NTU Business or EEE
 

Hi guys,

I am a graduate from polytechnic with diploma in electronics. Recently, I am offered a place for NTU business. However, several friends of mine were saying "why go business when you are good at your own field? You can go into business sector anytime you want."

Yes, the thought of going EEE had came across my mind. However, after reading several threads here, I somehow chose business over EEE for my course. What worries me is that I am not as smart as the JC people whom went to the course with straight A's, my poor command of English and lastly not do well for the course as I came in with an engineering background. What's worse is that my friends are already suffering in their own respective engineering course even though they had done engineering during their polytechnic days. This made me pondered if I would really suffer worse than the rest.

Basically, I am neutral with anything.

Hence, I wish I could get some advice here and hopefully that I made the right decision.

Thank you

go for business... u will end up suffering if u take EEE in NTU...

Business without a doubt. Unless you have no choice.

Would the bell curve break me as I am not from JC?

The bell curve will break you no matter where you come from. The biz students in NTU are mostly top JC students. The medicore ones dont make it to NTU biz. That said, you just have to be smarter are more studious than them. Dont go for all those camps ******** and extra activities. Concentrate on studies and take up internships.

Hey Davis111

It is difficult to answer your queries if you do not state your motivations for undertaking either degree. Which sector do you intend to work in after you graduate?

From the dilemma of the your university choices, I would assume that like everybody else, you want to pursue a career in finance - or more specifically, investment banking and all the glitzy finance roles.

Having applied to various investment banks while studying in the UK, I can assure you that the banks do not care what you study in your undergraduate degree - the classification of honors is far more important. If you are more confident in scoring in EEE, then do that degree. The only advantage that I think business graduates have over EEE graduates is the awareness of all these job opportunities. Most local engineering graduates are not aware of such opportunities, this is due to the fact that they do not have a dedicated career service. Having said that, if you are motivated enough, there is nothing 'google' can't do in this day and age.

Most importantly, a EEE degree is a safety net. If you graduate when the economy is in a downturn, the banks would stop recruiting and you still have a job as an engineer. Also, banks are increasingly hiring engineering graduates in middle office (risk management etc.) due to their quantitative abilities.

Lastly, I just want to point out that if you decide to choose to do a business degree, it is paramount that you get at least a second uppers. If you do not get at least a second uppers, it would be really tough justifying to future employers how different you are from the countless economics, accountancy, business and other general degree graduates.

hi guys,

thanks for your prompt reply.


Well, my motivation for getting a degree would be to have a decent job prospect in the future. From the threads I have read, it seems that most engineer who are working in the engineering field are having low pay increment as time passed. They would then jump to business field. I wouldn't want that to happen to me as a lot of time are being wasted.

I understand that if i chose business degree, I would need to score a decent result as a "stepping stone" for the employers to employ me. If safety net is a concern, should I opt for accountancy course instead? I understand that the working life as an accountant/auditor would be very stressful (ie long hours) but I believe that all jobs would have their own stress as well.

Well, its a fresh start if I am going to accountancy/business course in NTU where I would need to compete with those elites, risking my results in that competitive world. Some would say that I would be wasting this opportunity as the entry alone is not easy.

Pardon my indecisiveness and I hope that someone here would give me some advice based on their experiences and challanges faced. Thanks again!

IMHO, if given a choice between the two, I would choose NTU accountancy.

If you look at the employment statistics for NTU accountancy over the years, you can see that the top graduates generally join MA programs or to a lesser extent - the IBs. For those who are not the creme de la creme, they are still able to get into the Big 4. For business graduates, it really is an ordinary business degree if you do not secure good honours.

why not?
 

Which one would you prefer getting - A normal accountancy degree or an EEE degree with (second upper/first class honors)?

High risk = high return. Of course, there would be failure.

i would say normal accountancy.