Alrighty, i was asked to list some pros and cons as i see it. Just for info, i got accepted into private clients, i think specifically in the business and taxation services.
Pros:
Obviously financial benefit
Stable job through uni
Trainee grant for two years of study without needing to work
Great Experience in the business field
Networking
Cons
Have to do 2 years part time uni, so extended degree
Can't do a double degree, though i suppose i can get around that by going for commerce liberal studies
Social life? from what i've heard you lose a rather large chunk of it, especially during the uni breaks, as i'd be working fulltime whereas everyone else would be on a break
Whilst i do want to do business, it's more in the field of marketing rather then accounting, but sadly there weren't any marketing cadetships around
No chance of gap year or any major holiday (only the annual leave of 4 weeks)
I'll address the cons first;
1. If your degree is only 3 years, all you are really doing is stretching one of those years into two. You're getting work experience, paid, improved promotional prospects, better job opportunities when you graduate... IMO not really such a big loss. That also being said, in my time when we only had half a day of leave per week, a lot of us still overloaded in uni and some people finished a semester early.
2. Double degrees are tricky- if you have your heart set on that, I agree a cadetship is probably not the best option unless you like that industry/job alot.
3. Social life is actually better IMO as you have very defined periods of 'fun' (i.e. Friday nights/weekends) and you're more likely to make the most of it. Lots of firm-sponsored and just random events with your friends from work will fill up time. Also keep in mind that your friends who don't work full time will still be working part time to get cash coming in the door to pay for their lifestyle/uni/etc.
4. You can always change your start date- some guys deferred their cadetship by a year, and some even deferred their start date after they finish uni by a year, and some did both! It's very flexible as long as you tell the firm's HR/resourcing guys up front.
You seem to have a good idea of the strengths/pros.
lol.