Degree Help

mr_nate_ · 2015-12-28T03:55:47+00:00

Whatever you do, only invest a sum of money that you can make back with a job using that degree.

cucumber_vaccine · 2015-12-28T10:29:12+00:00

You're getting advice here from people who don't know that Australia's a bit different. Unlike the US, most AU universities don't have gen eds and university costs are not crippling. Let's use University of Queensland's Bachelor of Engineering degree as an example: http://www.uq.edu.au/study/program.html?acad_prog=2342#australian . I assume you're a domestic student:

You will be doing on-topic course work from first year onward
A domestic student gets a commonwealth supported place, which costs about $9K per year.
You don't have to pay these fees up-front (and they're removing the bonus for doing so).
You take a loan from the government which only needs paying back once you start earning above a threshold (currently $54,126).
There is no interest on this loan, but it is indexed by CPI.
If you work in certain fields, the government will pay back some of your loan for you.
http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/helppayingmyfees/hecs-help/pages/hecs-help-welcome
http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/payingbackmyloan/pages/paying-back-my-loan

As to your program selection: are you sure you don't want to choose a useful degree, like gender studies? /s

I can't speak to actuarial or commerce. I think lots of people do law because it requires good entry marks, but the anecdotes I've heard is that there are a lot of law grads going around, and it's really competitive if you want to become a lawyer (I know you don't). Will that oversupply cycle around, five years from now? I don't know.

I studied software engineering with a heavy side of maths and CS, and it's worked out reasonably well. Tech skills PLUS something else is a good combination if you can get it, but a Software Engineering/Something Else degree isn't on offer at every Australian university. I would say that the software engineering knowledge was very useful, but the base course did not have enough CS. (I added as much as I could, because I like it, but it's not strictly necessary for industry work.) Anecdotally, it has been very hard to hire good people despite getting lots of applicants. However, people don't always want to hire juniors so it can be hard to break in. Find out what technologies a company uses before applying and show some initiative in learning them, and you'll be ahead of many applicants.

Have you done your research? You can find salary surveys online that will tell you what grads are getting now.

Have you done well in your classes? Do you meet the entry requirements of all these programs? What are you good at?

IMPORTANT: People will tell you "P's (passes) get Degrees". Don't listen to them. If you kick ass, you will stand out:

University is so much easier when you have the respect of the faculty and staff.
Getting a good internship much easier (if you're doing an engineering degree, you'll need one)
It's easier to get your foot in the door at a good job.
Doing well in your early years at uni lets you apply for an exchange to another uni. Not only is this a great for your personal independence and development and a great way to travel (you pay your home university to study somewhere else, so it's still only ~$9K/year on your interest-free loan), being the foreigner at an overseas university is a huge amount of +SMV. The BP idiot I used to be squandered this opportunity waiting for a girl back home. Don't repeat my mistake.

Professor_Red · 2015-12-28T06:05:34+00:00

Go for a STEM degree. Anything else can be learned during a (free) self-directed/study course on websites or books such as websites like these

MisterFreeze29 · 2015-12-28T04:27:36+00:00

I'm a big advocate of community college, especially if you don't know what to do. Don't pick something just because it makes good money....you will be miserable, and don't go to a huge university just so you can party. Save yourself a shit ton of money, knock out your gen eds at community college, and work part time to get a little more experience to help you narrow down your choices. I'm assuming you have something like community college in Australia.

Title	Degree Help
Author	theYDL
Upvotes	2
Comments	9
Date	December 28, 2015 3:31 AM UTC (10 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/askTRP
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/asktrp/comments/3yh6nx/degree_help/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/askTRP/degree-help.158433 https://theredarchive.com/post/158433

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