Authentic Lasagna's University Guide for First Year Students

Monash, Clayton Campus

Unimelb, Parkville Campus

RMIT, CBD campus

With VCE/IB results around the corner, and subsequently university offers coinciding, we asked Year 12 students and next year's first year students if they had any university questions they had to ask from seasoned uni veterans. For context the panel, Faisal studies biomedicine at Monash, Jerard studies law/PPE at Monash, Yong studies business at RMIT (soon to be at Monash,) and Ric switched from science at Monash to science at Melbourne.

Use our expandable table of contents below to read up on topics you are most interested in.

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Is it easy to make friends?

• I’d say yes. The key is putting yourself out there and attending events. You have to be approachable and approach others, find solidarity and build rapport. - Faisal

• Yes and no, the issue is you’ll meet a lot of new people in lectures or tutorials and stuff but you will most likely remain “class friends” if you know what i mean. Most people nowadays are more inclined to stay in their high school friend groups and stuff. Most people are nice and friendly mainly because you’re all in the same situation of being thrusted into a completely new environment and now knowing anything so yes people are friendly. - Aidan

• One of the biggest concerns for everyone entering university is: “how am I going to make friends?” For some, despite being seemingly ominous this worry becomes insignificant; the more extroverted students tend to follow the trend of enjoying a large group of friends to lunch and study with. For most, however, genuine connections become more obscure than ever before. This stems from the reality of adult life; it is difficult to connect with others, even more so when you have seemingly little in common. Despite this, there exist many platforms to maintain and enjoy an actual social environment. For most, and myself, this came in the form of clubs; whether they are sporting, social, academic or anything in-between, the vast majority of friendships are birthed from clubs and the plethora of events they hold. In short, making friends in university is by no means an inevitability, nor is it an insurmountable challenge; it is merely up to how much your place a priority on developing a wider social circle. - Jerard

What are the differences between Monash and Unimelb?

• The way I see it, its more about what is more convenient to get to each uni. If you plan to drive to uni, its a lot easier to drive to monash than unimelb as you don't go into the city and parking is 10x cheaper. However, if you don't have your license and plan to take public transport, unimelb may be the way to go as most of their campuses are based in the city. Coursewise, Unimelb’s ‘melbourne modul’ is pretty terrible UNLESS you plan on doing a masters/post-graduate degree. Basically, on top of electives, you are required to do breadth - where you undergo a unit which is outside your faculty. With electives, this takes up half of your units, meaning you are learning less about your degree than a standard uni. However, melbourne does this so you come back for a masters and hone in on your skills and desired area. That being said, for undergraduate students, the melbourne experience is not that great as they put majority of their funding and resources towards postgraduate students. Monash on the other hand, is puts more recrouses to their undergrad students over postgrad. Another thing i will say about Unimelb is that they have way more clubs than monash. - Faisal

• The course structure in Unimelb and Monash are pretty different. From my point of view from someone who has been at both universities, the course structure is a lot better at Melbourne. Unimelb has the breadth system whereas Monash has the elective system. At Monash they ‘highly encourage’ you to choose electives that directly influence your degree. For example my core subjects for Bachelor of Science at Monash were Biology, Chemistry and the compulsory science literature unit, but on top of that I was encouraged to do physics as my final unit. At Melbourne for my course at least there’s a greater diversity of subjects you can choose within science instead of the same physics, biology and chemistry subjects, and the breadths allow you to choose subjects from other fields that you normally would not get to do. For example, other than biology and disease ecology I did two breadths this semester: sports coaching, and music psychology. Additionally, another thing I will say from my point of view is that Monash is so far away from anything else, all you could do was go to uni and go home straight after, whereas at Melbourne there’s a lot more autonomy to do things in the city with your mates after class before heading home. - Cedric

• UOM and Monash are both emblematic of differing interpretations of the tertiary education system. This can be best summarised in their respective approaches to exams; while UOM places its exams in the oppressive Exhibition Hall, with clear pencil cases and requests for toilet breaks among the stringent requirements, Monash exam rooms have gentle reminders to not consume smelly foods to avoid disturbing other students. Yes, you can eat in Monash exams. Socially, Monash cultivates more of a community feel, for lack of a better term. United by the remoteness of Clayton campus, everyone has a shared struggle of journeying to a place which requires significant travel time for most compared to UOM. While this deters students from making the trek to classes sometimes (is that 8am really worth the wake-up?), it invites individuals to stay longer on campus as a sort of way to “get their money’s worth.” Personally, some of the highlights of my first year have come from long days stretching into long nights talking about everything and anything with fellow students at Monash. Melbourne, by virtue of its centralised location, carries the benefit of significantly more straightforward transport options. Most train lines draw directly into a few tram lines that drop students off just outside UOM. It is this convenient nature, however, that deprives UOM of more of a unified atmosphere. Unless you have a reason to stick around, such as a meeting or a study session with friends, there is little incentive to remain given that the route home is so easily within grasp. - Jerard

Is Monash shit?

• No, I wouldn’t say Monash is shit. - Faisal

• Icel, Monash is mid, but honestly other universities are also mid. It seems that all universities are just there for your money and doing as minimal as they are obliged to do, but that’s business isn’t it? - Cedric

• Yes and no. Location and transport wise it is a pain to get to. The food selection gets a little bland after a while, and the lack of an elevator in the Law Library to take you up to level four is a personal gripe. However, the facilities are good and while the lack of lectures comes across as a little lazy, classes generally are decently structured. - Jerard

Is VCE/IB harder or easier than uni?

• If you did IB in high school, university becomes so much easier. The differences between IB and university are so minimal, you’re already doing assignments and exams in the form that you see in university. Knowing how to properly write essays and reports like in IB and how to actually reference is a game changer. There are some people I know that did VCE and have struggled in first year, but all the kids I still speak to from IB have said that IB has prepared them super well for university. It’s a nice segway into it. The only thing I’d say is it's a bit more fast paced; in year 11 IB you would have covered about six topics for your Standard Level course whereas in university you’re covering those six topics in the space of a semester (12 weeks.) - Cedric

• From a VCE perspective, I would say that it doesn’t really prepare you for what university expects. VCE is very much about rote learning; sit down until you memorised every detail of the study design, then do it all again. The reason why so many (including yours truly) found difficulty in some aspects of first year at university is the rapid change from a highly ordered and rigorous structure, to a free-flowing and unrestricted educational approach. There are no carefully structured assessments to prepare you for the eventual exam; nor are there a plethora of resources spoon-fed to you to steel your mind. - Jerard

It feels like a little bit of a waste of time. Is it?

• I would not say uni is a waste of time. Uni teaches you not only to understand the knowledge you need for your industry, but also teaches you how to make professional relationships, leadership skills and all the other skills employers are looking for. By completing your average 3 years bachelors, it tells your employer that you were able to follow instructions and listen to your coordinator. - Faisal

• It depends, there are things in my course that I don’t think I will ever need to touch on again in the future and yet we are still learning about it. But yeah Faisal is right; even if university isn’t the thing for you just go and get a degree in something. It looks a lot better on paper. - Cedric

• Of course! Why bother going to that three-hour workshop when your friends are eating lunch together? Why bother spending all that money on fuel and myki fares when you could hit snooze on the alarm just one more time? Indeed, why bother at all? This is a mindset that many, including myself, stumble across at some point during their life; why do anything, when the alternatives are so much more enticing? This is demonstrative of a short-term mindset, one of instant gratification reinforced by social media and social norms. If you prefer to enjoy things as they come, and live with fewer restrictions, it is a perfectly acceptable worldview. However, by going to university you are naturally favouring a long-term approach; a degree is multiple years, and likely leading to a multi-decade career in a single field. As such, it can be more beneficial to view things as more of an investment in yourself; your knowledge, your abilities, your social circle, your employability. If you are able to view every experience, mundane or thrilling, as something to gain a lesson from (however small or insignificant it may seem), then life becomes less of short hops of enjoyment and long periods of boredom; instead, it develops in a steadier and mediated undertaking, with less extreme highs but less extreme lows. In my view, this change in mindset is one of the many benefits from university. - Jerard

Is sleep good for a uni student?

• Sleep is good for anyone. wth. - Faisal

• Overrated, if you’re going to Monash make sure you never have a class earlier than 11am and if you’re going to Deakin/RMIT/Unimelb/Swinburne make sure you never have a class earlier than 10am. That way you could probably wake up at 9am or whatever and still have a good amount of sleep. - Cedric

• Personally no, as during uni I usually wake up 5am most days so i can fit in being able to work a job and going to uni. Idk about everyone else though, it would depend on whatever degree you do. For the more difficult degrees like law the common perception is that sleep is hard to come by, so go figure i suppose. - Aidan

Does it suck?

• Sometimes you’ll in the middle of a lecture or assignment and be like “the fuck?” but othertimes you’ll find yourself happy you learnt something about a specific topic, especially if you’re doing a course you are interested in rather than just doing. - Faisal

• Sometimes yes it does suck, there’s always a point in your 2 hour lecture or 3 hour tutorial when it becomes so laborious and you start to wonder wtf you are doing there. But there is a lot of autonomy in university, and you aren’t confined like you are in high school. Realistically you only have to be there 2-3 days of the week if you are smart with your timetable, the free time you get is amazing. - Cedric

• A little bit, lectures and stuff are sometimes a pain in the ass as well as mfing group projects, but apart from that you will enjoy the freedom you get. You get more of your own time to do stuff as opposed to a typical school day where you’re forced to be there from 8-3. - Aidan

What’s the stereotype about the uni you go to that is true and what is the one that is false?

• The private school kid/rich kid stereotypes are true. I cannot even begin to fathom why, as someone who is living in Kew/Camberwell/Balwyn or whatever, have decided to go to College and live on campus at Unimelb. It makes no sense to me whatsoever. The false stereotype is that going to Unimelb because it is regarded as more ‘elite’ will help you find a job once you finish your degree. It won’t, people don’t go around the office asking what university you went to, if you have the degree and credentials, you’re in. Maybe for a summer job or something it’ll help. - Cedric

• Yeah definitely, RMIT is pretty much like a central hub for many international students. - Aidan

Do you feel lost at uni because there is less schedule?

• You can feel lost, but the key to avoid this is be organised. Look at the handbook - see what assignments there are and when they are. See how many lectures, labs, or workshops you have per week and organise your schedule and workload. By doing this and you actually stay on top it, you will find yourself in way less stressful situations and not be lost. - Faisal

• Coming straight out of 12 years of schooling, from my perspective it was more freeing than anything. I didn’t really feel lost personally, but what I will say is get to know your timetable well and finish off assignments as soon as possible so you aren’t stressing out during SWOTVAC. At university, information for your assignments are likely already be able to be accessed by the first week of the semester, so if you can knock out a paragraph or two every week you’ll be fine. - Cedric

• Not particularly, I’m not usually one to plan out my days and stuff but most of the time during semester I will always have something to do. For example after most classes I’ll usually sit in the library doing assignments or catching up on stuff i missed before i head off to my next class. The most important thing is to probably keep yourself busy, this way you’ll feel less lost i suppose. - Aidan

Do you still have time to play Fortnite ( do things you still enjoy)?

• I guess it depends on the workload of your degree. A course which has 5 hour lectures, a 3 hour lab and a 2 hour workshop for each unit may not be able to enjoy the finer things in life, like Fortnite. - Faisal

• There’s plenty of free time for you to do things that you enjoy. And then on the holidays, you get about 2 months for your half year and then four months for summer. Loads of time left over to do things you normally like to do. - Cedric

• Yeah weekends are pretty chill, I do sneak in some cheeky ps5 time during the semester every now and then but it’s usually at the expense of my sleep. Having said that holidays are to die for. You literally get like 3-4 months of straight up nothing which is crazy. - Aidan 

Do you have to do well or do you just have to pass?

• Not only does ‘just passing’ reduce your post-graduate options, it also reduce your chances of getting a job right after uni, as you and most other immediate undergraduates  have no full-time job experience in your industry and hence will be compared against each others grades. - Faisal

• Depends what you want to do. A lot of people say ‘P’s get degrees,’ but that is only correct for a few degrees. You still have others, like biomedicine/science/arts/commerce that if you want to pursue a further career in these fields there are other assessment targets that you have to hit in order to achieve a job in whatever field that is. - Cedric

• That’s up to you really, you can just pass and get 50% for everything but that would limit any post grad things you want to do. I suggest you aim high and keep your options open. - Aidan

What's the nightlife for your uni like?

• All the clubs for each faculty have pretty good events where you meet people doing your degree - but in and around clayton is a bit dead. - Faisal

• At unimelb there is a lot of cool spots and places around Carlton- obviously you have your bars, restaurants, cafes. But as far as nightlife goes, it’s pretty relaxed and there are loads of good spots to go for a drink of whatever. If you want to experience the nightlife, go further into the city or maybe out to Collingwood or Fitzory, something like that. - Cedric

• Very good, when your campus is in the city theres a lot of options in and around the city to go out and have drinks after a friday afternoon class. - Aidan

Can I still use ChatGPT?

• I’ve been advised to say no (you can). - Faisal

• The universities don’t tell you this but although they always say you can’t use AI and stuff, you can literally get it to write notes for you, synthesise articles and all that stuff. It makes your life easier. Just don’t go around copy and pasting assignments made by chat. - Cedric

• Yes, just don’t use it to write out full assignments for you though cuz they will catch that. Disclaimer i dont endorse cheating and whatever but if you REALLYYYYY need it to write an assignment for you i suggest putting it through a paraphrasing bot before you submit it. (Quillbot is pretty good I’ve seen people use this with great results) you didn’t hear that from me though. However you can use it to summarise lecture notes and stuff which is the non illegal way of using it. - Aidan

Are the tutors important?

• I’ve made a lot of my friends in tutorials and classes, and its basically the only time you talk to your peers, so I’d say its good to go to them just to meet people. - Faisal

• People always stress about the tutors but genuinely they don’t know who you are, just show up if you have a hurdle requirement (something you must do to pass a unit) but you don’t have to be doing all that weird stuff to get on their good side because after 12 weeks they just going to forget who you are. Faisal does have a valid point, however, but then again, Aidan is also right. - Cedric

• No, I stopped going to mine after like 4 weeks in. They don’t really care and neither do many of the students that go care. - Aidan

Any extra tips?

• Be organised. Look at the handbook early, find important dates for your units, find what is being taught each week. Basically, stay on top of it. Also, avoid the cultists and socialists. - Faisal

• Don’t even bother going to O-Week, the universities bill it as something that allows you to make friends and learn about your course and stuff but genuinely I did not learn one thing about my course and I never saw any of those O-Week people ever again. Maybe if you’re interested and didn’t go to any of the Open Days in year 11/12 then go to familiarise yourself. Otherwise, just get ‘Lost on Campus’ app and that’s O-Week sorted. - Cedric

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