Com/Law or Pharmacy? (1 Viewer)

[Felecity]

Hi all,

I got a UAI of 99.15 and have received offers of Bachelor of Pharmacy at USYD and Bachelor of law/commerce at UNSW and am not sure which one to do. Can someone tell me which 1 to do based on which one has the better career prospects in 5 yrs time approx? I like both thats the problem.

I loved chemistry at school and also liked ext 2 maths. But I'm not sure if I would be able to read tonnes of info for law (as I have heard this is the case) but I've heard there's heaps of money and prestige when u do law/commerce-majoring in actuarial studies.I was also interested in getting into medicine, however was unsuccessful this yr. Sitting UMAT this yr again gives no gaurantee so I thought I might go for the second best thing like Law then try to sit UMAT instead of doing pharm then trying. What should I do???

NEED TO MAKE UP MIND BEFORE THIS TUESDAY COMING.

THNX

 

[wyho]

Re: Urgent advice needed plz

just curious, did u get csp for law at unsw,99.2? since u like chem i reckon pharmacy, both has good futures =P

 

[Xytech]

Re: Urgent advice needed plz

this is ridiculous
they are such different directions i can't see how people can possibly be tossing up between them
go with what you enjoy... if you liked chemistry and maths then do pharmacy
far out
they are TOTALLY DIFFERENT DEGREES, how is law the "second best thing" if its as opposite to pharmacy as you can get

 

[littlewing69]

Re: Urgent advice needed plz

this is ridiculous
they are such different directions i can't see how people can possibly be tossing up between them
go with what you enjoy... if you liked chemistry and maths then do pharmacy
far out
they are TOTALLY DIFFERENT DEGREES, how is law the "second best thing" if its as opposite to pharmacy as you can get

Chill out, Shirley, some people have diverse interests.

 

[wyho]

Re: Urgent advice needed plz

well from what u said, i can see that u like science, so u should stick with your interest, this is very important!. also both degrees have big salaries when applying for jobs, so dont be influenced by others , just do what u like ./

 

[trishan]

Re: Urgent advice needed plz

Hey felicity,
It seems you are in a similar positon to me. I got offered optom in the 2nd round offers, and like you I was forced to look at the long term prospects of each. Now to help with this, here are two valuable links:
http://jobsearch.gov.au/Joboutlook/default.aspx?PageId=AscoDesc&ASCOCode=2382
http://jobsearch.gov.au/Joboutlook/default.aspx?PageId=AscoDesc&AscoCode=2521

Personally I would go for com/law in your situation. Pharmacists are really "glorified shopkeepers" in the words of my father. It's a very narrow path with one career outcome. Com/law has a greater scope, offering various paths to take.

You should also be aware of pharmacy's long term prospects. Many have suggested that changes in legislation could mean that supermarket chains are allowed to dispense medicines, leaving many pharmacists reduntant. This doesn't mean that there won't be jobs for pharmacists, but merely that their role will chane significantly. We can only speculate how this might affect the profession, but I feel if this scenario eventuates, it can only be detrimental.

On the other hand, if you are still keen on pursuing medicine, you have to keep in mind a few things. Firstly on top of resitting the UMAT, you need to obtain a fairly high GPA. Now as many will tell you, it's hard yakka getting a good GPA in law. Perhaps a better option would be to play to your stregths (chemistry) and take pharmacy. Thus giving you the biggest chance of scoring an adequate GPA. Keep in mind too that pharmacy's subjects are science based while law's are not. Med is pretty science based and so taking pharmacy wuld ensure you are doing complementary subjects to those you would take in med.

If you go for med you are taking a risk. Risk comes from the UMAT. You may bomb out or underperform. You may also be too focused on the UMAT, neglecting work and not achieving a good GPA. You thus risk the chance of being "stuck" in pharmacy and passing on an opportunity to do a very highly sought after course in com/law.

In the end, keep these factors in mind and make sure that 5 years, 10 years and 20 years down the line, you have no regrets. That's the hardest thing as I have found in my own case.

 

[Affinity]

Re: Urgent advice needed plz

Think about whether you will do a job if you are not paid. If you don't mind arguing a case pro bono then do Com/Law.. if you don't mind being a chemist for free study pharmacy

 

[MoonlightSonata]

Re: Urgent advice needed plz

Hi all,

I got a UAI of 99.15 and have received offers of Bachelor of Pharmacy at USYD and Bachelor of law/commerce at UNSW and am not sure which one to do. Can someone tell me which 1 to do based on which one has the better career prospects in 5 yrs time approx? I like both thats the problem.

I loved chemistry at school and also liked ext 2 maths. But I'm not sure if I would be able to read tonnes of info for law (as I have heard this is the case) but I've heard there's heaps of money and prestige when u do law/commerce-majoring in actuarial studies.I was also interested in getting into medicine, however was unsuccessful this yr. Sitting UMAT this yr again gives no gaurantee so I thought I might go for the second best thing like Law then try to sit UMAT instead of doing pharm then trying. What should I do???

NEED TO MAKE UP MIND BEFORE THIS TUESDAY COMING.

THNX

If you are much more interested in becoming a chemist, do Pharmacy.

If you are unsure of what career you want, Com/Law will give you the best career prospects.

I must say your idea of choosing law as the "next best thing" to, for example, medicine, really disgusts me. You should study for the career you are interested in pursuing, not what you think is "most prestigious". It is quite irrational to base your choice of what you will do for the rest of your life purely on what people perceive to be "prestigious" professions.

Com/Law does give you a very powerful and broad academic background to assist you in many disciplines however, and so choosing it for that reason is obviously prudent. Given your interest in Science, you might also consider taking Science/Law rather than Com/Law.

 

[melsc]

Re: Urgent advice needed plz

I must say your idea of choosing law as the "next best thing" to, for example, medicine, really disgusts me. You should study for the career you are interested in pursuing, not what you think is "most prestigious". It is quite irrational to base your choice of what you will do for the rest of your life purely on what people perceive to be "prestigious" professions.

Agreed, the people like this really annoy me, I'm sorry if it sounds rude but its a really silly reason to choose a course, in fact it is people that choose it mainly because either a) it was the course with the highest uai that they could get into or b) for prestige that end up with either lower marks because they have no interest or drop out. You said you like science, if that is where your interest lies then do that, you will find little science in the study of law, yes it comes up as evidence in court cases and the like but law involves the study of language, history, critical anaylsis, indepth interpretation, it is a humanities subject that differs greatly from science and requires dedication and interest to study it.

I am sorry to rant at you and its not your fault, it is just this is not the first thread I have read on this and it just sadends me to see people chosing a degree for prestige rather than interest, I just don't like to see people make such a mistake which will lead to them being miserable.

Good luck and I hope you follow you desired career path not the one that you feel everyone desires you to follow

 

[trishan]

Re: Urgent advice needed plz

Agreed, the people like this really annoy me, I'm sorry if it sounds rude but its a really silly reason to choose a course, in fact it is people that choose it mainly because either a) it was the course with the highest uai that they could get into or b) for prestige that end up with either lower marks because they have no interest or drop out. You said you like science, if that is where your interest lies then do that, you will find little science in the study of law, yes it comes up as evidence in court cases and the like but law involves the study of language, history, critical anaylsis, indepth interpretation, it is a humanities subject that differs greatly from science and requires dedication and interest to study it.

I am sorry to rant at you and its not your fault, it is just this is not the first thread I have read on this and it just sadends me to see people chosing a degree for prestige rather than interest, I just don't like to see people make such a mistake which will lead to them being miserable.

Good luck and I hope you follow you desired career path not the one that you feel everyone desires you to follow

I guess there's also that notion of getting the most for your UAI/ENTER. I see this a lot where people will do a certain course as they got a high ENTER and want to make the most of it, regardless of their interests or strengths. This is especially a culture thing. You will find this mindset is quite predominant among Asian students whose parents push their kids to do prestigious courses. If not med or dent then law and if you can't get law, then engineering will do.

While this is true, in Felicity's case, we should give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she likes both humanities and maths/science subjects. I know that is true for me. I enjoy both types of subjects and my subject selection and my results in each reflect my interest. Half my subjects are humanities subjects (English, Latin and French) and the other half are maths science (Chem,Maths Methods and Specialist Maths). So if this is the case with Felicity then law being "next best thing" could be justified.

 

[_dhj_]

I thought this was a parody of your thread.

 

[Felecity]

Re: Urgent advice needed plz

Well thanks a lot for all the advise evry1 (esp trishan)! Its a hard decision, but I have till this Thurs to think about it a little bit more. And yes I did get an offer for a CSP place.
Wish u all the best!

 

[iamverystupid]

Re: Urgent advice needed plz

You should also be aware of pharmacy's long term prospects. Many have suggested that changes in legislation could mean that supermarket chains are allowed to dispense medicines, leaving many pharmacists reduntant. This doesn't mean that there won't be jobs for pharmacists, but merely that their role will chane significantly. We can only speculate how this might affect the profession, but I feel if this scenario eventuates, it can only be detrimental.

Just to clarify, that is a non-issue. Legislation passed last year retained the traditional restrictions on pharmacies in terms of location. This means that supermarket chains will not be able to incorporate a pharmacy into their premises without voiding PBS eligibility.

Additional details can be found:
http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/BD/2005-06/06bd101.pdf

I would, however, keep in mind that no new pharmacy licenses are distributed. I'm not sure how much it would cost to purchase an existing one, but I have heard numbers in excess of $1 million (off a pharmacist, but i can't vouch for reliability). And as someone has already said, it does sound like an awfully boring job - unlike optom or other medical professions, the ability to use your degree as a basis for starting businesses is also largely restricted. Firstly on the basis of cost of a business, and secondly due to the fact that the pharmaceuticals industry (dispensing, not the corporate one) is heavily regulated. (regulations restrict number of pharmacies an individual can own, restrictions on promotion etc.)

I think doing some more research is probably a good idea.
Or, go to your local pharmacist, buy a pack of chewing gum and chat to him/her for a while. Cheapest and most accurate information I would think.