Tertiary and Continuing Which degrees are useless/useful?

[checkraiseulite]

Most Law students I knew at Melbourne Uni were doing at least that much work, and very few got straight hd's.

The courses with high contact hours are often the easiest, because you don't take your work home with you, so to speak.

Fair enough. I think this point really drives home the gulf between UoM/Monash law degrees and the second-tier schools.

I'd be lucky to do ~35hrs per subject and with only a couple of subjects left have a HD average. Having said that I'm more of a crammer and don't believe I actually know or have learnt anything, I usually forget it a couple of days after the exam.

 

[Affidavit]

I don't think many people retain the information they've learnt during the semester. You get most of it on the job instead of applying what you've been taught in 12 weeks.

 

[BomberGal]

Contact hours don't mean anything. I know people doing Law with only 12 contact hours but they are doing 2-3 hours of reading every night.

And? Science degrees are 25-30 contact hours a week, and it's certainly not something you 'leave behind' - I mean it's 12 lectures a week, for a start, plus tutes, pracs and prac preparation. 2-3 hours a night of work is fairly standard I'd have thought, not really huge. There were a number of law students in my degree - and arts - doing doubles, who would consistently say that the science portion was a lot more work. The funniest bit were the Arts kids in my Italian class (my non-Science subject) for whom Italian was the hardest subject. It was by far my easiest! Anyway I digress, my point is that I would never have thought law was a higher-workload degree, at least from the people I know who've done both.

Now medicine...that's going to be a whole new ball game...eep

 

[breeno]

And? Science degrees are 25-30 contact hours a week, and it's certainly not something you 'leave behind' - I mean it's 12 lectures a week, for a start, plus tutes, pracs and prac preparation. 2-3 hours a night of work is fairly standard I'd have thought, not really huge. There were a number of law students in my degree - and arts - doing doubles, who would consistently say that the science portion was a lot more work. The funniest bit were the Arts kids in my Italian class (my non-Science subject) for whom Italian was the hardest subject. It was by far my easiest! Anyway I digress, my point is that I would never have thought law was a higher-workload degree, at least from the people I know who've done both.

Now medicine...that's going to be a whole new ball game...eep

From the people I know who've done both, it is.

The 2-3 hours a night is just tute/seminar prep, it's not including assignments.

 

[Silent Alarm]

What's urban planning like?

I've been pretty dead set on English and Journalism. I understand the unlikelihood of getting an immediate/decent journalistic gig, so I'd like a fall back.

 

[NewtoAFL]

How useful is an economics related degree?

 

[bomberdude18 2]

All depends on what you want to do and what field you want to work in. If you want to work in an economics related field then yeah of course it'd be useful. I'm not sure about other universities, but at my uni (Ballarat Uni) they have degrees in business, but you can choose to focus on a certain area such as economics/accounting/business law ect.

Psychology degree is useless unless you do a post graduate course, which you aren't guaranteed to get into.

 

[dani_giuls]

How useful is an economics related degree?

Im doing a Masters of Economics atm.....

I am hoping that it will help me get into the corporate-side of my company (in association with my previous degree). Ive heard that its hard to get a job with an economics degree, but I couldnt tell you just yet!! I suppose it just depends on how bad you want the job!! Its a very interesting subject though, puts things like government policies etc. into some perspective

 

[Tex_21]

How useful is an economics related degree?

What do you want to get into? If you want to work in the economics field itself, expect to need at least Honours (or Honours-standard results at least). To work in the public sector is usually slightly easier, depending on the department (Treasury is the hardest to get into).

All depends on what you want to do and what field you want to work in. If you want to work in an economics related field then yeah of course it'd be useful. I'm not sure about other universities, but at my uni (Ballarat Uni) they have degrees in business, but you can choose to focus on a certain area such as economics/accounting/business law ect.

Psychology degree is useless unless you do a post graduate course, which you aren't guaranteed to get into.

Yeah, my undergrad is from UB (Commerce with an Accounting major, almost an Eco major), which is fine if I want to do accounting, but not really useful at all doing economics. Now studying what is in effect a bridging course for people who have never studied it, to go into postgrad work.

 

[morri]

Over here you only get into these supposed "money making" degrees if ou had a good degree at school lol. the rest is other stuff like mint subjects(mathematics, informatics, and natural sciences, or the humanities(all kinds of languages) , if you really don't know what to do and you don't care if its boring you can always opt out for business administration...

 

[Absolute Gun]

What is the Atar required to get into Commerce?? Is it an easy course to get into??

 

[dani_giuls]

Over here you only get into these supposed "money making" degrees if ou had a good degree at school lol. the rest is other stuff like mint subjects(mathematics, informatics, and natural sciences, or the humanities(all kinds of languages) , if you really don't know what to do and you don't care if its boring you can always opt out for business administration...

I dont know, if you want a money making degree get involved with Mining Engineering, or Geology. Starting graduate salaries of +100k

 

[HeavyPop]

What is the Atar required to get into Commerce?? Is it an easy course to get into??

60.05 at my Uni. It dropped from 63.45 in 2009 to what it is now. Guessing it would be similar everywhere else.

 

[fairdinkum]

60.05 at my Uni. It dropped from 63.45 in 2009 to what it is now. Guessing it would be similar everywhere else.

Are you having a laugh?

 

[HeavyPop]

Yeah, sorry. I don't do Commerce, so I just assumed it would be stay within that region.

 

[fairdinkum]

You know what they say about 'assumptions', brother.

I haven't had a look at the VTAC guide for years but iirc one needed a 90+ to get into Commerce at either Melbourne or Monash.

 

[HeavyPop]

Yeah, it looks like you need a 90+ to get into at UNSW as well.

 

[Tex_21]

From memory its about 80+ here at ANU.

Contrast it to Ballarat where I did my UG, and it was 52. Scraped in by 40 points.

 

[fairdinkum]

Contrast it to Ballarat where I did my UG, and it was 52. Scraped in by 40 points.

So you got a 92 but chose not to head to the big smoke?

I would have thought that would just about get you a scholarship if you were a rural student.

How did you find Ballarat as a uni?

 

[Leather Poisoning]

One degree I wouldn't be recommending at the moment is journalism. The journalists I know have a very interesting line of work - but the pay is average and there aren't too many jobs being added.

Also - wouldn't recommend nursing. We love nurses, but they get treated in a way I wouldn't wish on anyone.

I did a Behavioural Science degree at La Trobe. First thought was to do this and get into clinical psych. Had a few years in the wilderness and delivered shiteful results - no honours, no post grad, no psych career.

Got an entry level job in the customer service department while I collected my thoughts on what to do. Did a Post Grad certificate in Management. Not a great qualification but a good initiation into studying business, if that's what you think you need.

Got a couple of promotions in the time I was studying that. Then I went ahead and did my Marketing Masters and now I'm a Marketing/Business Development manager for a management consulting business and selling huors on the side to friends of friends that want to set out marketing strategies for their small busiensses.

Loving it.

My advice - don't get too caught up in the degree. Sure, get it done and prove to yourself and the world that you're capable - but personality shits all over qualifications as a career maker. Build your people skills and most of all - put everything you learn into practice.

 

[Tex_21]

So you got a 92 but chose not to head to the big smoke?

I would have thought that would just about get you a scholarship if you were a rural student.

How did you find Ballarat as a uni?

Yeah, I got 95, but I dislike Melbourne quite a bit. Picked up a full CSP scholarship, as the highest TER across the faculty which was pretty handy.

Ballarat can be a really good uni for some things, and pretty ordinary for others. If you want to go into public practice accounting its pretty good, has a great job-finding rate and sets you up reasonably well (though uni's in general don't set people up really well to walk into a job). However if you want to go onto bigger things (like big business corporate accounting etc) it leaves a bit to be desired. There is an issue with the overall student body tending a little to the lazier side (I'm now at ANU and have done some classes this semester in with first years, and the difference is quite large) in terms of academic work.

I decided in my third (last) year that I wanted to pursue economics further, which UB doesn't offer at anything in-depth there, so I moved here for postgrad.

 

[checkraiseulite]

Yeah, I got 95, but I dislike Melbourne quite a bit. Picked up a full CSP scholarship, as the highest TER across the faculty which was pretty handy.

......

I decided in my third (last) year that I wanted to pursue economics further, which UB doesn't offer at anything in-depth there, so I moved here for postgrad.

Are you happy with how it worked out in hindsight taking UB?

I'm not sure how the whole postgrad/undergrad transition thing works but I'd imagine ANU wouldn't be giving credit to too many UB subjects? I know when I looked at transfer to Monash they weren't giving me credits for a lot of my subjects.

I've found with the BComm at Deakin (i'm assuming that UB is similar) that because the course is primarily filled with people with TER's <75 or whatever, the subjects are pitched at a much lower level than they otherwise would be. A lot of first year finance/econ for me was teaching people basic maths (BOMDAS/BODMAS and y=mx+c).

This was good in some ways because you could get excellent results with very little work, but I struggled with motivation and got jaded with the whole uni experience.

Group assignments (stupid idea in general imo) were a nightmare to the point where I just look for people that don't care and are happy for me to do the whole thing myself (find this more efficient than relying on other people who invariably submit crap that I have to edit the f**k out of anyway, or just submit nothing at all).

I guess I would also advise against doing Law and Finance right now. By all accounts there's a glut of graduates in these disciplines and it's very competitive to find a decent grad job.

 

[Tex_21]

Are you happy with how it worked out in hindsight taking UB?

In hindsight I would have came straight to Canberra to study Economics alone, but I didn't really want to do that straight out of school, so no major complaints.

I'm not sure how the whole postgrad/undergrad transition thing works but I'd imagine ANU wouldn't be giving credit to too many UB subjects? I know when I looked at transfer to Monash they weren't giving me credits for a lot of my subjects.

I could have got credits for 2 classes, but chose not too, as it had been 4 years since I took them (I took 18 months off in between study) and they were at a very basic level anyway, in comparison to the classes taken here.

I've found with the BComm at Deakin (i'm assuming that UB is similar) that because the course is primarily filled with people with TER's <75 or whatever, the subjects are pitched at a much lower level than they otherwise would be. A lot of first year finance/econ for me was teaching people basic maths (BOMDAS/BODMAS and y=mx+c).

This was good in some ways because you could get excellent results with very little work, but I struggled with motivation and got jaded with the whole uni experience.

There is a bit of that. The economics classes are not at all mathematical. Even concepts as basic as the Phillips Curve, IS-LM (or IS-MP) models are not used in a mathematical sense, (the IS-LM not at all, although there was a vague undertone of AS/AD) just a broad concepts. The eco department is really the s**t-kickers of the school of business at UB unfortunately, and usually only has the one senior lecturer and one or two sessionals. That one senior lecturer is quite good though, and I stil maintain contact.

Group assignments (stupid idea in general imo) were a nightmare to the point where I just look for people that don't care and are happy for me to do the whole thing myself (find this more efficient than relying on other people who invariably submit crap that I have to edit the f**k out of anyway, or just submit nothing at all).

Yeah, agree with this. Group assignments were a nightmare, though I must admit once being the guy that did **** all, I went away on holidays and couldn't get in touch with the group. My mark got dragged way down for that assignment, but it happens. International students are the worst to do it with. I put an assignment together, and had to re-write the entire thing to make in moderately understandable.

 

[Messenger]

Group assignments (stupid idea in general imo) were a nightmare to the point where I just look for people that don't care and are happy for me to do the whole thing myself (find this more efficient than relying on other people who invariably submit crap that I have to edit the f**k out of anyway, or just submit nothing at all).

I reckon group selection becomes on of the dark arts of succeeding in some courses. It doesnt get any better in postgrad study fwiw.

Unit Chairs will tell you that group work allows them to set more searching papers and given the rules regarding assessment turnarounds, a fair shot to submit results. I'd note that a couple of international students I've had the misfortune to work with over the last couple of years would sink without a trace if asked to complete an assignment on their own.

 

[fairdinkum]

There is a bit of that. The economics classes are not at all mathematical. Even concepts as basic as the Phillips Curve, IS-LM (or IS-MP) models are not used in a mathematical sense, (the IS-LM not at all, although there was a vague undertone of AS/AD) just a broad concepts.

All of them?

I've just started Commerce up here at UQ and two of the units I did this semester were ECONxxxx. The first, Intro to Macro, didn't involve any fancy maths (just some basic stuff to do with deflators and that sort of thing) but Business Stats was straight out maths - too much so for a lazy **** like me.

Are you living on campus at ANU? And what's the general vibe of the student population like there?