PiGMAN

thanks for your reply about Quantitative Risk!
did you find it too easy or something?

I have a question.

Say you're doing electrical engineering and you want to work in a bank (as opposed to being an engineer). Maybe investment banking, but not exclusively that. Would there be any leeway with regards to your WAM compared to a commerce student? (ie, commerce students might need a higher wam relative to an electrical engineering student to get into given job, assuming all things are equal)

I know that the best companies, ie. Cochlear, only employ co-ops and summer interns, and if you want to move into banking or consulting, having co-op + another degree on your resume will put you miles ahead of everyone else. EE/Maths is far more demanding than a commerce degree, and *every* employer recognizes this. To seal the deal, you should probably get involved in some clubs or societies if possible (less necessary if you plan on being an engineer/academic).

Given my time over, I would've done exactly the same thing.

Trust me, you'll realise what a big deal it is after a couple of years, just sit back and enjoy it and work hard!

wow I can't believe it made me split this into 3 sections..

ctd.. Also, make sure you do some physics electives in second year, very helpful and fun. You will have a huge advantage when it comes to 3rd year electrical eng subjects, having done 2nd year maths.
Co-op is great, it may seem like a bit of a drag in your first couple of summer placements, but the 6 month placements are usually good - as long as you show them that you're enthusiastic and competent, your bosses will always give you good stuff to do.

The best thing about co-op is that it gives you alot of flexibility. I mentioned before about the different industries ee co-ops go into, and when you combine it with maths you will have no problem getting interviews.

As for me, I'm probably going to end up in the finance industry, eventually doing a phd in maths, although I was offered jobs with 2 of my sponsor companies. tbc..

hey dude, good to hear!
Yep just go and ask Skinner (or whoever your co-ordinator is), and he'll be fine with it. 4/5 co-ops in my year are doing combined degrees (2 ee/math, 2 ee/commerce). You've gotta overload a lot, and you'll always have trouble with classes clashing etc, so my advice is to enrol early, and get used to hassling the school office about enrolment issues. I did 30 uoc each semester in 2nd and 3rd year, and I also did 1 subject per semester while working full time during my full year of industrial training. Now, going into my final year, I still have to overload a bit..

You just need to be *really* organised. I struggled the first time I overloaded, after that though it was fine. You'll find that alot of the "harder" engineering subjects are just time-consuming to study, but not too bad in the end - don't be intimidated Maths on the other hand, I found to be far more challenging and interesting. So even though it was harder, I enjoyed studying it far more. tbc..

hey PiGMAN,

i just noticed your post on my "to electrical or not to electrical" thread. in the end, i decided to go for electrical mainly because its the most heavily maths oriented engineering discipline and a booming industry (or so i hear).

how do you combine electrical with maths? do i have to speak with the co op office/sponsors? how hard do i actually have to work?

on the side, how well does co-op actually set one up (career-wise) after uni? has co op been "rewarding"? would you do it all over again?

thanks man