Picked the wrong college course, now what?

newsoftheworld

I'm going to be starting a course in public and social policy in NUIG next year (I've deferred it). Unfortunately I'm having regrets about choosing it. I'm very interested in political theory and somewhat economics but this course also contains Law which I dont care very much for. I spend much of my time reading philosophy and that is my biggest interest. Ideally I would do something related to philosophy and/or political theory but that seems impossible now. What are my options? Will I really have to spend 3 years doing a course I'm not that motivated about?

Lau2976

When you deferred your course you should have received a confirmation email outlining the terms if your deferral. AFAIK all colleges are the same and when you apply to take up your place next year you must apply through the CAO with ONLY that course. If you add more you forfeit your place and return to a points allocated lottery again

newsoftheworld

Lau2976 wrote: »

When you deferred your course you should have received a confirmation email outlining the terms if your deferral. AFAIK all colleges are the same and when you apply to take up your place next year you must apply through the CAO with ONLY that course. If you add more you forfeit your place and return to a points allocated lottery again

That's the problem, I'm kind of stuck with this course now, can't really risk trying to get in on another one, so my options are really limited.

Miaireland

Have you looked into the course itself. Do you have to do every module after 1st year or do you drop/pick modules in second year.

sunshine and showers

It sounds to me like you should be applying to study politics and philosophy, possibly with economics in first year. The points for the course you have deferred were 355 for this year. Arts in NUIG was 300. It was 340 in UCD, 345 in UCC, 350 in Maynooth. Based on the information you've given, you have more points that this year's requirements for Arts in many universities. You should strongly consider reapplying to the CAO if you don't think the course you have is right for you. CAO points fluctuate, but they don't tend to fluctuate that much for Arts. Especially not by over 55 points for NUIG!

newsoftheworld

Problem is everyone seems to have an arts degree, I thought I'd be better off doing a more specialised course like the one I picked. I've also got in on HEAR and they do have deferred my place, Im a bit concerned Id lose that if I cancelled the deferred course.

sunshine and showers

newsoftheworld wrote: »

Problem is everyone seems to have an arts degree, I thought I'd be better off doing a more specialised course like the one I picked. I've also got in on HEAR and they do have deferred my place, Im a bit concerned Id lose that if I cancelled the deferred course.

Is Public and Social Policy not also a BA degree? You're honestly better off doing a degree you're interested in and doing well in it. You have time to figure out what you want to do with it. Maybe a masters afterwards, you never know.

That said, I would talk to the HEAR people before you do anything. And as another poster said, look at the detailed breakdown of the course over the 3/4 years. There might only be law at the beginning. You might also end up liking the law modules! Maybe see if you can find out what sort of content is involved.

Minderbinder

This isn't really a problem anyone here can help you with. If you were two or three years into the wrong course then that'd be a problem. As it is you are basically the same as every other CAO applicant in the country with more choices than they know what to do with. If that's not the course for you then why are you worried about losing it? As far as I'm aware points don't escalate hugely from year to year. I'd say to risk losing a course you don't want is a risk worth taking.

Also, what do you want to do when you finish your degree?

newsoftheworld

Minderbinder wrote: »

This isn't really a problem anyone here can help you with. If you were two or three years into the wrong course then that'd be a problem. As it is you are basically the same as every other CAO applicant in the country with more choices than they know what to do with. If that's not the course for you then why are you worried about losing it? As far as I'm aware points don't escalate hugely from year to year. I'd say to risk losing a course you don't want is a risk worth taking.

Also, what do you want to do when you finish your degree?

I'm interested in a career in academia, somehow integrating my interest in philosophy with politics, so in that sense Arts may be a better choice as Id end up doing a masters anyway. But if that didnt materialise at least I may be able to get into the civil service through PSP, whereas everyone has an arts degree and they are pretty worthless alone. That's why I picked it originally, better career prospects than Arts, but now Im more focused on the next 3 years.

sunshine and showers

newsoftheworld wrote: »

I'm interested in a career in academia, somehow integrating my interest in philosophy with politics, so in that sense Arts may be a better choice as Id end up doing a masters anyway. But if that didnt materialise at least I may be able to get into the civil service through PSP, whereas everyone has an arts degree and they are pretty worthless alone. That's why I picked it originally, better career prospects than Arts, but now Im more focused on the next 3 years.

You can definitely get a career in the civil service with an Arts degree. I think you've got too much of that mindset of Arts degrees being worthless. A 1.1 BA in Politics and Philosophy you get because you love the course is worth much more than a 2.2 in a degree you hated.

Best advice my careers teacher ever gave me was to study something you're interested in, do well at it, then figure out how to get someone to pay you to use it. Maybe not good advice in terms of thinking of your long term career now, but you're very young to be thinking of that now. You have no idea where you'll be in 30 years! College is preferably the time to start to think about all these things while doing something you like.

How many points did you get with HEAR, OP?

newsoftheworld

sunshine and showers wrote: »

You can definitely get a career in the civil service with an Arts degree. I think you've got too much of that mindset of Arts degrees being worthless. A 1.1 BA in Politics and Philosophy you get because you love the course is worth much more than a 2.2 in a degree you hated.

Best advice my careers teacher ever gave me was to study something you're interested in, do well at it, then figure out how to get someone to pay you to use it. Maybe not good advice in terms of thinking of your long term career now, but you're very young to be thinking of that now. You have no idea where you'll be in 30 years! College is preferably the time to start to think about all these things while doing something you like.

How many points did you get with HEAR, OP?

I actually got exactly enough for the course, 365, so didnt need HEAR. I'm still a bit concerned that if I do Arts I'll have no choice but to follow it up with a masters, whereas Id have better prospects with the PSP. Also, I know it's an opinion that always gets attacked, but Arts requires 65 points less and I would feel a bit like I was stepping down a grade or wasting those extra points I got. Maybe not, but the point stands that Arts degrees are much more common.

Lau2976

newsoftheworld wrote: »

I actually got exactly enough for the course, 365, so didnt need HEAR. I'm still a bit concerned that if I do Arts I'll have no choice but to follow it up with a masters, whereas Id have better prospects with the PSP. Also, I know it's an opinion that always gets attacked, but Arts requires 65 points less and I would feel a bit like I was stepping down a grade or wasting those extra points I got. Maybe not, but the point stands that Arts degrees are much more common.

Who cares if it's common? Its common because it's a good choice for a lot of people. I feel like your looking at this too broad, in an interview you don't say "I have an Arts degree" You say "I have an Arts degree in A and B" You won't even remember how many points you got by the middle of first year in college anyway, and even if you did most people will think your an idiot if you still care. And it isn't "wasting" those points, points are based on a number of things, not how difficult the course is.

Do what you want and enjoy your time there. You can do so much with an Arts degree.

newsoftheworld

I just realised I forgot to mention as well as Arts in NUIG I'm also considering changing to a BA in Anthropology or a BA in Politics in NUI Maynooth. Their points last year were 370 and 385 respectively, so I'd need help from HEAR to bring that down.

sunshine and showers

Points are based purely on the economics of supply and demand - not how "smart" the participants are! The points for a joint major BA in Maynooth are 350. Most colleges let the best students in first year of the joint BA transfer to a single major (like politics) if they get the grades. There are lots of pathways to things. And, just on something else you said, I really don't see how the Public and Social Policy degree has better prospects than an Arts degree without a masters. You're missing the point that both of those are the same degree at the end - a bachelor of arts.

I really think you need to do a lot more research on this.