animal science help! (1 Viewer)

[ben150891]

so i want to do the bachelor of animal and veterinary bioscience at the university of sydney. But i only got an ATAR of 79.45. the required ATAR for this course is 84.05 or something. So i am applying to get in via flexible entry. So the reason for me posting this thread is to ask what i should do if i dont get into this course. Should i either do bachelors of animal science at CSU wagga or UWS hawksberry OR should i do a science degree at UNSW or UTS majoring in biological sciences/ zoology???
anyhelp on the subject would be greatly appreciated.
Thankyou

 

[CatOnAHorse]

Haha, exactly the same as what i wanted to do but I got 72.75 so you're doing better than me. I was going to do Science at UNSW and major in the bioscience(zoology&botany) and minor in zoology, because apparently they have good links to Taronga Zoo there. CSU and UWS courses are quite fun but don't get you very far for job prospects (I am just repeating all the things I have found out through others because I knew I wasn't putting in any effort I wouldn't get the 84 lol) I've had family friends and that go through those courses and have a lot of trouble getting a job. What area of Animal Science do you want to work in?
Basically if you don't get in I highly recommend UNSW because it has much better prestige and job prospects than the others, and that shows in the difference between ATARs that you need to get in. 78 as opposed to mid 60's.
The impression I get from UTS is that their Sciences are more based on nursing and technological stuff, it's the same ATAR for that than it is for UNSW so I would stick with what I said about UNSW that it's more biologically based around what you want to do.


My dilemma is hoping I will get into Maquarie Uni. As I don't have the 78 for UNSW, I would like 74.40 for Maquarie however their bonus points scheme only gives me one bonus point for my band 4 in maths and none for my band 4 in Chem! If it gave me that extra bonus point I would have enough! So I have 73.75 (so close) if anyone reads this and knows what the chances are of me getting in on a 2nd round or something please answer lol or else I'll start my own thread haha.

 

[ben150891]

ok thanks heaps for the help. yeh thats what i thought, that UNSW would be a better choice than UNSW because its more prestige. thanks for letting me know it has good links with taronga zoo. From the course i am hoping to get into anything really. Research looks like fun also like working at the zoo, wildlife foundations or a national park of somesort. good luck with your getting into maquarie

 

[CatOnAHorse]

Anytime helps when I actually know a bit about it. Even if you don't want to stay working at Taronga it might be a good starting point or way to get a job elsewhere. It's just what I've heard. Looks like you want to do exactly what I want to haha. Shame I didn't get enough ahh. But yea I really hope I get through to Maq. Just 0.65 of an ATAR point! ZOMG!

 

[ben150891]

is there a website that provides information with UNSW's links with other foundations such as the taronga zoo or anything else. cause the website is very vague on the subject like it doesnt list careers specifically to the majors or anything cause the science degree is so broad. does anyone know where i can find more in depth information?

 

[missanonymous7]

Science at UNSW and major in the bioscience(zoology&botany) and minor in zoology,

.

Haha, that's the exact course I'm doing right now I wish I could offer a bit more insight into what it's like, but I've only done first year, and your first year in almost any science degree tends to be pretty generalised. I've only done two (out of seven) subjects this year that directly relate to my zoology minor/bioscience major. Next year, there are plenty more.

As for other unis to consider, UTS don't actually offer anything in the 'animal science' side of things (unless they're hiding it reeeeally well), so there's one less uni to think about. Macquarie's biology courses sound absolutely awesome from the descriptions in their online handbook, but according to everything I've read about Macquarie uni on here, their sciences aren't too brilliant.

Also think about what aspect of studying/working with animals appeals to you most - do you want to work with sick and injured animals and help them recover (vet science), or do you want to study how they behave, how they interact with their environment, evolutionary theory, and basically all the stuff that gets covered in the average nature doco? That, too, should help you decide which course to ultimately go after.

Oh and also keep in mind that if you really just want to work with animals in a zoo or wildlife park, a better option might actually be a TAFE course that involves working with animals.

 

[ben150891]

ok so i know youv just done first year, but can you tell me anything about the uni and the course. are you enjoying UNSW and the course. How are the facilities and the lecturers and teachers. Sorry to bother you with this i was planning on finding out myself at the info day but itsn much easier to ask you and this way i get to know what a student thinks not a representative.
And just with careers for the course, what kind of careeras can you get i dont want to just be a zoo keeper, but more research and studying animals also helping with conservation and protection and stuff.

 

[ben150891]

and also what career do you want out of it?

 

[missanonymous7]

I am definitely enjoying UNSW! It's a great uni, I like the campus, the facilities are good, and on the whole I much prefer university to high school.

As for the course, it's still a bit hard to say whether I'm enjoying it or not. I have to admit I haven't really enjoyed the two first-year BIOS courses that I did; however I don't think they ranked very highly on anyone's list of 'courses I enjoyed'. I think it's more a case of just getting through first year so you can get to the more interesting stuff in second and third year. You also have to do a chemistry subject and a statistics subject with a biology major - I hated chemistry, but astonishingly I kind of liked statistics. (My other subjects were filled up with a second major I was planning to do, 'Science communications', but they were CRAP and the only advice I can give to anyone wanting to do science communications at UNSW is don't do it.)

Careers - to be honest you'd probably do a lot better asking about this at Info Day. I haven't really looked into careers all that much, since I'm still not 100% sure what I want to do when I finish. Also I was aiming more for a career in the science communication field (hence my second major) and have been focussing on that - biology, and zoology, just happens to be the area of science that I'm most interested in. From what you're saying though, it sounds like this would be your kind of degree, since a lot of the BIOS subjects at UNSW are heavily based on conservation, biodiversity, ecology, fieldwork (third year), etc.

And no worries, you're not 'bothering' me, lol. Feel free to send a PM if you like. Or just keep posting and I'll do my best to answer!

 

[muselara]

hey, i just finished my animal science degree...just so that you know "animal science" refers to mainly production animals...so if you are more interested in zoology and wildlife etc., you are much better off doing a science degree and then majoring in zoology as you will have a much more flexible degree then and will have more electives to choose from.

 

[Mambomeg]

and if you want to work in conservation / zoos, start doing volunteer work now and make yourself known, its a competitive area.

For some ideas, try volunteering at wildlife parks (Taronga, Sydney wildlife world, Symbion wildlife park, featherdale etc), doing work experience at various places (western plains zoo, monarto in SA, wildlife parks in cairns), or vet hospitals that do a lot of exotics (Wildlife centre at Camden, Airport vet hospital in Cairns, Currumbin wildlife park in QLD, Cannon and Ball vet in wollongong, North shore specialist centre).

And there's a guy in Tassie who does Tassie devil research who is always looking for help catching and tagging them (sorry, don't know the details, try google), and various bird surverys / turtle egg counting etc that always need volunteers. It all helps get a foot in the door and introduces you to the right people.

 

[ben150891]

when do you think i should start work experience and volunteering extra? like i would do it in first year? i thought i should learn some first so i have some experience in the field before getting out there. what do you think?

 

[Mambomeg]

I think you'll spend most of 1st year doing bio, chem, physics and maths, with possibly one degree-specific subject. None of these will help you with field experience. the only way to get it is to do it.
I would start as early as possible because then
a) you know its definately what you want to do and aren't wasting time in a degree you might not like
b) you can fit more in over the course of your degree
c) often field experience will help you pick subjects for assignments, and will help develop contacts for research projects in the later years of your degree.

 

[rx34]

+1 for science degree in UNSW