Bachelor Of Biomedical Science/Commerce

[jdog538]

Hey guys, I just have a few questions about the biomed/comm double degree at Monash.

1. Are you allowed to drop out from one of the degrees at any time during the course? If not, when are you allowed to?
2. Is there a mark/performance requirement to drop out from one of them? I think I saw somewhere you need a WAM of 60 or something.
3. If you do drop out, how much time do you waste? For example, if I drop out of biomed/commerce at end of year 1, how much time does it take to finish the other degree, is it 2 years? (making it a total of 3 years so no time is wasted)
4. Is the workload generally any better (or worse) than just a straight biomed degree? I heard that apparently the commerce subjects balancing out the science subjects make it easier, but obviously this is very subjective depending on your strengths.

Thank you very much for your help!

[Sine]

Hey guys, I just have a few questions about the biomed/comm double degree at Monash.

1. Are you allowed to drop out from one of the degrees at any time during the course? If not, when are you allowed to?
2. Is there a mark/performance requirement to drop out from one of them? I think I saw somewhere you need a WAM of 60 or something.
3. If you do drop out, how much time do you waste? For example, if I drop out of biomed/commerce at end of year 1, how much time does it take to finish the other degree, is it 2 years? (making it a total of 3 years so no time is wasted)
4. Is the workload generally any better (or worse) than just a straight biomed degree? I heard that apparently the commerce subjects balancing out the science subjects make it easier, but obviously this is very subjective depending on your strengths.

Thank you very much for your help!

1. You are able to drop out during the course - You should be able to do it at any time but I am not 100% certain on this. I had a friend who dropped out of one of the components of their double degree after 2 years and they will still able to finish the other course in 3 years. Mainly because during the first 2 years they frontloaded units from the course they wanted to continue at a ratio of about 3:1.
2. I wouldn't think you would need to have a certain WAM to drop something.
3. Depends on how you prioritise your subjects. E.g. frontloading with commerce may allow you to drop biomed but still complete commerce in 3 years.
4. With a straight biomed degree you still have electives so the difficulty of one's straight biomed degree can vary quite a bit depending on what electives someone chooses.

Having said that there is nothing wrong with doing a single degree you don't have to do a double degree if you don't want to. If you are thinking about dropping a course before you even start it you might not have the right motivations to be doing it.

[jdog538]

Thanks for the quick reply! 

I am very interested in both fields and like the flexibility of the double degree.

I am just being cautious after some questionable high school subject planning and selections 

1. You are able to drop out during the course - You should be able to do it at any time but I am not 100% certain on this. I had a friend who dropped out of one of the components of their double degree after 2 years and they will still able to finish the other course in 3 years. Mainly because during the first 2 years they frontloaded units from the course they wanted to continue at a ratio of about 3:1.
2. I wouldn't think you would need to have a certain WAM to drop something.
3. Depends on how you prioritise your subjects. E.g. frontloading with commerce may allow you to drop biomed but still complete commerce in 3 years.
4. With a straight biomed degree you still have electives so the difficulty of one's straight biomed degree can vary quite a bit depending on what electives someone chooses.

Having said that there is nothing wrong with doing a single degree you don't have to do a double degree if you don't want to. If you are thinking about dropping a course before you even start it you might not have the right motivations to be doing it.

Hi, I just have one more quick question about electives.

Are they purely for your own interest or can they lead into other things as well? For example, if you do single degree biomed, but allocate all your electives into psychology related units, can that lead to further study in psychology in the future?

Im asking this because I saw that a biomed degree at Melbourne uni can lead to a master of psychology and I was wondering if this can be done at Monash as well. Conversely, the Monash biomed degree can lead to master of radiation therapy or sonography, but I don't know if you can do the same with the Melbourne degree.
Also are you disadvantaged (in terms of results and GPA) for doing comm/biomed because they are quite unrelated (like would you do better if you focused on 1 degree and picked related electives for that degree rather than having to divide your attention over both fields and have no additional related electives to consolidate each field)

Mod edit (AW): Please try to edit your previous posts by using the “modify” button if you wish to add more questions/ info in future.

[Sine]

Are they purely for your own interest or can they lead into other things as well? For example, if you do single degree biomed, but allocate all your electives into psychology related units, can that lead to further study in psychology in the future?

Im asking this because I saw that a biomed degree at Melbourne uni can lead to a master of psychology and I was wondering if this can be done at Monash as well. Conversely, the Monash biomed degree can lead to master of radiation therapy or sonography, but I don't know if you can do the same with the Melbourne degree.
Also are you disadvantaged (in terms of results and GPA) for doing comm/biomed because they are quite unrelated (like would you do better if you focused on 1 degree and picked related electives for that degree rather than having to divide your attention over both fields and have no additional related electives to consolidate each field)

Mod edit (AW): Please try to edit your previous posts by using the “modify” button if you wish to add more questions/ info in future.

I think both reasons are generally used for deciding on electives. You can definitely do all psychology units and possibly end up with a major in psychology. It may mean you are exempt from further subjects later on but I am not entirely sure.

I know someone people end up doing single degrees to have a better focus on that one area. However, I don't think you will be massively disadvantaged.

[www]

Im asking this because I saw that a biomed degree at Melbourne uni can lead to a master of psychology and I was wondering if this can be done at Monash as well.

As far as I know, Melbourne's biomed degree has a psychology pathway that qualifies you to apply for honours study in psychology - it does not qualify you to apply for the masters. Clinical psychology masters courses at most unis will generally require that you've done an honours year in psych.

Monash's biomed degree has enough elective spots (10) that you can complete the required psych units to apply for an honours year in psych too. Instead of being a pathway like Melbourne's degree, you can just declare it as an extended major when you enrol into the course.

[jdog538]

Isn't there only 8 elective spots?

https://www.monash.edu/students/handbooks/maps/2020/map-m2003.pdf

Edit: It should still be fine as it says on the psychology major page "This area of study is offered in the following courses or can be taken where you have 8 free electives". Same for accounting and other ones.

https://www.monash.edu/study/courses/majors-minors-specialisations/2021/majors/psychology-xm0033

[Sine]

Isn't there only 8 elective spots?

https://www.monash.edu/students/handbooks/maps/2020/map-m2003.pdf

yeah that is correct

[www]

Isn't there only 8 elective spots?

https://www.monash.edu/students/handbooks/maps/2020/map-m2003.pdf

Edit: It should still be fine as it says on the psychology major page "This area of study is offered in the following courses or can be taken where you have 8 free electives". Same for accounting and other ones.

https://www.monash.edu/study/courses/majors-minors-specialisations/2021/majors/psychology-xm0033

Oh whoops, yes. I thought the final 2 units were 6 not 12 credit points. Unfortunately, if you do the 8 unit major and not the 10 unit extended major, you don't qualify to apply for honours since the 8 unit major isn't APAC accredited.

This is the 10 unit APAC accredited version: https://handbook.monash.edu/2020/aos/PSYCHOL03

[jdog538]

Right okay so is it a bit useless then? Since you can't go on to be a qualified psychologist with the normal major, without additional study I presume?

Also this is the accounting major requirements.

https://handbook.monash.edu/2020/aos/ACCOUNTG05

The requirement is 48 credit points (8 units x 6) compared to Psychology's requirement of 60, which fits into the biomed elective spaces.

This means I'll be qualified to apply for the accounting major right?

Thanks for the help!

[www]

Right okay so is it a bit useless then? Since you can't go on to be a qualified psychologist with the normal major, without additional study I presume?

Yeah, you would need to complete the APAC major or the Bachelor of Psych that Monash offers. I'm not sure what someone would do if they completed the regular major and had a change of heart after graduating. I think there's a graduate diploma for those who never completed psych, but I'm unsure if the 8 units can be exempted. Melbourne uni just builds the APAC major into the psychology pathway for ease, but Monash requires you to make that choice to do 10 units and not 8.

Also this is the accounting major requirements.

https://handbook.monash.edu/2020/aos/ACCOUNTG05

The requirement is 48 credit points (8 units x 6) compared to Psychology's requirement of 60, which fits into the biomed elective spaces.

This means I'll be qualified to apply for the accounting major right?

Thanks for the help!

Assuming there are no prerequisites/prohibitions for each of the units that would prevent you taking them, its fine. You would declare it as a major when enrolling from a list they have (this can be changed up until your final year, so you're not locked in).