Advice wanted re. Engineering degrees

[finishedschool]

Hi everyone, I received a pleasant surprise on Monday with an ATAR of 99.90, however this has meant I've received a scholarship offer from Melbourne Uni, and I'm struggling to make the decision between Melbourne and Monash in light of this. My plan all along was to go to Monash, so I haven't really done that much research into the degree at Melbourne.

I just have a few questions about the degrees I was hoping some of you could answer. I'm planning to do either a Bachelor of Commerce and Masters in Engineering at Melbourne or a Bachelor of Commerce and Engineering at Monash. In terms of money, it appears that Melbourne will be about 10-12k cheaper at the end of the five years.

1) If I'm unsure of exactly which stream of Engineering I'd like to do, does Melbourne offer some time to make this decision or would I have to decide what my masters will be fairly quickly?

2) In terms of employability, I've heard that a Masters degree is almost essential should I want to work overseas, and I've also heard that Melbourne's engineering graduates are less employable than those from Monash, is there any truth to this?

3) Will a degree from Melbourne open more doors for me or does it make no difference? (This is a key concern of mine, the possibility of missing opportunities)

4) Should money factor into my decision? (As stated previously, melbourne will be a bit cheaper even with both scholarships on offer)

Thanks in advance for any responses, they're much appreciated! Hopefully they'll help me with my decision.

[4lec]

Great results mate, would you mind sharing your results with us

In my opinion I would opt for the Monash Degree.

1) If I'm unsure of exactly which stream of Engineering I'd like to do, does Melbourne offer some time to make this decision or would I have to decide what my masters will be fairly quickly?

Under the Melbourne Model, each semester you will do 3 "Commerce" subjects and in-place of your breadth subject you will enrol in your "engineering subject". Obviously you will begin with your basic Maths and Physics. AS the course progresses you with have to make a decision, and begin choosing subjects from a certain field such as Electrical (Like me ^_^) They could include Electrical, electronic, communications, computer. So I'd say you have plenty of time to choose. 

2) In terms of employability, I've heard that a Masters degree is almost essential should I want to work overseas, and I've also heard that Melbourne's engineering graduates are less employable than those from Monash, is there any truth to this?

Interms of woking overseas, I am sure that Monash and RMIT and probably other engineering courses should be Accredited by Engineers Australia, in turn giving then the Washington Accord Approval
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Accord

Melbourne however are still in the process of being accredited and could be eventually declined.
Also Australian certificates are usually very convincing and hold High Value overseas, especially in Asia and the Middle East  overseas anyway.  In the case of employability, Monash or RMIT or Even Swinburne graduates may have better chance of employment due to the nature of the UoM degree. Essentially its rushing through engineering in 2 quick years.

Will a degree from Melbourne open more doors for me or does it make no difference? (This is a key concern of mine, the possibility of missing opportunities)

I think that a degree will open one door, but your own hard work, ambition, perseverance will open the rest.

4) Should money factor into my decision? (As stated previously, melbourne will be a bit cheaper even with both scholarships on offer)

Assuming your an Australian local and will get a CSP, you should worry at the price at all. After you graduate and begin earning about 44,000 per year then the ATO will begin taxing you at a certain rate, which is 4% extra then your normal tax rate when earning 44,000. So essentially you should not really worry about money at all.

[sluu001]

I also believe Monash has a very good "incentive" program (ie. $$$) for kids with your score. Just something to consider since Uni students are inherently broke throughout the semester.

[finishedschool]

Great results mate, would you mind sharing your results with us
In my opinion I would opt for the Monash Degree.

No worries, my scores were:

Methods (2012): 49
English: 50
Specialist: 44
Economics: 48
Physics: 45
Chemistry: 39

Thanks for the info, it's helped a fair bit.

[vcestudent94]

Interms of woking overseas, I am sure that Monash and RMIT and probably other engineering courses should be Accredited by Engineers Australia, in turn giving then the Washington Accord Approval
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Accord

Melbourne however are still in the process of being accredited and could be eventually declined.
Also Australian certificates are usually very convincing and hold High Value overseas, especially in Asia and the Middle East  overseas anyway.  In the case of employability, Monash or RMIT or Even Swinburne graduates may have better chance of employment due to the nature of the UoM degree. Essentially its rushing through engineering in 2 quick years.

Wait, what? Wasn't Melbourne the one with overseas accreditation (Washington Accord)? I'm not sure about the other universities though.

[hobbitle]

Melbourne are Washington Accord accredited.
The new Eng masters "with Business" degrees are technically still being assessed but there is almost no chance they will not be approved.
All the standard Eng Masters are Eur-Ace and Eng Australia accredited.

[Hancock]

All Melbourne's Engineering courses are Washington Accord approved and EUR-ACE approved, which means you can work anywhere in the EU and in almost all Western Countries which follow the Washington Accord. No other university in Australia has the EUR-ACE accreditation. All universities in Australia for engineering have the Washington Accord approval IIRC.

In Commerce / Engineering at UoM, your course structure can be found here:
http://www.eng.unimelb.edu.au/study/undergraduate/mechanical.html

Click on the Commerce tab on the study plan and you'll see that some semesters, towards the latter end of your degree, you'll be taking 2 subjects of engineering per semester (in your Bachelor of Science, majoring in Engineering Systems). After that 3 years, you'll be taking 4 subjects of engineering per semester. Click on the engineering FAQs thread in my signature if you want more comparison between UoM and 4 year BEng universities.

Given you got the Chancellor's Scholars program which pays a hefty sum, and then Eng Schol at Monash it's really a toss up. The Chancellor's Schols program means that you are definitely graduating with an Engineering Degree because you are guaranteed into the Master of Eng as well.

[Hancock]

Interms of woking overseas, I am sure that Monash and RMIT and probably other engineering courses should be Accredited by Engineers Australia, in turn giving then the Washington Accord Approval
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Accord

Melbourne however are still in the process of being accredited and could be eventually declined.
Also Australian certificates are usually very convincing and hold High Value overseas, especially in Asia and the Middle East  overseas anyway.  In the case of employability, Monash or RMIT or Even Swinburne graduates may have better chance of employment due to the nature of the UoM degree. Essentially its rushing through engineering in 2 quick years.

Given we start engineering studies in first year (out of 5 years, BSc + ME), I highly doubt that this is the case. Also, UoM has passed approval on all it's Engineering courses so it's not an issue post-2013. You're not fluffing around learning about Physics for 3 years and then Engineering for 2.

[spectroscopy]

1) If I'm unsure of exactly which stream of Engineering I'd like to do, does Melbourne offer some time to make this decision or would I have to decide what my masters will be fairly quickly?

2) In terms of employability, I've heard that a Masters degree is almost essential should I want to work overseas, and I've also heard that Melbourne's engineering graduates are less employable than those from Monash, is there any truth to this?

3) Will a degree from Melbourne open more doors for me or does it make no difference? (This is a key concern of mine, the possibility of missing opportunities)

4) Should money factor into my decision? (As stated previously, melbourne will be a bit cheaper even with both scholarships on offer)

Thanks in advance for any responses, they're much appreciated! Hopefully they'll help me with my decision.

1. cant answer 100% but i know you do the same general engineering subjects early on, and you pick which engineering you wanna do when you start your masters so i'd say yes

2 + 3. my uncles an engineer in london and when i was asking him about engineering and courses and stuff last easter he says that yes, you really should have a masters for overseas engineering, especially in europe and the middle east. also UoM has EUR-ACE accreditation like hancock said, and that basically just opens your doors to a whole bunch of other countries. what you have been hearing about melb uni engineering graduates might have been people who didnt do the masters, just the b.sc? how they cant get engineer jobs (because theyre not qualified lol)

4. money should probably be really really really low on your list of deciding factors.