Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
U are right in ur advice but i dont think pharmacy has a better cut off just coz it has 150 or rather 200 (recently)openings..... Dont tink 150 students difference can make an AAAA course become bbcb... Tbh, i tink its also because pharmacy allowed physics student to enter thus more outstanding students can enter. Chem eng used to be the alternative instead. Chem engin also has a perception of occupational hazards imho. Tbh people dont enter pharmacy for pay, its also because they are passionate to serve in healthcare (reason might be rejected from medicine, or doesnt like the sight of blood and likes) |
Yes, going back to my point about students' demand. Or should I say... "parents' demand".
We are very much an Asian community. A lot of parents have brainwashed their kids into thinking doctors/lawyers>>>every other occupation. As such, when students fail to get into their parents (and eventually, their) dream course of medicine, they treat pharmacy as their back-up plan to eventually break into the medical sector. Little do they know that a degree in pharma is way off in terms of prestige and recognition when compared to a degree in medicine.
This narrow-minded perspective needs to change. There are many other occupations that pay as well as doctors/lawyers without one having to forgo having a life, or at least better than a pharma degree.
Yes, chem eng is perceived to have occupational hazards. This stigma is hard to get rid of. The layperson would think of construction workers when they hear of the engineering. As such, parents are less likely to want their kids to take up engineering as they wouldnt want their kids to suffer/toil at their job.
The oil boom years back saw chem eng to be a lucrative career (as much as finance) and that is why the IGP surged to AAA. Now that this hype is dying down, everyone is shifting over to IT instead.
Having said that, I've noticed many talented individuals (my peers and seniors) not go into engineering jobs after studying engineering for 4 years. And for good reason - why go into engineering when engineering firms do not have to ability/refuse to pay market rate for talent, coupled with the not-so-good prospects that one may have if one were to stay in engineering (given SG's ecosystem right now is one that heavily focuses on IT and finance). This brain drain is really in alignment with what the ministers of SG have observed. Whether this will create problems further down the road.. we shall see.
Many students tend to adopt a very shortsighted approach when choosing their course of study and I hope to be able to give them some perspective as someone who regretted my choice of study.
Hope this helps.