The most common academic progression goes
like this:
3 year undergrad science degree
1 year honours
approx 3 years PhD or above depending on how
your research is progressing.
Probably the most important thing is to figure out
for sure what you would be most interested in. If
you have the focus and the drive, you will get there
one way or another regardless what ENTER score
you start with. There are ways to get through the
system once you're in so don't stress too much if
you initially not happy with where you end up.
You're more than welcome for the advice, and its definitely good to think about what you want to do, as school takes awhile! Minimum for a PhD with med research would be 7 years starting with undegrad.
BSc = 3 years, Hon = 1 year, PhD = 3 years. The PhD takes 3 years at a minimum, but most supervisors like you to hang around for an extra 6 months or so.
With regards to the BSc, you have lots of options in different types of science, or you can do Engineering in 4 years and then go straight into your PhD. Note, if you make it into Medicine, you do a year of research during your 6 year degree. I'm not sure if dentistry and vet programs have the same type of system.
Aaron, I kind of wonder how smart I am after sitting around in school for so long... but I digress. Gakami, thanks for the note on vet school, that's interesting.
As for taking time off, that's really up to you. Two girls in my lab are taking the summer off (you finish honors the end of November) and will probably come back sometime in February or March. Two of the other girls in my lab did honors, worked for a year or two, and then started their PhD's. It just depends on how you feel at the time.
I went to primary school in Eltham and then got shipped off to Kew to a private school. Finished yr 12 in 1990 so I'm an old man. Moved out of Eltham fairly soon after yr 12.
Do you know the Jewellery store on the corner of Main Road and Brougham street in Eltham? Just up the Road from Eltham High. Thats my store.
K2 ,
Your preaching to the converted. I dropped out of engineering and worked, I now run a successful business. School and Uni never suited me, however not getting a degree definatly limits you, doesn't stop you being successful, but limits what areas you can choose from.
Doing something like medicine may be different, but the best thing I never did is take a year off study after leaving school and get a job. I went straight to Uni from school, and was a lazy bastard who never studied at all until my 2nd year, and even then barely, and got grades accordingly.
My flatmate during Uni that I did my degree with worked in a bank for the year before going to Uni, and this made him realise wholeheartedly that he really didnt' want to do that for the rest of his life, and so he actually applied himself and studied hard through Uni. I treated it just like another 'free ride' like school to a degree, and screwed myself royally for a while.
Admittedly now, about 12 years after graduating we're pretty much level in our 'careers', but it certainly wasn't that way upon graduating. Getting some perspective early on - BEFORE you actually go to Uni - is a great thing that will help you in more ways than one, I feel. Hope my perspective gives some food for thought...
Agree completley with Cadmus. Taking a year off can really sort you out.
My advice is definatly get a degree if you can. Apart from the qualitifcation that you get, it teaches you organisation, discipline and consistency. It also looks good on any job you apply for whether the degree is relevant or not.
Having said all of that, if you haven't got the marks or studying is not your thing, it cetianly is not the end of the world. Their are many ways of becoming successful without uni degrees. Although personally I feel completing Yr12 is essential.
I am in two minds as to the value of a uni degree, on a vareity of levels...
Granted that a Degree can teach one many skills that one may be able to successfully apply to their working life, but what Uni doesn't teach in a practical sense are those social skills a professional requires to intergrate in a white collar enviroment. I am a firm beliver that in "it's not what you know but how people perceive you".
Not that this is a bad thing. Consider: the co-worker (be it boss or whatever) that everyone hates is typically 1/ really bloody smart or 2/ really bloody stupid - the one thing they all have in common is that they just tread just don't make any friends in the workplace. Sure for 1% of the population this doesn't mean jack to them, but for everyone else it makes a difference.
What really sux is when a graduate joins a team, keen to make an impression. They want to add value, but to do so they require power. Power is a function of responsibility and before anyone is going to hand over the keys to their success, they will want to be sure that the grad has the savy to act appropriately. That's when you hear the "...while at Uni we studied..." line: which means jack all. The Uni environment is very much removed from an office environment so such comments (when directed to me) mark the grad as a "Learner" i.e. they don't get the keys. If that same person said "...while packing shelves a Coles we had the same problem and..." I'd pay attention: real world application.
So where is this all going... Uni is good, no doubt about it. But some things cannot be taught, rather they have to be experienced.
Good work thus far. I have a few good friends that are doing Osteo at RMIT in Bundoora (pretty close to you), they reckon it is a pretty hardcore course so if you are academically inclined it may be something that you should look at. The other thing is that you get to see naked chicks nearly every day. If that dosn't convince you then Osteo ain't for you.
I've found that I learnt jack squat at Uni (maybe something to do with the amount of work I did too though). All it really does for me now is allow me to meet the minimum criteria to be allowed to APPLY for a job. All my degree shows - I feel - is that I can apply myself to the task at hand really, not that I know stuff.
My opinion is that education is best NOT left to institutions, but the intelligent individual. Institutions such as school, and even Uni's to a degree, are geared towards the lowest common denominator, or at best the 'average'.
If you are looking to go to Uni simply so you'll get a higher paying job and make more money, DON'T BOTHER GOING. Seriously.
If you add up the amount of money you'll make each year for the 3 or 4 years you'd be at Uni, and add the amount of HECS etc those 3 or 4 years at Uni will cost, and then factor the difference in Salary between a Uni graduate and something with 3-4 years experience in the field, you'd have to have pretty high grades and know a lot of people to be in front even 5 years after graduating. The Liberal government has fucked higher education completely.
Of course, hopefully if you're going to be a doctor or a vet you won't dodge Uni (although it appears with a bit of bluff it can be done!). But, getting a job in a vets office for a year and then studying part-time or something will give you a lot more practical nouse than any Uni education only will, as per Dutch's view...
Definitely agree that there are lots of things you don't learn at Uni. About working before undergrad, I didn't say anything about that since no one mentioned it, but now that you did...
I only worked full time for about 5 or 6 months before starting, and it was a good thing for me... first job was nice, but my second one sucked so bad (working in a nice resteraunt with a crap boss) that there was no doubt in my mind I wanted a degree so that I never had to do that crap again.
In my dept there are a number of research assistants who get a job here after completing their honours year. After working for a year or two, they usually make the transition into a PhD within the dept. It's good to take time off and work, live in the real world for a short while before taking the plunge back into student life and student poverty.
I dont know what to think, im happy with the score but it probably means ill just miss out on getting into physiotherapy. So i guess my choice is now between Osteopathy and perhaps biomedical science, although ill leave physiotherapy at the top of my preferences just in case.
Good point there Gakami, i think there would be hotter chicks in physio compared to Osteo as physio is more concentrated on sporting injuries so they should be fit sporty people.
I'm going into fourth yr physio @ UQ, and if watching every girl in your course walk around in bikini tops during prac classes isn't enough to convince you, than physio isn't for u. good luck!