I have to submit my preferences in september.
Thought I would draw on the wealth of experience in this forum to provide some insight into tertiary studies, university and specific courses.
Considering Law (Jd at melbs?) , Professional communications, journalism (RMIT one looks good), maybe Architecture and environmental science.
Would like to get a job when I graduate so trying to avoid fluffy courses.
Cheers,
Sean
I think it’s law for someone that rides fixed to study architecture. You also have to have a tumblr.
Hopefully that helps.
To do the JD you have to do an undergraduate course anyway. I would do that.
From what i understand, journalism courses are increasingly redundant, though the RMIT is highly respected.
I did law at Monash as my second degree and really enjoyed it.
From my experience, currently the main issue with the JD is that it can be somewhat difficul finding work in that when you do interviews for clerkships (if you want to go down that path) you haven’t really had any results/experience to build off in the interview process, whereas with doing law as an undergrad degree you have a lot more experience (as you apply for clerkships later in your degree). Saying that, I basically did the JD program as I did a degree before Law and am 100% positive that I did well because I had already had university experience. It is a pretty competitive area so taking the first year easy in law as an undergrad really penalises people later in finding jobs, which is unfortunate.
Happy to discuss my experiences re Monash / finding work in law if you want, PM me. Have recently had a bit to do with recruiting also.
My number one piece of advice is that while thinking about jobs is important, you should have what you enjoy/are interested in as 1st pref. If you enjoy the “fluffy” courses that is what you should do, even if you think it may be harder finding a job. You won’t stay in a job doing something that you don’t like.
seconded. its cliche, but you enjoy what your good at, and vice versa.
Pretty broad spectrum of ideas you have there, looks like you don’t have a developed view yet about what you want to do. That’s OK for starters but you should do a lot more research. Open Day season is right around the corner, I suggest you visit as many as you can but do some homework on the courses you’re interested in beforehand and ask lots of questions when you are there. Ask about what’s in the degree and what you can expect to be learning (and how) but also ask about ATAR/ENTER cutoffs in previous years and ask about graduate employment rates.
Edit - the other guys had this to say while i was typing but I’m going to say it too, anyway:
Perceived job prospects are important but you will do much better in a degree that genuinely interests you and uses whatever strengths you have. You will be more motivated to do the work when it gets tough (and it will at some stage). You will generally achieve better results, which will in turn help your job prospects and give you more/better choices when the time comes. (I work in a large University and some of my research is about student performance - I see lots of kids struggling in degrees they are doing for the wrong reasons). Also keep an open mind and try not to be sucked in by the perceived glamour of the degree or prestige prestige of the institution.
Degrees that support or include summer internships with companies or sandwich years with work placement will help your later prospects (Parts of RMIT and Swinburne do reasonably well at this).
choose any of the above. garantee you will change it or drop out. my 2 cents.
regards,
uni drop out
I was at Monash uni open day today, rode to the caulfield campus from Brunny. Didn’t realise that law or science wasn’t represented there. My mum works at Melbourne university so she told to ask all the same questions that CC suggested. I was too tired/hungover to remember but realised I need to scour the VTAC course guide more so I can focus more instead of chatting up people and eating free sausages. Definitely need to ask about graduate employment rates.
I’m never going to pick a course I won’t enjoy, that’s the whole point of this education thing for me. Would enjoy law at monash but don’t think I’ll scrape the 98ish ATAR, could be close.
Wjwat what degree did you do before law?
*guarantee.
Does that mean I get 2 cents if I don’t drop out? or if I do will I amass a ridiculous collection of bicycles?
Biomedical Science.
And it is okay to have a pref that has a high ENTER course. You can always change the order of your preferences after you get your results.
Having a good hard look at myself right now.
Indeed. Sounds like me when I finished high school - too many options. Take a few years off, move out, get a fun job, travel, develop as a person, do what you want to do for a while, don’t worry about streamlining your path into the rat-race… You’ll most likely get a better idea about what you want to do and you’ll get more out of uni because of it.
I agree with the first statement - don’t get sucked into a glamorous degree just because it will make the folks proud, but I disagree on the second. Prestige of the institution is important when it comes to employment, certainly in competitive fields.
what about a gap year? i had flunked out of first year, then did nothing with the next 2 years before starting another one, now i’ve finished it but regret not travelling earlier before going back to study
someone mentioned work experience, really important to factor in, whether its through your chosen institution or some that you’ver sought out on your, employers eat that shit up
Meh its not all bad. I went to a private school and was bitterly disappointed in the end. They rammed so much information down my throat in year 12, tell you if you don’t go to university you will be a bum. Ended up doing property economics/construction management for years to only realise it wasn’t as fun or enjoyable as i imagined, took a break then i moved onto industrial design and after 8 weeks of the first semester realised that university just wasn’t for me and they couldn’t give me what i waned. I would reccomend trying to lock down a entry to uni and then take a gap year before headed to uni. 12 years of school then straight to uni was the worst decision of my life.
I didn’t get into uni. I wanted to be a primary school teacher. But instead, I spent all of high school getting drunk/laid, didn’t study, and couldn’t even get into the course at Warnambool.
Study hard man.
But remember, there’s more to life than study, my gf had been studying for years, now she’s an apprentice, and within a few months she’ll be earning more than me as a 4th year apprentice.
Some people know what they want to do from an early age and some study, then go on to work only to ditch it after a year or two. If you’re going to do something as a job, make sure it’s something you’re passionate about.
I chose architecture the night before I put my preferences in, lucky guess I reckon.
Geomatics / Surveying. If you like being outdoors and are reasonable at maths you walk into a job
Architecture is a fairly specific thing to get into. I’d be wary about jumping into a specific course straight up - there’s a reason those “fluffy” courses exist.
A gap year is a great idea, but I’ve also seen kids come back from overseas with no money at all and still no idea about what to do.
How much are you interested in architecture? When I enrolled in it at the end of year 12 I didn’t know a thing about buildings, but liked art as much as I liked physics and engineering, and that was enough for it to work out ok for me. I’m now a graduate architect, i.e. I’ve finished a master of architecture degree and have a job, but I’m not registered yet. It’s a long process, lots of long hours and not much pay. Like a lot of things, you kind of need to throw yourself right into it if you want to do well.
Yeah after having a good think I don’t think architecture is for me.
Damn this is hard, very important decision, 30ish days to decide.
I think I should just pick the course which appeals to me the most and if I love it that much I will always find a job with it.
This has been good everyone.
Who has studied at RMIT? or done Prof. Comm or something similar, spill some info.
Most people I know end up in completely different fields to that which they studied at Uni. Mostly because they chose a course straight after school. I’d recommend working/loafing/roaming around the world doing whatever works takes your fancy or is available until you have a good idea of “what you want to be”. Even then don’t think of it as forever.