Choosing the Right University Course

Choosing the right university course for yourself isdegree for quantitatively inclined people. There are
very important as it will most likely determine what youmany fields of engineering (mining, materials, petroleum
will be doing for your working life. We've had pastetc) and in Australia, mining tends to produce the
students who graduate and go onto doing:highest paying and most abundant jobs. Choose this
- Commercecourse if you are interested in Physics, Chemistry and
- Lawor Mathematics (particular mechanics).
- EngineeringAnother particularly popular choice is Aeronautical
- Medicineengineering at USYD. The misconception here is that
- Sciencegraduates tend to work for airline companies designing
- Arts or combined degrees (combinations) of theplanes and plane parts (called high-speed
above.aerodynamics). This is the obvious career path, but
We will talk briefly about what career paths eachaeronautical engineering also lets you work for car
degree tends to lead to, and our recommendations forcompanies, designing aerodynamic external parts for
each degree.cars (called low-speed aerodynamics).
What course should I choose?The UAI required for this course has a very large
Unlike choosing HSC subjects, there is no scalingrange. Some of the higher UAI courses are:
implications or anything to do with special 'rules'.Aeronautical Engineering at USYD, which is about 92,
University is purely about yourself - choose the courseand Aerospace at USYD, at 99+.
or courses that interest you. For example, if in the- Mathematics If you have a keen interest in
HSC, you did very well for economics and tend tomathematics, choose this course at university. A
enjoy the subject, choose Commerce or Economicscommon misconception is that these types of courses
at university. If you really enjoyed chemistry or biology,(including science and arts) lead to no definite career
aim for medicine, medical science, pharmacy,paths. This is untrue. For mathematics, there are jobs in
optometry, physiotherapy or veterinary science. Therefinance that pay very well, as mathematics graduates
are many possibilities, each with different goals in mind.can often become actuaries or financial engineers. The
We don't have any specific recommendation of whichthing is, becoming whatever you want does not require
degree you choose, except that you should definitelyany specific degree (e.g. if you want to be an actuary,
choose the course you're genuinely interested in.you don't actually need an actuary degree). There are
Whether you want to earn a high salary or contributeprofessional bodies (e.g. CA, CPA for accountants,
to your field, you will do well if you choose somethingAIAA for actuaries, College of Law for lawyers etc)
you're good at. There's no point in choosingthat set exams and their own criteria. Basically if you
Commerce/Law or other highly demanded courses,have the skills to pass their exams and meet their
just because your UAI was 99+ but you have nocriteria, you can have that career.
interest in commerce and/or law. Students who do thisMany mathematics graduates also go on to work in
tend to regret their choices after a year or two,engineering, computer science, banking, insurance and
whereas students who choose degrees based onother quantitative-analyst type positions. Only a small
their interests are generally more fulfilled and do betterportion of maths graduates end up being in academia
in their degree and future career. There's no substitute(the field of scholarly pursuits) as lecturers and
for the motivation and natural aptitude you will getresearchers, as most people tend to think.
from doing something you like, and no matter whatThe UAI for maths degrees is generally low, as the
you do, if you do it well, you will get what you wantdemand is not too high for these courses. However
(whether it's a high salary, recognition, contribution todon't be fooled, as there is absolutely no correlation
your field etc).between entrance UAI and course difficulty. As many
Some common degreespeople will tell you, maths degrees (along with
- Commerce Commerce is one of the most commonengineering and science) are very difficult and
courses students choose. It is a good choice, andchallenging, but also very rewarding to those keenly
possibly has the greatest number of career options.interested.
The most common commerce majors at theUSYD offers a BScience (Adv Math) degree which is
reputable universities are: accounting, finance, actuaryhighly regarded and is likely to contain the brightest
studies (UNSW) and marketing. There are also other,university undergraduates in NSW. Its required UAI is
less common majors.around 98.
Commerce is the degree to choose if you want to be- Science / Arts Science is a good degree if you're
an accountant, or get into finance (work in a bank) orkeenly interested in any science (chemistry, physics or
marketing (work in advertising). The pay for thesebiology). If you are more of a humanities person and
types of jobs are great and there's an endless varietyenjoy subjects like English, ancient / modern history,
of jobs to suit all tastes and interests.languages, social sciences etc. We recommend
Generally speaking, UNSW has the most reputablecombining these subjects to more career-oriented
business school in NSW, so if you're aiming to get intodegrees like commerce, engineering, law, medicine etc.
this course, we recommend UNSW as one of theThese courses are great in that they add flavour to
better universities that offer this degree. USYD,your other degree as well as giving you a wider
Macquarie Uni and UTS are also universities that offerexperience gained from university education, which will
reputable commerce courses.help your career whatever that may be.
UAIs required for commerce range from 94-96 forThe required UAI for these courses are generally very
UNSW and USYD, and lower for the other universities.accessible at even the more reputable universities.
As with all references to required UAIs, check theGenerally speaking, USYD is slightly better than UNSW
UAC published UAI cutoffs each year at the UACin terms of reputation for both Arts and Science
website, as they vary a little year to year dependingdegrees.
on demand and supply.3 year single degree vs 5 year double degrees
- Actuarial studies Actuarial Studies is ideal for thoseStudents often consider whether to do a 3 year
who are good at maths and want to apply this toSINGLE degree, or a 5 year DOUBLE degree during
university study and their future career. Actuaries aretheir time at university. In our experience, we
people who work at big insurance companies, whorecommend combining only if the second degree adds
use complex mathematical methods to calculatevalue to your career aspirations. For example, if you
insurance premiums.choose commerce and are thinking of combining this
A common misconception people have of this coursewith Arts for example, you should ask yourself what
is that they will become actuaries at the end of theiryou intend to get out of an Arts degree. For example,
degree. This is most often untrue, as actuarial jobs area good reason to combine is if you're learning
in low supply, and most graduates end up working inlanguages and intend to work overseas in the future.
finance, in the field of financial engineering designingOne thing students need to consider and realise is that
new financial products etc. This can be quite acombining a degree adds 2 whole years to your
lucrative field, especially if part of a quantitative team indegree. Double degrees tend to be 5 years (some
an investment bank.exceptions where they are 4 years, and some are
For actuary, traditionally Macquarie University's actuariallonger). The extra HECS fees you incur over the extra
degree is the most highly regarded. However UNSW's2 years should not be taken lightly. Think of university
actuarial degree is also quite popular, and UNSW beingcosting you an extra 60%! Additionally, you need to
a generally more reputable university (especiallyconsider the opportunity cost (lost opportunity) of 2
internationally), we recommend doing actuary as partyears worth of working. If you had graduated 2 years
of the commerce degree at UNSW.earlier, you could have started your career 2 years
The UAI required for this is 95+ for UNSW'syounger, so we need to also consider whether the
commerce degree, or slightly higher for Macquariefinal decision of combing is worthwhile or not.
University's degree.The effect of having 2 degrees on your hireability as a
Law Law leads onto very lucrative careers. Lawfuture jobseeker is overrated we think. University
graduates tend to make the most money out of allgraduates with uncombined degrees (e.g. straight
degrees in the long run (yes, even medicine makesBCom) end up getting the same jobs as those who
less!) Students who want to make lots of money inhave combined (e.g. BCom / Science).
their future careers are advised to aim for Law, evenTherefore we recommend the general rule of
if they won't want to eventually be a lawyer. Thecombining only if necessary. Ask people who have
reason is because employers of large commercialgone through university and done the degree(s) you're
companies (banks, investment banks, investment firms,thinking of doing. Ask them about whether there's any
accounting firms, trading companies etc) tend to seektangible benefit from combining degrees, in terms of
out the Law graduates to fill their higher payingcareer prospect, starting position, starting salary etc
graduate positions. Law graduates tend to be highand make your decision based on the advice you get.
quality, intelligent, social, well-spoken and dynamicHonours degree If you're still enthusiastic over your
people, and employers know this.university degree, even after 3-5 years, you can elect
Although the skills you pick up in law are largelyto do an extra year where you will (usually) conduct
irrelevant (unless you be a lawyer), employers tend toresearch into a specific area of your field, and at the
use the fact that you did law to know that you areend of the year, submit a long thesis with your findings.
smart enough to do law. It's like going to the fruitHonours degrees are awarded as modified degrees
market and picking apples from the premium bin,of the normal degree. For example if you did law and
because you know that all apples you pick will be highhonours, it would be LLB(Hons).
quality apples. For this same reason, sometimes peopleAn honours degree is looked upon highly favourably by
who do medicine end up being hired by investmentemployers as it indicates that the graduate has a
banks and management consulting firms (verydeeper and more specialised knowledge of his field.
high-paying jobs), simply because those employersGenerally speaking, an honours degree is looked upon
know all students who do law or medicine tend to bebetter than a combined degree. The view is that
very smart and capable.anyone can do a combined degree (just get the UAI
Therefore we recommend if you get a 99+ UAI andyou need) but not everyone is bright enough to do an
want to do commerce, you may as well combine ithonours degree. Therefore this is another reason why
with law. It will be a great step forward for your futurewe recommend you to choose a course you will
career.genuinely enjoy - because you will be good at it.
Law at USYD and UNSW are the same in terms ofWhat if I don't get the UAI I need?
reputation (they are the best), followed by law at UTS,Fear not. Transferring within university is relatively
then Macquarie, then elsewhere. To get into law ateasy. Transferring between universities or within the
UNSW and USYD, you will need to get a UAI in thesame university will involve calculation of a rank-based
mid 99s. For UTS law, it is around 97.mark similar to a UAI. 25% of this score will be based
- Medicine If you have an especially keen interest inon your latest UAI score, and 75% will be based on
biology, chemistry, and helping others, this is a courseyour university WAM (Weighted Average Mark) which
you can consider doing. However, we recommendis basically how well you've done at university so far.
against choosing medicine for the money. We willTherefore, if you don't get the UAI you need for the
discuss this point a bit later.course you desire, we strongly recommend that you
Long ago, medicine entry used to be solely on thechoose a course that you're good at. If you choose
basis of UAI. However it has been pushed up so highsomething you are not good at, you won't be able to
that the universities have agreed to use the UMATscore a sufficiently high WAM to transfer into the
exam and interviews as additional selection criteria.course you want.
Officially, the minimum UAI for medicine at reputableTypically for most popular courses at reputable
universities is 95, however the median entry foruniversities, you will need a Distinction average (WAM
medicine at reputable universities has traditionally been> 75) after your first year to be able to successfully
in the low 99s. This is in additional to the UMAT andtransfer into your desired course for second year
interview criteria, so medicine can be said to be theonwards. We also highly recommend you do a course
most competitive course to get into.which is closely related to the degree you want to get
However, as mentioned, we recommend againstinto.
medicine as an optimum choice if you want to makeFor example, a highly popular use of this technique to
large sums of money in your career. The simple fact isget into law at USYD or UNSW (because not
that you will not be making large amounts of moneyeverybody can get 99+ UAI) is to first enrol into
until you are in your 30s, and in present value termscommerce at these universities. Once you are in
(remember your consumer arithmetic in year 10?) it'scommerce, for your first year, while everyone else is
just not worth the trouble. For the same UAI (andbusy partying, study hard and score a Distinction
given that you are bright enough to achieve 99+) youaverage. After your first year (2 semesters), this
are better off investing your strong skills into a lawWAM combined with a UAI which is high enough to
degree (see above). Jobs in law firms, investmentget you into commerce should be sufficient to be able
banks and other jobs in high finance can potentially payto transfer into law successfully.
multiples of what a senior doctor can make.How hard is a Distinction average? Surprisingly less
Take this advice with a grain of salt, however,hard than people make it out to be. Remember,
because as we said at the beginning of this page, youuniversity is not like the HSC where you are forced to
will only get what you want if you're interested in whatdo English and 3-4 other subjects which are totally
you're doing. Therefore, if you enjoy medicine, do it. It isdifferent. At university, assuming you follow our advice
a very fulfilling and the pay is very high in all respects.and choose something you'd be good at, all you need
Reputable universities that offer medicine include:to worry about are 4 subjects per semester, each
UNSW, USYD (arguably the best), Monash andsubject being related to the general field that you're
Melbourne University. University of Western Sydneyinterested in. There's no compulsory subjects, and no
recently started a medicine faculty of their own, so ifneed to do subjects that have almost nothing to do
you are dead-set on doing medicine but did notwith each other (e.g. History and Physics), all you need
achieve a sufficiently high UAI, that is a consideration.to do is focus on subjects which you happen to be
Remember, transferring between similar courses oncegood at. In fact, a High Distinction average (WAM >
you enter university is easy (we will discuss this a bit85) is well within reach for some students, as long as
later on).they study consistently, pay attention in class and seek
- Other health courses As we said before, medicine ishelp when needed.
highly sought after and easily the most competitiveTo our students
university degree to get into. There are alternatives. AtAll of us have been down this path one time or
reputable universities, Optometry and Vet Scienceanother and we're always happy to give you advice.
needs about a UAI of 98, Pharmacy needs about 95,Our team consists of people who have done law /
Medical science needs about 93, and physiotherapy ismed / commerce / arts / science and a variety of
much lower and very accessible.others. We can tell you all about transfer criteria and
If you want to get into medicine but didn't get thewhat to do in order to maximise the chances of you
required UAI or UMAT scores, you can get into one ofgetting into the course you want, even after the HSC
these health courses and transfer via undergraduateis over. If you'd like to find out more about anything
or graduate streams, depending on individualmentioned in this article, feel free to post a question in
universities' rules.the general section of the student forums.
- Engineering Engineering is a more career-oriented