Confusion

[Greatness]

Unless I decide what I want, looks like Comm/Sci will be the way. Ony downside is that I would prefer to go to Melbourne Uni. Oh well, can't have the best of everything I guess.

If this is the case, then you can do Commerce/Biomed/Sci at Melb and do some breadth units in 1st year. If you like what you chose then continue if not then transfer that was my plan B if the whole commerce thing fell through

[paulsterio]

I wouldn't judge Med from 1st and 2nd year. It's more of a science degree with some arts worked in than anything. I'd say wait until 3rd year and if you don't like that, then that's the time to make the call.

Yeah, it's not that I don't like med - like I enjoy it and all, and I honestly would be happy being a doctor (just like I'd be happy being an engineer, an accountant, or a lot of other things!)

It's just that I have an interest in a particular career path which I've wanted to follow for a few years now, but I put that aside during year 12 because you know, parents, everyone else wanting to do Med, I sat the UMAT and got a good score, so that pushed me even further along that path, cause I'd feel as if I'd be wasting my UMAT if I didn't and everything like that. But yeah, I'll of course finish my med degree - but I'll see, I've got a long life ahead of me!

[Truck]

I'm now interested in Medicine, Dentistry, Law and Commerce (Investment banking in particular)

I'm not particularly concerned about the pay, I just want to do something that I will enjoy and can see myself doing for an extended period of time.

There is a serious contrast in what you claim to want and what your choices suggest you want.

I would suggest seriously re-evaluating how you decide what interests you. As sluu so succinctly said, you only like the romanticized notions of these careers - you need to spend some time researching what each career entails (not how prestigious you think it is) and what type of subjects you study in each career, to make an informed decision on your future.

I have done lots of research about each career and even spoken to people from each career about what their job entails, what their lifestyle is like etc. Have also looked at all of the subjects I old study at university for each profession.

I'm not just blindly deciding, "hey, investment banking sounds pretty cool and prestigious".

Ok, in that case, do you mind justifying it for me? i.e. What do you like about each career, what subjects do you particularly like in each case and why you want to be each profession respectively?

[sluu001]

Just a heads up, you CANNOT transfer IN to a bio-med degree.

[Starlight]

Re: topic

Double degree? If you are really that unsure. You have a while to change preferences and stuff though before it's all final.

[charmanderp]

FYI, doing two undergraduate degrees back-to-back at UoM could potentially take you 5 years rather than 3 and 3, I think, if you cross-credited effectively. Still probably too long to stay in uni purely for undergrad but something to think about.

[paulsterio]

Ok, in that case, do you mind justifying it for me? i.e. What do you like about each career, what subjects do you particularly like in each case and why you want to be each profession respectively?

That's not going to work, most students are asked to justify why they want to do medicine, and I kid you not, a lot aren't totally honest

[Truck]

Ok, in that case, do you mind justifying it for me? i.e. What do you like about each career, what subjects do you particularly like in each case and why you want to be each profession respectively?

That's not going to work, most students are asked to justify why they want to do medicine, and I kid you not, a lot aren't totally honest

I didn't necessarily expect a truthful answer, only wanted to hear what he'd have to say. I think it's pretty easy to tell if someone really wants to do it or not.

EDIT: By truthful I don't mean he's lying to me or anything, just thinking more misguided .

[Surgeon]

I'm now interested in Medicine, Dentistry, Law and Commerce (Investment banking in particular)

I'm not particularly concerned about the pay, I just want to do something that I will enjoy and can see myself doing for an extended period of time.

There is a serious contrast in what you claim to want and what your choices suggest you want.

I would suggest seriously re-evaluating how you decide what interests you. As sluu so succinctly said, you only like the romanticized notions of these careers - you need to spend some time researching what each career entails (not how prestigious you think it is) and what type of subjects you study in each career, to make an informed decision on your future.

I have done lots of research about each career and even spoken to people from each career about what their job entails, what their lifestyle is like etc. Have also looked at all of the subjects I old study at university for each profession.

I'm not just blindly deciding, "hey, investment banking sounds pretty cool and prestigious".

Ok, in that case, do you mind justifying it for me? i.e. What do you like about each career, what subjects do you particularly like in each case and why you want to be each profession respectively?

I wouldn't mind justifying myself at all if we were conversing face to face or orally as it would be much easier to communicate a large amount of information to you. I just can't be bothered typing out heaps of stuff at this point in time because I'm very tired and have a SAC tomorrow that I'm not ready for.

My justification for medicine and dentistry specifically is that they're both careers in which I damage a positive impact on the community at large and are heavily embedded in the health sciences field for which I am passionate and really enjoy learning/reading about.

[paulsterio]

My justification for medicine and dentistry specifically is that they're both careers in which I damage a positive impact on the community at large and are heavily embedded in the health sciences field for which I am passionate and really enjoy learning/reading about.

So what particular aspects of health sciences do you enjoy learning and reading about?

[Surgeon]

My justification for medicine and dentistry specifically is that they're both careers in which I damage a positive impact on the community at large and are heavily embedded in the health sciences field for which I am passionate and really enjoy learning/reading about.

So what particular aspects of health sciences do you enjoy learning and reading about?

Well to start off with, I could just sit and read about diseases, how they affect the body, what medications do/how they work and what the body does itself to combat disease all day long.

[paulsterio]

So, tell me about a disease you've recently read about and how that disease affects the body as well as how the body responds.

[Surgeon]

I'm now interested in Medicine, Dentistry, Law and Commerce (Investment banking in particular)

I'm not particularly concerned about the pay, I just want to do something that I will enjoy and can see myself doing for an extended period of time.

There is a serious contrast in what you claim to want and what your choices suggest you want.

I would suggest seriously re-evaluating how you decide what interests you. As sluu so succinctly said, you only like the romanticized notions of these careers - you need to spend some time researching what each career entails (not how prestigious you think it is) and what type of subjects you study in each career, to make an informed decision on your future.

I have done lots of research about each career and even spoken to people from each career about what their job entails, what their lifestyle is like etc. Have also looked at all of the subjects I old study at university for each profession.

I'm not just blindly deciding, "hey, investment banking sounds pretty cool and prestigious".

Ok, in that case, do you mind justifying it for me? i.e. What do you like about each career, what subjects do you particularly like in each case and why you want to be each profession respectively?

I wouldn't mind justifying myself at all if we were conversing face to face or orally as it would be much easier to communicate a large amount of information to you. I just can't be bothered typing out heaps of stuff at this point in time because I'm very tired and have a SAC tomorrow that I'm not ready for.

My justification for medicine and dentistry specifically is that they're both careers in which I damage a positive impact on the community at large and are heavily embedded in the health sciences field for which I am passionate and really enjoy learning/reading about.

Would it be alright for us to continue this discussion tomorrow night once I've finished my SACs for the next few weeks?

Most recent one that interested me would be the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, though.

[Truck]

I'm now interested in Medicine, Dentistry, Law and Commerce (Investment banking in particular)

I'm not particularly concerned about the pay, I just want to do something that I will enjoy and can see myself doing for an extended period of time.

There is a serious contrast in what you claim to want and what your choices suggest you want.

I would suggest seriously re-evaluating how you decide what interests you. As sluu so succinctly said, you only like the romanticized notions of these careers - you need to spend some time researching what each career entails (not how prestigious you think it is) and what type of subjects you study in each career, to make an informed decision on your future.

I have done lots of research about each career and even spoken to people from each career about what their job entails, what their lifestyle is like etc. Have also looked at all of the subjects I old study at university for each profession.

I'm not just blindly deciding, "hey, investment banking sounds pretty cool and prestigious".

Ok, in that case, do you mind justifying it for me? i.e. What do you like about each career, what subjects do you particularly like in each case and why you want to be each profession respectively?

I wouldn't mind justifying myself at all if we were conversing face to face or orally as it would be much easier to communicate a large amount of information to you. I just can't be bothered typing out heaps of stuff at this point in time because I'm very tired and have a SAC tomorrow that I'm not ready for.

My justification for medicine and dentistry specifically is that they're both careers in which I damage a positive impact on the community at large and are heavily embedded in the health sciences field for which I am passionate and really enjoy learning/reading about.

Okay I'll put in my little spiel from personal experience, about people who want to do medicine and whatnot - this may apply to you but it also may not .

So many people in my school who are amazing at maths, relatively introverted and the "quiet achiever" type want to do Medicine. More often than not they study really hard in Biology (for example) and are relatively uninterested, then get incredibly good scores in mathematics subjects... yet it's not a maths related degree they do, but MEDICINE!

Whenever I ask them why they want to do Medicine (and a lot of people want to do medicine at MHS), they pull out the generic responses; I love helping people, I love science, I want a good solid career... sometimes people just say "I don't know what else I'd do" or "I don't really care, just do med." People think they're making their own choice, but when your close family has been talking about "how respected doctors are, how much money they make, how good a career it is" for the past 14 years of your life, even if your parents don't directly say "You have to do Medicine!" (which happens to lots of people), you're still being brainwashed into thinking "Med is the best" from the get go. Also, I don't really buy the whole "I love helping people" as for most people, that isn't the real reason why they're choosing to study the degree - it's a lie they tell themselves to justify their decision.

Again, that's not to say this is everyone... I am just constantly frustrated by the amount of people who would be great engineers, scientists or businessman, who limit themselves to Medicine because of some ridiculous societal/family expectation and ill conceived notions of prestige and wealth. 

I really hope people don't get offended by this post, and I'm not aiming it at ANYONE in particular - a lot of people (I daresay more then half) will go into med for the right reasons and become great doctors, it's just imo a substantial minority who are doing it for the completely wrong ones.

[ninwa]

Really well said ^

Unfortunately it's just a fact that most 17/18 year olds have no idea what they want to do with their lives, and so they'll turn to the opinions of family and friends and adopt them as their own.

For example, every single justification I've ever heard for wanting to medicine could be equally applied to nursing, and yet I have never met anybody with that same drive to get into a nursing course - all these posts about how to get into med, the stressing over the UMAT, the ridiculously fierce competition to get into biomed - none of that exists for nursing. That's just one example of evidnece that usually this ambition is a result of familial/peer pressure rather than true personal desire.

Anyone who's read my posts on law will know that I tend to lean towards discouraging people from going for law because I experienced this phenomenon first hand and I know that there are actually VERY few people who truly have a passion for the law. Unfortunately I also know that at this age I was stubborn as a mule and would not have listened, so I don't blame anyone else for not listening either. C'est la vie