I have a Bachelor of Science Degree (BSc hons) in Mathematical Science (Physics and Astronomy) from Macquarie University, Sydney. I Graduated with 1st class honours and won the University Medal for Physics.
I was told that unlike many other universities (where "almost all you have to do is top the year"), at Macquarie the medal is very rarely given. And that I was the second person ever to be awarded the University Medal for Physics in the history of the Physics department at Macquarie.
I also won other academic awards such as the Dick Makinson Prize for 2nd year Physics, shared the J.C. Ward Prize for 3rd year Physics and won the Australian Institute of Physics (N.S.W. Branch) for 4th year Physics.
Physics is the most mathematical of the sciences, and Mathematics is the language of Physics.
Therefore a large component of any Physics degree is mathematics subjects. I excelled at these, obtaining A grades for almost every Mathematics subject I took. In fact the only time I didn't get an A in maths at Uni (I got one B) was when I took first and second year maths subjects at the same time, so I was studying material a year ahead of where I was meant to be up to.
My Hardest Uni Subject
The hardest subject I did while at Uni was a 4th-year (honours level) maths subject taught by Associate Professor John Corbett. The subject was intended for students who had just completed a whole three-year degree majoring in maths (not physics like I did), and were then doing honours (4th year) in maths. Due to the way my timetable was arranged, I was only required to learn half of the subject.
The assessment was a single take-home exam where I was given a whole week to attempt the five questions in the exam. At this level of study the questions are so difficult and so specialised that taking the exam home (so you could ask anyone about it) does not really help you that much.
Even though I was only required to learn half of the subject, when I got my results back I was told that I had completed enough of the exam correctly to be given an A grade in the entire subject.
When I decided to leave my PhD in Physics and Astronomy, I was given a front page story in the Manly Daily, one of Sydney's most respected and largest circulation local newspapers. (When I was at Uni I was living in Sydney's Northern Beaches area.) There was also a story in the Blue Mountains Gazette, since I went to Blaxland High School.
I'm currently studying for a Master of Divinity degree at Morling College, Macquarie Park, Western Sydney.
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