Need some advice for University

FrozenPizza

I'm in my senior year of high school right now and I've already done my University applications. I have applied to Mechanical Engineering and Accounting, both of which, I've been accepted to. So now I'm kind of deadlocked as to which career path I should take.
I do think Mechanical Engineering would be more interesting, but people who go into accounting do get decent-paying jobs quite quickly which is also a factor I have to take into consideration.

I'm wondering if there is anyone here who took either of these programs in University. If so, which of the two did you take, and what are you working as right now?

Any additional info would be appreciated, like how long after graduating did you get a stable job, the difficulty level of the courses in University etc.

Also, I live in Ontario(Mississauga), if that helps.

Thanks

P.S.
I know asking the community of an online game infested with 12 year olds and egyptians isn't the best place to ask for career advice, but yolo.

[dot]

I have nothing to contribute to your quest, except that to me, engineering seems much more fulfilling.

But if all you're looking for is money, I'm sure accounting is the way to go.

dlvc_dusk

Go for engineering, it's pro for Indians XD
Trust me, don't go for accounting. (taken accounting, it's boring as hell)
But I'm a Bio major, so don't listen to what I say, it's up to you to decide.

FrozenPizza

[MOD]dot wrote: »

I have nothing to contribute to your quest, except that to me, engineering seems much more fulfilling.

But if all you're looking for is money, I'm sure accounting is the way to go.

Yeah I'd find more satisfaction in telling people I'm an engineer than an accounting. But no, money is important, but it's not all I want. I don't want to go into engineering and be jobless but at the same time I don't wanna make money if I'm bored of the work I'm doing =/

n1Yoon wrote: »

Go for engineering, it's pro for Indians XD
Trust me, don't go for accounting. (taken accounting, it's boring as hell)
But I'm a Bio major, so don't listen to what I say, it's up to you to decide.

Huehue I thought Indians were pro accountants? ;o
But yeah I heard accounting is boring as hell T_T

[dot]

FrozenPizza wrote: »

Yeah I'd find more satisfaction in telling people I'm an engineer than an accounting. But no, money is important, but it's not all I want. I don't want to go into engineering and be jobless but at the same time I don't wanna make money if I'm bored of the work I'm doing =/

Huehue I thought Indians were pro accountants? ;o
But yeah I heard accounting is boring as hell T_T

I'll admit to being absolutely ignorant of most things accounting related, but heres how it goes for me.


You can be an engineer, you'll do cool **** once in a while and make enough money (I make enough money to sustain my lifestyle and I'm a lowly industrial worker), and if you get a job at the right place you'll get lots of money and the freedom to do very cool ****.


While accounting is pretty much the same thing everywhere. Sure you'll probably get paid more and if you get a high position you'll delegate instead of doing all the work yourself, but if you're not feeling it now, I doubt you'll fall in love after.. 5 years of studying.

Black_Jesus

engineering

ive been around accounting and finance for ages (uncle works in city of london and used to work in pwc and kgmp) and ive done work experience in those companies, its good money yes, but boring as phuck and not interesting at all.

hopefully going to get into the automotive industry soon, should have an interview with aston martin this month, and ive applied to ferrari, so we'll see son!

theHI

Have really good friends in both.

Accounting if you want money [lower chance at a job but you can move up fast if you have good people skills / butt-licking skills].
Engineering if you're smarter than most people and can pull out on the top of your class [that's where the big money jobs are].

Pick your poison. Accounting for more average-intelligent people [ala 80-93%]. Engineering if you had over a 93% in high school.

I went into biochemistry with a 97% cumulative average, got accepted for engineering at UofT [I'm assuming that's where you're going] as well as health sciences and life sciences at McMaster, biochem at UWindsor [I went there cause it's easy as hell and I have a full ride].

It's up to you. Engineering isn't tooooooo bad, where I go. Just a lot of work. Accounting is simple, you should be able to coast and do decent.

AwfulFallout

the thing is with accounting, the jobs that are boring are performed by people who don't do so well when they are studying accounting, like your typical book keeping etc, i am not sure how your grade scale is in canada, but based on the 4.0 gpa scale in the U.S., you minimally want a 3.5 GPA overall in your accounting courses, larger firms like Ernst and Young (my employer next fall) tend to pick and choose people with a 3.5 or higher. when you work for a firm like that, you typically start out doing grunt work, but you move up pretty fast and start at good pay (they typically run an internship with you during your university year, if they like you, they will sign you off and guarantee you a job when you graduate starting around 50k-60k a year), this is just for public accounting. public accounting in my personal opinion (although biased) is the best route if you plan to go for a CPA, it provides the best understanding of accounting to build into a successful career. after 4-7 years you can become a senior accountant and start making anywhere from 150k-450k. if you start doing consulting work (which is probably the best paying and the most exciting) you are looking at 10,000-25,000 which could take a week to do. (this is my field that i will be entering into this fall). this by far is the best option, but is very difficult to get into, if you put the effort and time into understanding it though, this is probably one of the most exciting things with accounting. i will get to travel and meet different people all the time with different backgrounds from country to country. i am not sitting in front of an excel spreadsheet (like at my current job lol) punching numbers in. i am just going to put it out there, do not waste your time with accounting if you are not going to become a CPA, the test to become a CPA is very rigorous and requires professional hours along with more courses. engineering is going to be very difficult, but is an excellent background if you want to enter the investment world believe it or not because of the math competency that engineers inhibit, if you still want to go into something business related like investing, pair an undergraduate degree in engineering along with a masters in business administration and you can get into investing, budgeting etc. if you have more questions about accounting or finance, please feel free to message me. i was also originally an engineering major.. there are also other certifications for accountants, i don't know if they exist in canada, but consider getting your certification from the U.S.

sorry for wall of text

iAnarchy

I'd do engineering because in the long run you could make more money and you're more likely to get a job faster because it is an in demand field. Also engineering is probably a more satisfactory job because there is a light at the end of the tunnel, in a sense. I say this because in engineering you're trying to solve something or complete some sort of task rather than with accounting were you do pretty much the same thing everyday.

[dot]

God this thread made me want to pursue that neglected engineering degree.
Too bad I suck at math. </3

Atheistic

Accounting hands down.

FrozenPizza

AwfulFallout wrote: »

the thing is with accounting, the jobs that are boring are performed by people who don't do so well when they are studying accounting, like your typical book keeping etc, i am not sure how your grade scale is in canada, but based on the 4.0 gpa scale in the U.S., you minimally want a 3.5 GPA overall in your accounting courses, larger firms like Ernst and Young (my employer next fall) tend to pick and choose people with a 3.5 or higher. when you work for a firm like that, you typically start out doing grunt work, but you move up pretty fast and start at good pay (they typically run an internship with you during your university year, if they like you, they will sign you off and guarantee you a job when you graduate starting around 50k-60k a year), this is just for public accounting. public accounting in my personal opinion (although biased) is the best route if you plan to go for a CPA, it provides the best understanding of accounting to build into a successful career. after 4-7 years you can become a senior accountant and start making anywhere from 150k-450k. if you start doing consulting work (which is probably the best paying and the most exciting) you are looking at 10,000-25,000 which could take a week to do. (this is my field that i will be entering into this fall). this by far is the best option, but is very difficult to get into, if you put the effort and time into understanding it though, this is probably one of the most exciting things with accounting. i will get to travel and meet different people all the time with different backgrounds from country to country. i am not sitting in front of an excel spreadsheet (like at my current job lol) punching numbers in. i am just going to put it out there, do not waste your time with accounting if you are not going to become a CPA, the test to become a CPA is very rigorous and requires professional hours along with more courses. engineering is going to be very difficult, but is an excellent background if you want to enter the investment world believe it or not because of the math competency that engineers inhibit, if you still want to go into something business related like investing, pair an undergraduate degree in engineering along with a masters in business administration and you can get into investing, budgeting etc. if you have more questions about accounting or finance, please feel free to message me. i was also originally an engineering major.. there are also other certifications for accountants, i don't know if they exist in canada, but consider getting your certification from the U.S.

sorry for wall of text

Yeah my plan is to become a CPA if I do go into accounting. I know it's a lot of work but the effort will be worth it in the long run. However, I'm quite lazy and give up fast
I don't want to go into accounting and not study further to become a CPA. That would just make me regret not going into engineering. Thanks though, your "wall of text" helped a lot!

[MOD]dot wrote: »

Too bad I suck at math. </3

Khan Academy is my saviour

WILLOFGOD

theHI wrote: »

Have really good friends in both.

Accounting if you want money [lower chance at a job but you can move up fast if you have good people skills / butt-licking skills].
Engineering if you're smarter than most people and can pull out on the top of your class [that's where the big money jobs are].

Pick your poison. Accounting for more average-intelligent people [ala 80-93%]. Engineering if you had over a 93% in high school.

I went into biochemistry with a 97% cumulative average, got accepted for engineering at UofT [I'm assuming that's where you're going] as well as health sciences and life sciences at McMaster, biochem at UWindsor [I went there cause it's easy as hell and I have a full ride].

It's up to you. Engineering isn't tooooooo bad, where I go. Just a lot of work. Accounting is simple, you should be able to coast and do decent.

Stop lying Hi, you go to the University of Windsor cause no other schools would accept you. A 97% would get you at least 4k /year at any school in Ontario and tons of scholarships, you moron.

badboy051

Mechanical Engineering in the Construction industry is fun, Meet alot of down to earth people. Accounting is boring. Bean counter.
Architect myself...

doop51

Ideally you should go in as a Mechanical Engineer.

Your math & statistics background general education classes from a BS degree will assist you greatly if you decide to switch majors down the road.

Furthermore, Mech Eng especially takes some Engineering Management/Economics courses which would once again directly apply to finance.

Also, business is a route a good chunk of engineers take after getting ~5 years of work experience. Most companies will pay for a MBA or masters in something like engineering management.

Speculate

Go for mechanical engineering. I believe that's what my brother is studying in college. There should be new jobs opening up in the near future. Also I hear it's much more enjoyable than accounting(which I hear is boring).

btw I'm in my senior year of highschool also and going into computer engineering.

Artur_Soul

Get involved with the school whether it be sports or clubs, let's face it, this is what you'll remember for the rest of your life so make worth of that and gather some memories

Tests are different in University than high school. So, be sure to learn how tests are designed and study accordingly.

AwfulFallout

kingdooper wrote: »

Ideally you should go in as a Mechanical Engineer.

Your math & statistics background general education classes from a BS degree will assist you greatly if you decide to switch majors down the road.

Furthermore, Mech Eng especially takes some Engineering Management/Economics courses which would once again directly apply to finance.

Also, business is a route a good chunk of engineers take after getting ~5 years of work experience. Most companies will pay for a MBA or masters in something like engineering management.

agreed

a lot of engineers go from their BS in mech to an MBA, additionally they can pair it with another business degree like an MSF because a lot of wall street's derivatives and financial models are based on physics and thermodynamics so a lot of big firms like chase, ubs, goldman recruit people with quant backgrounds rather than people with business backgrounds.