a plea for advice from the emergency...

[the emergency]

I am currently nearing the end of my year 12 studies, and as with every year preceding me i am getting the "you need to pick a course, you need to pick a uni, it determines how successful you will be in the future, yada, yada, yada" speech

So anyway, i need to submit my course preferences sometime in the very near future and have absolutely no clue what to do, so, since i am aiming for a study score of around 80-85, with English as my strongest subject, i was thinking of entering into a degree in the Arts ... my main concern is that whether i should choose something more specific, as an Arts degree could potentially lead to me needing further qualifications for a job i really want in, say, 10-15 years time (meaning 4 more years of uni)

I'd love for anyone (whether in uni, or having gone to uni or even just knowing something, ANYTHING about uni) to give me their 2 cents worth on whether or not an Arts degree is the way to go next year...

Cheers

 

[Look2Me4Guidance]

What are your other subjects?

What are your interests?

I'm glad you have decided to Look2Me4Guidance.

 

[Kildonan]

Have you ever been interested in journalism?

There are specific careers in journalism that involve subspecialities.

I personally would love to become a science spokesperson / correspondant / journo, but you may be more interested in sports or politics or some other aspect.

Eventually you may indulge in writing your own book/s.

 

[samwise]

Arts is pretty bludgy but it is good if you don't know what you want to do because it lets you look at a variety of different areas but maybe do a double degree with something else.

 

[the emergency]

My passion pretty much does lie with writing, and journalism has always been the dream, but i have asked around at the 2 major Victorian newspapers (Herald Sun and The Age), and they take 2 students per year each, so i don't think my chances are too high, but it is the one thing i will always aspire to...

I've been told by a family friend who is a journalist for the Herald Sun that the way to give myself the best possible chance of getting a job at a major newspaper is to put together a portfolio of my writing (by writing for local papers, letters to the editor, etc.), so i will be doing that for the next few years...

I'm currently doing English, English Literature, Psychology, Legal and Further Maths

The main thing i am concerned with is how wide my career prospects will be if i complete an Arts degree

 

[StFly]

Personally I went the TAFE route, sure I went a bit lower than I expected on the Enter but still got accepted to RMIT and chose Swinburne TAFE over it, from my viewpoint Universities are a waste fo money considering the deferred debt which activates once you start earning over a set amount, a job and a life inherently revolves around the accumnulation of 2 things;

Wealth and Debt

By going to University you are in effect accruing debt without any clear avenue to clear it. A semi case in point, my little sister did a journalism course at Vic U, so she has debt from that couse waiting to be activated, she's seeking to go back to follow her dream job of a veterinarian, so once again back to uni and a second accumulation of debt there waiting, it's a trap many fall in initially, they feel like that have to go to either Uni or TAFE simply to further schooling and because everyone requires 47 diplomas from English to nuclear Physics for a job at the local Maccas.

Best advice I can give is that if you aren't sure then don't committ to anything and defer a year, you could then work on your portfolio and find an alternate route intot he profession if you so choose without wasting time and the prospect of debt on a fruitless endeavour based on indecision.

 

[Look2Me4Guidance]

My passion pretty much does lie with writing, and journalism has always been the dream, but i have asked around at the 2 major Victorian newspapers (Herald Sun and The Age), and they take 2 students per year each, so i don't think my chances are too high, but it is the one thing i will always aspire to...

I've been told by a family friend who is a journalist for the Herald Sun that the way to give myself the best possible chance of getting a job at a major newspaper is to put together a portfolio of my writing (by writing for local papers, letters to the editor, etc.), so i will be doing that for the next few years...

I'm currently doing English, English Literature, Psychology, Legal and Further Maths

The main thing i am concerned with is how wide my career prospects will be if i complete an Arts degree

If you're going to do Journalism, check the details of the course. Usually you need to sit an entrance exam to get admitted to the course. I did with the RMIT one.

Journalism wasn't my first preference, but was on my list, so still had to fulfill the criteria for entry.

Another plan of attack is to sit down with the course guide and simply circle or highlight every course that appeals to you. You might end up with 30 courses, but it's a start.

 

[Special88]

I am currently nearing the end of my year 12 studies, and as with every year preceding me i am getting the "you need to pick a course, you need to pick a uni, it determines how successful you will be in the future, yada, yada, yada" speech

So anyway, i need to submit my course preferences sometime in the very near future and have absolutely no clue what to do, so, since i am aiming for a study score of around 80-85, with English as my strongest subject, i was thinking of entering into a degree in the Arts ... my main concern is that whether i should choose something more specific, as an Arts degree could potentially lead to me needing further qualifications for a job i really want in, say, 10-15 years time (meaning 4 more years of uni)

I'd love for anyone (whether in uni, or having gone to uni or even just knowing something, ANYTHING about uni) to give me their 2 cents worth on whether or not an Arts degree is the way to go next year...

Cheers

Just a small piece of advice.. make of it what you will...
I am 21 and similar to you.. If your unsure now you dont wanna just rush and pick something because you have to... Thats what I did and dropped out before half the year was up...

My advice would be.. what I did after i dropped out.. take some time out.. work for a year and find yourself and what you wanna do.. because my mind changed all the time i really couldnt figure out what I wanna do. That year i worked was stress free, cleared my head, earned some money and when the time came around I had a better understanding of myself and what I should get into...

Probably the best thing I did.. just a thought.. dont want to be stuck with something for 3-4 years that you hate.

 

[the emergency]

If you're going to do Journalism, check the details of the course. Usually you need to sit an entrance exam to get admitted to the course. I did with the RMIT one.

Journalism wasn't my first preference, but was on my list, so still had to fulfill the criteria for entry.

Another plan of attack is to sit down with the course guide and simply circle or highlight every course that appeals to you. You might end up with 30 courses, but it's a start.

That seems like a good idea. I get 12 preferences, so definitely have a lot of room to move.

I think i might deviate from the journalism side of things for the time being, maybe get a job to work with public relations etc with a company (maybe if i cross my fingers real tight, i could get a job doing press releases for my beloved Saints ) and leverage myself as much as possible before attempting to work as a full time journalist

 

[the emergency]

Personally I went the TAFE route, sure I went a bit lower than I expected on the Enter but still got accepted to RMIT and chose Swinburne TAFE over it, from my viewpoint Universities are a waste fo money considering the deferred debt which activates once you start earning over a set amount, a job and a life inherently revolves around the accumnulation of 2 things;

Wealth and Debt

By going to University you are in effect accruing debt without any clear avenue to clear it. A semi case in point, my little sister did a journalism course at Vic U, so she has debt from that couse waiting to be activated, she's seeking to go back to follow her dream job of a veterinarian, so once again back to uni and a second accumulation of debt there waiting, it's a trap many fall in initially, they feel like that have to go to either Uni or TAFE simply to further schooling and because everyone requires 47 diplomas from English to nuclear Physics for a job at the local Maccas.

Best advice I can give is that if you aren't sure then don't committ to anything and defer a year, you could then work on your portfolio and find an alternate route intot he profession if you so choose without wasting time and the prospect of debt on a fruitless endeavour based on indecision.

I guess that TAFE is a pretty feasible option too, i haven't really gone through the positives and negatives of TAFE over Uni mainly because school is pretty much shoving Uni down our throats at the moment (most likely because i have chosen the VCE route over VCAL) but thanks, i'll definitely look into it, i have noticed Swinburne do have a number of pretty good courses on offer, i just need to look into what they lead to job-wise

HECS is a bit of a pain too, isn't it activated once you're earning $45,000+? Not 100% sure with that, but apparently, according to a bloke who works at VTAC who came to our school to do a speech, Unis give away heeeeaps of scholarships every year, and they never give em all away, either because people dont know about them, cant be bothered applying for them or because people just think they're for the smartest students (which they aren't), so i'll have to hope that i can get a year or two of debt stricken off my HECS, because apparently people pretty much cruise through 4 years of uni and come out the other side with no debt whatsoever, because noone but them bothers to apply for scholarships

 

[krusden]

I'd love for anyone (whether in uni, or having gone to uni or even just knowing something, ANYTHING about uni) to give me their 2 cents worth on whether or not an Arts degree is the way to go next year...

Cheers

I've been to Uni, graduated, went back, graduated again and will probs go back sometime in the future.

The one bit of advice I have is this: Do something YOU enjoy and are interested in. Not whether your mates, parents, brothers, sisters, etc are pushing you for (if applicable). I made the mistake of enrolling in a science degree because thats what my parents reckoned I should do and flunked out within 6 weeks, then transferring to an arts degree and spending an extra year or two catching up.

So, make sure its something you're passionate about. even if that's philosophy and basket weaving well, so be it.

 

[CHBench]

Head to some open days too, don't even need to visit the uni you're planning on applying for. (i think most have already had theirs, but there's a few on the coming weekend) You can get some really indepth info, ie the make up of the course, collaborations the Uni has with companies inside the industry to hook you up with placements and possible post degree jobs, possible career outcomes, direct feedback from teachers and students etc.

Did this on the weekend, now i've got a clearer idea of what i want to do. Actually did my preferences today. For something i've been dreading, gotta say it's pretty motivating.

 

[Persevering Saint]

I still think you should do something to do with sports stuff, Benchy!

Emergency, I said this to Benchy a little while ago:

Oh, and while I'm here, I'm a big fan of gap years for Year 12 leavers - I think it's ridiculously unfair that our society expects 18yos to know what they want to be doing when they're 35!!!

Having said that, if you know what you want, A2R, all the best! Enjoy it, savour it - learning is great to do.

I'm a big fan of the idea of "vocation". Vocation is about "vocal", a calling. The trick is to figure out what you're MEANT to do. And to be honest, I don't think that usually gets figured out by a TER. I think to a large extent that, on one hand you're finishing something, but on another, you're just starting to discover who you're going to be.

Funnily enough, I actually did MY first uni-degree to become a screen-writer/journalist. I did a dual award: Bachelor of Communications and Diploma of Professional Writing. I worked as a journalist with Fairfax as my first job. I loved it, but it's a million miles from where I'm doing now. It's taken another 15 years (bugger, is it that long?!) to get where I am now.

But y'know, it's been a great ride to get to this point. I guess all I'm saying is strive to do well, whatever you choose, but don't stress too much. You'll discover what you're meant to do, if you just keep looking for it. A great little book that I'd highly recommend for figuring this kinda thing out is Parker J Palmer's Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation. It's only about 128 very little pages with big writing, and the link is for the Kindle edition which you can download onto your pc in 5 minutes.

 

[the emergency]

You in year 12 too, Benchy? Nice to know there's someone else here who suffers just as much as i am hahaha I just applied for VTAC and did a few rough preferences, but nothing too concrete yet


I've floated the idea of a gap year to myself a few times, my main concern is that if i take a year off studying, i'll never motivate myself to go back... I think i'll pick the preferences i want, see what offers i get then consider whether or not to take the gap

 

[CHBench]

I still think you should do something to do with sports stuff, Benchy!

This is what alot of people have been telling me. Ended up putting down Excercise and Sport Science at a few different uni's, i think one was also a double degree with Sport Development or Management as well as a few Sport related mandatory TAFE courses and some other degrees that could branch out into the sports industry. Decided an enjoyable job and environment is alot more important to me than money. Sure a phat pay cheque would be nice, but i couldn't imagine anything worse than being stuck in a miserable s**t hole of a job.

You in year 12 too, Benchy? Nice to know there's someone else here who suffers just as much as i am

Isn't it a great feeling?