Student Demographic

[themack89]

Just curious what the student demographic is like here on Beyond.

Fill out:

School:
Major / Program:
Minor (If Applicable):
2nd Major (If Applicable):
Current Year:
Did you switch from a different faculty?:
Do you wish you were in a different faculty?:

I guess I could start...
U of C
Economics, Energy Concentration
No Minor
No 2nd Major
4th
Switched from Haskayne
Should have stayed in Haskayne or gone to Electrical Engineering

[dirtsniffer]

U of C
Mechanical Engineering major
Petroleum Engineering minor
4th year
completed transfer program at mrc
happy with the program and happier there is 3 months left

[dubhead]

SAIT
Chemical Engineering Technology
2nd year
Maybe, I enjoy it but the program currently has a bit of an identity crisis large chunks of the industry think of us as just operators but the SAIT program doesn't give us a steam ticket (where the NAIT program does). I guess I will know for sure in a few months depending on whether or not I get a job out of it.

[JaffX]

U of C
Chemistry
no minor, no 2nd major
5th year (last year)
Did not switch major/faculty
Wish I went into chemical engineering

[vengie]

SAIT
Petroleum Engineering Tech
2nd year
Job lined up, debating continuing for degree or not.

[OneGreasyHobo]

MRU
Computer Information Systems Minor in Business
3rd year

Was debating going to U of C for just computer science... Bit to late now, I'm in the Co-op program so I also have three 4-8 month work terms. Starting my first one in May.

I'm going to be in school forever

[TheOldSkipper]

..

[Destinova403]

School: University of Calgary
Major / Program: Geology
Current Year: 1 out of 3 See Below
Did you switch from a different faculty?: See Below

I already have a degree, Double major BA in History and Law and Society from University of Calgary. Was planning on Law School but went through a quarter life crisis last year. This also allows me to complete my Geology degree in 3 years rather than 4.

[Kramerica]

School: U of C
Major / Program: Business/Accounting
Current Year: 5th
Did you switch from a different faculty?: yes twice, started in Bio Sci and went to History then to Business
Do you wish you were in a different faculty?: not really although I'm not happy with what I'm in now, after switching into business I told myself that was it and I was just going to go through with it regardless of whether I was happy with it or not.

[spacerz]

School: U of C
Major / Program: BA majoring in Law and Society (pretty much a liberal arts degree)
Minor (If Applicable): n/a
2nd Major (If Applicable): n/a
Current Year: 4th year
Did you switch from a different faculty?: No
Do you wish you were in a different faculty?: Nope, but I will be pursuing a secondary degree in either mechanical engineering or finance.

[8baller8]

Originally posted by themack89
Just curious what the student demographic is like here on Beyond.

Fill out:

School:
Major / Program:
Minor (If Applicable):
2nd Major (If Applicable):
Current Year:
Did you switch from a different faculty?:
Do you wish you were in a different faculty?:

I guess I could start...
U of C
Economics, Energy Concentration
No Minor
No 2nd Major
4th
Switched from Haskayne
Should have stayed in Haskayne or gone to Electrical Engineering

you went from haskayne to econ? Why did you downgrade like that?

[8baller8]

I might as well post:

School: U of C
Major / Program: Commerce - RMIN
Minor (If Applicable):
2nd Major (If Applicable):
Current Year: 5th
Did you switch from a different faculty?: Mount Royal Transer
Do you wish you were in a different faculty?: NO - wish I was out of school though. Can't stand still being in school. Feel like it took me way too long, even though 4.5 - 5 years seems like the common trend nowadays.

[themack89]

Originally posted by 8baller8


you went from haskayne to econ? Why did you downgrade like that?

This is the problem with Econ's reputation. My buddy is doing a Haskayne / Econ double and he always used to make fun of Econ--until he took a course with an upper tier prof. Boyce, Mansell, Church, Kneebone, Choo, etc... Guaranteed you kiss your 4.0 good bye if you want a real Econ education.

It's prof's like Tracey that invoke comments like yours, so I understand haha.

But I say I should have stayed in Haskayne because I would be a God at finance by now and I enjoy the material.

[narou]

School: Mount Royal University
Major / Program: Bachelor of Computer Information Systems
Minor (If Applicable): Business

Current Year: 3.5
Did you switch from a different faculty?: No
Do you wish you were in a different faculty?: No I wish they would just give me my degree and let me go. Value of courses are declining.

[flipstah]

Originally posted by 8baller8


you went from haskayne to econ? Why did you downgrade like that?

Did you finish with a BComm? I'm curious why you think Economics is a downgrade.

I have a BA Econ and proud of it.

[woodywoodford]

Originally posted by flipstah


Did you finish with a BComm? I'm curious why you think Economics is a downgrade.

I have a BA Econ and proud of it.

I agree - I did both econ and finance and if I could do it again I wouldn't even bother with finance at all. It was the same thing year after year: TVM, derivatives, exchange rates, repeat. Level 1 CFA covered my entire fourth year of finance (except the greeks)

[Disoblige]

Originally posted by flipstah


Did you finish with a BComm? I'm curious why you think Economics is a downgrade.

I have a BA Econ and proud of it.

I'll agree. It lets you gain access to a number of different fields. Sure, you might start out a bit low, but if you're smart and skilled at what you do, you can move up decently.

With that said though, I still wouldn't do anything like that myself because I only find a handful of degrees actually usful haha.

[xnvy]

My turn:
School: U of C
Major / Program: Bachelor of Health Sciences
Minor (If Applicable): None
2nd Major (If Applicable): None
Current Year: 1st
Did you switch from a different faculty?: Nope
Do you wish you were in a different faculty?: Should've gone to Engineering

[tbomb]

School: UofC
Major / Program: Chemistry
Minor (If Applicable): Pure Math
2nd Major (If Applicable): biosci
Current Year: 3.5
Did you switch from a different faculty?: No
Do you wish you were in a different faculty?:

Transferring into Haskayne. Science is dirty and the job opportunities are aweful. If you're in science and not planning on going into med, law, dental, ect; gtfo and get into engineering. The chicks might be gross as tits, but those dudes have it made over there.

[Gainsbarre]

Just defended my MA in econ at the U of C in December, but I'll chime in because the U of C is where I did my undergrad degrees as well (in finance and econ). Didn't pursue any minors when I realized that completing a few more courses in that subject will give me another degree (rather than an obscure reference restricted to my transcript). Was originally in political science, switched over to economics with a minor in business (having Barry Cooper AND Tom Flanagan as polisci profs made this decision pretty easy), switched the minor in business to a BComm in my third year and jumped into the honours program in economics in my fourth year.

I didn't find the BComm program at the U of C to be rigorous at all -- lots of time consuming group work, sure, but nothing that really challenged me. I'm not even sure why MATH 249/251 (introductory calculus) is mandatory for the program, because I don't ever recall it being used in any of the course materials -- not even FNCE 445 (futures & options)! Math 20 and 30 was about the extent of the mathematical background necessary to prepare you for the Haskayne. Haskayne profs are quite generous in their grading relative to most faculties as well, with the average GPA for Haskayne students in the later years of their program in the 3.3 range (at least for the latest stats available).

Economics (especially the honours stream and graduate program) is far more rigorous and provided me with much more of a challenge than anything in Haskayne did. There was also the opportunity of completing an honours degree, something that isn't available in Haskayne. The honours degree in economics gave me a far broader theoretical background that prepared me for a wider range of possible graduate study in allowing me to apply directly for the masters program in economics, as well as a broad range of liberal arts MA programs, or an MBA, whereas the BComm really only provides the option of a pricey MBA (at least double the cost of an MA), where the majority of the material will be a rehash of what was already covered in the BComm.

Granted, few econ majors take advantage of the honours program -- I recall the honours program coordinator telling me that only about 3 to 5% of undergrads in econ at the U of C are pursuing an honours degree. Even so, I'd still say that many of the non-honours upper level course requirements in econ challenge you far more than anything offered in Haskayne.