Usefulness of a specialised degree? (1 Viewer)

[Giant Lobster]

Now, if person A gets a uai of 95 she could do some combined degrees at good unis, say (hypothetically) she can get a BSc / BEng at UNSW. Person B is better than A and gets 99.3, and he does a BEng (Aerospace) at USyd.
BUt see, after 5 / 4 years, person B ends up with a super BEng, is still better than A, but nonetheless the degree is a BEng. And person A has a BSc/BEng.

So then, what's the point in working hard if I can do shit all and get a 75 uai and do a no frills BEng? Same degree, but without the brackets.

I guess im afraid of losing out to ppl later on in life, cos I really wanna do the BEng(aerospace) at usyd but i see it's still a mediocre BEng... whereas others come out with combined degrees and on the outside it looks like they are better.

Whats the point? Is the only difference between an aerospace degree and a generic BEng just a few different elective classes?

 

[theone123]

ha?

 

[Malazn Pleasure]

no point

its just the name of the degree

doesnt mean anything wen u get a job

 

[santaslayer]

Originally posted by Giant Lobster
Now, if person A gets a uai of 95 she could do some combined degrees at good unis, say (hypothetically) she can get a BSc / BEng at UNSW. Person B is better than A and gets 99.3, and he does a BEng (Aerospace) at USyd.
BUt see, after 5 / 4 years, person B ends up with a super BEng, is still better than A, but nonetheless the degree is a BEng. And person A has a BSc/BEng.

So then, what's the point in working hard if I can do shit all and get a 75 uai and do a no frills BEng? Same degree, but without the brackets.

I guess im afraid of losing out to ppl later on in life, cos I really wanna do the BEng(aerospace) at usyd but i see it's still a mediocre BEng... whereas others come out with combined degrees and on the outside it looks like they are better.

Whats the point? Is the only difference between an aerospace degree and a generic BEng just a few different elective classes?

The point of doing such a specialised degreee is that in the end, you would be a professional in your field with only a handful of other people who will be able to match your skills, thus, in theory, you will be better compensated in the long run.
It will only look better tempoarily. Your specialisation does not end with an undergraduate degree. You should be looking to do a much more in depth study in your particular field, which, IMO, will 'look' better if that is what you are looking for.
At the end of the day, what you get out of your job is what counts. Not what 'looks' better.

 

[Ziff]

It all depends on what you want to do. With just an engineering degree the person can also major or "further specialise" in fields within engineering.

With a BSc they can only have one major in each degree.

It all depends though. The question is more pertinent to "general" type careers and not something as highly specialised as the sciences and enginerring. Take Commerce/Arts. Which one is better? The specialised commerce degree or the generalist arts degree. Some would say arts because you're less likely to hold onto one career all your life and it's better to be equipped with research skills and a very good general knowledge rather than a specialised set of skills and a specialised set of knowledge (unless of course you want to be an accountant or something ).

 

[Xayma]

Originally posted by Giant Lobster
Now, if person A gets a uai of 95 she could do some combined degrees at good unis, say (hypothetically) she can get a BSc / BEng at UNSW. Person B is better than A and gets 99.3, and he does a BEng (Aerospace) at USyd.

You could do a combined degree with aerospace, as long as it is physics/maths, I think calculon was looking into it

 

[jm1234567890]

specialised degree like aerospace engineering will acctually restrict your choices later on. While something general like plain electrical engineering will give you lots of choices.

It really depends what you like... However, remeber it is easy to transfer between the various streams of engineering after 1st year.

 

[Xayma]

Well if you really want to go into it aeronautical engineering is just a specilised degree of mechanical engineering. By doing it you are limiting your field to one that is much smaller but you would do it because you want to.

 

[Giant Lobster]

damn... so why the hell would i want to work so hard to get into aerospace when, in the long run, its as good as a normal BEng?

Yeh i know the uai is an indication of demand only, but then why is the uai so high for aerospace? the people who want in, who make it high must want in for some reason... ugh i dunno wot i wanna do now.

Can aerospace be combined with science?

 

[Wohzazz]

think we need to ask a more experienced person with this stuff. My thoughts. Law has high UAI for a reason and i agree aerospace too. Probably good job prospect with a growing industry?
Nonetheless if you enjoy the course, why not go for it. If you truly enjoy it, chances are opportunity is going to find you and you will make good money. In contrary, choosing something you don't like say law will get you nowhere because you won't 'shine' as a lawyer because you dont enjoy it. hope i make sense

 

[jm1234567890]

they new fad in engineering is Naval Engineering, mabye consider that rather than aerospace.

 

[Dingo2004]

do business and do a double major
hahahaa

peace^^

 

[TheKey]

Originally posted by Giant Lobster
damn... so why the hell would i want to work so hard to get into aerospace when, in the long run, its as good as a normal BEng?

u should work hard anyway, engineering is not an easy degree, its almost hopeless unless ur on top of maths. But really you should work hard and try and get that scholarship for engineering, i think they wanted people who got 95.7UAI in UNSW inorder to get the chance to get a scholarship...

Originally posted by Giant Lobster
Can aerospace be combined with science?[/B]

i doubt it, i always thought double degrees, while they do sound like your doing 2 different things, are meant to actually narrow down and supplement each part of your degree. Like Elec engineering/computer science. Elec engineering is quite open to the amount of options you get and by combining it with computer science you can choose subjects from comp science which would go really well with whatever ur majouring in elec, so in a way it narrows down the aspect of elec engineering you want to do. but then it doens have to...

i chose my degree because i actually had no idea what i wanted to do. So i thought Elec eng is quite general and hope il find something in it that will interest me so i can majour in that part of it. As for comp science i always liked computers and stuff like that but i was afraid of getting into soft and comp engineering incase i didnt like it, so i took comp science which is supposto be very flexible in choices.

In conclusion if you are unsure and u seem very unsure, pick a field which u think u like and take a course which will give you most flexibility and choices. Either way, do your best in HSC to get that scholarship and so u will have the more choices, i was very limited with my 89UAI .

 

[Giant Lobster]

How good do i need to be to get an academic scholarship?
cos I have no extracurriculars, and co-op scholarships sound pretty dodgey to a bludger like me

hmmm Ill take your advice.. ill aim for aerospace cos i wanna do it but again, i have the fear of being majorly ripped off having worked so hard to get into something exclusive, then later on, becomes mediocre and average

 

[jm1234567890]

Originally posted by Giant Lobster
How good do i need to be to get an academic scholarship?
cos I have no extracurriculars, and co-op scholarships sound pretty dodgey to a bludger like me

hmmm Ill take your advice.. ill aim for aerospace cos i wanna do it but again, i have the fear of being majorly ripped off having worked so hard to get into something exclusive, then later on, becomes mediocre and average

if you have no extracurriculars you will have 0% chance to get co-op...

I mean even if you get interview (although i doubt this) what will you say in the interview, lol..

But i'm sure you have some extracurriculars... you'll be surprised what you can think up when filling out the form.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

I've had the exact same thoughts as you.... I'm doing a BA in Communications (Journalism) at UTS.... I worked my ass off to get in, the UAI was very high. But at the end of the day, I will just walk away with a BA.....

But you've gotta put that aside and go for what you want!!! You can't let what people think or might think get in your way of going and studying what you want and chasing that career hard!!!! Engineering is more prestigious than arts.... people look at me as if I have flunked out when I say I am studying journalism lol. But you've gotta follow your heart.

 

[santaslayer]

Originally posted by braindrainedAsh
I've had the exact same thoughts as you.... I'm doing a BA in Communications (Journalism) at UTS.... I worked my ass off to get in, the UAI was very high. But at the end of the day, I will just walk away with a BA......

That's only because it is an undergraduate degree. What counts IMO is what you Master in, and what further education you recieve on top of your mere undergraduate degree. You can't expect to go through your life with one degree am I right?

 

[Skywalker]

Originally posted by Giant Lobster
How good do i need to be to get an academic scholarship?
cos I have no extracurriculars, and co-op scholarships sound pretty dodgey to a bludger like me

You won't get the co-op on marks alone - you need much more than that.

 

[Ziff]

In Australia, because we use the British system, an honours degree is worth considerably more than a masters degree. Honours allows you to progress immediately to a PhD. If you don't get honours then you have to grab a masters to be able to do your PhD. Honours also means that you completed the degree as a high and very competent level.

A BA with honours in which you're majoring in something useful such as languages, journalism, international relations etc and not something that's worthless like sociology is regarded highly. Not to mention that employers are starting to once again look at more generalist degrees such as the BA because it's the skills they want so they can mould the employees to their own needs (not to mention that people do not tend to hold the same career for very long any more).

 

[kaseita]

you can combine aero with science at unsw (not sure about usyd).

from what i've heard, there's not many jobs for aero in aus, so u'd have to go overseas for them (and the industry isn't likely to grow). its a high uai because its hard.