Does this mean I can't do Actuary even if I get in ?

[LOVEPHYSICS]

Your dad is a classic Asian and I think he is right in this case. I got a couple of cousins doing Earth Sciences in ANU and it seems as if they love it over there. Apparently, ANU Bachelor of Oceanology and Earth Sciences (Hon) degree is awesome, but it has a really high requirement (they look at both your ATAR (99 req) and first year uni results) if you are opting for transfer. One of my commerce lecturers in MU commented briefly on the mining industry, and she said that mining engineers/geologists in Australia are one of the, if not, highest paid graduates. I have also read somewhere that Australian graduates of this field are the most (if memory serves me right, in fact I am quite sure they top the entire list) successful in locating jobs once they finish uni. Funny thing, my dad is also an asian (mechanical engineer) and he also attempted to convert my brother and I into the mining industry. He completely failed with me and was closer with my brother, who is studying Civil Engineering in MU. In the end, it is true the Australian mining industry is doing really well, but ultimately, you should do what you enjoy or else you will be going around in circles. Good Luck.


On a side note, I wouldn't say IT is completely dead, even though all the eavesdropping I do on my busy/city trips seems to suggest so.

[slothpomba]

My dad says doing.......

Try this crazy idea on for size; Maybe consider doing what you actually want to do and thinking about it. Put some really good thought into it or a much much better option is to take similar subjects in VCE and see if you're cut out for it. Just do it on your own accord though, around here i often see people doing jobs justs for the priestiege/money/parental pressure. Definitely not the way to go about it.

I thought you couldn't do pharmacy through science? Sounds a little impossible to me(Subject/Faculty wise) but i could be wrong..

I don't know about melbourne but i think if you be sneaky at monash and try to biomed coded subjects behind their back, when you go to graduate and when they look at what you've done, it won't count as "science" subjects. So, you pretty much would of wasted 3 years. Unless you mean doing similar subjects that are coded under science, because i hear they are kind of different. They cut some of the stuff out that isn't relevant at all to the biomed field.

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There will always be a need for IT. There are just somethings that can't be exported like on-site service, engineering networks for unis & bussinesses, ect. That said there have been a lot of people getting into a field that just 10 or 20 years ago has had very very few people in it. I think there will be an "adjustment" comming soon. I'm predicting wages will go down (these guys get paid pretty high compared to a lot of other graduates) and the market will probably be flooded. You can look on the whirlpool forums for more info on this, they quiet often talk about topics like this. Then, there will be the jobs that can be easily exported, like software engineering. Probably not the best idea to take that up.

Mining/Oil is absolutely gangbusters now and i have looked into it; the pay is rather high. You probably won't find it hard at all to get a job and you'll be living pretty well off the salary. I don't really think it's declining any time soon either. It does have a lot of challenges with it though, going out to remote locations for large stretches of time like mines in the middle of nowhere or oil rigs out in the sea. You have to be prepared for those kind of things and also think about what impact thatll have on you and your future family as well. You probably will have to move to WA or maybe SA. I don't think there are many jobs in Vic for that kind of thing. Just educate yourself on all the paths and do the research. Again, people on whirlpool talk about this fairly often, so i suggest you have a look around the job forum section on whirlpool. There are actually people who have worked in mines and things like that on there. You could also make your own thread i guess as well.

[LOVEPHYSICS]

Yeah, that's so true. I guess I am quite lucky to have Asian parents that are supportive of what I like and want to do. Even though they do enjoy questioning me of my plans for the future and throwing in a few advices here and there, I felt that it is healthy as it shows that they care that I am making the best possible decisions for myself. I have an Asian friend who loves medicine, but her parents do not wish for her to risk 3 years of biomed undergrad in Monash, so she took up law/commerce instead and wondered why on earth she took the two courses during orientation. She did ended up ditching commerce and took biomed/law instead, which is great, although I do suspect that she did not drop law because her parents don't want her to. Talking about prestige and money brings me back to the students who does commerce/law, apparently, something like 8/10 ended up doing something that has no relation to the legal field. It is certainly true for the people that I know, but whether the claim is true Australia-wide, that I am not too sure... So the message being, work out what you like, even if it means that you take 1-2 years to try out different courses. It is really quite normal. Don't think of it as a waste, think of it as a process as to getting to where you want to be in the future.