Help with my degree

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#907886 4-Oct-2013 14:02

So i called Victoria university today which gave me an idea of my options.

I could do a BCom degree with an accounting major and an outside major which would be computer science. This would mean both of my interests are covered but it would also mean i miss out on a second BCom major. Would this affect me in anyway? By that, i mean would it be better do do a BCom degree with 2 BCom majors or do you think this would be fine? If i wanted to get an accounting job, would the mind Computer science as a second major or do you think they would prefer 2 BCom majors in a BCom degree.

I can also do a BSc and BCom conjoint degree, but i would be achieving the same as above but in a longer period of time.

I am sorry to be so confusing, and thank you so much guys for helping me out here. It means a lot

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WinPhne

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#907913 4-Oct-2013 14:54

Here is my 2 cents from a Finance & Economics degree perspective.

If you are going to do Accounting then you are going to at least need a double major, if not a postgraduate/ triple major to qualify to do CA (Charted Accountancy). Accounting grad programmes are in my experience very very competitive and you need to stand out in one way or another.

Having two degrees certainly broadens your understanding but at the same time I believe its better to concentrate on a subject matter in university and do a honours/Masters degree after.

As someone has mentioned before, those first year uni papers in Bcom will help you decide just what majors you want and enjoy doing. I was adamant I wanted to do Accounting & Finance when I left high school because I was good at it but ended up swapping Accounting for Economics in my second year. Haven't looked back since!

In saying that, if you enjoy comp sci then by all means take the papers in uni! You can pick and choose to an extent and if you are smart about it then can still finish a multiple major degree in a reasonable amount if time.

khull

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#907916 4-Oct-2013 14:56

Double conjoint degree with 1st class hons, and triple major here (compsci, infosys, mktg) - 5 years in my life that I will not get back but looks great on the CV (so is the paycheck)

You can start off with a BSc or a BCom first and usually be able to pick up a second degree after the first year without penalty (I did the same about 5 years ago but you might want to confirm). And I spent entire weekends working for above minimum wage.

If you plan well ahead which you currently are in a good position, you could technically do a conjoint + 4 majors in 4 years, and probably have no life outside study.

For your case, you'd find it quite common for peers to do acctg and finance together. Both complement each other and some lecturers will willingly preach to do both together just so that the concepts are easier to understand and reflect upon. CPA and CFA can be partly funded by the Big 4 (PWC/KPMG/EY/Deliotte)which I would expect you to get a job immediately during their grad recruitment process (and probably no less than that given it is a university degree). Please accept job offers in that order too :D

Just remember that every tertiary institution is a business and like every other successful ones, they will find ways to keep you as a student. Be relentless, study hard and get scholarships to fund for the next year course costs. Do the minimum required for the career you are after and get into the industry - Never lose sight of that. My $55k sheets of paper at the end of the experience is in a box somewhere still in the original envelope + sleeve I from graduation day

nickb800

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#907927 4-Oct-2013 15:15

I'd suggest that you enrol in whatever degree, and make up your first year with one of everything (compsci, info, accounting, econ, marketing...). Figure out what you like, and at the end of your first year you can transfer those points to whatever sort of double/conjoint/etc that fits your interests and seems valuable.

Very few people follow through with what they planned to do at uni, so don't worry about starting with a perfect plan. I speak from experience here - I came to Canterbury to do engineering, ended up doing a BSc majoring in economics & geography.

As in my case, doing a double major (conjoint at vic?) instead of a double degree meant 4 years vs. 5 years. I wanted to keep studying at the end of 4 years so I went on to complete an honours degree. This arguably makes you much more valuable than an undergrad(or 2) and by 4 years you usually have a better idea of what you want to be doing

timmmay

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#907929 4-Oct-2013 15:20

Sounds like you're training to be a generalist. That's nice, and interesting, but you tend to get high paying jobs by being expert in one area. Having exposure to other areas can help, but can also prevent you becoming expert in your primary area.

Even with IT you've mentioned Java, web design, and network. They're three specialist areas, and there are sub-specialties inside each one.

I think you need to try to work out where you're going and what you want to do, otherwise you're going to do a lot of work for less return than you'd expect.

timmmay

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#907930 4-Oct-2013 15:21

nickb800: Very few people follow through with what they planned to do at uni, so don't worry about starting with a perfect plan. I speak from experience here - I came to Canterbury to do engineering, ended up doing a BSc majoring in economics & geography.

Everyone I know finished the degree they started. I think you're perhaps trying to generalise your own experience. Some people do change, maybe the people who didn't really know what they wanted to do in the first place. I knew from when I was about 7 that I'd end up doing something with computers.

nickb800

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#907963 4-Oct-2013 15:33

timmmay:
nickb800: Very few people follow through with what they planned to do at uni, so don't worry about starting with a perfect plan. I speak from experience here - I came to Canterbury to do engineering, ended up doing a BSc majoring in economics & geography.

Everyone I know finished the degree they started. I think you're perhaps trying to generalise your own experience. Some people do change, maybe the people who didn't really know what they wanted to do in the first place. I knew from when I was about 7 that I'd end up doing something with computers.

Perhaps I should have clarified - I mean that few people follow through with exactly what they planned to do - e.g. come for 'computers', but add a commerce major; or come for software engineering, shift to compsci.

My comment is based not only on my own experience but from other post graduates plus discussions with the >100 first and second year students that I tutor every week. It never ceases to amaze, the number of people who are still "picking and mixing" their subjects or even majors towards the end of their 2nd year of study.

timmmay

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#907965 4-Oct-2013 15:39

Kids these days. There are too many experts on conservation and not enough engineers and scientists. You don't choose your degree based on what you find fun, you have to look to what job it will get you into, your career path, and your income.

There's a phrase "money doesn't buy happiness". I think that's bollocks. Rich people are almost universally happier than poor people. The more money I get the happier I am.

heisenberg

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#908028 4-Oct-2013 18:00

nickb800: I'd suggest that you enrol in whatever degree, and make up your first year with one of everything (compsci, info, accounting, econ, marketing...). Figure out what you like, and at the end of your first year you can transfer those points to whatever sort of double/conjoint/etc that fits your interests and seems valuable.

Very few people follow through with what they planned to do at uni, so don't worry about starting with a perfect plan. I speak from experience here - I came to Canterbury to do engineering, ended up doing a BSc majoring in economics & geography.

As in my case, doing a double major (conjoint at vic?) instead of a double degree meant 4 years vs. 5 years. I wanted to keep studying at the end of 4 years so I went on to complete an honours degree. This arguably makes you much more valuable than an undergrad(or 2) and by 4 years you usually have a better idea of what you want to be doing

That is basically my plan at this stage. I will do core papers for 3 majors Computer science, accounting and possibly finance. I will then be able to decide what to get into the second year which is probably the best thing to do at this stage.

I plan to do 3 majors with a conjoint degree of BCom and BSc and when i come out of uni i should have 2 degrees. BCom majoring in Accounting and finance. BSc majoring in computer science. At the end i can decide which degree i want to do honors in.

Does this sound good? I am kind of feeling a bit more confident now :)

Also, while studying computer science I will be learning programming languages and should be gaining some good computer skills, would they be enough to get a part time job somewhere and start gaining work experience :P Stupid question i know

timmmay

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#908032 4-Oct-2013 18:16

heisenberg: That is basically my plan at this stage. I will do core papers for 3 majors Computer science, accounting and possibly finance. I will then be able to decide what to get into the second year which is probably the best thing to do at this stage.

I plan to do 3 majors with a conjoint degree of BCom and BSc and when i come out of uni i should have 2 degrees. BCom majoring in Accounting and finance. BSc majoring in computer science. At the end i can decide which degree i want to do honors in.

Does this sound good? I am kind of feeling a bit more confident now :)

Also, while studying computer science I will be learning programming languages and should be gaining some good computer skills, would they be enough to get a part time job somewhere and start gaining work experience :P Stupid question i know

As I said above it sounds like a terrible idea to me. If you're independently wealthy and don't need to work for a living, great! Do any degree you like. But if you're like everyone else you're better off developing deep skills in one area. I don't know any job where you will use accounting, science, and programming/IT skills. You may appear over-qualified by having too wide a range of skills, under-qualified by not having enough in any one area, or like you can't make up your mind. If you were hiring would you want the generalist who has some knowledge in the area of work, or someone specialised?

Do a general first year if you can't decide. It'll be almost a wasted year academically, as the people who knew what they wanted to do will be a year up on you, but it'd be valuable to help you decide what to do. Honors is a waste of time for IT, at least when I did it, masters and PhD doubly so, but in science it could be helpful. No idea about accounting. Doing a triple major you'll be working like a bas****, you won't have much of a social life, which is a huge thing about university. Make friends and contacts, they'll last a lifetime, and in some ways are as important as the qualification. In the fourth year of my degree (B Tech computer systems engineering) I studied every hour I was awake, don't underestimate the work required.

Of course uni just builds the academic and theoretical knowledge. Coming out of university you feel like you know a lot but graduates aren't typically really useful in IT for 2-3 years until they gain experience. In IT the degree gets you the foot in the door mostly. IT jobs also value people skills, writing skills, and business skills, but probably not accounting skills.

Also, while asking people online may be interesting to get a wide range of opinions there are others you should talk to. IMHO it's most important ask really successful or perhaps very happy people.

I have a very very smart friend, IQ probably over 150. He did great at school, then followed his passion to get a qualification in something he couldn't get a job in it (tiny market). He did a simple job for years (driving), then worked in government for a while in a job that required no special skills. He now does some technical and artistic work, but for his age he's well behind where most are, in terms of career and net worth. I'm not as smart as him but I'm fairly clever, I knew I wanted to do IT. I did the degree, got job offers before I left uni, worked as a developer and I've worked my way up to architect, and like most IT contractors I make well into six figures. Looking at the IT contracting report a high end experienced contractor can make $150/hr, which is $276,000, and if you super specialise you may be able to go significantly higher.

Like I said earlier money really does buy happiness.

Fred99

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#908056 4-Oct-2013 18:35

If return on investment in education and security of work long term is a concern, don't do a degree - train as a plumber. Einstein couldn't remember to put socks on - but even he knew this.
Pretty well everything else can and therefore probably will be outsourced in a race to the bottom - or legislated away by a change in economic policy, unless the world turns back to protectionism. The only professional skill that will always be in demand and highly paid (unless communism takes over) is the ability to generate new business.

timmmay

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#908061 4-Oct-2013 18:48

You're saying go into sales? The world would be a better place if all the salespeople were retrained as plumbers, hairdressers, engineers, or anything else other than sales.

Fred99

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#908075 4-Oct-2013 19:14

timmmay: You're saying go into sales? The world would be a better place if all the salespeople were retrained as plumbers, hairdressers, engineers, or anything else other than sales.

Believe it or not, every person in all business should be into sales. If you don't "get" that, then become a policeman or join the army or whatever. Oh wait - the best detectives and soldiers probably have exactly the same skills as good sales people - they understand their "customer". So no - if you aren't into "sales", then you're more or less stuffed - unless you can find some IT support job where the customer already expects nothing.

heisenberg

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#908093 4-Oct-2013 19:37

timmmay:
heisenberg: That is basically my plan at this stage. I will do core papers for 3 majors Computer science, accounting and possibly finance. I will then be able to decide what to get into the second year which is probably the best thing to do at this stage.

I plan to do 3 majors with a conjoint degree of BCom and BSc and when i come out of uni i should have 2 degrees. BCom majoring in Accounting and finance. BSc majoring in computer science. At the end i can decide which degree i want to do honors in.

Does this sound good? I am kind of feeling a bit more confident now :)

Also, while studying computer science I will be learning programming languages and should be gaining some good computer skills, would they be enough to get a part time job somewhere and start gaining work experience :P Stupid question i know

As I said above it sounds like a terrible idea to me. If you're independently wealthy and don't need to work for a living, great! Do any degree you like. But if you're like everyone else you're better off developing deep skills in one area. I don't know any job where you will use accounting, science, and programming/IT skills. You may appear over-qualified by having too wide a range of skills, under-qualified by not having enough in any one area, or like you can't make up your mind. If you were hiring would you want the generalist who has some knowledge in the area of work, or someone specialised?

Do a general first year if you can't decide. It'll be almost a wasted year academically, as the people who knew what they wanted to do will be a year up on you, but it'd be valuable to help you decide what to do. Honors is a waste of time for IT, at least when I did it, masters and PhD doubly so, but in science it could be helpful. No idea about accounting. Doing a triple major you'll be working like a bas****, you won't have much of a social life, which is a huge thing about university. Make friends and contacts, they'll last a lifetime, and in some ways are as important as the qualification. In the fourth year of my degree (B Tech computer systems engineering) I studied every hour I was awake, don't underestimate the work required.

Of course uni just builds the academic and theoretical knowledge. Coming out of university you feel like you know a lot but graduates aren't typically really useful in IT for 2-3 years until they gain experience. In IT the degree gets you the foot in the door mostly. IT jobs also value people skills, writing skills, and business skills, but probably not accounting skills.

Also, while asking people online may be interesting to get a wide range of opinions there are others you should talk to. IMHO it's most important ask really successful or perhaps very happy people.

I have a very very smart friend, IQ probably over 150. He did great at school, then followed his passion to get a qualification in something he couldn't get a job in it (tiny market). He did a simple job for years (driving), then worked in government for a while in a job that required no special skills. He now does some technical and artistic work, but for his age he's well behind where most are, in terms of career and net worth. I'm not as smart as him but I'm fairly clever, I knew I wanted to do IT. I did the degree, got job offers before I left uni, worked as a developer and I've worked my way up to architect, and like most IT contractors I make well into six figures. Looking at the IT contracting report a high end experienced contractor can make $150/hr, which is $276,000, and if you super specialize you may be able to go significantly higher.

Like I said earlier money really does buy happiness.

At this stage i have decided to apply for a conjoint degree with triple majors as above but i can change that in the second year you see as all my first year is just core courses. I will only be 3-4 courses behind everyone else but it will be worth it as i will get to try both. A conjoint degree would also allow me to have a fall back which is quite important to me and it only means a year and a half extra for the second degree.

Also, what kind of jobs can computer science get me compared to software engineering. From my understanding you are learning programming languages in both?

Cheers guys!

nickb800

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#908100 4-Oct-2013 19:45

heisenberg:
nickb800: I'd suggest that you enrol in whatever degree, and make up your first year with one of everything (compsci, info, accounting, econ, marketing...). Figure out what you like, and at the end of your first year you can transfer those points to whatever sort of double/conjoint/etc that fits your interests and seems valuable.

Very few people follow through with what they planned to do at uni, so don't worry about starting with a perfect plan. I speak from experience here - I came to Canterbury to do engineering, ended up doing a BSc majoring in economics & geography.

As in my case, doing a double major (conjoint at vic?) instead of a double degree meant 4 years vs. 5 years. I wanted to keep studying at the end of 4 years so I went on to complete an honours degree. This arguably makes you much more valuable than an undergrad(or 2) and by 4 years you usually have a better idea of what you want to be doing

That is basically my plan at this stage. I will do core papers for 3 majors Computer science, accounting and possibly finance. I will then be able to decide what to get into the second year which is probably the best thing to do at this stage.

I plan to do 3 majors with a conjoint degree of BCom and BSc and when i come out of uni i should have 2 degrees. BCom majoring in Accounting and finance. BSc majoring in computer science. At the end i can decide which degree i want to do honors in.

Does this sound good? I am kind of feeling a bit more confident now :)

Sounds like a solid approach for your first year. I'd just emphasise that a conjoint degree (as opposed to a double/triple major) will take longer and won't be worth much more. Cross-crediting between degrees is limited, so you end up doing a lot of filler papers (which cost time and money). That's why I'm a big fan of double/triple majors instead, as you get the same skills more quickly. As at Canterbury you can fit economics as a science degree major, I'd be trying to fit your computing stuff into a commerce or info systems degree alongside your commerce papers. If you want to do a 5th year, use it to get an honours degree rather than a double degree.

That said, things change during your degree, and if you get good work experience during and a solid job offer at the end then honours will add little value for you (especially in computing as Timmay said)

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