Confused at university course choice!

dancingqueen_tr

If you enjoy law, you can always do a law conversion course as well. whatever you do at uni is quite irrelevant to that i think, but then i might be wrong. And also media isnt always fun and games, i think it might be a lot of essay writing and theory.

The choice is yours, but my advice would be to do a strong degree as a basis. If you want a career in media, you dont need a media degree. For example, even with accountancy, firms prefer candidates with maths or physics degrees to those who have done accountancy.

That aside, if you are going to go through 3 years of it, choose something that you will enjoy. and i also agree with CloudRuler. If you want to pursue a career in law, even your gcse grades are important, and you need to have strong a levels. my housemate with million A*s at gcse, 4 As at A Level and going for a first degree at Law in Manchester University has applied to more than 40 firms for a training contract and still no job...

patsy21

Thanks everyone, yeah I can see where everyones coming from. The Media course I have chose also has aspects of English, Psychology and Sociology, rather than the typical view that its just making videos and fun all the time.

Am currently predicted ABB, so Im considering seeing whether I get these results and deciding then.

And yes, I should choose something that I enjoy and my Law teachers obviously gonna be a bit bias that I should be doing Law anyway!

I think am just gonna see what happens, what will be will be! There so many opportunities that I suppose if I do make a choice, it doesn't mean its over and I cant change my mind! Because Im not exactly sure what I do actually want to do yet, Im hoping university will help me with this. As someone mentioned to, societies and groups will let me see what other topics are like too!
No matter what course I do I am actually really excited for uni, the life and everything and I know I can always change.

Thanks again everyone!

CloudRuler

dancingqueen_tr wrote: »

That aside, if you are going to go through 3 years of it, choose something that you will enjoy. and i also agree with CloudRuler. If you want to pursue a career in law, even your gcse grades are important, and you need to have strong a levels. my housemate with million A*s at gcse, 4 As at A Level and going for a first degree at Law in Manchester University has applied to more than 40 firms for a training contract and still no job...

Talk about unlucky, with those grades he/she shouldn't have any problems unless they're poor at the interview stage. A 2:1 is generally fine depending on which firms or chambers you're applying to. I don't think GCSE's matter all that much, a couple of B's or the odd C won't hurt in the midst of A's and A*s. A levels, anything less than ABB isn't going to look good but 4 A's is rather......excessive. Anyway I can't say I think it matters substantially if you pull out a first and perform well at interview. Networking and work experience are a must.

SemperFi

Northumbria rocks!!

Blacksheep1979

Don't just do something you enjoy without thinking what it could give you in the future, it's a bit of a waste of time and (alot) of money to do 3 years of something which is a bit pointless but if you don't enjoy or find it interesting you won't apply yourself and won't reach your full potential. Personally I think media is a bit of a waste of time but being in a good uni is important.

lozwinter

SemperFi wrote: »

Northumbria rocks!!

ditto. and i do a media course. :mad: to anyone who says its not worth doing.

Lokolo

Blacksheep1979 wrote: »

Don't just do something you enjoy without thinking what it could give you in the future, it's a bit of a waste of time and (alot) of money to do 3 years of something which is a bit pointless but if you don't enjoy or find it interesting you won't apply yourself and won't reach your full potential. Personally I think media is a bit of a waste of time but being in a good uni is important.

I don't really agree with that to be honset. Whats the point in going somewhere for 3/4 years because its good? You may aboslutely hate it. My uni isn't by far one of the best but I'm not going to take my choice. I chose this uni because of where it is, how it looks, feels and the facilities it offers, not how good it is in league tables.

What you must realise is that every student is different, I personally am determined to get a 1st, some uni's take students from all over, some who are lazy and are just going because they can't be bothered to do something useful, so when they get bad grades, it reflects badly on the university.

Its also the same with the course, there are so many degrees out there nowadays you can do everything, and a lot of degrees are so similar it wouldn't make a difference in the future as you learn most of the same stuff.

ScoobieGirl

bob2007 wrote: »

the idea that some universities being better than others isn't often regarded as much as people think when it comes to employment

While this is true to a certain extent I think a 2:1 from Newcastle is more impressive than a 1st from Bournemouth Uni.

I agree with those who say if you want to work in Media go with your choice. If you want to go into something else go for a more academic degree - not necessarily Law.

Thanks everyone, yeah I can see where everyones coming from. The Media course I have chose also has aspects of English, Psychology and Sociology, rather than the typical view that its just making videos and fun all the time.

This might not be obvious to someone looking through a big pile of CV's

Have you thought of doing a joint honors course? There are plenty of opportunities for lawyers in Media releted cases you could always drop half if you don't like it.

casi_2

Hi Patsy21!

I was in exactly the same situation 3 years ago :-S ...

I was supposed to do Business Studies at uni and was lucky enough to get offers from top uni's (Leeds, Sheffield, Cardiff), however in the end i picked what alot of people thought of my 'worst' offer Stirling to do Business Studies and Marketing this was because even though the uni doesn't have the best reputation the marketing dept was one of the best in Europe and i can say it was the best decision i ever made :rotfl:

I ended up dropping Business Studies from my degree cos i realised i hated it (i was at the point i didn't even bother going to those classes anymore...) and no matter how much money i could earn after my degree i wouldn't be happy. Marketing was the best choice for me i really enjoy my course and am getting great work for my portfolio from media campaigns i am creating in my course (another benefit to a media course its a great way to build up work examples which you can show employers) right now i am nearly at the end of my third year studying abroad at one of the best journalism and media schools in the USA (Another advantage to media it would be easier to do a study abroad which i would also highly reccomend), even though the job prospects aren't 100% you can increase your chances with work experience as well i dont know if your from Newcastle but they have a number of agencies especially PR and integrated communications who are offering more work experience placements (as a way of recruiting graduates early) you just have to be early and not leave it til the rush. Boston university also offer a summer internship program for media related courses in Dublin one of my best friend's did it last summer working for a advertising agency, she graduates this year and is now getting interviews with PR agencies in Chicago based on the back of this!

wow!.... sorri for the essay like length! Hope this helps
Good luck and enjoy the first year experience!!! (coming from a old 3rd year...)

Casi xxxx

Blacksheep1979

Lokolo wrote: »

I don't really agree with that to be honset. Whats the point in going somewhere for 3/4 years because its good? You may aboslutely hate it. My uni isn't by far one of the best but I'm not going to take my choice. I chose this uni because of where it is, how it looks, feels and the facilities it offers, not how good it is in league tables.

I missed this - you truely are a muppet and aren't going to do very well in exams if you don't read what was written. I said that there is no point in doing something if you don't enjoy it...

Lokolo wrote: »

What you must realise is that every student is different, I personally am determined to get a 1st, some uni's take students from all over, some who are lazy and are just going because they can't be bothered to do something useful, so when they get bad grades, it reflects badly on the university.

Its also the same with the course, there are so many degrees out there nowadays you can do everything, and a lot of degrees are so similar it wouldn't make a difference in the future as you learn most of the same stuff.

And again you're wrong, having now bothered to look at your uni the depth (yes depth not breadth) of your subjects is laughable - if you want a decent job you best work your a$$ off on your gap year. Not all subjects are the same, for example Warwick Uni was classed as the best in the country for maths a while back (yes better than Cambridge) and to get in you had to have 3 A's at least including further maths. Now because of the course content being so tough some people, that given their commitment and intelligence, would have got a 1st no probs even at another top 10 uni but were getting 2:2's - the same? I don't think so and just compare that to a Uni that is placed at 100 or so...

Employers do know this, do read the league tables and will ask you very taxing questions to stand out from the crowd you have to have something else about you but also had really really better know your stuff.