UNSW Trimesters (1 Viewer)

[mammamia123]

hi!
can someone explain what UNSW trimesters are and how they work?

 

[jimmysmith560]

Essentially, a trimester system means that each academic year will have 3 sessions, as opposed to the standard semester system, which only has 2 sessions in the academic year. The former is the case of UNSW.

As far as I'm aware, each session is 10 weeks long with a one week break around week 6 and another one right before end-of-semester exams. In between trimesters, students will have a two week break and subsequently a longer holiday of around 2 and a half months at the end of the year.

Some advantages of UNSW's trimester system include:

• You can finish your degree slightly faster. This is because if you are taking the full 3 units per trimester, meaning that you will end up completing your degree a bit earlier than you would in a semester system. Students at other universities will only be taking a maximum of 8 units a year if they’re studying full-time, while you are given the option to study up to 9 units in a year.
• Trimesters may feel similar to school terms. This could potentially make it easier to adjust to university life and effectively manage your study load.

Some disadvantages of UNSW's trimester system include:

• Holidays are generally shorter than those at universities that use the semester system.
• The holidays themselves will likely not align with those of other universities. This may cause an inconvenience in the event where you are planning outings with your friends.
• Since UNSW introduced its trimester system fairly recently, a considerable number of units were designed to suit a semester system. UNSW is seemingly in the process of addressing this issue, meaning that depending on the specific degree you intend to study, this may/may not be an issue.

I hope this helps!

 

[jazz519]

Most unis run on a 2 semester system, where there are:
- 13 weeks
- a mid term break around week 7
- you do 4 subjects (maximum) per semester

The difference with UNSW trimesters is that:
- 3 semesters instead of 2
- each semester is 10 weeks long
- flexibility week during week 6 (basically like no lectures and labs but you still got work to do in it)
- you do 3 subjects (maximum) per semester

 

[mammamia123]

in terms of stress, is it a lot worse?

 

[jazz519]

Essentially, a trimester system means that each academic year will have 3 sessions, as opposed to the standard semester system, which only has 2 sessions in the academic year. The former is the case of UNSW.

As far as I'm aware, each session is 10 weeks long with a one week break around week 6 and another one right before end-of-semester exams. In between trimesters, students will have a two week break and subsequently a longer holiday of around 2 and a half months at the end of the year.

Some advantages of UNSW's trimester system include:

• You can finish your degree slightly faster. This is because if you are taking the full 3 units per trimester, you will finish your degree a bit earlier than you would in a semester system. Students at other universities will only be taking a maximum of 8 units a year if they’re studying full-time, while you are given the option to study up to 9 units in a year.
• Trimesters may feel similar to school terms. This could potentially make it easier to adjust to university life and effectively manage your study load.

Some disadvantages of UNSW's trimester system include:

• Holidays are generally shorter than those at universities that use the semester system.
• The holidays themselves will likely not align with those of other universities. This may cause an inconvenience in the event where you are planning outings with your friends.
• Since UNSW introduced its trimester system fairly recently, a considerable number of units were designed to suit a semester system. UNSW is seemingly in the process of addressing this issue, meaning that depending on the specific degree you intend to study, this may/may not be an issue.

I hope this helps!

the end of semester exams week break is not really a thing sadly It's basically like 3 days lol and then the exams start

 

[jazz519]

in terms of stress, is it a lot worse?

Depends on the degree and your goals, in terms of how much the workload will be. Some degrees are suited better to semesters because there is more content, others have worked well in both the semester and trimesters.

Generally speaking though it depends on what do you value

If it's the quality of the education then shouldn't base the decision of a trimester vs semester, as the quality of the teaching at UNSW is very good

If you want more free time during uni then semester is probably better. Because we have 3 terms at UNSW, the holidays are less in comparison.

 

[quickoats]

the end of semester exams week break is not really a thing sadly It's basically like 3 days lol and then the exams start

Yep - Last day of teaching is a Friday, then you get Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed off. Exams start on the Thursday and since the timetable is somewhat compressed, you can have exams on a saturday.