Med vs Law

[simpak]

Don't worry if it's not what you're best at - look at my scores and now I'm considering a transfer to science to go in a relatively Med/Health Science related path.
Most people would consider me more English oriented but I find writing on demand is so difficult and if somebody gave me an option I would gladly take a Biol exam over an English essay any day.

Anyway, if you like Chem but you're not sure you should really do a double degree.
Do you live close to Monash?
If you do, I would suggest Arts/Science, or if you want and can get in, Law/Science.

You could try Melbourne Science or Arts because you'll still get a breadth but for people who aren't sure, like myself, it's always better go to general in the undergrad and then specify in the postgrad.
Considering both your degrees pretty much require postgraduate study, you won't be disadvantaged by completing a general double degree first and it will give you a lot more time to really decide which option is best for you.
I wish I had done something more general before specifying - I went into Media and Comm too soon, but I'm lucky I didn't start with RMIT Journalism straight off because I would be even more stuck.

So at the moment, i would look towards Arts/Science to begin with and think about JD and MD pathways in the future - you can decide later.
That said, you still have a whole year before you have to choose preferences and you might sway one way or the other next year.

But from someone who was very much in the same position as you - choosing between Arts and Science - I can't recommend being general any more.
I hope more people can learn from my mistakes, really

[vea]

Keep in mind that doing something as a subject and as a career is much different though. I personally enjoyed Maths more than any other subject but I can't imagine doing a career in it.

[schmalex]

Maybe chemical engineering? It's a pretty respectable career path with decent job opportunities, so your parents won't nag at you, but it encorporates maths as well as chemistry. Or if you're really not sure, engineering\law?

[Greggler]

anyone know what law/science is like?

Is it possible, say, after a year to say I dont like science, but I like law, so i want to maybe do straight law or law/arts or something.
Or maybe you say, i hate law, and then maybe drop law and just continue on with a science degree...

[ninwa]

It's definitely a LOT easier to transfer out of any law course than it is to transfer in.

My friend does scienc/law and she absolutely loves the variety - she can balance out all those legal readings with some lovely viruses in biochemistry

[simpak]

My friend does scienc/law and she absolutely loves the variety - she can balance out all those legal readings with some lovely viruses in biochemistry

THIS IS WHAT I WISH I COULD DO.
But alas, old gen fails me.

[Greggler]

yeah, ive considered law in the past, and im beginning to really consider it again. especially with the possibility of doing law science.

Then what kind of career can you be looking at with a science/law degree. Any possibility of working in some sort of a practice; because of what i know about law, thats the aspect that really appeals to me, something high pressure, challenging and something that isn't too likely to become too stale and boring...

[ninwa]

You can work in practice with a law degree, it doesn't matter what other degrees you do with it?

[Greggler]

ok thats cool. its just that someone i was talking to said that said that if you do science/law you're pretty much destined to patent law etc. which didnt sound too riveting for me..

but yeah, it is definately something i'll consider and may well be within my grasps with an requiremnt of like ~98 or something

[lynt.br]

ok thats cool. its just that someone i was talking to said that said that if you do science/law you're pretty much destined to patent law etc. which didnt sound too riveting for me..

Whoever said that is wrong...

From what I've heard, law firms don't care too much about your second degree. You probably won't use much of what you've learnt from your non-law degree in actual legal practice (The exception being commerce if you go into commercial law, although what you learn in your law degree is probably sufficient anyway). The non-law degree probably goes into way more technical detail then is actually necessary in practice. Everything you need is contained in the actual law degree.

If you want an example, go to one of the leading law firms websites and look at the profiles of their staff/partners. I know for Mallesons (A major commercial law firm) about 20% of their partners come from a science/law background.

Also, Patent Law and Intellectual Property is apparently very interesting. It's one of the reasons I've been considering switching to science/law.

[AzureBlue]

ok thats cool. its just that someone i was talking to said that said that if you do science/law you're pretty much destined to patent law etc. which didnt sound too riveting for me..

Whoever said that is wrong...

From what I've heard, law firms don't care too much about your second degree. You probably won't use much of what you've learnt from your non-law degree in actual legal practice (The exception being commerce if you go into commercial law, although what you learn in your law degree is probably sufficient anyway). The non-law degree probably goes into way more technical detail then is actually necessary in practice. Everything you need is contained in the actual law degree.

If you want an example, go to one of the leading law firms websites and look at the profiles of their staff/partners. I know for Mallesons (A major commercial law firm) about 20% of their partners come from a science/law background.

Also, Patent Law and Intellectual Property is apparently very interesting. It's one of the reasons I've been considering switching to science/law.

+1
Yeah, fair amount of sci/law, arts/law and so many comm/law too!

[herzy]

anyone know what law/science is like?

Is it possible, say, after a year to say I dont like science, but I like law, so i want to maybe do straight law or law/arts or something.
Or maybe you say, i hate law, and then maybe drop law and just continue on with a science degree...

i'm doing sci/law (biol stuff and law)

i doubt i'll be limited in any way re: law firms, and i pretty much went through a similar dilemma of liking arts (i.e. languages, english) and science (bio, chem). so sci/law seemed a logical choice. it also ties in well with my views and motivations (saving the planet), hence my majors of 'ecology and conservation bio'...

that said, please PLEASE do not do med because daddy wants you to. it's one of my pet hates. so many of my friends desperately want(ed) to do med, and i see so many people doing it that for whatever reason (parents, money, prestige) shouldn't be doing it, that it really annoys me. if you don't personally want to do med, don't.

sci/law's a great option, but if its sciences and maths you're really interested in, i would advise doing sciences and maths...

[AzureBlue]

i'm doing sci/law (biol stuff and law)

i doubt i'll be limited in any way re: law firms, and i pretty much went through a similar dilemma of liking arts (i.e. languages, english) and science (bio, chem). so sci/law seemed a logical choice. it also ties in well with my views and motivations (saving the planet), hence my majors of 'ecology and conservation bio'...

that said, please PLEASE do not do med because daddy wants you to. it's one of my pet hates. so many of my friends desperately want(ed) to do med, and i see so many people doing it that for whatever reason (parents, money, prestige) shouldn't be doing it, that it really annoys me. if you don't personally want to do med, don't.

sci/law's a great option, but if its sciences and maths you're really interested in, i would advise doing sciences and maths...

How about Sci (majoring in mathematics)/Law?

[Caspar]

anyone know what law/science is like?

Is it possible, say, after a year to say I dont like science, but I like law, so i want to maybe do straight law or law/arts or something.
Or maybe you say, i hate law, and then maybe drop law and just continue on with a science degree...

i'm doing sci/law (biol stuff and law)

i doubt i'll be limited in any way re: law firms, and i pretty much went through a similar dilemma of liking arts (i.e. languages, english) and science (bio, chem). so sci/law seemed a logical choice. it also ties in well with my views and motivations (saving the planet), hence my majors of 'ecology and conservation bio'...

that said, please PLEASE do not do med because daddy wants you to. it's one of my pet hates. so many of my friends desperately want(ed) to do med, and i see so many people doing it that for whatever reason (parents, money, prestige) shouldn't be doing it, that it really annoys me. if you don't personally want to do med, don't.

sci/law's a great option, but if its sciences and maths you're really interested in, i would advise doing sciences and maths...

+1.

I get really angsty when people tell me that they want to do med for the money/prestige/parents.
Then again, some of these people are very intelligent (albeit incapable of independent thought) and so would probably make decent doctors.

[herzy]

intelligent as measured per le VCE?