Is an Arts course useless?

Irish_poster

I've recently applied for an arts course in a university and I've had several friend come up to me saying it's a useless course and mainly for people who want to become teachers. The thing is I've no interest in becoming a teacher and if i was going to study arts i would study information technology. I'm certain i wont get the points for an information technology course on its own in a university but the points are ok for an information technology course in an Institute of technology i live near. My question is what are the qualifications like if i studied Information technology in arts? Would i have better qualifications if i went to an institute of technology? What's your opinion on this?

Moonbeam

It depends on what exactly you want to study and if you prefer it to me more theoretical or practical.
It does not really make much of a difference which one that your degree is from but IT is a wide field so look at the specifics of both courses.

Greenmachine

Irish_poster wrote: »

I've recently applied for an arts course in a university and I've had several friend come up to me saying it's a useless course and mainly for people who want to become teachers. The thing is I've no interest in becoming a teacher and if i was going to study arts i would study information technology. I'm certain i wont get the points for an information technology course on its own in a university but the points are ok for an information technology course in an Institute of technology i live near. My question is what are the qualifications like if i studied Information technology in arts? Would i have better qualifications if i went to an institute of technology? What's your opinion on this?

Some employers are happy with any third level qualification. Lots in the financial sector. What are your motivations in studying the particular course and where do you hope to work.

Irish_poster

Moonbeam wrote: »

It depends on what exactly you want to study and if you prefer it to me more theoretical or practical.
It does not really make much of a difference which one that your degree is from but IT is a wide field so look at the specifics of both courses.

I'd definitely prefer to be on the more practical side of things and i know that IT's are much better for hands on work in their courses.

Irish_poster

Greenmachine wrote: »

Some employers are happy with any third level qualification. Lots in the financial sector. What are your motivations in studying the particular course and where do you hope to work.

The thing is, i'm not sure if i'm actually thinking about the course long term. At this stage i feel like i'm probably only doing it for the craic instead of actually sitting and thinking of where this particular course will get me in the future. I'm just hoping it wont end up being a giant waste of money when i can just stay and study closer to home instead of leaving to go up the country.

bee06

There's a similar thread on the Work and Jobs sub forum on the same topic (second page) which may have interesting replies for you.

I did an Arts degree and I'm not a teacher. I didn't know what I wanted to do in college so did my two favourite from school. I'm now working in a job that I didn't know existed when I was in school. Technically it's not related to the subjects I did in my degree but the skills I learned during the degree contribute.

Personally, I think an Arts degree can be useful if you make it work for you and put in the work. Pick subjects that are going to be relevant to the area of work you want to get into. Work hard to get good results because these will stand to you if you want to go do a masters after. Arts, in my experience, is a degree where it's really up to you how much effort you put in. If you are the type of person who can motivate yourself you'll be grand but if you would usually need more support from teachers you could struggle.

The classes can be large do no one will notice if you don't show up. There can be less continuous assessment as well so it may not be picked up if you aren't getting something. It's a degree where you can basically waste three years drinking and if you scrape through the exams no one will say anything. But at the end of the three years you have rubbish results and your degree will be useless.

ryan101

Study what you really want to study, and the rest will fall into place.

Don't study what others think other people should study, or study something just because it might lead to a job.

Life is too short spending 40+ years working at something you have only a passing interest in for the money.

Irish_poster

bee06 wrote: »

There's a similar thread on the Work and Jobs sub forum on the same topic (second page) which may have interesting replies for you.

I did an Arts degree and I'm not a teacher. I didn't know what I wanted to do in college so did my two favourite from school. I'm now working in a job that I didn't know existed when I was in school. Technically it's not related to the subjects I did in my degree but the skills I learned during the degree contribute.

Personally, I think an Arts degree can be useful if you make it work for you and put in the work. Pick subjects that are going to be relevant to the area of work you want to get into. Work hard to get good results because these will stand to you if you want to go do a masters after. Arts, in my experience, is a degree where it's really up to you how much effort you put in. If you are the type of person who can motivate yourself you'll be grand but if you would usually need more support from teachers you could struggle.

The classes can be large do no one will notice if you don't show up. There can be less continuous assessment as well so it may not be picked up if you aren't getting something. It's a degree where you can basically waste three years drinking and if you scrape through the exams no one will say anything. But at the end of the three years you have rubbish results and your degree will be useless.

I'm currently looking at that thread in work and jobs and that guy is in a very similar position to mine! There's no worry about me not putting the work in, I'm easily motivated and actually enjoy putting the work in to get good results. It's just a case of worrying about whether or not these courses will get me where i want to be in the future Thanks for the advice !

petronius

I think Arts degrees can be excellent foundations for many professions not only teaching. The skills you learn by learning are transferrable often employers what to see that you can learn a subject or skill and that will help you in your work.
I know many an accountant and computer programmer whose primary degrees were Arts in subjects such as Classics, Geography, History, Sociology etc. and who pursued further study after their degree.
Myself i went to college to do one subject/career and ended up concentrating on my minor subject and it is now my profession.