Need advice

[mythrilreef]

hi im pondering between these few courses, psychology, chemistry(cbc in ntu) and mechanical engineering. my interest lies in the psychology and chemistry. however the future for these 2 courses seems bleak. in the sense that psychologist may not earn as much and job opportunities are low. on the other hand in chemistry. if i were to enter research i would require a phd(highly ambitious) to go somewhere in my work. one might say i could go education, but yea that would be my last resort. finally for mech engin, i have a sub interest in it, however it might have better prospects for a career in a sense that i could choose from a wide spectrum of jobs and i could command a higher pay than the other 2 courses with a degree(hons).however it might just be a dead end career and i might end up hopping to the finance sector or teaching sector. pls advise. thx in advance

Hmm... u can try chemistry.

Anyway, as of now, dun think too much of the job, it really depends on hard work n luck. U just study well for ur degree, network well with friends n anybody else, and not much thing u can do with luck.

Chemistry graduate can go for management trainee at manufacturing company (chemical related), sales engineer, and even to marketing / banking finance. It all depends on how you sell yourself. If you find you are really passionate in the field, study hard, its easy to enter PhD with scholarship (entering is, finishing maybe not). Career in research or education (university lecturer) is not bad if you have passion on it, financial rewards for this career are sufficient (salary wise, research grant, consultancy ...).

Why not chemical engineering?

You will get yourself into oil and gas or petrochemical companies. You can start off as a chemical engineer and branch out from there. Oil and gas companies offer a broad selection of career options and they like to deploy engineers for all sorts of positions, even in HR. It is also stable and not mentioning the compensation as well as the perks. It is a dream for many people.

Originally Posted by mythrilreef

hi im pondering between these few courses, psychology, chemistry(cbc in ntu) and mechanical engineering. my interest lies in the psychology and chemistry. however the future for these 2 courses seems bleak.

If you are interested in chemistry, then you should do chemical engineering. Engineering may be the lowest paying amongst the professional degrees but it is, after all, still a professional degree and better than the general science degrees otherwise you may end up like that "grass cutter" who started the thread on "is my civil service pay progression fast/slow/normal?".

Ya, even if ur interested in Chemistry, u shd go for Chem Engineering bcus it will open more options. Just in case u change ur mind, its not a problem later.

If u go for higher degrees, u can easily change if u are genuinely interested. But for now, I will advise Chem Engg between the two.

[mythrilreef]

hihi, thx for all the replies, just came back from work. yea i did consider chem engin. however my grades cant seem to cut it. got like abc/a. H2 subjects:a-chemistry b-physics c-maths. h1: subject, geog-a. but the cutoff point seems to be aaa/a 0.0 so im afraid my chances are slim =/