Course Help science/health science

[sjayne]

I got into science at the univeristy of melbourne but I'm scared that it's going to be too much science-if that makes sense- because I do want to work with people, and also grad studies seem more expensive.

I want to do something in an area like occupational therapy (maybe speech pathology) but I'm not completely sure. I don't know whether to just do OT at acu because the location is good (I'm scared because it has limited studying space and seems small etc), accept at melbourne for now or get into health science at la trobe and spend 2.5 hours getting there??

I'm still so confused and there doesn't really seem to be anyone I can talk to. Could anyone offer any advice?

[simpak]

You should research the health science courses you're interested in with a focus on what the course can offer you rather than how convenient the campus is to reach.  Like, what does the course actually teach and how (are there particular subjects, placements etc)? Does the subject matter as a whole interest you? Does reputation of an institution play a role?  What are other pathways you can use, how long does each take to become accredited etc?

I will say - graduate studies may seem more expensive but that's partially because they are a higher qualification and therefore often an advantage in the job market. Don't stress out too much about how much a course costs, loans exist for a reason (so that you can study the course without having the money now and pay later). Something like 40 000 dollars might seem like a lot of money for someone coming out of Year 12, but I can stand here with only 100 dollars in my bank account atm and say that I would commence a 40 000 dollar degree without hesitation tomorrow if it was what I wanted, without being concerned about accruing the debt. It's just not very expensive...it's actually pretty cheap considering your starting salary will probably be around 60k when you finish your course.

If you're not sure what you want to specialise in yet then you might actually benefit from doing a generalised undergraduate degree before you specialise.  I think that La Trobe offers a Bachelor of Applied Science --> Master of OT pathway or something along those lines and I presume you can move from that Bachelor into another Masters field if you changed your mind whilst studying. Speaking from experience, there's nothing worse than jumping into a course that's too specialised before you've realised what you're truly passionate about. You might want to do OT, you might want to do Speech Path - both would be possible after a generalised undergraduate degree such as a BSci and you might be better off making the decision between these sorts of specialisations in three years when you have more of an idea of the shape you want your life to take.