Hey guys, As a recent HSC graduate im finding it difficult and almost frudtrating at deciding what degree I should do. I got an ATAR of 99.6 and can pretty much get into anything apart from medicine as I didnt do too well in my umat. So right now the courses im considering are Usyd commerce and law, UNSW actuarial and commerce, optometry, possibly engineering. Thees so much to consider including future job availability, earnings, amount of stress and work life balance associated with each of the future profession. I hope the ozbargain community can give me some advice and suggestions especially some if the lawyers, actuarys,enginners and other professionals here.
What degree should I study in uni?
Comments
Waste your life studying law to keep criminals on the streets and to waste your time listening to idiots who can't hold a marriage together.. yay… talent needed there… especially for the future.
Passion is a load of crap.. Choose something you like.. and take any opportunities that come your way. You can't predict your future.. I work in a job I never knew existed when I was choosing my engineering degree. (My engineering skills do come in handy.)
Word of advice, don't ask an online forum to decide what you should study…
don't ask an online forum to decide what you should study…
Half of them are offering their own wisdom without reading what the OP wants.
The other half have no education and are still talking about trades and gap years.
First off, I hope to hell you did some kind of victory dance when you got that ATAR. Daaaaaaaamn, son. Nice work.
Which of the choices you've mentioned get you hot under the collar? Want to build stuff? Want to sell stuff? Want to help people see stuff? Want to do risk analysis regarding the likelihood of stuff happening?
(That last one is actuarial work, by the way. You're welcome.)
YOU got that awesome mark, so pick something that you're interested in. Your parents want you to succeed (which you've done) and be happy (no, really they do). For them happiness probably relates to stability and surety, which is why you might be getting pressure in a certain direction.
Watch some YouTube videos, reach out to some of the professional communities online (no really, go check
out /r/optometry on Reddit), read a bit. Then make your choice, and understand that if you get to the end of first year and you're really not feeling it, YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR (profanity) DEGREE.Go be awesome :)
hmm what underpants should i wear tomrorow
Is that a New Year's Resolution thing?
I picked accountancy and didn't like it, but it was easy emough and I aint no quitter. Here I am more than a decade later, still living the dream.
Parents must be so proud.
I know i am a little late, but here is my two cents.
As someone doing their second Bachelor degree, i post this from experience.
People have basically been saying similar things, but here goes;I cannot stress enough to study what you think you will enjoy. If you truly do not know (i know it can be hard but try to base your decision free from pressure from family or friends) then thats completely ok. A lot of people i know didnt know what they wanted going into their first degree.
Just go for what you think you will enjoy.
Worry less about the eventual outcome of things like earnings. I was in a similar mindset like you are now, thinking about the end job. going for the jobs up the top of the social ladder so to speak, but it is not worth it in the end. If, after the first year you get bored or think it is not for you, then change courses. This is also something you must not let your family or friends pressure you into staying in the course if it is not for you. This is what happened in my first degree. i got to the last year before i finally made the decision (free from family/friends pressures) that it really wasnt for me. but that was way too late as i was basically finished.If you go into something that you do not enjoy then you really are going to suffer. It can really get you down mentally having to spend so much time dedicated to some subjects when you have little interest in them. Especially if they are intensive courses. This will affect the rest of your life during these times. If you have any other personal issues/stress going on at the time, your life will be hell.
Don't be afraid of making the wrong decision. You have many years ahead to work out which is the right one.
Also something else to note; You will be amazed at how much your ATAR means nothing after you get into any degree.
TLDR: Do something you enjoy, then enjoy life.
It's difficult to find a job that both pays well and that you're absolutely passionate about; most people sacrifice one for the other.
Maybe make a list of attributes that are important to you and then apply a weighting so you can consider careers that you will enjoy and pays decently.
I can't speak for everyone but if I did something that paid poorly and I was passionate about, I wouldn't be very happy because life isn't so great when you struggle to pay the bills. I'm exaggerating but you get the picture.
Take a gap year and read, travel and immerse yourself insofar as possible in new experiences. This may go some way to helping you find that elusive passion. Then just make sure you're also good at that passion.
Oh, and don't do law just because of the relatively high ATAR. Just don't.
Law degrees even from the Group of Eight offer horrific employment prospects (cheap degree to teach so too many universities are churning out too many graduates), the profession generally is poorly paid (given the hours worked) and as others have remarked employment is highly nepotistic rather than meritocratic (ie good jobs are about knowing the right people. A problem in most industries but particularly in law) and has some of the poorest mental health outcomes of any profession.
Dunno if my comment will be of any use.
What I reccomend doing (as I am doing now) is choose a 'safe' degree which you wouldn't mind doing in the future.
Then, as you get older and learn more about yourself and what you want in life, feel free to pursue it.
My situation is currently going for my gdlp, get admitted to the bar then applying for air force pilot hopefully under adfa.
I am unsure if my current path is what I will be truly happy with but missing it will definitely make me question whether my life would have been different and more fun if I did go for the army. Hearing about rhe typical white collar job worklife makes me want to die from boredom.
I am in a fortunate position where money is of relatively little importance to me and I just want to enjoy my life. I feel that applying for the adf will grant that.
I don't know what your path will be but remember to plan three steps in advance. And most importantly, enjoy your life.
Good luck and feel free to ask/pm if you feel like it.
For those suggesting dentistry, I recall it being a profession with one of the highest suicide rates. Think about it; do you enjoy going to the dentist or do you do it out of necessity? So you'll see plenty of patients day in/day out that don't want to be there and in all likelihood, bad teeth.
Just wondering, what did you end up choosing? Im in the same position as you were before. (finishing HSC next monday!)
I don't mean to generalise but there is an Asian mentality that you have to be in a high paying job that is respectable.
Being of Asian ethnicity, with Asian parents that want me to have a high paying job, BUT also being raised in Australia, I have had a great opportunity to experience both cultures.
Live your life being happy. Money, job and status is not the be all and end all. People who are rich are not necessarily happy. Pick a job that interests you and makes you happy.