Question

Topic: Student Questions

Help I Need Some Adivice About My Subject Choice

Posted by Carl Crawford on 7/8/2004 at 8:13 AM ET 700 Points
HI all,

I have a big problem and I need some advice.

I recently had my exams and I got my results back today. I failed two papers that were the core of my degree, but I passed Marketing with 75% (thanks KHE).

After looking at possible options I have decided to change my major from Energy Management to a Bcom, I will major in marketing and have a minor in computer science.

I would like to know if this is a good choice.

Are there jobs for people with this combination of skills?

What are some other minors that I could choose that are in short supply?

Should I do some management papers with this degree?

What other skills do you think are important that I will need if I want to be successful?

A reason I failed was because I was LAZY and didn’t do much work, I now am going to force my self to WORK MY BEHIND OFF. I have learned my lesson a $1000 lesson

A VERY scared student.

ps. if you need more info just ask.

Thanks I advance for the quick responses
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by SRyan ;] on 7/8/2004 at 9:49 AM Accepted
    I've noticed that some (not all) of the highest-ranking experts here have a variety of educational backgrounds. Jett, for one, has a degree in forensic science, I think!

    The important thing is to GRADUATE. If college is a challenge for you, choose subjects that fascinate you so won't be "forcing yourself" to study things you aren't interested in and will be likely to forget anyway. Yes, pay attention to trends in the job market, but don't go overboard bending yourself to fit a hypothetical career path. Other than doctors, I don't think I've met anyone in my lifetime who's working in the job they planned for or predicted in college!
  • Posted by Carl Crawford on 7/8/2004 at 10:07 AM Author
    Thanks for your quick responses.


    Michele:

    Some other minors i have to choose from that interest me are:

    Consumer food science

    Information science

    Statistics

    Management

    Energy Management (but this was one of the papers i failed)

    I am in my first year of university at the University of Otago in New Zealand so I have 3 more years to go until i complete my degree.

    SRyan:

    Thanks for the enlightening response. Now that I think about it that is true for the people I know.

    Keep the responses coming I will leave this question open for a bit longer.
  • Posted by Pepper Blue on 7/8/2004 at 12:45 PM Accepted
    Hi sweetasman01,

    Your story sounds like mine my first of undergraduate college, I really failed horribly but like your situation it really served as a wake up call!

    I think a major in marketing with compsci minor is a great combination, both should have foreseeable job growth.

    Yes, there are many jobs for people with this combination, although as stated already, it might not be for a 100% application of these schooled skills, but as much for your other accomplishments and attributes.

    Other minors in short supply? Minors don't mean much, so minor in a foreign language if that interests you, its always helpful to know Mandarin, French, Spanish, Italian or Japanese.

    Not sure what you mean by "Should I do some management papers with this degree?" but just hold off for now, you will be required to do many papers your last year of school.

    What other skills do you think are important that I will need if I want to be successful?

    Learn how to write for business and non-business. Take advanced writing classes. Take pride in your writing, all your papers, posts to this forum, use your style books.

    I think after this "lesson learned" you will get in the groove and find that learning becomes much easier and your grades will shoot up - remember, it is very hard to increase your grade point average once it is low, so get it up now and keep it up there.

    Good Luck!
  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 7/8/2004 at 4:51 PM Accepted
    I have a BS in Marketing with a minor in Computer Science. Seems like a reasonably good combintation.

    One downside is that my experience in the States is that the minor doesn't really seem to mean much to companies. I did take some 20+ credit hours of computer programming classes, but about all that I think showed the hiring companies that I had some technical apptitude. The major is more important.

    I wouldn't worry too much. As was said above, getting the degree is what counts. What you studied will not be all that important within a few years of graduating. What companies will look at from that point will be your work experience and that you have a degree.
  • Posted by Carl Crawford on 7/8/2004 at 8:21 PM Author
    WOW thanks you for the advice: it has made all this very clear to me.

    too answer the question asked by the consultant her are the papers and there descriptions that i need to get a minor in computer sci recognized on my degree are:

    one of either COMP 101 or 102 or 112
    COMP 103
    COSC 241
    COSC 242
    and 1 COSC paper at level 300

    Comp 101: An introduction to computers, their applications, and their implications. suitable for students with no or little computer skill.

    basically it is for people how have never used a computer before.

    Comp 102: Fundamentals of information systems and an introduction to systems analysis, systems design, database systems, and programming.

    Comp 103: Algorithm development and the art and craft of computer programming.

    Comp 112: Computing topics such as the Internet, multimedia, and the development and use of web pages. A practical introduction to web authoring languages, and some of the concepts underlying programming languages.

    COSC 241: programming and problem solving: programming languages, and using computers to find solutions to problems of the real world

    COSC 242: Data abstraction and structured data types; sets; lists; trees, graphs, hash tables, and their algorithms; classification and resource utilisation of algorithms; analysis of standard algorithms.

    There are a lot of papers to choose from but i think i will do comp 112,comp 103 and both cosc papers mentioned above. For the third year paper their is new paper about computer game design. Would this be a good investment of my time? the NZ gaming industry is booming at the moment.

    I think I will also do some stats papers because I have a lot of room in my degree for extra stuff .i have 60 points to do papers that have nothing to do with marketing 30 of which don’t ever have to be related to commerce. So I will get the marketing degree with stats and computer sci.

    any more info you need just ask.

    Any one else with a opinion? I will leave this open until tomoorw.

    if you need more info about papers then just go to www.otago.ac.nz and typr in the name of the paper or subject you want more info on. i can post more info just ask me.

    thank you sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much
  • Posted by Carl Crawford on 7/10/2004 at 5:09 AM Author
    thanks so much. i will go with the Bcom.

    this forum rules

    kick ass site
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