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Thread ID: 38726	2003-10-16 10:19:00	OT: Tertiary Education	agent (30)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
183952	2003-10-16 10:19:00	If anyone here knows something, can you please advise me on choosing a degree. I had been keenly geared towards doing a conjoint BCom/LLB, but the downsides of that are five years of hard, hard work (and five years means much more fees), and the possibility that I might only use one of the degrees in a job. Can anyone tell me about what areas I might use a BCom/LLB in, the upsides of doing such a degree, and any other relevant information? Furthermore, although I don't think I would use it, I think that political studies could be incredibly interesting and beneficial... perhaps I could do BCom/[whatever the shortened version of Political Studies is...]? I am also aware that any institution I talk to will be welcoming, due to the nature of bums on seats policies, so talking to people at institutions won't be super helpful.	agent (30)
183953	2003-10-16 10:47:00	Political studies/science and law may sit more nicely together than P/S and Bcom. With the first you could become a Head of Department with the 2nd you could be the other end of an SOE. The main attribute you show by getting degrees is the ability to study, apply yourself and hopefully learn some skills that are of use in the real world. Versality is apparently what employers are after theses days, unfortunately, and good communications skills (to talk yourself into an interview and job). Cheers Murray P	Murray P (44)
183954	2003-10-16 11:04:00	I've racked my brains, and can't figure out what SOE stands for... You saying that BCom/LLB offers versatility? Just I don't know if I'm up to five goddamn years of semesters filled with more work than it's worth.	agent (30)
183955	2003-10-16 11:41:00	State Owned Enterprise . Sorry I was being flippent, not as much as I probably thought . No versatility is what the job market is looking for, apparently . It'll be something else though by the time your ready to hit the ranks of the gainfully employed . Bcom LLB = commercial law, I guess . There are others on the forum more qualified than I to answer that . IMHO English Lit or other arts would be as usefull if not more than a BCom . My little sis has just finished a Phd at Oxford, specialty; zoology, now she wants to be a journalist and has managed to get some free lance work for Nature and some articles accepted in a science journal in the States, oh and the BBC . Go figure . Do what you think you are good at and enjoy . If its not exactly what the job market is looking for right now, don't fret, if your a success at it you should be able to apply yourself to anything . Cheers Murray P Caution . Be warned the above advice is given by a person who is the only member of his family out of both parents and 5 children not to go to uni	Murray P (44)
183956	2003-10-16 12:23:00	Ooooh . Let me jump in here . This is a juicy one! Firstly agent . . follow your interests . . don't just look at a degree as a meal/job ticket . If you are really interested in what you do, you'll be good at it . If you are good at it, then opportunities open themselves up as you go along, and you might well find yourself following an interest you didn't even know you had before you started . Look at me, I started an Architecture intermediate year of Arts papers and ended up doing an Arts degree double-majoring in English and Philosophy (funny, that's the second time I've posted that info tonight!!) And now I work in IT!! Secondly, do go and talk to people at the Universities . . they will give you good advice . . I've never met an academic who's salesperson enough to "sell" you the course just to get bums on seats . And it's honestly the best way to find out what lecturers you like and which ones you don't . I've made decisions about what subjects to do simply because of the lecturer taking the course . . it makes that much difference . If you are thinking of Law and you are thinking of AKL, my father (currently overseas until Dec) is a professor there, and would I'm sure be happy to chat with you on his return (or point you in the direction of someone to chat to) . Email me at mark_evansATidg . co . nz if you are interested (take the AT out to email . . there to fool spam harvesters!) . I would heartily recommend if you are doing a conjoint degree, to do either a generic arts degree or a generic science degree (depending upon your bent) with whatever "career-oriented" degree you do . . it gives you the chance to gain some wider experience and to follow some interests you might never get the chance to follow again . . . and it makes you better-rounded and more versatile . And in closing, I think a Law degree is extremely good training for a wide variety of roles . I know many many lawyers, and most of them are NOT practising law . . they're working in business, self-employed, in the civil-service, in music, entertainment . . . a whole variety of roles . And I think if you asked them all . . was your law degree useful . . . they'd say yes . Hard work? Yes indeed . . and lots of reading, and lots of rote-learning . But it can be interesting too! Especially in its more esoteric areas where it intersects with subjects like philosophy . So talk to people . . the more the better . . . ask anyone you know who's done law what they liked and what they didn't, and what they recommend . And above all, doing a degree is something you should be doing to expand your horizons, not buy yourself a meal ticket . If all you want is to make money, go off and be an entrepreneur! (or for that matter a plumber, builder or mechanic . . they always seem to have more money than anyone else and they always finish work at 4 in the afternoon!!) Good luck . . .	marke (457)
183957	2003-10-16 19:17:00	Definitely make sure that it is something you enjoy. No point in doing something you don't enjoy because you'll find it hard to pay attention in class as well. One major thing to watch out for is that you'll probably find that in the first year courses you'll seem to know a lot of the content and stop paying attention, the problem being they'll move onto stuff you don't know and you won't realise, next thing you know that course is pretty much out the window :(	-=JM=- (16)
183958	2003-10-16 19:28:00	OK, thanks Mark. Originally I was aiming for a BCom, because I do accounting at school (although you don't need to have had any experience to do BCom), and I like it, but LLB popped into my mind out of the blues (yes, definitely, it just came to me one day and I've been kinda stuck on it)... IMO, law would be incredibly interesting, and there are certain papers I would want to do, such as information technology and law, IP law, and stuff... if I do just a BCom, that offers commercial law, but I want to do more than that, more as an interest (those technology related papers) than as adding to my skills. And that's around about where political studies comes in, it's much more for the interest side of things (I'm not the kind of person to be a politician, as I'm introverted, although journalism is another interest of mine - more for technology mags than political review sections of a newspaper though - but Auckland Uni doesn't offer it, although AUT does). And a job in IT does appeal to me, but from what I've heard, the IT boom has finished, and people still training for IT jobs aren't getting any because there are no jobs available? Probably incorrect information, to a certain level, but it's fairly safe to say I could get a job in IT without much training (perhaps one of those fangled certified engineer courses). Argh, too many things to choose from... I would most probably end up doing BCom/LLB, because one side is useful to me and could help in the future, and the other is the same but slightly more interesting.	agent (30)
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