Still not 100% on my course preferences..

[barydos]

Yes, I know. I should have had this sorted out a long time ago.. But here I am!
I've got a number of courses on my shortlist (I plan to go to Monash Uni Clayton):
Med, Eng/Com, Eng/Sci, Eng/Biomed, and then variations of this but with mechatronics instead.

And with this, I've also got a number of questions (possibly silly questions):

1. I've noticed Aero and Mechatronics occupy their own courses in the preference list. Does that mean you're not able to specialist in these if I chose .. Eng/Sci for example?

2. I'm never sure.. Biomed vs Sci, what's the main differences? What factors should I consider if I were to choose between the two? I often hear people say the only difference is the sense of prestige due to the ATAR requirement.

3. What exactly is mechatronics? Do many people do it? What possible future careers does this entail?

4. I probably don't have the biggest passion in medicine (well I'm not 'set' on anything to be honest), do you reckon only those who are really set on medicine should pursue that pathway? For what it's worth, I've also got a scholarship for engineering which is also swaying me in the direction of the eng course combinations...

5. If I was to choose eng/com, I probably would look into the maths side of commerce (maths interests me haha), I heard actuarial studies is very math-heavy. Is it worth it?

6... probably more to come later in the day.

Thanks heaps if you read it all and even more so if you contribute to the thread

[m.Chemia]

I , too, kept changing my preference list even until the last day last year, it's perfectly normal. I'll try and answer you questions.

1) At Monash, Aero and Mechatronics are separate degrees from normal Engineering, so you ARE NOT able to specialise in these. (Unless you transfer of course.)

2) Biomedical Science and Science are completely different, but not because of the ATAR cut-off or prestige at all. Biomedical Science, as the name suggests, it about all these medical related science. While in science, you will have much broader options to choose from. While you can do Biochemistry or Physiology or something like that in Bachelor of Science, you can't really do, say Maths or (Real) Physics, in Bachelor of Biomedical Science.

3) Mechatronics is like a hybrid of Mechanical+Electronics+Software Engineering. It's not hard to imagine you'll be working with robots and something like that. But the market of Mechatronics Engineer is Australia is extremely small, it might be better to do broader Engineering Specialisation such as Mechanical or Electrical.

4) Medicine is not easy as you can imagine, you really have to absolutely love it if you wanna do (relatively) well in it.

5) Yes, Actuarial Studies is very maths-heavy. (Econometrics and some of the Finance units would be maths-heavy too.) I can't comment too much on Monash Commerce/Actuarial, but two of my friends (one got ~97 and one got ~99 for ATAR and worked fairly hard this year) at UoM who just finished first year of BComm have decided to quit Actuarial but going into Finance/Accounting major because Actuarial Studies is just too demanding/difficult. I don't know whether Monash Actuarial would be as bad, but if you are gonna do it along you Engineering degree, you might wanna think about the demandingness, not that you can't do well.

Good luck

[barydos]

I , too, kept changing my preference list even until the last day last year, it's perfectly normal. I'll try and answer you questions.

1) At Monash, Aero and Mechatronics are separate degrees from normal Engineering, so you ARE NOT able to specialise in these. (Unless you transfer of course.)

2) Biomedical Science and Science are completely different, but not because of the ATAR cut-off or prestige at all. Biomedical Science, as the name suggests, it about all these medical related science. While in science, you will have much broader options to choose from. While you can do Biochemistry or Physiology or something like that in Bachelor of Science, you can't really do, say Maths or (Real) Physics, in Bachelor of Biomedical Science.

3) Mechatronics is like a hybrid of Mechanical+Electronics+Software Engineering. It's not hard to imagine you'll be working with robots and something like that. But the market of Mechatronics Engineer is Australia is extremely small, it might be better to do broader Engineering Specialisation such as Mechanical or Electrical.

4) Medicine is not easy as you can imagine, you really have to absolutely love it if you wanna do (relatively) well in it.

5) Yes, Actuarial Studies is very maths-heavy. (Econometrics and some of the Finance units would be maths-heavy too.) I can't comment too much on Monash Commerce/Actuarial, but two of my friends (one got ~97 and one got ~99 for ATAR and worked fairly hard this year) at UoM who just finished first year of BComm have decided to quit Actuarial but going into Finance/Accounting major because Actuarial Studies is just too demanding/difficult. I don't know whether Monash Actuarial would be as bad, but if you are gonna do it along you Engineering degree, you might wanna think about the demandingness, not that you can't do well.

Good luck

Thanks, you've been awesome, I wish I could give you more than just a +1.

I wonder if I was to do actuarial in the comm with engineering... is there any point to doing engineering?

[m.Chemia]

Thanks, you've been awesome, I wish I could give you more than just a +1.

I wonder if I was to do actuarial in the comm with engineering... is there any point to doing engineering?

Glad I helped.
Would you rather work as an engineer or actuary? You might wanna think about what kind of job you want to do.

[barydos]

Glad I helped.
Would you rather work as an engineer or actuary? You might wanna think about what kind of job you want to do.

Umm, I'm not too sure, but I'm going to be honest here, I hear actuaries are in good demand and have a good pay. It's hard to say, but doing eng/com could end up with me being capable of going down either pathway right? (eng or actu..)  I also hear they're quite disparate fields, but whatever.

Would you happen to know how the demandingness of eng/com (actuarial studies) and med would compare? I hear both are quite crazy.
I got an interview offer for MBBS so I might have a go at that, and possibly go the eng/com route if that doesn't work.

Going back to the idea of eng/biomed... how does that sound in regards to the possible careers? How does eng benefit biomed and vice versa... some people tell me biomed is just research... that doesn't sound too attractive imo.

[pi]

Would you happen to know how the demandingness of eng/com (actuarial studies) and med would compare? I hear both are quite crazy.
I got an interview offer for MBBS so I might have a go at that, and possibly go the eng/com route if that doesn't work.

Going back to the idea of eng/biomed... how does that sound in regards to the possible careers? How does eng benefit biomed and vice versa... some people tell me biomed is just research... that doesn't sound too attractive imo.

Doing MBBS (if you get it) and then transferring is the best option

I have a friend doing eng/biomed (with no intentions of med) and really the biomed only helps if you want to do something like biomedical engineering (or so he says). I think he wants to become an electrical engineer but loves biology anyway

[barydos]

Doing MBBS (if you get it) and then transferring is the best option

I have a friend doing eng/biomed (with no intentions of med) and really the biomed only helps if you want to do something like biomedical engineering (or so he says). I think he wants to become an electrical engineer but loves biology anyway

Thanks for your input pi
Can I ask, are you enjoying MBBS? Is it "intense"?

If anyone else who has had experience in actuarial studies or with eng/biomed would like to comment, please do! I'd love to hear it.

Also, just honestly.. does it sound silly to do engineering with commerce (actuarial studies)

#don'tknowwhattodowithmylife

[pi]

Thanks for your input pi
Can I ask, are you enjoying MBBS? Is it "intense"?

It's amazing! Such a great course with so many great people If you're one who's not too focused on marks and is keen on coming to uni for everything (lectures, etc.), there are lots of people to meet and it's honestly really good fun. Not to mention our amazing social events such as Med Ball, various Pub Crawls, various Boat Cruises, and the list goes on.

The "intensity" depends on what you want out of it. Some people really want the HD and a lot of them (not all) study heaps and miss out on much of the social side. Personally I was happy at a distinction level for pre-clin years (which I achieved) so I didn't find it to be too intense, albeit a lot more difficult that Year 12. The assignments in med are really easy, so it's not too hard to get a credit average (which I think may have been the median for my cohort looking at our final exams) and hence not too hard to get.

Also, just honestly.. does it sound silly to do engineering with commerce (actuarial studies)

#don'tknowwhattodowithmylife

Sounds intense I know a guy who did that (with aerospace eng) and got offered a job at NASA a few years ago (turned it down for an actuarial position).

Not a lot of ladies in a course like that though

[barydos]

It's amazing! Such a great course with so many great people If you're one who's not too focused on marks and is keen on coming to uni for everything (lectures, etc.), there are lots of people to meet and it's honestly really good fun. Not to mention our amazing social events such as Med Ball, various Pub Crawls, various Boat Cruises, and the list goes on.

Oooh, that sounds great!

The "intensity" depends on what you want out of it. Some people really want the HD and a lot of them (not all) study heaps and miss out on much of the social side. Personally I was happy at a distinction level for pre-clin years (which I achieved) so I didn't find it to be too intense, albeit a lot more difficult that Year 12. The assignments in med are really easy, so it's not too hard to get a credit average (which I think may have been the median for my cohort looking at our final exams) and hence not too hard to get.

Cool cool cool!  VERY INTERESTING

Sounds intense I know a guy who did that (with aerospace eng) and got offered a job at NASA a few years ago (turned it down for an actuarial position).

WOWWWW okay that's incredible. :O

Not a lot of ladies in a course like that though

NOOOOOOOOOOOO

----
Okay, so far I've concluded: MBBS is cool I'll probably put that as no. 1 pref; eng/com vs eng/biomed for 2nd pref; eng/com might be really intense.... if I choose the actuarial route.. otherwise I'd choose eng/com (finance)... because I like math??; eng/biomed, I like chemistry and biology....

Looks like I've not progressed very far after all LOL

[barydos]

Hate to double post... but

Did anyone drop MBBS? And why? :O

[slothpomba]

Hate to double post... but

Did anyone drop MBBS? And why? :O

Reality says anything is possibility and probability dictates its bound to happen sooner or later. I know of at least one person who dropped out of the MBBS. Despite the fact that it is so heavily (and some might say, distorted) glorified around here, it is just basically a career path like any other. For whatever reason, some people just decide they don't want to be doctors or other factors change, there is no use going down with a sinking ship. If you came to hate med, it makes all sense to drop it, no matter how insane it might sound to some here.

I know a few people who very well could have became doctors/got into med as well but they chose different paths.

There need not be this sense of "wasting your ATAR", especially if it leads you into something you never really wanted to do or tricked yourself into thinking you wanted to do.

[pi]

Did anyone drop MBBS? And why? :O

Yeah I know of a couple that have, they just didn't enjoy it. I think they should have waited until Year III to see what hospitals are like etc but they made up their mind in the pre-clin years and I guess that's ok.

To be honest, I'd say a lot of people aren't totally sure on med when they get in (incl. me), and that's fine. The notion of "I wanted to be a doctor since I was 3 blah blah blah" is largely bullshit and only applies to a minority of guys in my year. The truth is that a lot of people aren't sure, BUT they do find that med grows on them. The amazing people in the cohort grows on them. The intriguing and challenging education grows on them. The like-mindedness of everyone around them grows on them. And I can personally say that that has been the case for myself and many of my friends.

[alondouek]

Going back to the idea of eng/biomed... how does that sound in regards to the possible careers? How does eng benefit biomed and vice versa... some people tell me biomed is just research... that doesn't sound too attractive imo.

Hey!

A few of my friends are doing biomed/eng and the general consensus is that it's great. Biomedical engineering is a fairly burgeoning field (ever heard of the cochlear implant?) but I suppose you could say that about most areas of biomedical science, it's a growing scientific frontier. My cousin is studying biomed and electrical engineering, while a friend of mine is studying biomed/mechanical eng. In my mind, any combination is scientifically relevant.

Career prospects are variable, but the general idea is that to get access to the high-end careers in biomedicine you'd need a higher degree by research. That said, biomed is not at all "just research"; for sure, research skills are taught bit what you do with those skills is entirely up to you. Career pathways that I've experienced thus far include but are not limited to postgrad medicine (and eventually practice), lab-based medical research, clinical-based medical research (where I am working now), bio-'anything' (e.g. Bioengineering, bioethics) and hundreds of other options. It is hoped that throughout the course of your undergrad and postgrad study, you'll find a niche to suit you

[barydos]

Thank you everyone for the input!!!!!!!