Pros and Cons of Studying a Bachelor of Advanced Business (Honours) at UQ

Now that you’ve got the lowdown on what it’s like studying a Bachelor of Advanced Business (Honours) at UQ, reading about the pros and cons can give you a deeper insight into the in’s and out’s of the degree.

We’ve asked Lara, an Advanced Business student from UQ, to give her personal insight into her study experience! 

Want to know more? Just keep reading on! 

Why should you study an Advanced Business degree at UQ?

Top 3 Pros of an Advanced Business Degree

Top 3 Cons of an Advanced Business Degree

Mistakes You Shouldn’t Make

Things to Know Before Starting UQ Advanced Business

What Makes this Degree Different

Motivations for Studying UQ Advanced Business

Potential Career Paths

Why should you study an Advanced Business degree at UQ?

Like many new degrees at UQ, a Bachelor of Advanced Business (Honours) at UQ tries to offer a personalised and in-depth learning experience for its students.

It integrates research skills, a unique variety of majors, and accelerated course content into a four-year degree. To do this, the course has a niche cohort size, where students get more opportunities for active participation in class! 

It is a great degree if you want a slightly different Business undergraduate degree, in that your learning experience will be both rigorous and rewarding. 

Top 3 Pros of an Advanced Business degree

#1: Breadth and depth of knowledge

Lara’s first pro is ‘the breadth and depth of knowledge’ of the course program. Unlike typical business programs, the core units are spread out throughout the four years of study.

In this way, core units aren’t just introductory but consolidate their knowledge in the later years; the fourth-year unit ‘Leadership and Strategy Practicum’ offers on-campus experience collaborating with industry professionals before graduating! 

Being a degree that rolled out in 2018, a Bachelor of Advanced Business (Honours) at UQ offers a unique range of majors, as Lara tells us. It includes traditional majors, such as Accounting and Finance, and also newer majors like Innovation and Entrepreneurship and International Business, which respond to the contemporary business environment.

Having the ability to “pick and mix” between traditional and contemporary knowledge allows students to formulate the best pathway for their own career goals! In addition, the integrated Honours course structure means students can also pursue a Research Pathway Option if they want to get into academia. 

#2: Helpful extracurricular activities 

“I think students would get so so much benefit out of dedicating just an hour a week of uni to extracurricular, career-research or development-related activities,” Lara says.

The great thing about university, especially at the UQ Business, Economics & Law (‘BEL’) Faculty, is the access to connections and resources. Though, often unattended by many students, extracurricular activities and events offer chances for more contextualised learning.

Lara recommends to put yourself out there, “whether that’s attending a panel discussion hosted by a club, booking a session with a career adviser or participating in a UQ ventures program“. You’ll never know what new opportunities spring fresh from attending them! 

#3: Passionate staff that teach its content

Since the course is new and is taught in an advanced learning model, there is a small cohort of around 100 students, which means that students receive much more support from the BEL teaching staff. These valuable connections are really what sets apart the learning experience from other Business schools with large cohorts.

“The BEL faculty at UQ is fantastic. They have amazing resources, helpful staff that offer unlimited free career planning advice, advice for subjects to complete during your degree,” Lara explains. 

Top 3 Cons of an Advanced Business degree

#1: Longer than the average Business undergraduate

“It goes for four years instead of the traditional three,” Lara says as a con to the degree. 

While a year is not a long span of time, Business students at UQ may feel a tad stretched-out by the end of their degree. In addition, a year’s worth of university study adds a considerable amount to the tuition fees. 

If you’re not interested in an Advanced course structure or in undertaking an Honours program, this extra year might not feel worthwhile. Or, on the other hand, you might find something unexpectedly positive from it! 

#2: Difficult course content 

Since this degree is designed to be more rigorous than a traditional business degree, Lara comments that “the course content is often accelerated and can be difficult at times”.

Especially, in core research-related units such as Business Research Strategy or mathematics-related units, the accelerated pace can feel overwhelming. However, students find that taking the extra time to ask a tutor for help or even a fellow classmate can really help figuring out that one concept or problem question. 

#3: The first year is solely for core units  

As one of the three cons, the first year of study might be feel underwhelming, wherein core units are tidbits of each of the majors offered in the course. Lara explains that “all aspects of business must be covered before you can get into your majors”.

These aspects include management, finance, entrepreneurship, information systems, business analytics, business management and human resource management. It will definitely feel all over the place, but also students will get the chance to make sure that the majors they’ll choose will be the ones they enjoy. 

Any regrets? 

“Even though I feel like I’ve made the most of many extracurricular activities available at UQ, I still wish that I did more in the early years of my degree,” Lara responds as her one regret. 

Making the most of university resources will really benefit your career and self development in the later years — many new and unique connections are often found in these activities so, don’t hesitate to participate in them! 

What do you wish you had known before starting UQ Advanced Business? 

Connections are important, especially in a social field like business and Lara highly recommends knowing how to network and making an effort to get to know the people in your classes or participating in extracurricular activities.

What makes this degree different from the ones offered at other universities? 

The advanced learning structure and integrated Honours program sets this program apart from other business degrees.

As Lara elaborates, it is “the fact that you have the opportunity to graduate with honours, that it’s an advanced degree meaning accelerated learning in order to cover the breadth and depth of subjects, and the fact that it has a community-like cohort.”

What inspired you to choose UQ Advanced Business?

Lara chose a Bachelor of Advanced Business (Honours) at UQ for a mix of reasons. 

“Its location, beautiful campus, world ranking, resources and opportunities in terms of scholarships, extracurricular and overseas exchange all stood out to me,” Lara says. “The majors in this degree that interested me [Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Business analytics] were not available at other universities nearby.”

What are the possible career paths?

With a great variety of majors, career pathways generally depend on the student’s specialised interests and these options include:

• • Finance manager
  • Business analyst
  • Business intelligence consultant
  • International logistics adviser
  • Financial crime analyst
  • Business entrepreneur
  • Auditor
  • Marketing automation specialist

Lynn Chen is a Content Writer at Art of Smart Education and is a Communication student at UTS with a major in Creative Writing. Lynn’s articles have been published in Vertigo, The Comma, and Shut Up and Go. In her spare time, she also writes poetry.