Hi I'm an STPM student from Arts Stream. NTU is my dream uni and I've been contemplating between the two courses for a long time but I still can't make up my mind.

Accounting- It's a 3 year course so it's shorter than our IPTAs. This course is also quite established in Singapore. My senior with the same results as me got in so hopefully I can get in too. I've also experienced a lot about it since some of my relatives are accountants and I'm currently working in a small company after STPM (some bookkeeping stuff) and it's not what I expected. I thought I would get the 'rush' like in Form 6 when we balance the accounts. Most of it is quite dull work. I would say that my double entry is quite strong and I can understand stuff like tax very fast.

Economics- I find this more interesting than Accounting which I'm kind of tired of. However, I'm quite worried because JPA doesn't recognise NTU degrees generally. How about semi-gov bodies like BNM? Will they hire NTU Econs grads? I'm also quite interested in the Mathematics and Economics degree.

I kind of like Economics more but I find the lack of jobs uncomfortable. I'm also worried because I know Econ needs a lot of soft skills and critical thinking. I understand that you have to be a very good Econ grad to go somewhere whereas you don't really need a high CGPA for Accounting especially in the small firms. I know I have to work much, much harder in Econ. But I don't think I want to do Accounting even though it's ok to me. One more thing is that I can still study ACCA later on after my degree but not Econs later on.

I aspire to do macro-work like at BNM after I graduate. I don't really want to go into commercial or investment banking. Please wake me up if this is not realistic. Or maybe I don't like accounting because I don't know the real accounting yet.

Any opinions will be appreciated. Thank you.

This post has been edited by OTRoad: Mar 24 2015, 09:31 AM

True, accounting is certainly not all about bookkeeping and I don't know much.

However, from what I observed, it seems like the only type of "analysis" done by the accountant (my superior) is deciding which account an expense is and giving commentary on variances and annual analysis in the financial statements. Oh, and also tallying figures with the HR for payroll and purchasing for invoices. Perhaps it's because I'm in a rather small company. And the auditors seem to do a lot of vouching. Like sitting on the floor screening through endless files. It certainly didn't help my perception of accounting. Do you mind elaborating more about some of the challenging things you mentioned? I know I can google it up but I'd rather hear it from someone in the field. And yes, economics is something you can read up on by yourself if you don't plan to specialise in it. Thank you.

EDIT: I hope I didn't come off demeaning the profession. I know I sound naive. I just want to know more, that's all.

This post has been edited by OTRoad: Mar 24 2015, 04:17 PM

Yes, I realise this is all just an empty talk if I get rejected from NTU lol.

How about if I plan to finish my 3 year bond there and come back to Malaysia to work in accounting?

Unfortunately, I'm not interested in banks or finance for that matter, just studying econs.

And your friend is doing great. I didn't know the government hires non-Singaporeans. Does she have a post-grad though or just a bachelor? I bet she's very talented though. Not sure about prospects for the average graduate.

Yea, companies probably prefer business graduates with experience in management. Whereas economics focus on things from the macro side which is not really applicable to business.

Yes, accounting is geared towards practice whereas economics seems more theoretical and you have to apply what you have learned. It also comes down to a macro-micro thing where I guess it depends whether I like business or research.


Yes, those that I mentioned are kind of basic haha.

I know most of the work is not easy. Will open my eyes a bit more. Hope to learn more about accounting if I do decide to go into the field.


Yep, am applying to NUS also. I think bond also applies to those taking up the subsidised tuition fees where you have to work 3 years in Singapore. Never really considered staying beyond that, something I should consider if I do get that far. Didn't know they are so lenient with their PR haha.

This post has been edited by OTRoad: Mar 24 2015, 10:43 PM