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VCA
Bachelor of
COMMERCE by Ben Ma
Limited subject choice. Very few contact
hours. Long walks to The Spot. These are
the symptoms of a Commerce student. It’s
a bit of a ride, but I’ll give you a few veteran
tips. If you completed Year 12 Economics,
you will probably already understand a
fair bit of content for Microeconomics,
Macroeconomics, Accounting Reports
and Analysis, and Introductory Financial
Accounting. Good. This will be helpful.
Should you do ACCT10001 (Accounting
Reports and Analysis), you might have the
opportunity to be graced by the presence of
the God-King himself: Noel Boys. You will be
in awe at how amazing this being is, and the
vastness of his accounting knowledge.
Nothing much to be said about this particular
subject, other than to watch yourself; I
thought I was set for the exam, especially
after all the studying I had done. Despite my
self-confidence, I was utterly shattered by the
grade I received.
I personally thought FNCE10002 (Principles
of Finance) was cool, but this appears to
have been a very unpopular opinion. This
subject requires quite a bit of time to fully
grasp, especially some of the theories
included. However, I’m sure your megaminds
will be able to do this, no problemo.
ECON10005 (Quantitative Methods 1)
was pretty straightforward. All you need to
look out for is the fact that there are 2 group
assignments in this subject; as long as you
don’t suffer from the very common ‘Useless
Group Members’ syndrome, you should be
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fine. (Provided you put in the time and effort
to learn the content.)
Both ECON10004 (Introductory
Microeconomics) and ECON10003
(Introductory Macroeconomics)
are content-heavy. Prepare yourself.
Year 12 Economics will be helpful for
Microeconomics, but Macroeconomics goes
much deeper into the field of (you guessed
it) macroeconomics, so get ready for more
theories and graphs.
When it comes to exams, all commerce
subjects are fairly content-heavy, and will
involve much rote-learning. Make sure you
understand the theories and equations from
class. Personally, I repeated the past exams
over and over until I had a decently high
mark, and also made summary notes for the
subjects; though you might prefer a different
strategy.
There are also a plethora of clubs to join,
specially for Commerce students.
Have fun.
My first year goals
by Caitlyn Brennan
Congratulations on being accepted into one of Australia’s top performance institutions! Whether it
was through audition or portfolio entry, it’s not easy to get into VCA, so VCYAY FOR YOU KID! You will
experience university quite differently to your fellow collegians; participating in practical and theory
subjects in VCA’s state of the art facilities and studios, having loooooong contact hours, becoming best
friends with your small cohorts, and being able to do all this and more in Melbourne’s Arts Precinct!
You’ll be surrounded by companies including Melbourne Theatre Company, the Australian Ballet, the
NGV, the Melbourne Recital Centre, the Arts Centre, the Malthouse Theatre, Chunky Move and many
more, so you can be sure there is creativity in the air down in Southbank!
Trams: Also make sure you share with College when
Being down at Southbank can be a bit of a pain, you have performances, open rehearsals and
but fear not! There are two options when it showings of your work! We love to come and
comes to getting to VCA; catching the tram from support each other, so make sure to put it on
the Morrah St stop down Elizabeth St, or catching the calendar near the JCR and post on the
it from the Melbourne Uni stop down Swanston Facebook page so we can come along!
St. It’s faster to catch the Swanston St trams
in the morning, as you don’t have to get off and Ordering lunch + dinner:
walk from Flinders Street (and you can normally Being at VCA sometimes means missing out on
get a seat on the trams as Melbourne Uni is one lunches or dinners - but don’t worry! Prepacked
of the first stops), however the walk is sometimes lunches and late dinners can be ordered so you
nice some summer mornings! It takes around
10 mins to walk through Melbourne Uni, and 20 don’t miss out. To order your lunch or dinner,
go to the JCH intranet site (mobile.jch.unimelb.
mins to catch the tram from Melbourne Uni to edu.au) and click on either the order lunch or
VCA. dinner options. Your ordered lunch or dinner will
then be waiting for you in the JCR fridge. If you
Coming back from VCA, you have the option have any problems, chat to the Gen Rep who
to either tram up Swanston St and walk back can help you out. You have to put an order in for
through the Uni, or walk back up to Elizabeth each day, so I would recommend setting aside
Street and catch the number 19 tram. This is the a time each week (perhaps on the weekend)
best option to get home, especially if you have where you order them all at once. And don’t
a class finishing late at night (and when it’s dark forget to take some pieces of fruit from the fruit
in winter), as there is less walking alone. Walking bowl for snacks before you go!
from the Elizabeth St stop
to VCA takes around 10-15 mins, and catching College support:
the tram from Elizabeth St to Morrah St will take Make sure you take advantage of the support
about 20 mins. which College offers you. Although you may
not have tutes each evening with the tutors, the
VCA + College: tutors are still willing to help you - whether it’s
Living at College basically means you have the by reading through an essay, offering advice, or
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS, with two very tight knit simply looking over your work! Also make sure
groups of friends. Try to take advantage of all you approach Bee and Ms. Welsford if you’re
that College offers you even with your heavy VCA struggling with anything or need any help, that’s
schedule, and try to experience as much as you what they are there for!
can!
Overall, if I was to give you one piece of advice, it would be to make the most of all that you have
with living at College and getting to study at VCA. Being at VCA will be challenging physically and
emotionally, as well as extremely overwhelming - so don’t be afraid to talk to College tutors or staff for
help, and make sure you ask your friends for help when you need it too :)). Good luck with VCA! Give it
your all, and enjoy a vegan focaccia from Lionels café for me xx
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