A couple of questions (current Year 12 student re. Arts/Commerce/Science)....

[strawberries]

Hi guys,

I know it's still incredibly early to think about course preferences, but they opened a couple of days ago so why not!

I want to study a Bachelor of Arts degree. I'm still not sure whether or not if I should just do the single degree, or do it in a double with Commerce or Science.

I have a couple of questions though. What's it like studying Arts at Monash. Does it depend on what you want to major in? I'm interested in studying theatre, languages, international studies, history or politics. Or would a Bachelor of Global Studies be a better idea? (I have NO idea what I want to do when I'm older). I'm more leaning towards Arts because of the broader opportunities
Second question - If you're studying Arts at Caulfield, I heard someone say that you can pick units from Clayton? Because the areas of study I'm interested in are offered at Clayton - so does it really make a difference? (I'm worried I won't get the ATAR for Clayton)

I know this decision is my choice, but my parents don't want me to study an Arts single degree due to job prospects. Personally I don't think Commerce or Science would be a bad idea. If I were to do Science, I would be interested in studying psychology or maths (not sure yet). Maths is kinda my strongest area so studying maths wouldn't be such a bad idea, except my maths isn't 'that' good compared to all of you on here. And I'm interested in psych cos it's really interesting! - are these areas of study good at Monash??

Regarding Commerce, what's it like studying Commerce at Monash? I'm interested in probably doing a Marketing major (if I were to do Commerce), or maybe Economics or Finance (do you need good maths to do eco or finance?) but not sure. However, I don't think I'll get the ATAR for Commerce so I might do Business instead and transfer... a couple of years ago we this career personality testing thing and it was suggested that I work in business/commerce field and also my teacher suggested that too but idk I shouldn't listen to those things lol

Is a double degree really worth it though??
(I know it's incredibly early to think about this as I have no clue what results I'll get and if I change my mind between now and then etc...)

Sorry if this is so long and confusing!

Thank you!

[pi]

Not too early to think about these things at all, the year's nearly up

I have no experience in anything you have said, but here are some things to think about:
1) Psych can be done in Arts or Science http://www.med.monash.edu.au/psych/course/ugrad/major-minor.html , given you'd like to do other majors in Arts, perhaps Science seems a bit more logical for that route
2) For someone as unsure as you (and it's *ok* to be unsure), double-degrees are definitely the way to go to keep as many options open as possible
3) The job markets for all of arts, commerce, and science, as a general basis, aren't great without a stellar CV or further degrees (especially if you want to work as an academic or psychologist)

[Nikli]

Some things to note:

1 ) Most psychology students want to get into clinical psychology, which involves doing a postgraduate degree. Getting into that postgraduate degree requires you to get into Honours, meaning you have to score 80% across the four 3rd year core units. Something like 80 - 90% of the course is competing for it. It's pretty tough.

2 ) Some of the units are really horrendously administrated at Monash, and they teach a lot of silly stuff. (The exams last semester had at least 25 questions that they put in on accident that weren't actually examinable, for example.)

3 ) Some of the units are awesome, but mainly if you like statistics. This is pretty unlikely.

4 ) Psychology on the whole rarely provides any super shocking insights into how people work. There's some very interesting stuff about how drugs affect decision-making and the like, but most of the stuff you learn in social psychology could be learned in an afternoon of Google. The stuff in neuropsychology is very interesting and has a sound scientific basis, but it's not what everyone imagines when they first get into psychology.

As for the more specific concerns you raised:

1 ) You can totally pick units from either Clayton or Campus.

2 ) Career tests have the validity of a soggy potato. I wouldn't give them any credence. (We studied them recently, and I remain utterly unconvinced. You're a better judge of what you'll eventually enjoy than a standardized test.)

[strawberries]

Thanks pi and Nikli for your replies

Question:

2 ) Some of the units are really horrendously administrated at Monash, and they teach a lot of silly stuff. (The exams last semester had at least 25 questions that they put in on accident that weren't actually examinable, for example.)

3 ) Some of the units are awesome, but mainly if you like statistics. This is pretty unlikely.

Are you referring to Psych or in general?

[Nikli]

It varies a lot across faculties. The philosophy faculty is largely amazing. The psychology units depend entirely on your unit coordinator, but I have to admit after actually doing the course, I'd personally never hire a psych undergrad to do anything. The course doesn't actually give you any skills, just an assortment of random facts which aren't really applicable anywhere. (Technically, it has the potential to give you a sound understanding of statistics, but I think you'd be better off just taking a unit on logic and doing independent study -- it's pretty easy to get a HD for the stats units without actually knowing what's really happening. All the exams are multiple choice in psychology.)

[AngelWings]

Second question - If you're studying Arts at Caulfield, I heard someone say that you can pick units from Clayton? Because the areas of study I'm interested in are offered at Clayton - so does it really make a difference? (I'm worried I won't get the ATAR for Clayton)

Just going to say two things about this section:
1. You can definitely do units at Clayton and Caulfield. All you have to do is catch the shuttle bus whenever you need to. They come quite regularly and so frequently it really doesn't matter. The one inconvenience you'd have there is if you had three classes and the middle one's at Clayton, while the other two are at Caulfield or vice versa.

2. You will certainly get that ATAR for Clayton. Don't doubt yourself.

[Joseph41]

2 ) Career tests have the validity of a soggy potato. I wouldn't give them any credence. (We studied them recently, and I remain utterly unconvinced. You're a better judge of what you'll eventually enjoy than a standardized test.)

A career test once suggested a career in pottery for me. I once attempted pottery, and it didn't end well. Perhaps I just need to try harder.

Best wishes with your decisions, strawberries.