Aug 06, 2011, 03:51 pm
Last edited Aug 06, 2011, 03:51 pm
update #1
hi, im an EN and i got a place at CDU this year to go into 2nd yr.
while i can admit that i had a quite a few personal distrations upon commencement, i really didnt find that external study worked for me. i had a friend also doing it with me, and neither one of us liked it very much. i found i was very lacking in direction and felt i was floating around feeling a bit lost without the direction that comes from attending classes physically and being able to get immediate feedback from other students and lecturers. i found all the notes online kind of confusing, even though i had studied at RMIT internally last year and all our notes were online also- i just felt i couldnt get my head around what i was meant to be doing and when...my friend was the same.
i do however have a friend who has done the same course and has loved it- and is almost finished. id asked lots of people for advise on doing it externally, and got mixed answers- so i was keen to give it a go and make up my own mind. the verdict in the end was that i didnt like it, and knew that i was better off studying internally when i can make the time. so now im applying for an internal course for 2012, but will defer it till 2013 if i get in.
hope i dont put you off, thats not my intention. i just know that its good to go into something like this with your eyes wide open to the fact that it may or may not work. for some folk its works well, for others it wont.
my advise would definitely be NOT to start off with a full time load. make life easy on yourself and start off with just a couple of subjects until you feel comfy with the whole situation and how its gonna work for you and your life/family. i really think that will help alot. im certain some people handle it well, but id advocate being part time till you know that you know what your doing and whats really involved. better to start off slow and increase your workload once you know its all going well, than to be overwhelmed and not continue. In mine and my friends case we at least have the option of being able to study internally at some stage- but if this is your only option, id say ease into it- even if you only do 1 subject first semester.
jules
