Law/Engineering

[ashtor]

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Whats wrong with this course? Everyone's been telling me not to do it as commerce/law has more employment oppurtunities and more money. Is this true? What can you become with this degree anyway?

[1000words]

Originally Posted by ashtor

Whats wrong with this course? Everyone's been telling me not to do it as commerce/law has more employment oppurtunities and more money. Is this true? What can you become with this degree anyway?

Hi Ashtor,

Did these people give you a basis from which they made such a conclusion?

There are more employment opportunities when you pursue a course which you have a personal and active interest - this is particularly the case when you're applying for jobs and have your heart set on jobs which interest you. Once you set yourself on a course (pun intended!) towards primary motivating factors such as employment and money, think about the journey and final destination and whether you will be happy in the end.

That said, I personally believe there is no significant difference in terms of opportunities between engineering/law and other disciplines. I agree there are more commerce/law graduates but I personally know many engineering/law graduates who earn a significant amount in income (as much as anyone else) and all are employed!

In terms of 'what you can do' with an engineering/law degree, many are attracted towards intellectual property law, particularly with patents. There are major patent firms that employ only (or mostly) engineering/law graduates. If you do not wish to pursue a career in law, many engineering/law graduates undertake a path to become a patent attorney. Seeing as intellectual property matters relate mainly to major companies (national and international), most specialist firms are of a major size and therefore are able to provide their employees with a high-end income. That cannot be said about all commercial firms.

I hope that helps! Feel free to post more questions if you would like to know more.

Best of luck.

Regards,
David

[Lazarus]

Engineering/Law also takes six years to complete, not five.

[Suvat]

Also 28 hours/week instead of 17...

[mr EaZy]

Originally Posted by Suvat

Also 28 hours/week instead of 17...

"YIKES! "

[mr EaZy]

what i mean is: that's almost like a school week! (in my school- 30 hrs)

[Lainee]

But that's 28 hours of full-on study. Which means doesn't include recess and lunch and free periods like high school, so add on a couple of hrs for breaks between lessons... and think of how many hrs you'll -really- be spending at uni. Crazy stuff.

[absolution*]

Geeez, i feel sorry for those people. At least theyll earn shitloads when their done though.

[1000words]

Originally Posted by absolution*

Geeez, i feel sorry for those people. At least theyll earn shitloads when their done though.

You needn't feel sorry for engineering/law students/graduates - from those I know, they enjoy it immensely and the hours are not bad. It's significantly longer when you compare it to a 17 hour/week workload but they would not trade it for anything else. Engineering/law students are also less known to go through the course for the money so they hold a genuine interest for the course and are more satisfied throughout university as a result.

[MoonlightSonata]

Originally Posted by 1000words

You needn't feel sorry for engineering/law students/graduates - from those I know, they enjoy it immensely and the hours are not bad. It's significantly longer when you compare it to a 17 hour/week workload but they would not trade it for anything else. Engineering/law students are also less known to go through the course for the money so they hold a genuine interest for the course and are more satisfied throughout university as a result.

as opposed to other particular varieties..

[1000words]

Originally Posted by MoonlightSonata

as opposed to other particular varieties..

Being diplomatic has gotten me out of tight spots. Well, some of the time.

[ashtor]

shit! 28 hours..........say i pick this course first if i get accepted and i don't like it, can I transfer to commerce after a week or am i stuck for the year?

[1000words]

Originally Posted by ashtor

shit! 28 hours..........say i pick this course first if i get accepted and i don't like it, can I transfer to commerce after a week or am i stuck for the year?

After a week? It's pretty difficult to tell whether you feel comfortable with the workload in the first week, particularly as the first few weeks are very much introductory.

If your heart is not set on engineering (and your fallback with commerce is in great contrast), I believe you will not enjoy it. If you don't feel comfortable committing, I feel that you will find yourself picking as many problems in engineering to convince you to opt for commerce (i.e. the grass is greener...). If the workload intimidates you, I recommend that you go for commerce/law or arts/law.

With my science/law degree, my workload was around 28-30 hours too in the first few years. Much of the science aspects were practical (3-5 hour pracs) which made for large contact hours. However, I enjoyed it as I was pursuing something that I found interesting and did not mind the hours. That said, I was not someone with substantial responsibility at that age (i.e. some people need time to work to fund their rent and living expenses etc) and I can understand if they find such hours burdensome.

As for transferring, perhaps it may be possible for you to change after a year. That said, I do not think that you might waste a year completely - if you wish to transfer, you may want to defer any engineering subjects and have your first year as a 100% law subjects year. You may be able to enrol in any of the introductory law subject, criminal, torts, contract laws - as these are basic subjects that do not have prerequisites (I think). I am only writing generally so you might need to check with the specific university.

I hope that helps! Best of luck.

[ashtor]

are there many jobs in biomedical engineering because that's what I'm interested in. Someone that done the course said to stay away from it...

[1000words]

Originally Posted by ashtor

are there many jobs in biomedical engineering because that's what I'm interested in. Someone that done the course said to stay away from it...

Why did they say that? There are always employment opportunities in fields of technological innovation, particularly with biomedical engineering when there's a lot of commercial incentive in that area.