I hate huge decisions like this. Need some help desperately (1 Viewer)

[Therewego]

So let me explain my situation,

Obviously the atar's came out yesterday, and I achieved a much higher atar than I was anticipating; one which will guarentee me acceptance into any course at any university I choose.

Now I have always planned to complete a double degree of Law and Journalism (or communications, depending on university), I just didn't expect to have a choice of the "Big Uni's" (Sydney, UNSW etc.) when choosing this course; I did not expect to recieve an atar well over the cut off's for both of these uni's, which I have.

I'd always been bent on doing the course at UWS. Yes I know I know. What am I thinking...BUT; I've heard good things about Law at UWS, I have friends who say its awesome, and I'm not one to personally give a shit about pride or reputation. More importantly though, I've actually got a 20K scholarship to UWS if I decide to go there.

Now there's other options too, UTS for example, which I've heard is awesome for its journalism and communications courses.

So here's my dilemna...does anyone do this course or a variation of the two courses involved at ANY university in Sydney? What are your thoughts? Should I go to USYD or UNSW or take the cash and go to UWS? Which Uni's are better for what? What are the pro's and con's of each?

I'm in a state of "wtfdoidonow", so any help would be absolutely awesome

Oh and, being relatively lazy, I didn't attend any open days.

 

[melsc]

Which are you leaning towards more as a career?

I'd personally take the scholarship, 20k will mean you wont need to work at all/as much and hence have more time to spend getting good marks.

 

[click here]

UWS duh!

 

[Therewego]

Which are you leaning towards more as a career?

I'd personally take the scholarship, 20k will mean you wont need to work at all/as much and hence have more time to spend getting good marks.

I am leaning more towards Journalism, which at UWS requires an atar of about 65 or 70...while at USYD/UNSW/UTS ranges from 90-97...should this worry me?

 

[melsc]

I am leaning more towards Journalism, which at UWS requires an atar of about 65 or 70...while at USYD/UNSW/UTS ranges from 90-97...should this worry me?

The ATAR is a supply and demand thing. I don't know much about journo..sorry

 

[jippy787]

I am leaning more towards Journalism, which at UWS requires an atar of about 65 or 70...while at USYD/UNSW/UTS ranges from 90-97...should this worry me?

That 20k scholarship looks awfully nice, so I can see how it would be a tough decision. But, personally, I would turn it down. I can always make 20k later . . .

I don't mean to diss UWS, but I think you'd find that students at USyd/UNSW/UTS will be more competitive and motivated, which in turn will motivate you. My friends at school who were regarded as "smart" all ended up at USyd/UNSW/UTS, whilst my other friends who weren't exactly regarded as "smart" ended up at UWS. I'm not dissing them - they were actually the friends in my social group. I'm just saying it as it is. But, to be honest, I much preferred a learning environment with my "smart" friends . . .

The Journalism course at UWS isn't exactly well known or highly regarded. You'll hear a bit about USyd because of prestige, but it isn't the best choice you could make either. In fact, if you're really interested in Journalism and want the highest chances of getting a job in the industry (during or straight out of uni), your best bet would be UTS. It is arguably the best journalism course in Australia, along with Charles Sturt University in Bathurst. Those are the only two universities you should really consider for Journalism.

But that's just my opinion (. . . and many of those in the industry).

 

[jaimebien]

Therewego, congrats! It's awesome that your "wtfdoidonow" state comes from the many opportunities that are opening up because of your great score.

Jippy is right: that's the general consensus regarding those unis. But because you're also interested in law, you should take a closer look at USYD. I think in your case, you need to consider how much weighting you want to give to your law degree and how much you want to give to your journalism degree. That is, do you want to study journalism for the skills, or do you want to look at media as a lawyer? Do you want to study law to help your understanding in any issues you might cover in journalism, or do you want it for the prestige? (They say law is the arts degree of today, in that it is the new benchmark with which employers look at graduates.) But with journalism, remember that it's not really about the degree, but the portfolio you've accumulated when you start to be employed, so I guess another thing to look at is which uni would give you the best opportunity for obtaining the best kind of work experience.

I do BA (Media and Communications) at USYD and I've heard a lot of people say that they chose this degree because of the work experience component. People, please. Every other journalism degree in Australia has such a component. Personally, I don't think the work experience part of my degree sounds that great. It seems more a case of "find somewhere you want to spend a semester at, we (the MECO department) will liaise with them, and off you go". It sounds to me that UTS and CSU tend to tie in student work with actual industry work experience throughout the degree. At USYD, it's in the 3rd/4th year, towards the end of the degree. It's up to most students to start looking for work experience in their own time, as there's no built in structure for that in the degree. All this is not to say I regret choosing this degree, because I came to USYD to do an arts degree, and I love it, and MECO is my major, which represents the most vocationally relevant aspect of the degree. Journalism degrees at other unis tend to feed in more directly to post-uni careers, with the greater emphasis on practical skills.

As for the discrepancies between ATAR scores at different unis, I'm personally not sure if you should be worried. I study with people who just do the straight BA degree, and some of them are incredibly intelligent and very competitive students, others not so. If you choose to do combined law at USYD, you'll be studying with students with ATARs of 99+ in law, but also students with lower ATARs in the MECO or Arts part of your combined degree. So...the question is what are you worried about? The ATAR has never been a score of intelligence. Are you worried about how competitive your peers would be? That would be my main concern, but I think that question might or might not be answered by the cut-off, and that you'd have to investigate each uni individually to find out.

As for the scholarship...it depends on your financial situation. But with your score, don't you qualify for scholarships at other unis? Is the 20k scholarship a one-off? At USYD, most merit scholarships are 3K a semster, for the length of your degree, which works out to 24K over a 4 year degree, more over longer degrees. They also give more prizes (one off payments, if you like) and scholarships to top achievers (I think that's in the upper 99+). So...shop around for comparable scholarships, if the financial part is a concern. Personally, I believe that at uni, learning is the most important thing, and if the 20k scholarship helps to facilitate that, then maybe you should go to UWS, after weighing up all the other factors. But the the 20k scholarship is more a bonus, than a necessity, than maybe not.

 

[Therewego]

Thanks everyone for the replies, especially jamiebien, I really do appreciate the lengthy and extremely helpful reply.

In terms of qualifying for scholarships at other uni's, I didn't actually apply for any, unless an atar of 99.85 will automatically give me any? (I realise I missed out on the scientia scholarship (10K a year for the duration of a degree) at UNSW by a mere 0.05. FML)

For me, 20K is quite a bit of money, my family isn't exactly what you'd call well off, though in saying that, the money comes second. If going to UWS would adversely affect my prospects of getting a job, or the quality of the education I recieve, by any significant amount I'd rather attend USYD, UNSW or UTS etc.

What about the journalism course at UNSW? how does it hold up? And as you guys have said I realise UTS is the best bet for journalism, but was wondering if when combined with law going to USYD or UNSW would be a better idea...

Thanks again btw, this is really helping.

 

[mckensara]

i am faced with similar decisions. I have dreamed about UTS law all year, only to then resign myself to maybe scrapping into club mac, to finally deciding that international studies would do just fine.

I know alot about the international studies/law at UTS and NOTHING at the other uni's, but since both my parents went to USYD law, and the great reputation i dont think i can pass it up. But as you said, considering that this isnt a factor to put in the pro's column for you, i say go with your instincts.
Make a 'pros and cons list' after going to the unis and doing a bit of research?

all the best with your big decision!

 

[ehtefaz.hedayet]

listen to your heart

 

[lychnobity]

http://community.boredofstudies.org/331/law/196350/law-uws/5.html#post4050838

USyd has more links to prestigious companies, but the course is more 'theoretical', and it is not until the later stages that you get to gain work experience, while UWS has some Parramatta Legal Centre opening there soon, and UWS has already established links to it. I would say that the UWS program is more practical.

However, there are the evil, almost uncivilised people who attend UWS for its courses. From speaking to some people who do the combined law program, they get weaned out within the first few years of study, so they don't pose much of a problem.

Btw, the library at the Parramatta campus has just been renovated, looks awesome.