Confused about my whole degree. Opinions needed.

Oh I see, that sounds good.

Hell yeah, it sounds a lot more interesting than analysing a piece of novel/play/poetry.

Yeah that's where I fail. I study languages, but only speak one.

My uni do publish lists, though haven't really seen any yet. I know that the usual paths are lexicographer, academia, teaching, media, journalism etc. but although journalism doesn't sound too bad, I would prefer a job which is more hands-on, and practical, rather than purely academic or just involves sitting at a desk.

X

Hi everyone. I'm really confused right now about my whole degree.

Right, I got back a piece of coursework this morning, and was shocked at receiving a score of 90 (very high first) in one of my modules. The first line of my tutor's feedback stated: "This is arguably the best first year analysis that I have marked in nearly 40 years of teaching. I would have given this a clear First at Part II level, let alone Part I", "this is stunningly good" and "you also write extremely well while conducting a pretty detailed and precise level of analysis. Please take LING210 stylistics!"

This is all really good... but I've been considering for a while now to drop out of my linguistics degree and study a subject which leads me straight into employment. I really don't know how I'm going to get a job after this degree, and I'll be in tons of debt. I'm also in Lancaster at the moment, and really miss people from back home in London. I'm also on a year-abroad type degree, which means I'll have to move all the way to Canada this August/September for my 2nd year, then come back to Lancaster for a final year. I am homesick.

My alternative plan to this degree would be to spend next year getting science A Levels, and then getting myself onto a radiography degree in London and live at home (or renting somewhere cheap with my fiance), then move in with him once I get a permanent job. Whilst I'm not really talented in science, I reckon I could do above-average with some hard work and get a secure, stable job at the end.

I really don't know. I need an outsider's point of view. Should I continue this degree, move to Canada, knowing that I could probably do "well" in this subject, but not really sure about where this will lead me, job-wise... or start a science degree which will most likely get me a job at the end even though I will probably struggle?

The thing I want most is to get a job quickly so that I can move out with my boyfriend and start building a future with him. What could I do with this degree even if I got a 1st?

Help. Ask me questions if anything is unclear.

Having a "good degree to fall back on" but I don't think it's necessarily going to be useful unless you know what you want to aim for, you know?

When I was in school we were told all the things about university being the best thing to do, because graduates do great things, and get paid more, and it's easier to find a job etc etc etc. Which, let's be honest, is mostly rubbish. Of all the people I can think of from my year who have now graduated from university, 50% of them AT MOST are working in a 'proper' job. And only a very select few of those are doing something directly related to their degree. Because if you think about it, very few degrees have a specific career path.

What I'm trying to say is, don't just resign yourself to doing something because you think it's what you ought to do.

Why did you choose Linguistics in the first place? If you could study any subject, what would it be, what are you really interested in? And, degree subjects aside, if you have a career in anything, what would it be?

Have you thought about transferring to london but carring on with the same course? You seem to be good at the subject and there are a lot of jobs that don't require a specific degree.

You sound a little like me, but I haven't started my undergraduate degree in linguistics yet. I'm still a little unsure about whether I should go into this degree or take a second gap year and reapply for speech and language therapy. I love psychology, linguistics and communication, but I'm still not 100% sure if SLT is the ideal career for me. If I go for it then I need to be really sure that it's what I want to do. A degree in speech and language therapy would surely leave me with even less options than one in English language and linguistics! The idea of paid tuition fees, registration with RCSLT and a practical degree course specific to a career really appeals to me. Academically, a degree in SLT has all the subjects I like, but I'm not sure if I actually want to be a speech and language therapist. Any advice? Your post is a little disheartening, because it seems that even though you're doing so well in your course you still don't really enjoy it. Maybe we're both just thinking too far ahead in worrying about whether our degrees are ultimately worth it. It seems that most averagely paid jobs demand a 2:1 in any subject.

I'm also in Lancaster at the moment, and really miss people from back home in London. Maybe you could transfer onto a different linguistics course. King's, UCL and Queen Mary all have very different language/linguistics courses. Being closer to home might make your last few years a little more enjoyable.

What could I do with this degree even if I got a 1st?
Linguistic research (MA/MRes > PhD), PGCE Primary, PGCE Secondary English (supposedly more competitive for language rather than literature graduates), teaching English as a foreign language, speech and language therapy (postgraduate route), publishing, civil service, public relations, editorial assistant and non-specific degree jobs in marketing, advertising, sales etc. Surely, there are more options available to you than most arts graduates?

Language therapists need to do a degree in Speech and Language Therapy, but I have considered that as a job, and it isn't something that really appeals to me. I am a kind of person who prefers patient contact over a relatively short period of time, rather than being with one patient for hours day after day.

How do you cope with the long distance btw? Where is his year abroad?

x

Hi everyone. I'm really confused right now about my whole degree.

Right, I got back a piece of coursework this morning, and was shocked at receiving a score of 90 (very high first) in one of my modules. The first line of my tutor's feedback stated: "This is arguably the best first year analysis that I have marked in nearly 40 years of teaching. I would have given this a clear First at Part II level, let alone Part I", "this is stunningly good" and "you also write extremely well while conducting a pretty detailed and precise level of analysis. Please take LING210 stylistics!"

This is all really good... but I've been considering for a while now to drop out of my linguistics degree and study a subject which leads me straight into employment. I really don't know how I'm going to get a job after this degree, and I'll be in tons of debt. I'm also in Lancaster at the moment, and really miss people from back home in London. I'm also on a year-abroad type degree, which means I'll have to move all the way to Canada this August/September for my 2nd year, then come back to Lancaster for a final year. I am homesick.

My alternative plan to this degree would be to spend next year getting science A Levels, and then getting myself onto a radiography degree in London and live at home (or renting somewhere cheap with my fiance), then move in with him once I get a permanent job. Whilst I'm not really talented in science, I reckon I could do above-average with some hard work and get a secure, stable job at the end.

I really don't know. I need an outsider's point of view. Should I continue this degree, move to Canada, knowing that I could probably do "well" in this subject, but not really sure about where this will lead me, job-wise... or start a science degree which will most likely get me a job at the end even though I will probably struggle?

The thing I want most is to get a job quickly so that I can move out with my boyfriend and start building a future with him. What could I do with this degree even if I got a 1st?

Help. Ask me questions if anything is unclear.

x

x

x

Out of interest, why doesn't biology or molecular medicine, etc. give you many options? I had the impression most science degrees were suitable for as many graduate schemes as arts/humanities degrees.

Could you explain what kind of work you do in the community, as I only have the general idea of hospital SLTs dealing with stroke patients etc. and helping them to gain their ability to speak.

Oh yes, this definitely. But not any more than Linguistics, so you might as well stick with that.

I thought you were wanting to change to a "science" degree because it would give you MORE options. This is true for STEM subjects: science (= chemistry, physics), technology, engineering and maths, because these are _numerate_ subjects. IMO the same is not true for biology/biochemistry/molecular medicine - here your best options are research (need PhD etc, then very insecure career progression and badly underpaid) or teaching, or general graduate schemes - these are all things you can do with a degree in Linguistics as well, although obviously your research would be in a different area. (Although there are overlaps.) If you wanted to switch to Medicine, that would be a different matter since that is a vocational subject.

Yeah sure! Well the settings an SLT works in kind of depends if you're thinking of working adults and children. A fair amount of the adult work is in hopsitals, but some SLTs are based in community clinics or other bases and go out and visit clients either in their own homes or in nursing homes, that kind of thing. When working with stroke patients in hospitals; the focus is often more on swallowing difficulties- this isn't something I want to go into personally. I prefer the voice or language difficulties, which can be hospital based but is much more outpatient than inpatient.
If you're thinking about working with children (which is where my passion lies), a lot of the work is within schools. I mean obviously SLTs are involved with special needs children. I suppose if you're based in one school you will be seeing the same children repeatedly, but not hours a day and this gives you the opportunity to build up relationships. Other SLTs visit a number of schools. Some SLTs are based in community clinics, a lot of this work tends to be with preschool children and because often this is the first port of call for these children, you see a real variety of children and this is where I see myself.
Obviously when you offer a client a block of therapy, you will be seeing them regularly. But realistically, unless you are in an inpatient setting, this will be an hour once a week (which you can view as fortunate since you don't fancy the idea of working the same person constantly or unfortunate since it's not a lot of therapy really). Wow, sorry I've gone on and on haha, but basically what I'm trying to say is there really is such a range of settings you can work in. You experience a lot of them while training but when you graduate, you can choose what really suits you!