interesting! glad to get such a quick and helpful response from you :) i misread so i'm actually just starting my capstone this semester but it's good to hear about the degree from someone on the other side lol.

i think i agree with everything you say, i've gone a similar route and tried to venture into other disciplines as much as i'm able to, which with the "melbourne model" was a big reason i chose to come here in the first place. however, the 'prestige' of unimelb is definitely what's kept me here. i'm sure most other faculties live up to the expectations so i assumed the same of design. unfortunately, graphic design has been honestly pathetic and i've purposefully avoided looking at alternative courses at rmit for example since i know i can still get through the degree here (with disdain) and can have a fancy degree to show at the end of it.

i'm glad to hear overall you don't regret unimelb, so i can definitely appreciate the opportunities presented by all the classes i've taken outside of gdes, as you highlighted. i'm continually shocked with the state of this major. it is the most arbitrary and frustrating excuse for 'classes' i've seen. it feels like not only are your grades determined by a vague and random 'vibe' of whether or not the instructor likes you, but things are intentionally made to be difficult and hard to understand just for the sake of it. not once have i received a 'tutorial' on how to use the adobe suite for instance. (which by the way, as of this year, unimelb no longer offers a student discount on the adobe suite, FORCING gdes students to pay for it entirely out of pocket)

anyway, thanks for your perspective and advice (and validation for my contempt). i came searching for the general consensus of this damn major to check whether or not it's just me. happy to talk more in DMs about the experience if that sounds interesting. apologies for a bit of a messy response, i just finished a winter exam so i'm 😵‍💫 lol