Am I wasting everything?

[turtle turtle]

So I've been thinking about two options: to study only commerce, or to study law and commerce

 

- With commerce only, you need a low IB score to get into the course. However, since I want to go into finance, this may be more beneficial for me.

 

- With the latter, you need a higher IB score of above 40 and doing law (and commerce) sounds better.

 

Most IB students at my school tend to get in the 40s, and I don't want to waste all my education and a potentially high score by going to uni and doing a course which requires a low score that doesn't 'sound very good'.

 

I want to stay in Australia, so going to a good UK or US uni to study commerce isn't an option I don't think.

 

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but what do you guys think?

[susanne]

You're not wasting anything by going into a course that requires low ATAR; ATAR requirement doesnt predict how hard a course will be, or how valuable it is. Despite having an ok ATAR, I still had to work my ass off in my science degree to maintain good grades. Same with law.

 

Your case is quite curious. To work in finance I'd think commerce is enough; but I guess to make yourself more competitive if you have an understanding of the legal system. That being said, there's a couple of things you need to consider, namely 1). would you enjoy doing law, 2). do you want to spend 5 years doing law, 3). where do you actually want to end up at

[ibprincess]

yeah it might look more impressive to have law/commerce but if you don't need law then its just using up your time. you also don't have to only consider Go8 universities which need 99+ atars for law because australian university sector is highly regulated that even schools with lower atar requirements are still good. 

 

you could also try for commerce/arts then transfer to law once in the university if you think its necessary

[turtle turtle]

Thanks a lot for the advice, guys.

 

I'm planning to do honours or masters in my commerce degree which will make my uni duration 5 years anyway.

 

I wouldn't do law solely because it sounds good, but because it MIGHT complement my commerce studies. I'm not sure, does anyone know? The only downside to this is that I wouldn't be able to specialise in commerce.

 

It's just that everyone seems to be going into medicine/law that kind of thing and I feel kind of pressured to do something more 'prestigious' than commerce (sounds stupid i know lol) especially if I do well in IB.

Edited December 14, 2015 by vladimir mykraine