Not sure what to do when leaving school (1 Viewer)

[FroZenWaffleS]

Im currently in Year 11 and went to a CareerSearch exursion today and I went to 2 seminars and now Im confused with what I want to do after I leave school.
I think Im pretty good at Maths (Currently doing Ext 1 Maths) since many people in my school struggle in Maths and Im doing okay in Biology and just passed in Chemistry and Physics (just over 50%, failed the theory but did alright in the prac).

I was considering doing Psychology but according to the UNSW site, the salary was just really low, under 50k. And now I also considering Commerce since it has maths and I enjoy maths more than science.

Could I just get a basic idea of what psychology and commerce is about?

 

[Grizzly]

psychology is pretty interesting - i have a couple of friends who take it.
I'm not sure what it is about, but they always seem to complain about the amount of statistics they gotta do.

Commerce is great ! I mean, your not doing economics at school at the moment ? But thats just a taste. With commerce at UNSW, you must do the 6 compulsary subjects, which inlcludes accounting 1a and 1b (bookkeeping sorta stuff), quantative methods A and B (which has some financial maths, little bit of matrices, multi-variable calculus, statistics etc), and micro (firm specific) and macro (industrial specific) economics.

From that, you choose your "elective" subjects that pathe the groundwork for your "majors" in a related commerce field.

Have a look at :
http://www.handbook.unsw.edu.au/undergraduate/programs/2005/3502.html
Area(s) of Specialisation (Pick 2 majors, or 1major and 2 minors)
Accounting
Actuarial Studies
Business Statistics
Chinese Studies
Econometrics
Economics
Finance
French
German Studies
Greek Studies
Human Resource Management
Indonesian Studies
Industrial Relations
Information Systems and Information Technology
International Business
Japanese Studies
Korean Studies
Marketing
Russian Studies
Spanish and Latin American Studies

 

[FroZenWaffleS]

Is Commerce got to do with businesses?
Like I sit in an office and do some business and finance related stuff?

 

[Grizzly]

Is Commerce got to do with businesses?
Like I sit in an office and do some business and finance related stuff?

Well, yeah, doesnt have to be "behind the desk" job but.

I look at it like this, no matter what your doing with your career , you need sound business skills.

 

[ohne]

If you're good at aths, hysics and chemistry why not have a look at some of the science and engineering degrees on offer at UNSW? Engineering can be a good combination of maths and science.

 

[Survivor39]

Don't listen to Grizzly! Psychology is REALLY boring!!

yeah. well, even though psychology is classified as a branch of cience, but it feels like doing Arts. You look at social aspects and human behaviours and why etc. If you like social science, you'll LOVE psychology.

 

[underthesun]

The only reason I'm at uni is because my parents want me to be, and I have no idea what I want to do , so uni is another 4/5 years of soul searching..

And yeah, uni's pretty fun, it's not so bad, so just go to UNSW

 

[§eraphim]

do some interesting engineering/science course. like nanotech, mining or petroleum eng. elec is good too

 

[stazi]

Im currently in Year 11 and went to a CareerSearch exursion today and I went to 2 seminars and now Im confused with what I want to do after I leave school.
I think Im pretty good at Maths (Currently doing Ext 1 Maths) since many people in my school struggle in Maths and Im doing okay in Biology and just passed in Chemistry and Physics (just over 50%, failed the theory but did alright in the prac).

I was considering doing Psychology but according to the UNSW site, the salary was just really low, under 50k. And now I also considering Commerce since it has maths and I enjoy maths more than science.

Could I just get a basic idea of what psychology and commerce is about?

is that the starting salary? Because if it is, that's really high!
Psych is quite challenging and not sure how it is at unsw (i go to usyd) but you may have to upkeep a Distinction average.
Psych isn't strictly a science. Nor is it strictly maths based. Speaking to people who do it (and I will be majoring in it starting uos' next year) it's a cross-section of arts/sciences

 

[Slidey]

Im currently in Year 11 and went to a CareerSearch exursion today and I went to 2 seminars and now Im confused with what I want to do after I leave school.
I think Im pretty good at Maths (Currently doing Ext 1 Maths) since many people in my school struggle in Maths and Im doing okay in Biology and just passed in Chemistry and Physics (just over 50%, failed the theory but did alright in the prac).

I was considering doing Psychology but according to the UNSW site, the salary was just really low, under 50k. And now I also considering Commerce since it has maths and I enjoy maths more than science.

Could I just get a basic idea of what psychology and commerce is about?

You're thinking too limitedly (if that's a word).

Consider a few of these: You can take Psychology AND commerce, you can take psychology AND mathematics.

Also, you'll really want to make sure you do enough maths in commerce, since that will definitely place you a cut above the rest.

If I take psychology, it will be as a major or minor with my engineering degree. It doesn't really have a huge amount to do with my future career, but does that matter? I enjoy it.

Oh, and if the only reason you're considering commerce is a high salary, think again. You need to enjoy what you do. There's plenty of money to be made in other areas, like science and engineering. And if you do like commerce, then perhaps you'd enjoy actuarial studies. *evil grin*.

And don't let your average science marks get to you. You'd be surprised how much things can change from year 11 to year 12, so you should explore the science avenues anyway.

 

[Sarah]

Im currently in Year 11 and went to a CareerSearch exursion today and I went to 2 seminars and now Im confused with what I want to do after I leave school.
I think Im pretty good at Maths (Currently doing Ext 1 Maths) since many people in my school struggle in Maths and Im doing okay in Biology and just passed in Chemistry and Physics (just over 50%, failed the theory but did alright in the prac).

I was considering doing Psychology but according to the UNSW site, the salary was just really low, under 50k. And now I also considering Commerce since it has maths and I enjoy maths more than science.

Could I just get a basic idea of what psychology and commerce is about?

Psychology is a broad area. There's social psych, developmental psych, neuropsych (the branch which deals with different areas of the brain), health psych, sports psych, cognitive psych. That's all i can recall but have a look at various uni websites.

Survivor39 said if you like Social Science, you'll like Psych. Well that depends on what areas of psych you choose to study. For example, i love the Social Sciences however, i don't find cognitive psychology that interesting.

Commerce is also broad. Depends what area your interested in.

Even though you might be good at maths, do you actually enjoy it?

If salary is really that important to you then look for a course which will give you a career path with $$.

 

[Sarah]

Is Commerce got to do with businesses?
Like I sit in an office and do some business and finance related stuff?

Fozenwaffles, just because you do a Commerce degree, it doesn't mean you'll get a job sitting in an office. It may be more likely you do than if you did a degree like Petroleum engineering, but it depends on the career you want.

A degree is there to give you skills and knowledge in a particular area. It doesn't define your career or job path

 

[neeja]

Im currently in Year 11 and went to a CareerSearch exursion today and I went to 2 seminars and now Im confused with what I want to do after I leave school.
I think Im pretty good at Maths (Currently doing Ext 1 Maths) since many people in my school struggle in Maths and Im doing okay in Biology and just passed in Chemistry and Physics (just over 50%, failed the theory but did alright in the prac).

I was considering doing Psychology but according to the UNSW site, the salary was just really low, under 50k. And now I also considering Commerce since it has maths and I enjoy maths more than science.

Could I just get a basic idea of what psychology and commerce is about?

i have an immediate dislike for you because you are considering choosing a degree (or not choosing one) based upon the fact that the salary you will get at the end of it will be by some definition low.

you should be studying/doing what you enjoy, not what you wish to earn

the choice is yours.
people will tell you this and that about stuff. but in the end its up to you, FEEL THE POWER!

 

[er123456]

$50,000 starting salary?

a med student studies for 6 years and starts at less...why are you complaining

 

[GoodToGo]

$50,000 starting salary?

a med student studies for 6 years and starts at less...why are you complaining

And I think the best paid starting lawyer starts at 55

 

[Courtenay]

Engineering has one of the best starting salaries, and if you are willing to go overseas (or to perth) you can make even more....well over 50k your first year out of uni, but then i am biased...

 

[Slidey]

Starting average for lawyers is like $40K. In fact I think the only thing higher than engineers is dentists at $55K.

Unless you're a UNSW mining engineer, in which case you'll start at $75K. Similar for petroleum (60 to 100K), renewable(60 to 80K), photovoltaics (ditto) and civil (about 140K after 3 years). Ah...

 

[stazi]

Starting salaries don't mean much, but here's some: (the first number is the salary and the second is the percentage employed full time within 6 mths) These starting salaries are medians.
If anyone wants any other degrees, let me know and I'll post them. Can't be fucked doing them all as it takes ages to type out.

Engineering (Aeronautical) 40,000 46.67%
Engineering (chemical) 44,500 82%
Engineering (civil) 40,000 91.67%
Engineering (computer) 42,000 62%
Engineering (electrical) 40,000 56%
Engineering (mechanical) 42,500 60%
Engineering (mechatronic) 35,000 60%
Engineering (telcommunications) 47,500 30.77% - haha, high salary. low employment.
Engineering/Arts (or Science or Commerce 40,000 30.77
---------------------------------------
Science 38,000 28%
Medical science 37,805 14.04% (note: the employed full time figure is irrelevant as 80% of graduates study further)
Computer science and techonology 35,000 48.53%
Psychology 38,490 40% (with 40% studying further)

 

[stazi]

Starting average for lawyers is like $40K. In fact I think the only thing higher than engineers is dentists at $55K.

Unless you're a UNSW mining engineer, in which case you'll start at $75K. Similar for petroleum (60 to 100K), renewable(60 to 80K), photovoltaics (ditto) and civil (about 140K after 3 years). Ah...

Law is $43,085
Dentistry is $60,000 with full 100% employment

 

[Slidey]

May I ask what your source is?

Fields of study with high proportions in full-time employment at the time of the GDS included pharmacy (99.1 per cent), medicine (98.3 per cent), veterinary science (98.0 per cent), dentistry (97.0 per cent), mining engineering (96.6 per cent), civil engineering (96.5 per cent), and initial and post-initial nursing education (both 95.9 per cent). See Table 2 in GradStats (linked to below).

Respondents from mathematics (18.2 per cent), visual and performing arts (15.1 per cent) and computer science (14.9 per cent) were the most likely to have been without work while seeking full-time employment. See Table 2 in GradStats.

At $60,000, dentistry graduates earned the highest median starting salary. See Tables 4 and 5 in GradStats.

The top ranked fields in terms of starting salary were dentistry, optometry, medicine, engineering, education and mathematics. See Table 5 in GradStats.

http://www.gradlink.edu.au/content/download/2148/8520/file/Gstats2004.pdf