Otago HSFY chat - archive

[Doodle]

Gratz on coming into the light, lol. Can I get back to you after final results are out?

Yeah... after finals results come out I will know if my life is or is not over... :ill-violated-dead-s

But thanks for the welcome guys!

Hmm about CELS GLM results... they weren't too bad ae ? So much easier than the last GLM!

I am so very very unprepared for finals! I don't even know if it's physically possible to cram this much stuff into my head in under three weeks! Oh man... hating myself and my procrastination habits right now... why? WHY do I leave everything to the last minute??

 

[sciencestudent]

joining the conv. lol
doodle i am with you on this one!..procrastination...seems so harmless at first...n now...
at least we have three weeks..not one day..

 

[frootloop]

[OFFTOPIC]Procrastination is like masturbation. Good at first, then you realise you just f**ked yourself.[/OFFTOPIC]
Edit: That's so going to get modded

 

[Ben]

Approved List for an Optional Eighth Paper:

ANTH105 Human Evolution and World Prehistory
ANTH106 Global and Local Cultures
BIBS112 Interpreting the Old Testament
BSNS104 Principles of Economics 1
CLAS102 Greek and Roman History
CLAS105 Greek Mythology
EDUC102 Human Development
ENGL125 New Zealand Literature 1
GEND102 Bodies, Sexualities and Selves
GEOG102 Human Geography
LING112 Social Aspects of Language
MAOR102 Maori Society
MFCO102 Understanding Contemporary Media
PACI101 Pacific Societies
PHIL103 Ethical Issues
PSYC112 Human Thought and Behaviour
RELS101 Judaism, Christianity and Islam
SOCI102 Cultural and Social Identities

I was originally torn between the Maori paper and "Social Aspects of Language" paper, but after having a look at the list I found these others that I'm pretty interested in (bolded)...

Anyone have any insights as to the course content of any of these papers? I'm searching the papercodes as you read this... (directed at you lot, chatbox addicts).

 

[frootloop]

I know we had this conversation in chatbox, but I'll post my views here to impose them on everyone (just picking the papers I've heard things about/am personally interested in):
ANTH105 (human evolution/world prehistory)= Interesting (having done a bit at high school, don't know what the uni course is like), but probably quite wordy and essay filled.
BSNS104: apparently a nice easy paper, but sounds like there's some maths (stats presumably) in it, so if that's a weak point for you...
CLAS (both): I loved classics at school, very tempting to take it again here, but again, probably the mother of all essay-subjects.
MAOR102: reputably the easiest paper on the list, but also likely to bore you to tears if it doesn't interest you.
PSYC112: Probably really interesting, but likely harder than most of the above, and with labs and such.
I haven't taken any of these (obviously) except at high school, so I'm just guessing (based on what they were like at school), and going from what I've heard from second/third year students. Mostly it comes down to how badly you need a really good grade in your 8th paper (and whether you're willing to be even more bored, in a semester that already has HEAL192..) or if you want to take something interesting, that you'll work in just because it interests you. Personally tossing between ANTH105, CLAS105 and MAOR102.

 

[sciencestudent]

I got some stuff for MAOR102 Maori Society...haven't really looked at it (coz i am not interested in it)..but its from last year i think..

 

[frootloop]

I got some stuff for MAOR102 Maori Society...haven't really looked at it (coz i am not interested in it)..but its from last year i think..

Mind bringing that to the meet-up after physics? I'm guessing some people (myself for one) would be interested to see exactly what MAOR102 entails.

 

[sciencestudent]

yup sure...

 

[frootloop]

Ta
While we're on the subject of 8th papers, I'll drag [MENTION=5161]greenglacier[/MENTION] [MENTION=3119]skyglow1[/MENTION] [MENTION=4350]koochkooch[/MENTION] and [MENTION=8688]smile[/MENTION] into it, I'm sure they can help out on that one.
(Edit: ie; some advice that isn't just my random speculation lol)

 

[Deleted member 4350]

MAOR102 is the easiest paper in my opinion. The department is very lenient in terms of marking plus half of the final exam is given to you and about 85% of the other half is repeated from past papers. My internals weren't TOO great (i didn't spend a great deal of time on them due to the constraints of terms tests, GLMs and labs taking up a lot of my study time), but I managed to compensate for it in the final exam by scoring 97% and that brought my overall mark to 88% (not amazing, but still decent). SASOL claims he did 2hrs of preparation for the MAOR102 final exam and scored an overall mark of 99%.

If you guys need resources for it, flick me a pm. SASOL's essays are probably much more helpful than mine though (I got about 80% for the first internal and 88% for the second).

 

[SaxGuy]

Psyc112 in my opinion is awful, labs every week, really subjective marking of lab reports. Don't go there. Not really interesting either (others would disagree). Is good for the first unit of med though!! It's a bit sciencey, I wish I had taken something a bit more arty as a contrast to health sci
I wish I had done the gender studies one. They get to learn about Lady Gaga, cyborgs. Sounds funny. Looking at that list, theres heaps I would have taken instead. Most of them actually I think would be quite good

 

[smile]

MAOR102!!!
Such an easy paper (provided you're good at writing essays). I wasn't the best at ncea english and I got 99% in my first essay and 97% in the second one which I was rather stoked about. I got 98% overall.
There were two online tests worth 10% each and you're almost guaranteed to get them all or nearly all right because everyone gets the same test and you have plenty of time to look them all up in the textbook and in your notes.
For the final there are about 20ish MCQ's which ranged from ridiculously obvious to a little tricky if you hadn't studied every detail. The short answer questions are all given to you in advance so you can prepare and even go ask them for help in answering them if you need The essay is also ridiculously easy. Mine was like level 1 ncea quality and I think I must have scored about 100%
I also found it really interesting and thought provoking and at 2 lectures per week it took up no time at all! I never studied until a couple of days before the final exam and that seemed perfectly adequate. Unlike health sci, when studying for this it was basically "this looks kind of hard, they won't ask us because they have really low expectations so I won't bother studying it too much".

I'm more than happy to help out anyone with their essays if you take it

 

[sciencestudent]

MAOR102!!!
Such an easy paper (provided you're good at writing essays). I wasn't the best at ncea english and I got 99% in my first essay and 97% in the second one which I was rather stoked about. I got 98% overall.
There were two online tests worth 10% each and you're almost guaranteed to get them all or nearly all right because everyone gets the same test and you have plenty of time to look them all up in the textbook and in your notes.
For the final there are about 20ish MCQ's which ranged from ridiculously obvious to a little tricky if you hadn't studied every detail. The short answer questions are all given to you in advance so you can prepare and even go ask them for help in answering them if you need The essay is also ridiculously easy. Mine was like level 1 ncea quality and I think I must have scored about 100%
I also found it really interesting and thought provoking and at 2 lectures per week it took up no time at all! I never studied until a couple of days before the final exam and that seemed perfectly adequate. Unlike health sci, when studying for this it was basically "this looks kind of hard, they won't ask us because they have really low expectations so I won't bother studying it too much".

I'm more than happy to help out anyone with their essays if you take it

wow! it sounds so simple....thanks for the advice..will surely consider taking it now..

 

[Ben]

Yeah MAOR102 is definitely my favourite so far, especially after those reviews!

I really hope someone's done/have heard from someone else about "CLAS105 Greek Mythology" and "LING112 Social Aspects of Language" though, if anything's going to bump MAOR102 down from my top spot, it's going to be one of those two.

 

[frootloop]

MAOR102!!!
Such an easy paper (provided you're good at writing essays). I wasn't the best at ncea english and I got 99% in my first essay and 97% in the second one which I was rather stoked about. I got 98% overall.
There were two online tests worth 10% each and you're almost guaranteed to get them all or nearly all right because everyone gets the same test and you have plenty of time to look them all up in the textbook and in your notes.
For the final there are about 20ish MCQ's which ranged from ridiculously obvious to a little tricky if you hadn't studied every detail. The short answer questions are all given to you in advance so you can prepare and even go ask them for help in answering them if you need The essay is also ridiculously easy. Mine was like level 1 ncea quality and I think I must have scored about 100%
I also found it really interesting and thought provoking and at 2 lectures per week it took up no time at all! I never studied until a couple of days before the final exam and that seemed perfectly adequate. Unlike health sci, when studying for this it was basically "this looks kind of hard, they won't ask us because they have really low expectations so I won't bother studying it too much".

I'm more than happy to help out anyone with their essays if you take it

Ok, MAOR102 it is. Oh, and I will definitely not let you forget that offer

 

[greenglacier]

I've said it before: if you don't take MAOR102, BSNS104 or PSYC112, don't count on getting an A+. If you take PSYC112, make sure it's something you're interested in - I've seen people love it and people hate it. It's definitely more work than the other 2, but an A+ is quite achievable. I know many people who took PSYC112, loved it, and got a really good mark.

MAOR vs. BSNS

MAOR102 - less content than BSNS104, and easier for most people. Just make sure you know what content it includes and that you'd like to learn it, and be prepared to have to write essays when other HSFYers are studying for mid-semester tests.

BSNS104 - easy if you're a maths person, very manageable if not. Plussage, so essentially 100% final exam - great during the semester because it really reduces the workload but make sure you attend the lectures and do 1-2 hours tutorial prep/reading each week. You can easily get an A+ with 6 hours work per week (and those 6 hours include lectures and tutorials).

 

[Pineapple]

have there been any freakish years where the rank score to get in was a lot more than 77? i hope this wont be that year. i used your formula and found out to get a score of 78 with my umat score rank score of 20.7 i need an 86% average. assuming ive calculated stuff right. ive heard some years the cut offs go up quite a bit?

 

[Cathay]

have there been any freakish years where the rank score to get in was a lot more than 77? i hope this wont be that year. i used your formula and found out to get a score of 78 with my umat score rank score of 20.7 i need an 86% average. assuming ive calculated stuff right. ive heard some years the cut offs go up quite a bit?

Med uses competitive entry, meaning there is no set cutoff ranking score, and that the cutoff fluctuates on a year-to-year basis. In the past two years it has happened that out of the people who shared their results, the lower end of those who got in vs higher end of those who got waiting-listed would suggest that the cutoff is somewhere around 77.5.

My question is: does it matter? I'd understand worrying about cutoff ranking score after second semester finals, but right now, given that we still have control over the vast majority of our marks, surely it's more important to worry about how you'll try and get every mark possible in the finals, rather than whether your marks will be high enough?

PS: The new HSFY programme has only been running for 4 years (2011 is the fifth), and has been constantly evolving, so the past two years are, if anything, a good indication, but that doesn't eliminate the possibility of a significant fluctuation purely from the number of high-performing candidates, so as has been said many times, aim as high as possible, not at a certain "pass mark".

 

[frootloop]

have there been any freakish years where the rank score to get in was a lot more than 77? i hope this wont be that year. i used your formula and found out to get a score of 78 with my umat score rank score of 20.7 i need an 86% average. assuming ive calculated stuff right. ive heard some years the cut offs go up quite a bit?

Ok, I know Cathay pretty much just said it all, but chill. We haven't even sat the semester one finals yet, so the best thing you can do to improve your chances of getting in is to stop worrying about ranking scores, and start worrying about organic reaction mechanisms, thyroid hormones, and knockout mice.
As has been said a million times on here, the cut-off is different between years. This year it might be a 76, it also could be an 85, we don't know, so don't get so hung-up about it just yet.
And plus, your UMAT is acting as a nice wee piece of insurance for you, so you really can just focus on your grades, because you're right, with a 90th%ile UMAT, you have a little bit of leeway with your marks, but that shouldn't make you slack off either. Just do your best this semester, and try to forget about med for a while, there's almost 9 months before the start of next year's s1 anyway

 

[Cathay]

Just do your best this semester, and try to forget about med for a while

That's the idea - focus on the short term - this is not one of those times when long-term thinking would really help much. Focus on the fact that you're here to get higher marks than as many people as possible, in other words, you're here to win, because you hate losing. I do, anyway