There are lots of confusions amongst SPM/STPM leavers on the difference between an honours degree and a non-honours degree. Well, it should be, because not many people actually explain about it, although you could always just wiki or google it . But here I am again, trying to shed some light in the matter to help you choose the best course for you.

The information below is a collection from several sources and individual opinions including mine, fyire and several others collected from old topics.

HONOURS DEGREE

An Honours degree is still a Bachelors degree. To be more accurate, the wordings would actually read: Bachelor of <field> in <course> (Honours). For example Bachelor of Science in Computer Management (Honours).

There are two very different system in determining an honours degree in the world today. The UK system and the Australian/NZ system. In Malaysia, we follow closely to the UK system, as most other Commonwealth countries. I can't say for sure about US universities, but it does seem that most of them use the same system as well. And as far as I know, only Australia and New Zealand uses the Australian/NZ system.

Before we go deeper, do understand that all degrees has classifications, and not to be confused with honours. First class, Second class upper, Second class lower and Third class are classifications on your achievements. Not normally associated with your honours title, with exception as will be described later.

Now lets talk about these two systems.

UK Honours System

In the UK system, honours degree differentiates between a professional/specialized degree and normal standard/general degree. The honours status is declared upfront before the student takes the course, meaning they would know full well if they will graduate with honours or not. Then all they had to do is pass with at least 2.00CGPA (2nd class lower) at the end of their studies.

Honours degree will have a research component at the end of the studies, normally in the form of a research thesis. This is the extra academic component that is not available in a non-honours degree. And normally professional courses take this as an essential component to determine its professional recognition.

So if you're concerned with professional recognition (for courses such as architecture, engineering, medicine, law or accountancy), be sure to pay attention to the honours title in the degree. If there's an honours, go for it. Non-honours degree are usually shorter, but honours carry more recognition.

Australian/NZ Honours System

By Australian standards the awarding of honours is only upon completion of a 4th optional year which consists of research based work where at the end, the student is expected to publish a thesis. This optional 4th year usually cannot be applied into, and is only offered to students on an invitation basis, depending on how well they have performed during the 2nd and 3rd year level. This is how it's like for those 3 year courses.

Basically the Australian/NZ system only awards honours degree to top students. It can be said that this gives the honours title more meaning and prestige compared to the UK system. However, the two can't be compared directly simply because difference of meaning. So before you confuse yourself, just understand what each honours means and how you could obtain it.

The Honours system that described only applies to the 3 year courses in Australia. For 4 year and above courses such as engineering, it follows the UK system still.



NON-HONOURS DEGREE

Non-honours degree, also known as general degree, is a slightly lower standard of degree as compared to honours degree. Although you might say that the general degree is the standard, while honours degree is higher. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to. Anyway, the main difference between a general degree and an honours degree is honours degree requires a thesis at the end of the degree. General degree student ends their study with a graduating project.

Hope this helps. Questions are welcomed.

im glad such thread is created !
anyway, so if im taking business course, the title honours wont really matter as its not a profession recognition?

technically, i suppose it wont matter. but i wouldnt know exactly. u gotta ask the school or those graduated/graduating from that school.

What difference does it make when it comes to working?

UK honours - professional recognition. courses like architecture, civil engineering, accountancy etc has a body that regulates them. without professional recognition, u just are not qualified to work as one.

aussie honours - bragging rights. which also looks damn good on ur ceevee .

Good read and really help. Pin this to the FAQ?

Meaning to say, for AUS degree, its classification would be fail or pass only?

if let say someone take non-honour degree and when grad,
what is the name of the degree?
is it such as Bachelor of Science in Computer Management? without the word "honours" ?

really good information.. now i only know the different..
this topic should be pinned..

no. when did i say that?

yes. without the honours, even if u score a 1st class.

Thanks so much for the information
Do you know whether Bachelor o Jurisprudence (BOJ) UM external is honour degree or general?

This post has been edited by JacQKit: Apr 20 2009, 02:48 AM

for malaysian degrees, just pop up to their website (in this case, UM's) and give it a check. the proper convention is to display/advertise/inform the course by its full name. if it's honours, it will indicate so.

I see.. will check about it.
Thank you very much,azarimy. =)

woo, I think this one deserve to be pinned....

If can't, I will just add it to my list...
thanks for the info btw..

Is it UK honour is at least to 3rd class? FYI, my 3rd class grade is with Honour(7 years ago). Just curious is it had changed now?

This post has been edited by Gary1981: Apr 20 2009, 09:16 AM

azarimy,

1) Under USA system, there is no such concept in the bachelor degree. This distinction only happened in the master degree level. So, if you get your master degree without doing master thesis in Electrical Engineering, you get a

MEE -> Master in Electrical Engineering

If you get your master degree and did a master thesis in Electrical Engineering, you get a

MSEE -> Master of Science in Electrical Engineering.

2) The honor system in USA varies from school to school

3.75 to 4.0 Summa Cum Laude

3.50 to 3.74 Magna Cum Laude

3.25 to 3.49 Cum Laude

The above is an example. Normally, most schools only do two level of honors: Summa Cum Laude and Magna Cum Laude. The cutoff point is different for each school within the university (school of engineering versus science and so on.

Dreamer

thanks dreamer.

in relation to the numerical items in ur post:

1. i'm not sure by what u mean when u say "there is no such concept as the bachelor degree in the US", coz reading wikipedia again, it seems they too follow the bachelor degree convention. refer here. do u mean to say "honors degree"?

3. how do u write the full title of the degree, say a bachelor of science in civil engineering with magna cum laude achievement?

azarimy,

<<do u mean to say "honors degree"?>>

Yes, I meant "honors degree". There is no such concept in USA bachelor degree.

<<bachelor of science in civil engineering with magna cum laude>>

Not written in that fashion. See below picture as an example.

http://michael.barnathan.name/itemimages/bachelorsdegree.jpg

Dreamer

pening lar
so many engineering degree terms

no idea . . . .

the basic problem is, the same word (honours/honors) is used to describe different beasts.......hence the confusion......perhaps some kind of revamp of the system is needed........

the equivalent scenario is that of the title 'doctor'.........it's use means different things in different situations.......while ordinarily it would mean a doctor of medicine, those with doctorates also carries the title doctor.......and to add to the confusion, in some countries (msia included) dentists and vets are also called doctors......(nb, dentists are NOT addressed as dr. in uk)....

the americans addressed this situation simple by adding the acronym 'MD' at the end of their name, immediately differentiating the medical doctors from the others......

in malaysia, even certain honorary doctorates also pakai DR. WTF.... LOL.

is there a guideline in academia about the use of the designation 'dr' with regards to honorary doctorates?........

so azarimy, have you ask for this thread to be pinned??

just curious

no. i'm not aware if there's ever a guideline over the usage of DR with regards of any doctorates at all .

in the UK, people just use the highest title they have. meaning, if they have both a PhD and a Professor, they would only use Professor and keep the PhD in the cabinet, so to speak.

but in malaysia, some people are so obsessed with titles, they'd even "add" a DR for honorary doctorates. a friend of my father did this, and i kept telling him to tell him off, but he didnt, out of friendship hahaha.

and dont even get me started on PhDs from fake universities

Hi there,
This information really useful . thanks ..

That mean for local university. For example in University of Malaya ( Bachelor in Accountancy) even though it is a 4 year degree program. It is not recognize as a honor degree?


Do u have any idea what is the pointer for 2nd degree upper for local university.. Because the pointer system is in a messy now even seen usm got the apex status.. hahahaz..

I believe U are confuse with latin honors and graduate with honors.

with latin honors U're right. that scale is usually apply lower tier uni.
higher tier uni usually applies

3.9 to 4.0 Summa Cum Laude

3.8 to 3.89 Magna Cum Laude

3.5 to 3.79 Cum Laude

those Top Uni, usually apply some %.
top 1-2% Summa Cum Laude
etc.. which kinda push the GPA up.. usually a cum laude would go to those with GPA of 3.6 or better.

anyway, to graduate with honors, one need to take X number of honors credits.
usually one need to have a GPA of at least 3.5 to qualify for those classes.
upon finishing those class and maintain a certain GPA one would grad with Honors.
not sure if latin honors would appear jointly with "graduate with honors".

again, some Uni do not have this system. I think Harvard don't cause they believe all their classes are at Honors Level.

All IPTAs give Honor if u can grads

read the thread first. it's not the university, it's the courses they offer. some courses do offer honours, some dont.

One thing I learnt is that by old tradition, surgeons are called "Mister" rather than "Doctor". However, few surgeons adhere to this tradition nowadays and prefer to be called "Doctor".

Do you happen to have a list of courses that do offer honours? e.g. in UK I understand that LLB (Hons) is the standard.

Oh ya, correct me if i am wrong.

I heard that it takes 1 extra year to do masters if you graduate without honours

the guy from NTU told me degree without honours is like a toilet paper roll only. is it true?

wow... that could take a while...

it's easier if u just browse the courses that u want at their respective websites. all IPTAs will list the courses with honours or not.

nope. it depends on what masters u talking about. MPhil takes normally 2 years, regardless what ur previous qualifications are. MSc by taught course is usually 1 year.

a degree is only worth the job it could get u. some degrees are too general that it doesnt give u any advantage, but general enough for u to apply into a wide variety of jobs. other degrees are too specific that although it gives u advantage when applying for specific jobs, it's virtually worthless when applying into other fields.

oh no...civil engineering degree in utm dun have honours..

that is English system (UK, maybe most parts of Southeast Asia, OZ).
too much generalization here, pretty much depends on Uni and how they wanna name it.

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Added on September 21, 2009, 11:05 pmhaha...
when Uni grant 40% of the grads a 2nd upper or better.
and do allocate Merit after 3rd class. without honours and no title sure seem like toilet paper.

depending on individual goals too, some felt getting a 2:2 is a piece of toilet paper liao!


This post has been edited by patryn33: Sep 21 2009, 11:05 PM

I am not sure what the guy from NTU means by that. If that is the case then there a millions of graduates from Australia, New Zealand and the USA with toilet paper rolls including me. I won't take ignorance with offence. Anyway, as most people in the working world will tell you, a degree is just a stepping stone for you into your career. Other than the paper qualification, there are other things that will make you successful in your career such as hard work, critical thinking skills, people skills, etc. These skills can only be gain through participating in extra curricular activities and reading.

As we have discussed, or you may go to my blog, the honours degree is a system from the UK. It is not better, just different. Every country has a different system. We just need to find one that fits our character, skills and needs. The American system saved me so to speak. But that's a story for another day.

I won't share my salary but I think I am doing quite well with a toilet roll, haha.

wow.. cool.. you have degrees in ?

for a current undergrad or prospective undergrad who aimed high, such as getting into IB. your soft skills wouldn't be outstanding enough to get one's foot at the door. HR would have weed one resume out even b4 U can go for an interview, no chance to show those skills off. even if u work somewhere in the bank, your hard work, ppl skills etc wouldn't pay off. another example, one who wanna take the graduate route to a law degree or med degree, these skills wouldn't get 1 there too. very depends on what one wanna do and comfort level with life.

at the end of the day, I believe when 1 plays a role as a student just try his or her best, not F care and buy entirely into the idea of a degree is a stepping stone into your career what I do later is most impt. Do your best in the roles U play and don't live to regret. kinda saying hey ZYA no degree also driving BMW etc, how many such ppl around?
not easy to find ppl such as Jack Ma.
for many the direction maybe dictated by the grades.

anyway many ppl are crazy about measuring success..

The US honors program is optional and requires a 3.6 cumulative GPA in high school to qualify. It is extra work, a TON of extra work, and is supposed to give you an edge when applying for a job ... but really, all it gives you is an H on your degree ... which won't matter anymore when you get a job. Everybody gets a job eventually, so at least in the US system, I think honors is more or less a waste of time doing extra work with awful averages on exams - meaning that you're really doing a WHOLE lot worse than the general regular degrees because your classes are a whole lot harder. You pass those classes only because the averages are so slow, is what I'm saying.

This post has been edited by spunkberry: Sep 22 2009, 12:19 AM

Well done! This thread should certainly be pinned to clear the confusion and doubts of the public, especially employers, on the difference between the Aus/NZ Honours Degrees and the UK Honours Degrees.

I personally think that the AUS/NZ Honours is more value adding and caries more substance.

And yes, as Azarimy pointed out, more bragging rights as well

Afterall, the Honours year (at least in Monash) might be the toughest year of your life. ever.

true, have u taken those classes b4?
avg are low so u pass with a or what not, that is common for a 400/500/600/700 level class my dear. tour UMICH ann arbor EE dept and u see ppl getting a a for 60%!

in red, not an American , not holding a greencard, its them that get a darn job. not those with need H1.
http://www.economist.com/business-educatio...ory_id=13724599
that statement in bold isn't true, it vary from uni to uni.

---

Added on September 23, 2009, 10:49 pmany data to back this up? Sheffield Uni does that?

according to this your claim isn't accurate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_under..._classification
http://www.internationalstaff.org/degree_classification.php
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Degree_Classifications

This post has been edited by patryn33: Sep 24 2009, 10:24 PM

No, but I have a lot of friends in the honors program and most regret it. Based off what they tell me, the only thing they really get out of it is bragging rights. The cumulative high school GPA of 3.6 may vary from university to university, but in general, you need to be of at least a 3.5 to even consider it. Anything lower than that is charity honors. There's a reason why honors students get bragging rights you know, they get in with their GPAs!

First of all, 500 level classes onwards for my university are GRADUATE classes. It is not uncommon for 300/400 level courses to have low averages such that a 60% is an A in the class ... but I'm talking about first year engineering classes at my university. 40% is a passing grade. FIRST YEAR.

Honors is really a waste of time, blood sweat and tears, at least where I am.

This post has been edited by spunkberry: Sep 24 2009, 04:27 AM

For the US system, as Spunkberry mentioned, each college is different and each class is different too.

I took a few honors classes and what I can say is you don't really get bragging rights for taking an honors class. People did realize that getting a good grade required much more work and sometimes brains too. However, everyone was always very busy. If they weren't studying nuts to get a A+ they would be working part time and doing clubs and volunteer work on top of that. So doing an honors class was just choosing a different way to spend your time.

The maths honors classes are very different from their normal counterpart. In the honors class we would learn in depth theory on the topics, a lot proving and generally we were interested in whether the 'problem' can be solved or not. The normal class on the other hand was though how to solve 'problems' and 'equations' and how to apply what they learn into real life problems.

For humanities and social sciences honor classes, you would study roughly the same topics but much more in depth. You will have to do a lot of research and normally you'd have to do something like a mini thesis on a topic you choose yourself. There will be a lot more discussion and I guess this is the part that really pays off.

And I think my faculty required a GPA of 3.75 and above calculated only on courses required for my major, excluding general requirements and electives. I supposed this is true for the whole college as well.

Also as Spunkberry said, everybody gets a job in the end. It'll probably matter more when you're trying to impress a CERTAIN prof to get into his stead for a masters.

This post has been edited by mumeichan: Sep 24 2009, 06:31 AM

Yes that is right.

well, undergrad in their senior yr can take 500 or graduate level class lah...
1st yr engineering student and they already curve so much huh... felt U like in UC-berkeley or wat not.. Wow!

I hope ppl don't take low passing grade = hard class, at times its the students not the class. else ppl taking classes from OZ/NZ will get more bragging rights... US grade Inflation!!!
there are Prof failing 60% of the students and refuse to curve esp for freshman classes. no sound foundation how to do well in upper division classes?

again things do vary alot in US, can't help there are well over 3500 Uni and colleges.

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Added on September 24, 2009, 9:29 amnot seen any Prof getting impress with student doing Honors classes.. the CERTAIN keyword certainly makes a world of diff.
only met prof impress with students doing research and getting work publish.

ya.. everyone gets a job in the end of the day, may it be in US or Malaysia or AYZ country even those who go with those degree mills. whats new these days. heck! a Stanford Phd on the papers recently after working over 15yrs in the industry today also got a job as taxi driver in singapore.

the ladies here seem to do alot better than the guys that showed up in the US thread.
seem like we have another elite in the house!

This post has been edited by patryn33: Sep 24 2009, 11:14 AM

not where I am. you have to be a grad student to take grad classes.

hmmm let me guess... U're in Purdue?

if thats the case.. hmmm according to this EE student can what.. even their top ranked program also can what, maybe not be Purdue.
http://posserver.ecn.purdue.edu/eceugo/deg...asp?degree=bsee
http://posserver.ecn.purdue.edu/eceugo/pdf/eee.pdf
https://engineering.purdue.edu/ABE/InfoFor/...m_handbook.pdf/

This post has been edited by patryn33: Sep 24 2009, 10:55 AM

mm hmm

as far as i know, UPM and UTM are creditable for their architecture degree. but when i go to the website, i noticed that they only mention as Bachelor of Architecture. Din mention the word 'honours'. anybody know y?

I don't think it works like what the thread starter said in the UK.

I'm doing a BSc (Hons) in the UK and my degree does not have any research component. Thesis is optional and replaces two examinable modules if you choose to take it.

At my uni (and majority of other unis in the UK as well) ordinary degree simply means you have not attain the lowest honours degree classification - Third class honours.

Simply put, ordinary degree shows that you have passed the course at minimum level and basically a certificate to show you have attended the uni.

The order goes like this:

First class (Hons)
Second upper - 2:1 (Hons)
Second lower - 2:2 (Hons)
Third (Hons)
Ordinary/General degree

Of course, it might differ in Malaysia but in the UK i don't think you can apply to enter ordinary degree, they are all honours. If you can, well... maybe you shouldn't becausen chances are it's a crap uni and you'll just be wasting money...

This post has been edited by verticalforce: Dec 19 2009, 08:16 AM

the information were correct at the time of writing. thanks for bringing that up. there are still arguments whether 3rd class is considered an honours or not. quite a large number of universities dont anymore simply because the number of graduates with 3rd class is minuscule. people just opt to repeat to get better grades or fail the course entirely.

and yes, some hons degrees in the UK have shifted to make research components more of an option rather than compulsory. they started this mainly for BSc courses a couple of years back, but it wasnt publicly known.

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Added on December 19, 2009, 9:49 ami dont know about UPM, but UTM's degree is with honours.

be extra careful when checking for architectural courses. most part 1 degrees (normally known as BSc in architecture) does not come with honours. this is normal. but part 2 degrees (known as BArch) does.

This post has been edited by azarimy: Dec 19 2009, 09:49 AM

poor international how to afford that? repeat a course just wipe everything clean... thats nice.
I wonder which are the Uni in UK that is moving away from the research components.

thanks for the advise. i supposed USM is one of the type like u mention. coz i notice USM states as BSc in Architecture...

At my uni resit in capped at 40% so failing is not an option unless you are happy with a third.

You need good reason to repeat the year, if you fail too many modules they'll just kick you out.

Of course this differs between uni to uni.

very informative thread indeed.


PS: at some point accreditation is much more important =D

This post has been edited by lugiamcg: Feb 19 2010, 04:25 PM

Serious?? Don't scare me..

Under Australian/NZ system,

Is it possible to jump to PhD straight if you get 1st class honours? Or still have to go through Masters.

The lack of actual contact hours is something that is extremely deceptive. In addition to your own thesis work, you'll be given a whole bunch of reading materials for you to analyze and write on on a weekly basis.

Getting a 1st class honors is merely one of the requirements needed to do your PhD without a Masters. However whether you're accepted or not still depends on your area of research as well as choice of supervisor.

To put it simply yes.You can go and do a PhD if you have a First class or or certain unis also allow Second Class Upper too go into PhD programs.But yeah there are a lot more factors that is needed to be considered to get you into a PhD program your Honours degree is just one of the requirements ^^

I stand corrected. as an undergraduate you CAN take graduate level courses but only if you qualify for them. I'm taking a 500 level course my final semester. lol

glad U admit to the mistake!

when U say qualify what do U mean? Prerequisites? or only the cream can take those?

congrats u are in your final term! Going to apply for OPT? any leads? or U returning after u grad?
although the job market is tough, there are company hiring and are willing to sponsor.
depending on which are U wanna go to.. I may be able to provide U with some names. PM me for info.

This post has been edited by patryn33: Mar 1 2010, 12:58 AM

I am actually concerned about the difference in employability between an honours graduate and a non-honours graduate. Comparing a non-honours graduate with a high CAP(or CGPA) with an honours graduate (at least a 2nd upper), is the employer more likely to employ the honours candidate? What if the non-honours graduate fare better in his/her interview, and have more significant non-academic involvements? Will the employer overlook all these and still go for the honours graduate? Thanks in advance =)

No in most courses except for certain ones where theoretical knowledge is of a great importance like accounting,IT etc the employer would usually employ the person who can convince then that they can help the company profit by performing well in the interviews and showing their relevant non academic achievements and strong leadership skills.In most cases once you get called to an interview, your academic transcripts no longer interest the employer as they already look through those before deciding who to call for interviews and they will make their decision based on how well you can impress,stand out and convince them there.

one thing u should be clear is that different fields/profession have different view on what honours means. on one end, honours is just an extended academic excellence. so holding an honours gives u the prestige of being an excellent student. on the other end, honours hold a higher professional accreditation, meaning holding an honours or not can mean the difference between a manager and assistant manager (for example).

im sorry but I still can't understand it..can u explain in an easier way?

some professions, like art and design for example, does not distinguish between honours and non-honours. they would hire either one of them based on whatever criteria they want. depending on the schools itself, the honours and non-honours only determines their academic excellence or the slightly more extensive training. one example is honours degree will usually end up with a thesis or dissertation, while non-honours only get a graduating project or paper. whatever it is, your employer does not have any obligations to hire (or not hire) either one of the degrees.

in other professions like architecture and civil engineering, honours and non-honours can differentiate between a professional qualification or just an academic degree. the difference is, if a degree carries a professional qualification (also known as accreditation), the graduate can immediately go into the field and practice (ie, become an architect or engineer). in such fields, the non-honours degree holder would have to obtain their own professional qualification by other means.

my boyfriend was hired because of his ease of communication, not exactly for his GPA, which wasn't very good anyway.

Do all Universities have seperate honours coursework and non-honours coursework?

Yes for my uni especially engineering there is. But honour's cousework is more research intensive than non-honour's coursework, but the guidelines are the same e.g write a paper/report, research case studies and formal presentation.
In order to do honours you must have an average mark of 60/100 for my engineering school, other faculties/unis might have different ruling though.
By the way either you have honour or non-honour it will not really jeopardise your chances of gaining employment, there are other qualities that employers seek from graduates, e.g communication skills, team building skills and etc, and also either can you "fit in" and work in their organisation.

Not necessarily. I'm studying at UM and all degrees come with "honours" as long as u just pass. There is no separate coursework to get honours. Perhaps they consider our Final Year Projects as the "honours" requirement. So even if you pass with a 2.00 CGPA, you get honours. The only real distinction is getting 1st Class (3.7 above)

So this 'honours' title is very subjective indeed.

Different countries and different universities might have different ways of awarding and categorizing an Honours degree.The most common system around is the UK system.

ok since they are having the same degree,what do you meant by 'to obtain their own professional qualification by other means'?

felt so gd this thread has been created....thx ^^

each profession that is regulated by an authoritative body will have a special clause in their licensing to accommodate those who have obtained enough experience or training to qualify them to sit for their professional exam. this clause is quite unused in malaysia because everyone's so obsessed with obtaining a degree. but the same system is in use in the UK where people could just train via apprenticeship (by working under a certified engineer, architect, lawyer etc), and after certain years, able to sit for the exam.

this is one way to obtain their own professional qualifications without actually acquiring an accredited degree. of course, this can take well over 10 years.

if want to be a lecturer, can degree in chemistry with honour get same chance with honour to get selected by ipta for pursuing master

honestly, in the working world...NO DIFFERENCE.

u definitely cant telll ur boss..i got a Hon, must give me extra Rm300.00...no way dude..

True..but it give u a sense of satisfaction since u have done research before. Somehow u can think critically compare to non-honors.

This thread still hasn't been pinned? Holy crap!

Anyways, I've come to a crossroads in my tertiary education. I am faced with a big decision to choose one path out of three. A fork, if you may.

I will be graduating from my Bachelor of Business (Accounting and Finance) - its a double major - this June. To cut a long story short, I want a PR in Australia, and I would need to do one of the below:

1) Ditch post grad, and go out into the corporate rat race and come back to apply for the Aussie PR after I gained sufficient work experience outside OZ. (which will then reap me points for the qualification for PR app).

2) Accept my place in an Honours degree in an Australian university - Monash, Melbourne, Sydney, Queensland... whichever. [1 year]

3) Apply for a Masters in Applied Finance or something similar. [1 year or 1.5 years]

After speaking with several colleagues and peers, I find that half of the people I spoke to tell me that a Masters would hold more value than a mere honours degree, which is still an undergraduate level qualification. And I must admit, a Masters sounds more prestigious and it is a post grad qualification after all.

The advocates of an honours degree emphasizes on the point that employers will be looking for a graduate that can say that they have published a research paper/thesis and would be more inclined in hiring me than other bachelor/masters freshies who haven't had any experience with research.

I know it will have a lot to do with what I want to be doing. I'm still rather undecided, but I'll most probably be entering the banking/finance sector - financial institutions, financial intermediaries, the stock exchange, the ratings agencies, the reserve bank/federal bank, regulatory bodies in the financial markets or IB.

Please advice

hmmm...what does honours have to do with medical/pharmacy course anyway?

Uhm... I'm doing Accounting and Finance =/

You can try posting this in the Jobs sections, I think you'll get more relevant answers. With Masters, there are study and also research based programs. Taking a Masters is is preferable here. I've really not heard that employers prefer graduates with research experience for business administration positions. For the finance sector, experience is more valuable than anything. You can do some research by yourself to see what kind of degrees and qualifications of people who are doing well in the finance sector. You'll alot of them having CFA but their degrees and master are extremely varied. And you will also see alot of them have either long working experience or have worked at some big firms before.

Well, that's not entirely true. If you want to be a financial analyst, an investment/securities analyst, a venture capital analyst, IB analyst, Equities analyst, consultant, or junior analyst kinda jobs, a research paper will seriously give you a big advantage over someone who doesn't have a research background.

And to get into the "juicier" parts of IB and financial intermediaries, people often go through the analyst hurdle first... that's my perception of the finance sector at least.

Thanks for the reply though! Appreciated. Keep the comments coming please ;D

Nobody got any comments?

This post has been edited by Grimm: May 12 2010, 03:59 PM

Come on guys, I need more input

Correct, you know better

This post has been edited by startingover: May 14 2010, 01:32 AM

Mate, credit risk models didn't come up from Mr. Altman's head by setting up his own investment portfolio and reading the market. Please don't flatter yourself that you know more about this than me. There is no working visa available for me, so the only option is to work outside OZ.

UM does not offer any degree with the word HONOURS but final years students are ought to do thesis before graduating, how do you explain that?

What makes you say their Degrees are not Honours degrees?

Most of their Degrees are Ijazah Sarjana Muda Kepujian, which is an Honours Degree.Go and check the JPA website.

UM degree with honours la..i will be graduating in august 2010 (UM)

for science faculty, i don't see any Kepujian or the word Honours behind the names of the degree.

For exp: The Bachelor of Science (Actuarial and Financial Mathematics).

Source: http://www.um.edu.my/mainpage.php?module=M...&id=551&papar=1

Anyone of you mind to clarify?

honours/non-honours status are not determined by the university, but by the course offered. meaning, in a university such as UM, there can be both types of degrees offered. taking an example of BSc actuarial and financial mathematics doesnt make ALL of UM's degrees non-honours.

local uni a lot got honors..but those reputable ui fromaustralia dun hav hon...

that's true, which job and company you choose later...

is this is a honored programme?? B.Eng. (Hons.) - Mechatronic Engineering feeling like wanna know more about it...

My universiti (UTeM) has honours degree but no degree classification scheme. I've asked around and nobody can tell me why there is no classification. Anybody can share insight?

sory 4 interupting..
juz wanna ask some question..
i already pass all my subject in my bchelor science degree..
now i got pngk 3.45..
i also doing my thesis..
but the prob here,i hav failed 1 subject..
after reseat the paper back,i passed it..
my fellow said i can't get the title honour bcoz i've failed 1 paper b4..
in order to get the title hons,i need pass all the subject without fail@repeat..
izit true??????
i from 1 ipta in kl...