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What is the history course in TCD like?

GOCathail · 2012-07-16 13:38:30

I'm starting sixth year in September and want to study history in university. I am totally torn between NUIM and TCD, any help from history grads or students to kind of sell the course to me? Any advantages,disadvantages to going to TCD for history? Many thanks!

Comments

#32 23-07-2012 01:27AM

gutenberg

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GOCathail wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, are both of you of the opinion that history will never offer you a luxurious/surplus amount of money in way of wages? It seems that you're both saying you've resigned yourselves to earning less than €100k (which Denerick used as a figure). I love the arts, especially History and English, but I would not like to think that a qualification in these fields would see me live a penniless life.

Please be brutally honest with your responses. Thank you all.

Denerick wrote: »

I'll bite.

I'm not motivated by money. I want a comfortable live but great wealth doesn't interest me. I drive a clapped up old banger and don't intend to ever get a mortgage, or generally follow the typical middle class trajectory. If you're interested in becoming wealthy and are bright, study law or medicine.

I agree with Denerick: I want to be comfortable and not have to worry excessively about money, but I'm not interested in making millions. I don't drive, and like him I have doubts about mortgages and so on (especially as I'm currently on an academic career path, which requires you to move around a good bit).

A qualification in history or English in and of itself won't leave you penniless, it depends on what you're interested in doing afterwards. As I listed, friends from my course got into graduate schemes and other employment, and are probably on course to be earning good money in the future (though unlikely in most cases to be 100K, or at least much over it, depending on the sector).

At the moment I see myself staying in academia (I'm about to begin a funded PhD), but as a long-term career strategy it might not be feasible, at least immediately (academic jobs are hard to come by)/ Academic jobs are ok salary-wise, especially when you reach the higher levels, although when you're starting out, the wages can be absolutely paltry- though again this depends especially on location, as I believe academics in Irish universities are in general paid better than their British counterparts.

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