Engineering/Dentistry (1 Viewer)

[mellarr]

Ok, I really want to do engineering/commerce, using engineering as a back up degree in case I don't find work in a bank or investment firm.

But my mum, she's totally against engineering and is fixed on me doing dentistry at University of Melbourne. She says if I do engineering, and it becomes my career I will be earning very little and that's if I find a job. She is convinced that I will HAVE to work for the RTA with civil or electrical engineering. She says that dentistry will mean I have a great future ahead of me with lots of money. Engineering for her, is a no where degree. When I told her I wanted to do actuary, she absolutely forbid me to do it because she's convinced I will not pass the final exam and never find work.

The problem is, I don't want to learn medicine related fields. I'm a person who finds it hard to be well outwardly compassionate and I'm often told I have little facial expression.

While engineering is only going to be a back up for me, it's going to be a degree I do because I want to enjoy the physics and maths in it. I really enjoy maths, and the best thing is I'm doing well in it. I am from Sydney Grammar and am in the top 10 at least for maths, topping the last assessment. In physics I am ranking top 20. The problem is, despite this, she thinks I won't find work as an engineer and is scared shitless when I said I wanted to do commerce and investment banking or risk management related areas.

She says I don't understand what the world is like, and that if I do dentistry I will thank her later for it. But I don't like medicine which is a big problem because I don't want to end up 40 with money but doing a job I hate and knowing that I will spend the next 20 years doing what I hate.

If I did what I wanted to do, I'd be doing pure maths and physics, but I realise that down those paths is little money relative to applied maths and physics.

What do I do????

If I go to Melbourne for dentistry, I'm not sure if I can get a combined degree wtih something I do like!! ><

Btw if you haven't guessed yet, my parents are asian.

I am grateful for the investment they have given to me for a great education, but I think if I do what I love to do, maths and physics, that I will do well in the course and enjoy a happier life albeit with less money.

 

[tommykins]

lol @ your mum.

 

[mellarr]

Thanks dude

 

[Kelzi]

lol @ your mum.

This.

HSC 2011? So you're accelerating Physics I presume?

To your question, I'm not sure what I'd do. I suppose you might wear them down if you continually express your dislike of dentistry? In any case, you're only in year 10, you'll likely change your mind a few times before you graduate.

 

[mellarr]

No

This is my sis' account

I'm in Year 12 right now.

My bad.

Any suggestions to show her that commerce is a good career path and engineering is not that bad?

 

[tommykins]

just do engineering.

fuck your parents, you're the one studying for the hsc, you're the one planning for your future. your parents probably even don't know what engineers do.

wahts her justification for engineer being in low demand + shit salary?

 

[mellarr]

No idea, she asks a few of her friends and that's her conclusion.

 

[mellarr]

Engineering is a backup, I want to be an investment banker, engineering is just a back up for me.

I mean I have no real interest in medicine, I find logic in mathematical proofs, and so English for me is WTF?!?

I mean I am grateful for them paying to send me to SGS, but I want to do something I'm interested in and it must involve maths and/or physics

 

[katie tully]

Why would you want to be an investment banker?! That's guaranteed more fail than engineering.

 

[ajay098]

do wat u want...ur the one dats gonna have to put up with uni so dont waste the time in ur life...life's short so treasure every moment.

even if ur mum is upset with it, she'll eventualli c that wat makes u happy is wat makes her happy.

 

[Dumbledore]

i thought engineers were paid well :S
well thats according to mycareer.com at least

of course dentistry is alot higher but engineering is still decent

 

[tacogym27101990]

if you want to do actuarial studies, then do it.
its not your mums future
sounds like she's either a dentist or wanted to be one once upon a time imo

 

[Doomah]

who wants to be a plumber/dentist

 

[mellarr]

It doesn't have to be investment banking, I mean something commerce related, I really enjoy economics at school. I'd love working in a bank on my own. Probability based risk management would be great too. I think I can work hard enough to get at job.

Ben, note I don't want to talk to other people at work. I'm more of me myself and I person, when working I want to get in there, do the work and socialise outside to work. Not to mention I'm the worst at intiating conversation.

 

[GinoIs]

Screw your mother, you're in the driver's seat of your life, not her, she's had her chance to become a Dentist - and by the sounds of it, she blew it.

Yea, she may shaped you up to be who you are, and effectively (i'm assuming) shes always suggested you to become a dentist (or another medical profession) - but at end of the day after 17 years, she didn't do a good job to convince you to become a dentist.

 

[jb_nc]

It doesn't have to be investment banking, I mean something commerce related, I really enjoy economics at school. I'd love working in a bank on my own. Probability based risk management would be great too. I think I can work hard enough to get at job.

Ben, note I don't want to talk to other people at work. I'm more of me myself and I person, when working I want to get in there, do the work and socialise outside to work. Not to mention I'm the worst at intiating conversation.

lol

you're going to fail at life

get some therapy or something

edit: yr mum is an idiot btw

 

[mellarr]

I don't need therapy >< I can socialise it's just i don't make the first move lol.

 

[Doomah]

if you say "Ben, note I don't want to talk to other people at work. I'm more of me myself and I person, when working I want to get in there, do the work and socialise outside to work. Not to mention I'm the worst at intiating conversation."

in an interview... 100% you will NOT get a job of any sorts in banking. IB is about making contacts and being a salesman (think Jerry McGuire type of person) rather than what you know or even how good you can make investment decisions.

i would say stick to a science related field. NOT ib.

 

[GinoIs]

stop ruining his life MOFO he is not suited to IB

Where in my post did I suggest that he is suited to IB?

My post suggested that he should do what he wants to do, and not be pressured into doing something he doesn't want to do. So be it if he wants to do IB (even if it doesn't suit his personality - I'm not going to argue those merits)

u go to sydney grammar which isn't exactly cheap so why would your mum be happy with you doing engineering? tbh eng is like the course people do when they get below 90atar and can't get into anything else worthwhile. Don't get me wrong, heaps of people who have gotten 95s or evern higher just do engineering but the vast majority are in the 80s with bonus uai points and do engo. You could have done engo had u gone to the local HS up the street. Thats prob where your mum is coming from why waste all that money for an course that is easy to GET INTO.

I went to a private school and there's alot more to going to a private school than your exiting score. Highschool shapes children into young adults through co curricular activities and having been to both school sectors (public & private), I can say that getting a top notich score can be done in both sectors.
I don't see how the Highschool you attended determines the degree you'll be studying in University.

Like what im saying is think about lifestyle factors - pay, number of hours u want to work, time your able to spend with family when u have one, prestige factors (don't mean to be snobby but it does matter in circumstances and i don't like it either)

with Dentistry you end up working less hours, more pay, YOUR UR OWN BOSS, no risk of loosing jobs, 4day weeks if choose, the rest you spend ur time with family, hobbies INTERESTS, travel GOLF etc

A graduate engineering would probably recieve 55k upon graduating - enough to survive, bearing in mind that the pay increases as you progress through your career, give it 10years and one could earn 100k a year.
Dentist - more than enough to survive.

So life... Graduate around 22 (for safe measures) retire at 60 - that's nearly 40years of working. At some point in your life lifestyle factor will incorporate your occupation - weather you like it or not.
Unless you want a playboy lifestyle, I highly doubt the end salary will be the "Be all or End all" in deciding which profression you want to join.

with engo you would have to work many hours, visit construction/machinary sites(working conditions are shotty, not all is office design work, endless amounts of calculations, CAD monkey type work, its really really not that great in terms of satisfying your interest of designing the next twin towers or similiar. Mostly its routine inspections, structural testing, some design, not all that it cracks upto be

Sure, visiting sites around the world - where as for dentistry you won't know a world outside your clean cubical.
I like how you given reference to these jobs and the work it entails ...endless amounts of calculations, CAD monkey... not all that it cracks upto be... May I ask which engineering firm this was for? Or was it a friend's friend's parent's workstory?
There's more to Engineering than building the New England Highway. There's a thread about the different majors with a poll.


At the end of the day, some people enjoy golf, others hate it, you're comparing apples with oranges.

work is work

I'm sorry mate but work is not just work. Work is work if you're stuck in a deadend job trying to pay off your fullyhetic Lancer, for people who have a choice work is something to enjoy, to apply learnt skills to a problem and come with a solution.

 

[Lukybear]

Ben's a retard, and i call troll. Forget him.

To OP: Do what your heart tells you to do. The main requirement in life is happiness, and money definately wont guarrantee that. Having a job that earns a slightly less money, but fufills your inner self, is what I consider worthy. And your decision should be based on this.

In a 10 years, will I be happy, or won't I?

However, this is highly based upon the suggestion that "work" completely defines a person. It definately makes up a large portion of one's life, and one's happiness will be certainly dependent upon this, so my argument is still valid.