choosing major

[Dr abdollah]

hi all friend


its the time for choosing a major

and i really dont know what to do
someone ask me about my intrest
but now i dont know what are my intrest



i ask u if have any sugesttion or any other solution

[Iqra]

You have no idea what your interests are? Are there any subjects you've liked? Any classes you liked more than others? Or have you researched different majors to see which ones you can imagine studying and then working in such fields? You can always go watch people/ places to see if that gives you a better idea? For example if you have some interest in being a Dr.. schedule to meet with a Dr and ask him some questions (make sure he has time) or a Teacher/Professor... etc etc

[Dr abdollah]

oh
i did just like theas
when i survey on the net just can find some general info
and when i meet people everyone say yeah my major is really good or no go for another
ant up to this time i do not intrest in any major
even i dont hate it

i have no feeling about noun of them

[Gulbabo]

i thought u are already a doctor...

[Toramana]

kha, Dr Saib ma kho wai chai ganai thaso post-doc ham karai dai...

[BarakzaiAbdali]

hi all friend


its the time for choosing a major

and i really dont know what to do
someone ask me about my intrest
but now i dont know what are my intrest



i ask u if have any sugesttion or any other solution

Form a long term plan. That is what most people are lacking in. So for example, if you decide you want to be an engineer or a doctor or a historian, where do you see yourself in 20 years? or even in 10 years as advanced degree work is paramount these days beyond a bacclaureate.

I encourage you, per my personal bias, to consider my field of medicine. You will always be able to partake in so many different fields by entering this field. You will have to be simulataneously a scientist, diplomat, business man in one person no matter what face of my field you enter.

If you decide that your aptitudes are in the hard sciences, you can always partake in academic medicine that allows you to retain contact with the benchside sciences.

If you decide you want to be a technical engineer, try to understand both hardware and software components. The paradigm shift with globalization has forced the American bacclaureate engineer to return to his technical background. This is all as he faces very strong and well grounded engineers from teh subcontinent and China.

Other options to avoid that confrontation and partake in globalization is chemical engineering and working abroad with companies.

Yet another option I would have considered had I the chance to do it all over again would have been pursuing a 5 year engineering degree pathway where you can do a major in mechanical engineer with a minor of some sort in either CS or electrical. In the US there are now many dual degree granting programs. Most couple Biomedical Engineering a foundation engineering degree though (e.g electrical, chemical, etc) The latter is not a bad option because America still is the world's titan in the development of medical technology (i.e. it has not been outsourced yet).

Brother do your best to couple your personal aptitudes with what benefits you. At the end of the day your career is also there to help you earn and provide for your family. Many people opt to chase a dream and go into Art or English or Economics or Political Sciences without any planning. They then end up having to chase some career as the federal reserve or some other less than optimal situation that limits their mobility and freedom.

I prefer the sciences because you are less corruptible then should you choose to practice in your field and stay with what you do. Usually (anicdotally), those folks of low intellectual prowess (Howard Dean, Abdulah Abdullah, etc) leave behind their practice and chase a career in politics. If you take a look at the records of some of these top politicians like Jon McCain, Jon Kerry, etc they were failures in their fields and chased politics as a compensatory mechanism.

If your goal is to help Afghanistan or KP, the issues of the future are not in terms of political, econonomic (free market economy), or English based indoctrination... its going to be about technical prowess and rebuilding a broken and splintered electrical power grid amongst other issues that are of a hard science nature.

[emkhan]

well done Barakzai wror.
what would you advise me ? should i go for the business side or pursue my Accountancy line and study it upto advance level ?

[BarakzaiAbdali]

well done Barakzai wror.
what would you advise me ? should i go for the business side or pursue my Accountancy line and study it upto advance level ?

Others like Admin may be better suited to advise, but my impression was that in the US, an MBA from a reasonable institution can take you far. I am not as business minded as I should be, hence my proclivity to stay in academic centers were malpractice insurance and all these issues are resolved with the hospital handling most of the work.

Another option is to combine law and MBA work. Across the US there are combined JD MBA programs that are enticing I would think as you can practice as a corperate lawyer and have two professional degrees.

JD in the US is a law degree and MBA is the masters of business adminstration.

The unfortunate thing I noted about the engineering field was that if you were a sound technical engineer you worked like a horse with blinders. Usually it was MBAs guiding which projects flourished and which would not be pushed. Often times the engineer was treated as a work horse and considered dispensible versus the MBA group sitting in some fancy office eating fancy meals. So from the MBA vantage point that is a good thing. From teh engineering vantage point, not so much, because you are at someone elses mercy.

Optimally, one might consider an engineering degree followed by either an MBA or JD and then they can practice in that board room with better business sense or practice patent law. Perhaps a cool route would be as follows:

Engineering undergraduate at top notch institute --> 5 year MBA/JD program. Its a shorter route than medicine and you are a professional at teh end of the day.

[emkhan]

Others like Admin may be better suited to advise, but my impression was that in the US, an MBA from a reasonable institution can take you far. I am not as business minded as I should be, hence my proclivity to stay in academic centers were malpractice insurance and all these issues are resolved with the hospital handling most of the work.

Another option is to combine law and MBA work. Across the US there are combined JD MBA programs that are enticing I would think as you can practice as a corperate lawyer and have two professional degrees.

JD in the US is a law degree and MBA is the masters of business adminstration.

The unfortunate thing I noted about the engineering field was that if you were a sound technical engineer you worked like a horse with blinders. Usually it was MBAs guiding which projects flourished and which would not be pushed. Often times the engineer was treated as a work horse and considered dispensible versus the MBA group sitting in some fancy office eating fancy meals. So from the MBA vantage point that is a good thing. From teh engineering vantage point, not so much, because you are at someone elses mercy.

Optimally, one might consider an engineering degree followed by either an MBA or JD and then they can practice in that board room with better business sense or practice patent law. Perhaps a cool route would be as follows:

Engineering undergraduate at top notch institute --> 5 year MBA/JD program. Its a shorter route than medicine and you are a professional at teh end of the day.

Actually i am in UK and don't want to stay here. I want to go back to my country..
So i have two options either i go for running my own business or to become a professional accountant which makes the life harder.

[Admin Khan]

Actually i am in UK and don't want to stay here. I want to go back to my country..
So i have two options either i go for running my own business or to become a professional accountant which makes the life harder.

Greetings emkhan,

If you plan to stay in Pakistan, go for accounting. It's in demand, and many youngsters are trying to become chartered accountants. A business degree might be of prestige in the US or U.K, but when compared to an accounting degree, you won't feel secure. In fact, the New York Times recently published an article that sort of showed that a business degree is a joke when compared to the heavyweights like Accounting, Computer Science, Engineering, etc. They study less, and some are generally not able to critically think because of the nature of their course-work. An MBA however, mixed with a strong degree, opens your door to unparalleled opportunities.

I personally find accounting extremely boring, despite performing pretty well in a few of my accounting courses. I find the whole Fifo, Lifo and adhering to the GAAP principles as extremely boring and unexciting. If you need guidance in accounting, contact our member Dervaish. He is a retired CPA who will be more than glad to assist. If you want information about the status of an accounting degree in Pakistan, contact Shehbaz Khan. Follow your passion. Don't pursue a major just because it has economic incentives. Look for both. :-)

Good luck.

[emkhan]

Greetings emkhan,

If you plan to stay in Pakistan, go for accounting. It's in demand, and many youngsters are trying to become chartered accountants. A business degree might be of prestige in the US or U.K, but when compared to an accounting degree, you won't feel secure. In fact, the New York Times recently published an article that sort of showed that a business degree is a joke when compared to the heavyweights like Accounting, Computer Science, Engineering, etc. They study less, and some are generally not able to critically think because of the nature of their course-work. An MBA however, mixed with a strong degree, opens your door to unparalleled opportunities.

I personally find accounting extremely boring, despite performing pretty well in a few of my accounting courses. I find the whole Fifo, Lifo and adhering to the GAAP principles as extremely boring and unexciting. If you need guidance in accounting, contact our members Dervaish. He is a retired CPA who will be more than glad to assist. If you want information about the status of an accounting degree in Pakistan, contact Shehbaz Khan. Follow your passion. Don't pursue a major just because it has economic incentives. Look for both. :-)

Good luck.

Ahan thanks brother...

[Iqra]

Even out in the west Accounting is good, but make sure you do well in it GPA wise...and making connections/networks helps (even in other fields it helps).

[emkhan]

Even out in the west Accounting is good, but make sure you do well in it GPA wise...and making connections/networks helps (even in other fields it helps).

Yes Iqra, it does anywhere but i personally don't want to stay in the west. i want to go back and serve there.

[Iqra]

^ You don't have to stay in the west

I am just saying if you go with Accounting make sure you keep your GPA up. I knew this girl who studied Accounting in the far west, did well, and got a job in South Africa with a prestigious company...

[emkhan]

Yeah thanks