ATAR Notes: Forum
Uni Stuff => Universities - Victoria => University of Melbourne => Topic started by: zh-angsty on June 08, 2017, 03:36:04 pm
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Background: I'm currently in the second year of my BCom degree majoring in Economics. I'm a very humanities orientated student (passionate about politics and social theory) and have done lots of Arts breadth. I'm currently doing quite well (81.125 WAM) and am a decently competent writer.
Dilemma: Should I switch degrees to Arts? My reasoning is that my dream career is in academia, researching and lecturing. My dream field would be in sociology or gender studies, with an economics perspective (e.g. Gender economics). Obviously an Arts degree double majoring in Economics and Gender would be ideal for this. Also I am far more passionate about humanities than commerce; my arts breadth have been my favourite subjects so far.
If I switched, I would be able to credit many of my subjects so I would only be a semester behind. I would also get to do an arts honours year which is the main reason I would want to switch. Going from arts honours to phd seems to be the most efficient way to achieve my career goals, whereas if I stayed I would have to do postgrad in arts, research, THEN phd. However I have a few reservations:
1. BA is less prestigious than BCom (a particular fear cultivated from childhood by my Asian mother). I'm always been told Arts graduates won't find employment. I know that academia is incredibly competitive and in the scenario where I don't make it, having a BCom is comparatively better, right? My backup career is consultancy/policy work in development (NGOs, government, consultant firms etc). Do employers consider this to be a substantial factor, especially considering I will be majoring in Economics either way?
2. WAM. Less importantly, my WAM would drop to about 78-79 as many of my highest scoring (85+) subjects have been in commerce or breadth. Is this a big issue?
3. Inertia. I'm halfway through my degree, I've already done the worst commerce subjects (fucking Organisational Behaviour) so from here on out it'd just be econ and arts breadth. Are the advantages of having that formal arts qualifications over just pursuing arts through breadths worth upheaving my degree at this point?
Sorry for the rambling, mad existential crisis-ing rn. Any advice/insight is appreciated.
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Hey. :)
I've just responded to your other thread, where I said this:
The way I see it:
Your dream career is academia, under the umbrella of Arts. You want to do it. You're good at it.
... could it be more of a risk not to transfer?
(Don't want to persuade you either way, but that's how I'd be looking at it.)
(Is there a reason the two are in different boards? They seem pretty similar - shall I just merge them for you?) :)
To respond to your other questions:
1. BA is less prestigious than BCom (a particular fear cultivated from childhood by my Asian mother). I'm always been told Arts graduates won't find employment. I know that academia is incredibly competitive and in the scenario where I don't make it, having a BCom is comparatively better, right? My backup career is consultancy/policy work in development (NGOs, government, consultant firms etc). Do employers consider this to be a substantial factor, especially considering I will be majoring in Economics either way?
Eh. I studied straight Arts - got a job straight out of uni. That's obviously only a sample size of one, but IMO the lack of jobs thing is overblown. Yeah, there's not as clear a career path in Arts. Like, Medicine > doctor, Laws > lawyer, Arts > ? etc. But is that necessarily a bad thing? Take the degree seriously, do well, and I honestly think you'll learn a lot - and very many of those skills are highly valued by employers.
I don't even really know what prestige is, but I certainly know that I wouldn't want it dictating my life choices. Am I happy I studied Arts over more prestigious degrees? Absolutely. Wouldn't change a thing.
Considering the above, though, I can't comment on whether or not employers in consultancy/policy work would see that to be a considerable factor haha.
2. WAM. Less importantly, my WAM would drop to about 78-79 as many of my highest scoring (85+) subjects have been in commerce or breadth. Is this a big issue?
You can't get credit for them as Arts electives? The slight WAM drop is inconvenient, but hey, I'd rather that than a career I'm not fully happy with. :)
3. Inertia. I'm halfway through my degree, I've already done the worst commerce subjects (fucking Organisational Behaviour) so from here on out it'd just be econ and arts breadth. Are the advantages of having that formal arts qualifications over just pursuing arts through breadths worth upheaving my degree at this point?
This one I'm genuinely not sure about because I guess it depends what you consider the advantages to be. What are your thoughts on this? :)
Sorry for the rambling, mad existential crisis-ing rn. Any advice/insight is appreciated.
Always welcome - it's really great to have you on ATAR Notes. ;D
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The fact that you would only be a semester behind if you switched courses now is a massive advantage, so if you are already considering switching from Commerce to Arts, if I were you I would definitely be investing some time discussing with friends, family, mentors and just older people in general to listen to their perspectives and how they would act in your position. Some people finish an entire Bachelor degree before realising that their passions lie elsewhere, and have to spend an additional 3 or 4 years to achieve their passions. :( And last but not least, about the Arts grads being unemployed, I'm pretty sure that's more of a banterous dig at Arts students rather than a genuine trend. ;D Of course, I could be wrong, but do your own research and make sure you're fully informed before making a decision as significant as this one. :) :) :) :) :)