Career counselling: questions and answers

Q1: Dear Abidi Sahib, I passed my Statistics degree about five years ago. It was a four-year honors degree. Sir, I have been working as a Statistician for the last two years. Now I wish to do MPhil. But the problem is with my full time job I am unable to manage my studies full time or I have other option of doing masters in “Epidemiology and Biostatistics”. Please note that it is equal to MPhil once thesis is submitted. Can you please advise which one I should choose MSc Biostatistics or MSc Statistics?

(Mateen Ashiq, Lahore)

Ans: Dear Mr Ashiq, if you wish to study MPhil this shows your intention that you may also be willing/planning to do PhD and after which you would be going to teaching which is very good option. Let me tell you that there is a very high demand for health statisticians or medical statisticians and yes these are very expensive courses. However, if you do these courses, your chances of better job are very high. I hope this information will help you in making a better decision.

Q2: Respected sir, I am in final year of my 4-year BS in Botany and going to pass it in 2021. I wish to go abroad for higher studies but I don’t have funds. Sir, my question is that if there are any scholarships available for MS/ MPhil? If yes, please let me know how to apply for these scholarships/ procedure. On another note, I would like to tell you that I do not have IELTS certificate. I will be obliged for your guidance for my future plans as I know your advice would be very useful for me.

(Sonia Gill, Lahore)

Ans: Sonia, as your results are yet to be received; therefore, I think it would be too early to think about studying in a foreign country or getting a scholarship. It depends what grades/ marks you get in final result of your degree because scholarship requirements are always very high and require a very good CGPA or percentage. As far as IELTS certificate is concerned, it is a language and mandatory requirement for foreign universities which means no question for scholarship arises if you don’t have this.

Q3: Dear Abidi Sb, I am writing this email to seek your help as I am confused which field I should choose for admission in bachelor’s after my successful completion of Intermediate (Pre-Medical). I am interested in doing either Textile Designing or Biomedical Engineering. I seek your kind guidance in this regard.

(Noreen Zeb Khan, Peshawar)

Ans: Dear Noreen Zeb, I think your course selection is very appropriate / good for women. Please note that Textile Designing needs some creativity and knowledge of drawing/ sketching etc. If you think you have some knowledge or you are good in the above skills, then it is a good subject. On the other hand, Biomedical Engineering is no doubt a very popular and emerging subject area but for this you need to have good marks in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.

Q4: Dear Sir, right now I am a student of Social Work a 4-year Hons degree. Sir, I am confused and not sure of its career prospects. I have requested my teacher several times about the scope of this degree but didn’t get a satisfactory answer to this. I was mainly interested in pursuing Mass Communication but I was selected in this department. Please advise me the right path as I am not sure if my course selection is good? (Binafsha Syed, Gujrat)

Ans: I think you should try and work hard to get your degree successfully completed. Once you pass your bachelors you should try to study a postgraduate degree in a different subject. At that point I can give you proper guideline how to study further.

(Syed Azhar Husnain Abidi is a renowned educationist in Pakistan, with more than 20 years of experience as provider of education counselling services. He has represented Pakistan in over 100 national and international seminars, conferences and fora. He is a recipient of the most coveted civil award Tamgha-e-Imtiaz).