Double degree benefits/disadvantages (1 Viewer)

[flamhorn]

Erm, you have to take into account that uni in reality operates a lot differently from your high school perspective. Last year, I too thought that a double degree would show you have more versatility, critical thinking etc but it's really not the case.

I'm doing Comm/Engineering at USyd currently and to be honest, doing this double degree doesn't give me an edge over other students. From a Commerce perspective, all my engo electives are irrelevant and the work experience gained by graduating 2 years earlier greatly outweighs the extra degree.

Tbh, only Law would be an advantageous double degree. But I'm still continuing on with Engo because I enjoy it.

 

[billbro]

But what job does your friends actually do? Accounting jobs or IT? If it is an accounting position if you think about it logically why would they hire them compared to someone who did an accounting degree. Maybe it is because they had a 'cultural fit'? In that case, it really had nothing to do with what degree they did.

I don't have a friend who is doing a commerce/engineering double degree, which is why I never referred to one. My friends mainly do com/eco, but that is irrelevant.

If you want an example of an accounting division, I can give you plenty. Take for example a current offer I have for summer vacation at PwC in Business Assurance. BA covers internal audits/IT audits/controls and processes and if you talk to a lot of the graduates they are actually engineering students. Basically this is an internal audit division, with much broader scope. Another example would be forensics and they also hire some engineers in this division.

From what a graduate told me yesterday "when you get to the firm, the managers assume you know shit and build you up from there". The skills you gain from university are ultimately more integral to job prospects than what you actually major in. I don't do the bread and butter Accounting/Finance but that doesn't hinder my prospects if I want to do Audit in Financial Services. Let's put it this way, everyone from graduates to partners have basically told me CA is hell and 10 times harder than Uni. If there is really that much of a gap, your university knowledge is inevitably going to become irrelevant.

No one is saying they will or will not hire an engineering student over an accounting student. However, why wouldn't they hire a combined accounting/eng student over a single degree student? At a graduate level, I see no reason why you wouldn't be at least marginally more attractive - you effectively invested in more human capital than your counterparts. The main draw back is whether or not the pay and experienced lost in the long run is worth the initial benefit.

*Also, why did you do Liberal Studies? All the stuff I've done in Liberal Studies so far has basically no effect on my business knowledge of skills - yet we decided to stay an extra year? Obviously we derived some sort of benefit or utility would result from the additional year.

 

[erm]

Ok these conflicting opinions are confusing me.

I don't know whether it;s worth it now.

 

[billbro]

Ok these conflicting opinions are confusing me.

I don't know whether it;s worth it now.

That's up to you to decide, other people might be able to share their insights.

I'm not doing a double degree myself, but the Liberal Studies components adds an extra year. I wouldn't be willing to forgo another 1 to 1.5 years work experience for engineering though (assuming there are no fails). However, I was willing to give up one year, but a lot of courses are 4 years anyway and even though practically speaking my Liberal Studies component is of little use - it is just a point of differentiation that I have used in interviews.

 

[jannny]

Well, if engineering is the main thing that you wanna do, which takes 4 years then spending another year to get another degree which could be commerce (in usyd anyway) is not that bad and could be worth it . Besides, business skills could be important once you become a manager of ur own engineering firm. Also learning about how economy works i.e. sharemarkets etc, could be really beneficial to know, not just for employment prospects but just for your personal knowledge.

But if, science or commerce is the main thing that you wanna do which takes about 3 years, then ask yourself whether you are willing to spend 2 extra years just to get another degree, or start working early and earn money.

Personally if I want to end up doing something with commerce or science (i.e. research and working in labs) in the end, then I wouldnt bother doing engineering just to be more employable.

 

[flamhorn]

Well, if engineering is the main thing that you wanna do, which takes 4 years then spending another year to get another degree which could be commerce (in usyd anyway) is not that bad and could be worth it . Besides, business skills could be important once you become a manager of ur own engineering firm. Also learning about how economy works i.e. sharemarkets etc, could be really beneficial to know, not just for employment prospects but just for your personal knowledge.

But if, science or commerce is the main thing that you wanna do which takes about 3 years, then ask yourself whether you are willing to spend 2 extra years just to get another degree, or start working early and earn money.

Personally if I want to end up doing something with commerce or science (i.e. research and working in labs) in the end, then I wouldnt bother doing engineering just to be more employable.

Oh that's so true. I reckon the extra Comm degree gives a slight edge over single degree Engo students, but the extra Engo degree matters for nothing if you're headed for the business industry.

 

[nekobutterfly]

If you are doing a dual degree yo ould also want to look at how long it would take you to do it with honours. That could cause some dual degrees to take 7 years