subaruturbo_18

At the moment i am in my foundation year of a mechanical engineering degree, but am thinking of changing it, and doing another.

I am thinking of either Law, Economics or politics. Quite a big change really.

Has anyone done one of these degrees? What sort of modules did you do and what was the work / content like?


Oh and how rich are you now

Ben123456789

Why are you thinking of changing?

Is it mainly because you think you will earn more money by doing one of the others? If that is the case, then you need to think very carefully about whether you will be able to stick with a subject that you may not find interesting, never mind a career.

If you are thinking of going into the world of finance, an engineering degree (provided you get a top grade) is a route into many areas in the city. It will also give you the option of actually being an engineer if you decide the world of finance isn't for you!

Law and finance are not an easy ticket to get rich, to earn the mega bucks you will need to work extremely hard, sacrifice most of your spare time, and be very good at what you do whilst handling a huge amount of stress. I know this from people I know who followed / tried to follow this path. As for politics, I have absolutely no idea about that one so can't offer you any advice!

If you enjoy engineering, stick with it, you can earn decent money if you get into a good company, and still have a life outside of work. And another thing that you probably won't realise until you've finished your course and got a job is that doing engineering as a job is a lot more interesting than the uni coursework, which can get very tedious as it's often taught badly.

The most important thing is to make sure you are genuinely interested in the subject, whichever one you choose. Otherwise you probably won't be very good at the job.

Hope this helps

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

The standard way into politics is to be a lawyer first, then change tack. Something like 40% of MPs are ex-lawyers. As a subject, Politics is what their staff studied.


M

Trout

iTrader: (1)

In terms of earnings Law probably offers the best potential reward - but as said above you need to be the absolute cream at what you do.

A decent provincial lawyer might get £45-60k a year doing mundane family stuff. A provincial partner between £90-150k depending on the type of practice and the size of the firm. But for every partner there will be 5-10 lawyers vying to be partner.

In the city firms the sky is the limit. The average partner share in the Golden Circle is over £1m a year - but this is the cream of the cream of the cream. Mostly staffed by well connected, Oxbridge leaders.

Of course you could do any of the degrees you describe and then become a barrister instead. You would need to go through pupillage but can earn decent money representing people in court.

The big money for either a lawyer or barrister is in corporate law especially corporate restructuring and arbitrage.

hodgy0_2

having spent the easter break with a good friend who is one of the country's top Patent Lawyers (and founding partner of a top city corporate Law Firm)

I can say that if you become a Corporate Lawyer then the sky is the limit

(oh and he did a bio chemistry degree - 1st at Cambridge)

Trout

iTrader: (1)

So get a great degree in engineering. Do a law degree and then you can become a patent lawyer for things like this...



Of course the real money in patent law is not babysitting patents it is doing the Apple sue Nokia, Nokia sue Apple stuff. And then you have to be the very best to make serious money.

subaruturbo_18

The money part was just a bit of sarcasm really.

The engineering i am doing is very difficult to remain interested in at all times, and i can find it hard to remember all of the stuff I'm bombarded with in lectures. I have thought about changing to auto mobile engineering but it will not be very auto mobile focused until the 3rd year really.

I've just thought of it as a back up as i have a very logical and mathematical mind(my mates even call me Jewish ), and with law, i can be very good at persuasive or debate style arguing, and think i could do well with the essays.

GlesgaKiss

Have you ever thought about chemical engineering? One of my mates qualified as a mechanical engineer and he's now doing a chemical degree. Totally different, and I guess the goal for him is to be working for oil companies etc. He says the maths is unreal and he's not exactly a genius, but he's prepared to work hard! The money will be good.

The thing about Law now is that I think there are a lot of people wanting to do it. That means there could be less chance of a job when you get your qualifications. Obviously though, if you're keen enough and think you can do it then you might as well go for it.

Leslie

You mean lawyers are not to be trusted then!

Les

Leslie

I would find engineering very interesting, but the others would bore me to tears.

I reackon that job satisfaction is very important.

Les

paulr

Agreed. I did an OND in mechanical engineering. I'd have thought if anything Law would be more tedious. Only you can answer that though.

MJW

The country needs more engineers than it does ambulance chasers, stick with it !!

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

You might think so, I couldn't possibly comment...



M

dnc

Very interesting replies......................... Ben123456789 talks a lot of sense. If I had my time again I would do Business Studies/Accountancy (I have Science degrees from late 80s early 90s; loved the subject rather than for career prospects). If you are 'good enough' a good degree from a good university in pretty much any 'challenging' subject will lead to good earning prospects in a number of disciplines. If you are 'good enough' however, you will have great prospects without a degree, though you will probably need an opportunity/bit of luck to get your foot on the ladder.

Degrees have become almost 10-a-penny these days (IMHO and no offence to anyone) and hence are no longer the differentiators they were historically. When I need to recruit I look for a spark in people or a general intelligence/awareness as much as any paper qualifications, though I only recruit at medium to lower salary levels.

So I would advise you do a degree in a challenging subject that you are comfortable with...............and the sky becomes the limit. FWIW Engineering in pretty much any form has good prospects, there are not too many good engineers out there.

Good luck with whatever choice you make.

dnc