UncleLim:

Picolo:

Thanks, Uncle Lim. The girl has made up her mind to go LSE with her family's blessings. The financial part is managed (at most her dear aunt here will chip in and give her no-interest loan lor LOL but seriously) and she is very much looking forward to it. I agree wholeheartedly with what you mentioned and also, between an Accountancy and an Econs degree, the latter definitely has more pro-family career choices to offer to women, and this is coming from an Econs & Stats grad myself with scores of Acc grads I know.

I am so glad to hear that, Picolo! And well done for the girl's family to take that leap of faith. She will enjoy the multi-cultural mix of studying in London, making friends with people from Sweden to Swaziland. She will get to read different newspapers and learn the different ways people view world and national issues. Her school is in a very touristy area so even the food is multi-cultural affair!

Her education at LSE is only the beginning. Her degree may not even be important a decade down the road. But she must drink in and absorb as much as she can so that she becomes a well read student of the world. Economics is just a lens through which she looks and learn about people and societies. And with this new understanding she will chart her life, find a life-long partner, seek out opportunities, and achieve freedom to live well for herself and her family.

Picolo:

Thanks, Uncle Lim. The girl has made up her mind to go LSE with her family's blessings. The financial part is managed (at most her dear aunt here will chip in and give her no-interest loan lor LOL but seriously) and she is very much looking forward to it. I agree wholeheartedly with what you mentioned and also, between an Accountancy and an Econs degree, the latter definitely has more pro-family career choices to offer to women, and this is coming from an Econs & Stats grad myself with scores of Acc grads I know.

Picolo:

Thanks, Uncle Lim. The girl has made up her mind to go LSE with her family's blessings. The financial part is managed (at most her dear aunt here will chip in and give her no-interest loan lor LOL but seriously) and she is very much looking forward to it. I agree wholeheartedly with what you mentioned and also, between an Accountancy and an Econs degree, the latter definitely has more pro-family career choices to offer to women, and this is coming from an Econs & Stats grad myself with scores of Acc grads I know.

verykiasu2010:

Edureach:

ACCA is not an easy exam to clear especially if one pursues it on part-time. However recruitment companies have preference for grads from NUS/NTU. The latter are meant strictly for high A-level scorers.


That's why ACCA is still regarded as 2nd class.

Strictly meant for high A-level scorers is artificially created situation due to the warped admission policy of controlling the number of vacancies, just like dentistry, law, and medicine

Edureach:

ACCA is not an easy exam to clear especially if one pursues it on part-time. However recruitment companies have preference for grads from NUS/NTU. The latter are meant strictly for high A-level scorers.


That's why ACCA is still regarded as 2nd class.

Picolo:

Dear ChiefKiasu, Rosemummy, verykiasu2010, Sporemum, Carebear, 30plus, MummyThreeStreams, Chenonceau, Sleepy, markfch, LOLMum,etc.


Thanks to everyone who have chipped in and allowed me to kick your brains. I am very touched by the responses, some even from KSP heavyweights. To go or not to go, it is definitely not a no-brainer, given my sis’ financial status and our ignorance of how relevant is the LSE degree to a young lady’s career in Singapore.

One part of me wants to tell her, go for your dreams. I believe LSE and life overseas will shape her to become a more confident and articulate person. I believe the experience will stretch and give her a fully rounded education. She is very committed and serious about her work, all the time, and I think a first class honors or second upper should not be difficult for her to achieve if she is to take up the NTU double degree course. She just consulted her Economics teacher, who herself an alumna of LSE and MOE scholar, and had managed to clear First class in Year 2 (fantastic, right?). She also has the chance to find out more from her GP tutor, whom ex-student is now studying in LSE and her tutor is still in touch with his mother. Judging from the responses from the tutor (she knows my niece a lot better than the Econs teacher), she believe that my niece will have no problems managing the studies there. Moreover, depending on the modules you choose, sometimes you only need to attend school 3 times a week. We also found out that my sis can fund the first year of her LSE, the rest she’ll have to raise through a scholarship, part-time or vacation jobs, or a loan. My niece sent her Econs teacher some Q&As pertaining to studying in LSE but didn’t ask for her opinions as to which option she feel may work better for her, so she didn’t get that bit from her.

But, another part of me feels that my sis may be taking a big risk to send her daughter overseas. Honestly, we do not know how badly my niece wants to study in LSE (but we’ll find out soon and inform you guys), and nobody knows if she will get to repay my sis if she has to come out with the year 2 & 3 monies for her. I mean, anything can happen along the way, right? Should my sis buy a life insurance for her daughter to hedge against the risk? From now till the school starts, will she still have a chance to get a scholarship somehow? At least, in this way, she can be secured of a job when she comes back, and this option does not put a burden on herself as well as her family. For your info, she went for PSC and MAS scholarships but failed the final rounds. I think it has to do with her interview skills. She was quite happy to learn from her tutor today that she can brush up on her interview skills by attending some courses. If she has a chance to try out other scholarships again, she would stand a better chance of being selected.

Another thing is, how long will be her career span? Nobody can answer this question. I have a sis-in-law with a First class honors from NTU Accountancy. After she gave birth to her first child, she changed totally. Ok, not totally, but from a perfect commitment to work to a perfect commitment to her new-born child. A few months after she became a new mother, she reckoned that she couldn’t balance motherhood and career and gave up the latter. It’s ok when you choose NTU, not so ok if you are to choose LSE.

Hmmm… headache. But thanks for all the congratulations and well wishes, I agree it is a good problem.

verykiasu2010:

Economics study need not necessarily be academic with no earthly value


It also depends what u major in at the final year

some of them are very brilliant bankers, and after working in private sectors know how the economy work, becomes good policy makers in admin service or government

verykiasu2010:

on the other side, accountancy can be studied without going to NTU or NUS or SMU. Give me anytime an ACCA graduate I will prefer them to the bookworm from the local U (of course not all are book worm, please don't flame me)

Local U graduates must still do something similar to the final modules of ACCA or its equivalent, under the regulation from ICPAS.

sleepy:

verykiasu2010:

where got negative ROI ? when your kids turn out to be scholars and become million$$ minister, your IPO return very high rate leh !! Pre-IPO investment cannot be so short term thinking lah, tell your mum

:xedfingers: :lol: :lol:

verykiasu2010:

where got negative ROI ? when your kids turn out to be scholars and become million$$ minister, your IPO return very high rate leh !! Pre-IPO investment cannot be so short term thinking lah, tell your mum

sleepy:

Picolo:

Another thing is, how long will be her career span? Nobody can answer this question. I have a sis-in-law with a First class honors from NTU Accountancy. After she gave birth to her first child, she changed totally. Ok, not totally, but from a perfect commitment to work to a perfect commitment to her new-born child. A few months after she became a new mother, she reckoned that she couldn’t balance motherhood and career and gave up the latter. It’s ok when you choose NTU, not so ok if you are to choose LSE.

That is a very real consideration, especially if your niece chooses to work in this sector. It's due to the nature of work. Long hours and tight deadlines. Realistically it's indeed hard to balance motherhood & career.

I stopped working for the same reason too, at the prime of my career. After so many years, my mum would still drop comments like 'so wasted' once every two month. Fortunately I funded all my studies otherwise there's no way she would allow me to stop working. Negative ROI :evil:

Picolo:

Another thing is, how long will be her career span? Nobody can answer this question. I have a sis-in-law with a First class honors from NTU Accountancy. After she gave birth to her first child, she changed totally. Ok, not totally, but from a perfect commitment to work to a perfect commitment to her new-born child. A few months after she became a new mother, she reckoned that she couldn’t balance motherhood and career and gave up the latter. It’s ok when you choose NTU, not so ok if you are to choose LSE.

vlim:

talk about interview skills..Can anyone recommend good courses for brushing up interview skills? TA

verykiasu2010:

Economics study need not necessarily be academic with no earthly value


It also depends what u major in at the final year

some of them are very brilliant bankers, and after working in private sectors know how the economy work, becomes good policy makers in admin service or government

some of course become prof in the uni

on the other side, accountancy can be studied without going to NTU or NUS or SMU. Give me anytime an ACCA graduate I will prefer them to the bookworm from the local U (of course not all are book worm, please don't flame me)

Local U graduates must still do something similar to the final modules of ACCA or its equivalent, under the regulation from ICPAS.

B Acc or ACCA are for those truly want to eat sleep breathe accounts/finance control. These days the audit firms also take in graduates from engineering, science, law, etc to give the firm an all round aspects to the audit firm. These non-accountancy graduates provide the necessary knowledge to the team in the audit assurance process so that the bean counters know what they are auditing !!

BTW, no law says that CFO must be accounts trained anyway. They rely on experienced accountants in the team to provide the necessary input.

ChiefKiasu:

Personally, I think the overseas stint will actually help the introvert find her niche and confidence. It is very different staying by oneself, and knowing that you have to depend on yourself to solve problems since help is not just a few bus-stops away. Chances are, when she comes back, she will be an independent, confident and articulate young lady.


That said, like what sporemum says, what employers want is someone that can help solve problems for them and add value to their organisations. Academic qualifications only opens doors; to be invited in, you still need to convince the employer by demonstrating your capabilities beyond the academics. This usually come from good performance in industry attachments or part-time work during the school holidays.

Personally, I teach a module in the LSE programmes (external). While passing is not the issue, scoring beyond a passing grade requires lots of critical analysis. Most local students are route learners, perhaps trained from their 12 years of local education, and hence the majority does not do very well. So, getting a 1st class honors for LSE is indeed reflective of the quality and maturity of the student.