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Auckland OLY1 chat - archive

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ChocolateSunshine said:
@frootloop
Could you please explain what you mean by " only actually changes 5% of the class"? Obviously it means 95% of the class would have been the same..but how do you know this, can you elaborate more? it seems if the interview is 25%, and you could potentially get 0% or 25%, and GPA is 60%, that alot more than 5% would change?
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I'd assume it's because most of the applicants get a similar interview mark, so they'd use it more to cut out applicants they really don't want, and 'pick up' applicants they really do want, as opposed to using it to differentiate between the more 'average' interviewees.
As for the rest of the argument, greenglacier has summed it all up much better than I could, and my/other people's views on UMAT 'prep' is all floating around somewhere on this subforum, and I'm far too lazy to type up my entire anti-prep argument all over again (but suffice it to say I think it's total rubbish :p )
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camwells said:
I disagree with what you said about prep for UMAT and Interviews though. Personally, the first time I looked at some of the UMAT questions, especially those from sections 1 and 3, I found it difficult to see how to solve the question. I think UMAT prep, while in my opinion not worth the hundreds of dollars many spend on it, is helpful in that it shows you methods for solving the questions, which you can apply when actually sitting the test. Preparing for interviews may be as simple as thinking about your answers to some of the questions they may ask, so that in the interview, it shows that you've thought about why you want to do medicine, or about some of the ethical issues in certain situations you may be put in as a doctor. From what I've read as well, it helps to have an understanding of the Treaty of Waitangi and its implications for the health of Maori. Undoubtedly this understanding will come from reading and thinking about the issues faced by the health industry, which you could arguably class as interview preparation. However, I don't think it's advisable to take it to the extreme and "rote learn" answers to interview questions that have come up in the past.
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I think your views on UMAT/interview 'prep' are actually pretty similar to mine, after reading this more carefully. There is a big difference between intensive preparation (which I actively advocate against), and doing as ACER suggests and doing the official practice papers just to get an idea of what UMAT is looking for (since, y'know, ACER are the ones who write UMAT ;) ), and likewise for interviews (eg: Have a wee think about why you'd actually make a good doctor, etc, rather than rote-learning some long-winded spiel).
 
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[MENTION=13761]Brian Hwang[/MENTION]

I've moved your post here. Some of the Auckland students might feel generous enough to answer it, or you could search around the forum - this question has been asked before. We've got a pretty good forum search function.
 
Hi Brian, from what I can gather from the various people I have asked, the popular choices are ECON and PHIL, aswell as pretty much any business related course (accounting, international business etc). ECON because it is supposedly really easy, so the idea is that you can get good grades and not have to do too much work. PHIL because it is again supposedly easy if you are good at eng and have the kind of critical/argumentative mind for it, furthermore, there is no exam at the end of the semester for PHIL so you have more time for other exam study. The other business related courses are also supposedly very easy, but the feeling i get is that people only choose them if 1) they have a genuine interest 2) ECON and PHIL are full. I remember reading somewhere on this forum that choosing a language was not a good idea because they require many hours at lectures/tutorials during the week. And I have also heard that choosing arts related subjects required a lot of work for a good grade.

However, I do stress that much of it is hearsay/other people's personal opinions. Everyone is different and likes different things/finds different subjects easy/enjoyable. So take anything you hear/any recommendations you receive with a grain of salt.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it has to be said that 'You should choose what you want. Pick a course you think you will be interested in and want to study. Making a decision based on what others tell you and ending up hating the course may not be the smartest thing to do'.
 
Thanks you very much
,really, for taking your time to help me
- I couldn't do it myself coz It took a Long time, and every time it was something about "you have to choose general ed courses" which we all know.

But um I took economics in year 11 and found it hard, but if every1 says that's easy, i will definitely take it into account,
and um I would Love Philosophy as well =] but no exam at the semester vs English requirements , it's a thinker as well =X

Thankx heaps man
 
Hi Brian

I have to agree with ChocolateSunshine in that it is important that you choose a general ed paper that you think you would genuinely enjoy, rather than one that you *think* you may be able to do well in. I think there is a consensus on this forum that PHIL is an easy paper but I would not necessarily agree. I have heard of numerous people who are otherwise A/A+ students, but have really struggled with PHIL. Again, this does not mean you should not take it, but it reiterates the importance of choosing a course based on your own strengths and interests.

I took ANTHRO150G and YOUTHWRK152G. Anthro was essentially a music paper, less the musical performance, and focused on how popular music is perceived in different cultures. I would recommend the paper if you are really interested in music, and I think some previous knowledge on the music industry and different genres of popular music would help immensely. Youthwork was (for me) a relatively easy paper, in that I put in minimal effort and still got a good grade. There is only one two hour lecture per week and no tutorials - the course title speaks for itself in terms of course content.

Just my 10cents, best wishes for OLY1 :)
 
Textbooks for OLY1 Biomed

@Brian - you are very welcome! See you around this year.

I know that this topic has been discussed on the old/archived Auckland OLY1 threads, but can someone please give their opinion about textbooks for the first year of biomed, in particular the 4 core papers and if they are worth buying/using?

From memory, i think the general consensus is that no textbooks are actually ABSOLUTELY NEEDED, ie you can study fine just from the lecture slides and borrowing the various textbooks from the library when you need it on short loan (implying that you perhaps won't need the textbooks often?)

I am concerned because for some papers they have 'prescribed' or 'recommended' textbooks, and the word 'prescribe' makes it seem as if you have to have the textbook. Also, the university bookshop is undoubtedly selling 2nd hand textbooks now and it is a first come first served system, so if it turns out that I do need/should have some textbooks I want to buy them now/soon and hopefully pick up some good deals/books without food on them.

Textbooks:

Biosci 107 + 101
Campbell's Biology, Reece et al. (2011) 9th Edn., (Pearson Benjamin Cummings).
Tortora, G. and B. Derrickson, Principles of Anatomy and Physiology, 13th edition, Wiley.

Chem 110
Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry , McMurry, J., 7th edition

Poplhlth 111
Essential Epidemiology, Webb et al.

Biosci 106
Campbell, M.K., Farrel, S.O., Biochemistry, 6th edition, Thomson.

Medsci 142
Tortora, G. and B. Derrickson, Principles of Anatomy and Physiology, 13th edition, Wiley.

Physics 160
College Physics, Urone, P.

(core papers in bold)


Also, could someone please explain what coursebooks are (what they have, what you use them for) and how they are different from course outlines? Do all courses have them? It seems you have to buy the coursebooks for biosci from UBS, is it worth it, or will you just get given one when semester starts anyway? Do you have to buy coursebooks for the other courses?


EDIT: I just had the thought that, the extent to which you will need/refer to a textbook is probably heavily dependent on how much you already know, so I am just going to put it out there that I did full CIE A Levels in biology, chemistry and physics. If that makes a difference.
 
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ChocolateSunshine said:
@Brian - you are very welcome! See you around this year.

I know that this topic has been discussed on the old/archived Auckland OLY1 threads, but can someone please give their opinion about textbooks for the first year of biomed, in particular the 4 core papers and if they are worth buying/using?

From memory, i think the general consensus is that no textbooks are actually ABSOLUTELY NEEDED, ie you can study fine just from the lecture slides and borrowing the various textbooks from the library when you need it on short loan (implying that you perhaps won't need the textbooks often?)

I am concerned because for some papers they have 'prescribed' or 'recommended' textbooks, and the word 'prescribe' makes it seem as if you have to have the textbook. Also, the university bookshop is undoubtedly selling 2nd hand textbooks now and it is a first come first served system, so if it turns out that I do need/should have some textbooks I want to buy them now/soon and hopefully pick up some good deals/books without food on them.

Textbooks:

Biosci 107 + 101
Campbell's Biology, Reece et al. (2011) 9th Edn., (Pearson Benjamin Cummings).
Tortora, G. and B. Derrickson, Principles of Anatomy and Physiology, 13th edition, Wiley.

Chem 110
Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry , McMurry, J., 7th edition

Poplhlth 111
Essential Epidemiology, Webb et al.

Biosci 106
Campbell, M.K., Farrel, S.O., Biochemistry, 6th edition, Thomson.

Medsci 142
Tortora, G. and B. Derrickson, Principles of Anatomy and Physiology, 13th edition, Wiley.

Physics 160
College Physics, Urone, P.

(core papers in bold)


Also, could someone please explain what coursebooks are (what they have, what you use them for) and how they are different from course outlines? Do all courses have them? It seems you have to buy the coursebooks for biosci from UBS, is it worth it, or will you just get given one when semester starts anyway? Do you have to buy coursebooks for the other courses?
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Campbell's Biology - Don't bother buying...Don't remember using it at all for 107 (maybe 1 lecture max). I suppose it could be useful for 101 if you haven't done ncea level 3, but that's not a core so just get from library
Tortora - If you're going to buy one textbook it should be this one, useful for 107 and needed for 142 lab pre-readings (again you could get it from the library, especially philson library where they always seem to have at least 30 copies)
Organic Chem - I never used this, the courseguide was solid enough not to need any other resources
Epidemiology - Biggest waste of money ever, I remember the textbook was totally irrelevant to the stuff we learnt, and I don't even remember being given a pre-reading from it. It will just collect dust in your room
Physics - Either get this from the library or buy it, I found the teaching to be pretty shoddy so the textbook came in handy (and was useful for tutorials). But physics isn't a core paper so doesnt matter anyway as long as you pass!

Pretty sure all the OLY1 papers except poplhlth (?) have coursebooks, they are basically either summaries or full notes for the course depending on what paper. Chem and Medsci I remember were pretty comprehensive, the others not quite so much. They're good for cramming the night before if you're really screwed though =)

And yes you have to buy the coursebooks from UBS except for a few (can't remember which off the top of my head) which will be collected before/when classes start
 
ChocolateSunshine said:
Thank you very much! I really don't want to spend money on something I won't really use
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In that case don't buy any and just get them out from the med library...there's always PLENTY of everything on the shelves, they're not used by med students, and OLY1 students are too scared (?!) to go up there!
 
Thank you Satmo!

And being able to hire a text for 2 hours is very different to being able to take one home etc and read it whenever.. What are the 'long loans' like? (i'm assuming you can have a long loan, otherwise you wouldn't call the short loan a short loan).
 
ChocolateSunshine said:
Thank you Satmo!

And being able to hire a text for 2 hours is very different to being able to take one home etc and read it whenever.. What are the 'long loans' like? (i'm assuming you can have a long loan, otherwise you wouldn't call the short loan a short loan).
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Yeah don't get them out on short loan get them out on actual loan...which is for one month then renew it for another month
 
Ah true, sorry @ChocolateSunshine , I just re-read your post and realised you were looking at loaning books so that you don't have to buy them, and not just using books as a study tool whilst on campus.

One thing to note - If you are hiring books (on actual loan) which are only available at other campus libraries (such as Grafton or Tamaki), you can use the inter-campus (library) loan service. You can do this online through the Library website (with your UPI and password) and it means that you can loan a book from the Grafton Library, and instead of having to go to the Grafton campus to collect the book, they will bring it to the City campus for you to collect. If you do a library course at the start of the semester, they should go through how to use the inter-campus loan service properly.

Hope that helps! :)
 
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Satmo said:
Ah true, sorry @ChocolateSunshine , I just re-read your post and realised you were looking at loaning books so that you don't have to buy them, and not just using books as a study tool whilst on campus.

One thing to note - If you are hiring books (on actual loan) which are only available at other campus libraries (such as Grafton or Tamaki), you can use the inter-campus (library) loan service. You can do this online through the Library website (with your UPI and password) and it means that you can loan a book from the Grafton Library, and instead of having to go to the Grafton campus to collect the book, they will bring it to the City campus for you to collect. If you do a library course at the start of the semester, they should go through how to use the inter-campus loan service properly.

Hope that helps! :)
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Thank you! i didn't know about the inter-campus service, I can just borrow all the textbooks i would ever need. How often am I going to end up referring to a textbook anyway?
 
ChocolateSunshine said:
Thank you! i didn't know about the inter-campus service, I can just borrow all the textbooks i would ever need. How often am I going to end up referring to a textbook anyway?
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Depends on the sort of student you are. You could get away with hardly ever referring to them, or if you're struggling to understand things you could be referring to them a lot. Tortora you'll be referring to before every lab (i.e every 2 weeks)
 
probably because most of the people who go down to dunedin are moving cities too, so they've got more questions and they're more excited (?)
 
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