Not sure what to do at university (with my life)

Originally Posted by scaredandconfused

will it be difficult to go into commerce with a life science degree? would it be a waste of money to get an MBA after my BSc (life science)? I can only get credit exemptions if i stay within the same course. I don't plan on doing a full 4 years, that would be way too expensive.

Upon graduation with a Life Science degree, you can work for pharma or suppliers that deal with laboratory equipment and supplies. Work your way up, and you can also venture into the corporate side using your basic degree knowledge.

I personally feel there is no need to study course after course; it is more important to get working experience first to really know what you want to do with the rest of your life. The value of MBA only comes in after you've at least 5 years of working experience under your belt. Without any working experience, what you study in MBA will be no difference from what a general Biz degree is like.

[scaredandconfused]

thanks for all the replies, i read all of them. i'm still really unsure what course to take. how did you guys decide on what you were going to do for the rest of your life at such a young age? anyone care to impart some wisdom on a spring chicken?

[smalljb]

don't study eee, jiu ok le, eee is very tough

Originally Posted by scaredandconfused

thanks for all the replies, i read all of them. i'm still really unsure what course to take. how did you guys decide on what you were going to do for the rest of your life at such a young age? anyone care to impart some wisdom on a spring chicken?

For me personally, I was ingrained by my parents that study hard, get a good office job and earn reasonable pay was good enough (they're both not that educated). Personally I would have prefer studying and entering a profession that has value (e.g. Engineering, Medicine, Law etc), in that sense what you learn is useful and can in demand. Of course, these are also my personal views.

So when I didn't study for my "A" levels, I knew there was no way I could enter Law nor Med faculty. So instead, I chose to go public upon graduation instead. For public, I knew very well that choice of basic degree doesn't matter much - it's the class of honours that you get that determines whether you can enter public or not. So my decision then was to choose the easiest course in Uni (also a personal perspective), and hope to ace it. Which I did. Though there was a period where I was seriously contemplating doing grad studies in research, as I find it intellectually stimulating and work culture suits me.

In summary, know what you want to be doing when you're 40-50 years old, what kind of lifestyle you want, and what kind of profession can suit your desired lifestyle. Then find something that matches it as close as you can, and just work your ass off.

[aspenx]

Originally Posted by scaredandconfused

thanks for all the replies, i read all of them. i'm still really unsure what course to take. how did you guys decide on what you were going to do for the rest of your life at such a young age? anyone care to impart some wisdom on a spring chicken?

My choice then was largely influenced by parents, social perception at that time and my fascination with consumer electronics goods (then).

I got into EEE in NTU and struggled through the first 3 years with the core modules. I found some direction in the 3rd year and managed to make it through in the final year. Even now, with each round of job search, I am still deciding what to "do with the rest of my life".

I consider myself somewhat fortunate because the EEE degree is "versatile" enough. Understand though that finding yourself in a field that is "unrelated" to what your degree/diploma is will most likely cause you a disadvantage pay and opportunity wise.

Some people here advocate that you work for the money and your own wealth while others emphasize doing something you have at least moderate interest in. Whatever it is, you just have to keep moving. Whether the decision you make now is good or not shouldn't be judged too soon (not within 5 years maybe). The best we can do is to make an informed decision (whether you choose to be rational or not in the end is up to you) and don't look back too often/soon. I sit more on the fence than the previous poster.

I did biomedical engineering specialisation in my final year btw. I am now involved in some projects for the manufacturing of medical-related devices/equipment. Hope some of the sharing helps.

Originally Posted by aspenx

I got into EEE in NTU and struggled through the first 3 years with the core modules. I found some direction in the 3rd year and managed to make it through in the final year.

Even now, with each round of job search, I am still deciding what to "do with the rest of my life".

totally get what u mean. i grad from one of the local unis. nearing graduation, while most are happy, i was actually scared, worried, not looking forward, apprehensive etc etc. cos totally at a loss of what i wanna do. worse is i have somewhat high expectations of myself and i know that im 'actually not bad' so being lost was a really sucky feeling.

Originally Posted by scaredandconfused

thanks for all the replies, i read all of them. i'm still really unsure what course to take. how did you guys decide on what you were going to do for the rest of your life at such a young age? anyone care to impart some wisdom on a spring chicken?

follow your heart and do what you like.

read all the courses' content and tell yourself what u like, what you want to do most, what you want to achieve for the next 10 years.

at your age, i planned to go into tech industry. studied computers for the fun. but i love to play games too. so i tried being a games developer. these skills helped me find IT jobs. not paying enough, so considered becoming a pilot. rethought my life as a pilot, which i don't wish to become a commercial 'driver' of cargo goods and/or passengers through the air. i need to know what's happening on the ground at all times. so entered into the finance industry to 'look around'. found out many roles which require skills IT skills which can earn big. playing with bloomberg, market data and performing data analysis which is so exciting, to me at least. u never know when your prediction of the market is going against or with you. probably gonna work in this line, but first gotta complete my studies. it sucks but thinking of the endless possibilities i might end up in, its totally worth it.

i dont let other people including parents, grandparents, siblings interfere with the way i live my life. who cares what they think. i'm sure for other professions, as long as you've got the passion, anything goes.

there's a saying that goes, once you enjoy working, you dont even have to work for a single day in your life.

[liveinsg]

If you are not good at talk with people, how about learn some courses about accounting? But I saw many people lead a totally different life after graduation.

[liveinsg]

They became more active and good at social after they met many different kinds of people.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Im sorry. I doubt 3.6 is good at all. 3.6 can only barely get you into NUS. Just barely. Some with 3.6 cant even get in. NTU still can. 3.6 in A level terms is like a BCC/B. Can get you in, but probably cant get you into any of the good courses. Why do you think OP wants to go overseas. If 3.6 is very good, it can get you into any course in the 3 big local unis. But it cant. 3.6 cant even get into biz/acct. Not to mention biz/acct is considered the bottom end of the prestigious courses. Still have medicine, dentistry, law, architecture, NTU REP, pharmacy that confirm cant get in. Cant even get into double degree programs. 3.6 is pretty much just an average GPA.

Architecture, NTU REP and pharmacy are not prestigious in any way. Hahaha.