Future Students Undergraduate
Student Lifestyle
The most important part of going to university is obviously going to be the work you do towards your degree. The descriptions below of the time that will be spent doing this are really just estimates. Some people have more or less face-to-face time and some will spend more time studying or preparing for tutorials. It all depends on your own situation, but this should serve as a rough guide.
As a full-time student at Macquarie, you'll most likely be enrolled in four units per semester. If part-time, you'll normally be doing either one or two units. The amount of time you are expected to commit will vary on the unit being studied. Humanities and Social Sciences generally have two one-hour lectures and a one-hour tutorial per week in each unit. The sciences tend to have an additional practical component which may be an extra four hours a week.
Outside of class there is reading, research, and assignment completion. The time you spend studying will vary, but as a guide you should allocate about 10 hours per unit, including your face-to-face teaching hours. If you're a full-time student, that's as much time as a full-time job, and you should treat it that way if you want to get the best results.
Lectures are normally held in a large theatre with up to 500 students and one lecturer. A tutorial is a smaller group lead by a tutor. You're expected to participate and discuss the lecture material and compulsory readings.
Some lecturers will make their lecture notes, handouts, etc available online. The majority of these subjects are on the Macquarie University Online Teaching Facility. Other subjects may be online elsewhere. Check this with your lecturers.
No one will check if you attend a lecture or not, but tutorials are usually compulsory and the tutor may keep an attendance list. You should attend all classes as the work is covered very quickly and catching up is difficult. Remember that university is meant to be a challenge (if it was easy everyone would be doing it!) and Macquarie is geared to help you succeed. Take advantage of the study support – get tips and tricks to be organised and in control of your course work. If you need other help such as health, welfare, financial, etc then there's plenty of student support.
Working hard to ensure you're up with your studies will pay off as you'll have time to relax, get some balance into your life and enjoy the whole uni experience. A great option to even up the work/life equation is to find out what is on offer through U@MQ, the campus student organisation, whether it be joining a club or playing a social spor.. Actively investigate what's on offer. Decide what's best for you. Then get involved – you wont regret it!
Click here to find out a day in the life of a Macquarie student!