day. On Tumblr Every Night.

If you are considering overloading, you have to choose what courses you want to take. If the courses demand a lot of work like weekly summaries or assignments, then it’s best to just do the normal four subjects. If the subjects are quite intense and you’re worried about the workload, then just stick with your normal four subjects. Although this is just a suggestion and maybe you could handle the intense workload but bear this in mind before you overload.

What I would suggest is to take a good balance of courses. Maybe one course doesn’t demand that much work so you can dedicate your time to another. Or, best-case scenario, all the courses are quite easy so it only feels like a normal semester. Either way, remember balance is key.

One downside is that you will have to pay more for the semester. Though, if you’re doing HECS, it doesn’t really matter. On the plus side, that means you can pay less in the next semester if you do take only three subjects.

One thing to note is that if you think taking five subjects is too much and you’ve already paid, you have the option of getting a refund - that is, if it’s before the census date. However, this can be a hack and you can leave that money on your account and have it carry over to pay off some of your fees next semester.

Surviving five subjects is quite a feat and its gonna pay off but time-management will be your friend. Five subjects isn’t for the faint-hearted or the typical procrastinator so be sure of what you’re getting yourself into.

Firstly to clarify, the program rules (as of the time of writing) state that a minor can either be:

an approved combination of 8 units from a major, including the gateway course and cornerstone course for that major, with at least 4 units in courses at level 2 or higher.

OR

an approved combination of 8 units from part A of the BA course list

Now when I first asked about completing a minor and emailed my chosen set of courses to complete one, I was told that I was okay to follow that plan. I chose courses that abided by the latter definition of the minor. And of course, with that knowledge, based the rest of my choices based on that definition.

However, from what I’ve experienced, a minor (if you’ve chosen to base it off a major) is only based on the former definition. So the structure must include the gateway and cornerstone course. The only free choices you have in that minor is an additional two courses. 

So what does that mean?

For example, if you wanted to complete a minor in Writing:

You have to take WRIT1005 and WRIT2100. No exceptions. Nope. YOU HAVE TO TAKE THEM. Or else you can’t graduate. Other than those two courses, you get to decide.

But when does the latter definition apply? Well, I’m not entirely sure to be quite honest. Your best bet is to ask the faculty. If you do know when that applies, please do share. In that situation, you have complete control and design over your minor. Though, remember to run it by the faculty to make sure everything is all okay.

So before you actually declare a minor, email HASS and run them by your chosen plans and courses for that minor. As an extremely flexible degree, your plans should be approved but email jst in case.

Essentially, the best advice I can give is to run by your plans through the faculty or an academic advisor. Don’t be like me. Or else you might be bothering the faculty with too many emails.

KORN2101 (4/5)

Last year I took all the introductory courses in Korean and this course continued to challenge my Korean skills more so than previous semesters.

First of all, the lecturer (Kim 선생님) spoke a mixture of English and Korean - though the latter was used more for obvious reasons. This helped a lot in terms of listening skills. He encourages us to sound as natural as possible rather than stick with textbook sentences and refuses to move on to the next part of the class until a student's question was answered to the best of his ability.

However, he tends to rely a lot on the textbook's accompanying powerpoint which is loaded with extra content and information. This added a lot of extra content to learn which, while interesting to learn, made the lectures and tutes more rushed, trying to cover every aspect. While the textbook and workbook are required for the course, it seems he only places emphasis on them for the assessment rather than using the books to compliment the course.

Other than that, assessment was pretty simple though I wish there was a listening exam. Only challenging part was the final oral exam as he asks questions outside of the known vocabulary - requiring more outside knowledge to provide a sufficient answer. Kim 선생님 uploads assessment guidelines which says what we will be tested on which helps a lot considering the amount of content. He's quick to contact about anything via email and grades are released pretty fast.

Overall, good course: challenging and rewarding with some minor flaws.

MSTU1000 (3/5)

While the course is called an intro to media studies (which should cover the three aspects of industry, text and audience), the content of the course mainly examines the Australian media industry and issues within the different fields. Nevertheless, it is an interesting course that looks at how we consume media and the industry itself.

One of the things I really liked from the course was that, in the first half of lectures, people from the media industry came in to speak (e.g. someone in the radio, film or music industry). It provides an insight into the different fields and how they function. However, speaking from my own experience, I found this course with more flaws than benefits.

One thing I learnt from others in the course was that tutorials were carried out differently depending on the tutor (my tutor was Adam). While this is understandable, there is one piece of assessment (Leading Class Discussion) that determines how tutorials are carried out. Some tutes were a good mix of student and teacher engagement - the leading class discussion assessment incorporated into the tute. For my tutorial group, the tutes were mainly run by the students - the assessment more of a presentation and actually teaching the content to the group rather than engaging and incorporating both student and teacher.

On the topic of assessment, it is reasonable but again, there are some flaws. The essay questions are heavily focused on (and restricted to) the Australian media industry - while important, I feel like essay questions need to be more open for interpretation. On that note, the leading class discussion heavily depends on an interpretation mark and I feel like some people got marked down because 1. they didn't cover the content (relating back to the structure of tutes) or 2. they didn't interpret the source "correctly." Rather than the tutor actually going through the content first to clarify the concepts, the tutorials focused on the student and their ability to teach the concepts to the rest of the class - which may be difficult to understand even more. I could go on for ages about how this seems quite flawed but that can be for a different post on a different day.

To be honest, you never get much individual feedback but rather general feedback (understandable since there are so many students but I feel like some sort of personalisation should be there) unless it was for the leading class discussion assessment. Also when I tried to get some assistance for my final essay (emailing was more convenient for me), I never got a reply.

Extremely sorry for the long review but this is just my experience with the course. I feel like if they removed the leading class discussion assessment, it would be a more rewarding experience. Nonetheless, the content itself was quite interesting - how the course was structured however is on a different note.

MUSC2000 (4/5)

This course was quite interesting as it can suit every genre of music and every kind of music listener - active, passive, fangirl/fanboy, etc. The content covers two aspects of music and media: the relationship between music itself and the media as well as the relationship between music fans and the media. It looks at subcultures, marketing music, fandoms, music technology, etc.

What made the course even more interesting was that the lecturer (Cory Messenger) was very engaging and entertaining which made the content more relatable. Though I was not able to go to many of the lectures and tutes, whenever I did go, he was always entertaining. However, in terms of communication with emails (as I live away from campus), he was quite slow with replies and when I asked for some help with the final essay, he did not reply at all.

The assessment was reasonable: I enjoyed the blogging task and loved the freedom to choose a topic for the final essay. Though the multiple choice exam (which requires you to do the readings that are, at times, tediously long) can be a hit-and-miss for some. Cory uploaded a reading guide for the second quiz which improved everyone's grades drastically as it sorted out what information was relevant in the readings.

While the tutorials didn't add much for me, I suggest going to the lecture if anything. Overall, I liked the freedom that this course allows though it does need improvement to really make this course worthwhile.

POLS2209 (4/5)

Now I did this course externally but the only difference between internal and external is the assessment and classes. I didn't intend to take this course since the course I wanted to take wasn't offered anymore in that semester. Personal experience aside, I found this course surprisingly engaging and interesting. The course looks at international security and the issues surrounding it (e.g. poverty, nuclear weapons, terrorism).

Taking the course online requires you to be more active with your studying - if you want to get a good grade that is. The content is easy to find online as Matt uploads the lectures and powerpoints as soon as possible. Even during the lectures (which are recorded for both internal and external students - for the latter we have instant access to these recordings), he addresses external students even if they are not physically present. Matt is a very engaging lecturer who presents the information in an entertaining way. He also replies to emails efficiently so communication is no problem.

The assessment was a weekly blog, reading review, major essay and take home exam. The weekly blog helps you keep up with the content - something quite easy to do as it should be just a page long. The reading review and major essay are both challenging but if you ever need help, Matt is more than willing to provide some guidance. The take home exam is similar to past exams so take a look at the past exams to get an idea for your arguments.

The only downside was the discussion board which Matt encourages participation though not a lot of people provided their opinions. So if you can, make sure you try to participate in the discussion board - even if you don't think your answer is elaborate or fancy enough.

It's a challenging course with engaging content that can be applied to current events. Definitely recommend!

This post was written on 2nd of November 2015. Any changes to courses since then will not be written. Refer to UQReview for current reviews of these courses.

So you might be thinking, "Don't you like clubs?" "Clubs are so fun, what's so bad about it?" And yeah, I love the idea of clubs and there isn't anything wrong with clubs!

However, what I found with clubs at UQ is that it's not that the activities planned were horrible but just location and timing of all the events that inconvenience me personally.

Now I still live with my parents down in the Gold Coast. Yes, that's right, almost 20 and still living with my parents. I don't care what people think but it's free food and a roof over my head. Anyways, off topic, but the point is I live too far from campus and far from all the activities planned that it's sometimes a hassle for me to get back home.

Most activities are held after classes, some even held at night in the city. For someone like me who depends on public transport to get home, it'll be hard to get back if there are problems. Even if I did have a car or a licence to be honest, I don't see the worth in travelling an hour there and back.

For some people, they're willing to do that. For me, just give me a small group and I'm good.

Now some clubs have regular events while others are more sporadic. In my opinion, the good clubs will be consistent throughout the year when it comes to plans but other clubs will only be active during the first semester and drop off later.

In the end, it is just personal preference. Just make sure to choose clubs you think you'll actually participate and have an interest in.

STUDENT VIP

Now this place I've only been really active since this year but I kinda like the feel of the place. In specifics to textbooks, you can buy or sell them on the website. 

Purchasing is simple because all you need to do is send the (already written) message at the bottom of the page and you message on the website to negotiate. One thing you should keep an eye out for is if you want your textbook posted to you. Most likely, the seller will charge you extra for postage so keep that in mind.

Selling is also quite easy. All you need is the textbook's ISBN and then the site will enter the title and author for you. After that, enter the retail price (I just take it from Co-Op) and the price you want to sell it for. That'll calculate the discount for you and potential buyers. There are other things you have to input but most of it is self-explanatory.

UQ TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE | UPDATED POST

Now this is on Facebook so for you non-facebook users, I don't know… Sorry. Anyways, majority of students use the group to sell and purchase textbooks. It's much easier to sell and purchase textbooks since all you need to do is comment with what you want to sell or buy on the right thread and message someone if you're interested in purchasing or selling.

Main tip for the Facebook group is to make sure strangers can message you on Facebook. Now while that isn't the most ideal privacy setting, it makes it easier for people to message you.

CO-OP BOOKSTORE

Usually I take this as the last resort or if I'm buying my Korean textbooks cause I need brand new textbooks for that since I write in them. I'm not sure about selling but I think you can sell past textbooks that you have bought from Co-Op. But don't take my word for it. Go here as a last resort and you really can't find any cheap options.

Now these three are the places where I usually get my textbooks. I'd say StudentVIP is the easiest to find the textbooks you want and sell them as well but the Facebook group is also helpful if you can't find anything.

Other than those three, there are other places like the Secondhand Textbooks at UQ, QUBooks at Toowong, Book Depository and Amazon. So make sure you check them out too!