HELPPPPPPPPP, specially if you do art :D

warning: this is not about H&R but i wanted to post anonymous

I am in a really difficult situation I recieved my a-levels and my grades were ACD, A in fine art and C and D in science based subject.

I was rejected from my firm which wanted ABB but accepted by my insurance.

BUT... i don't want to go to my insurance which is a science course. I was rather shocked with my science subjects results, but it made me think maybe thats not the route for me. I wanted to do biochemistry but now i am questioning my self if i couldnt survive A-levels how can i survive at degree, but the thing is i did fine in my exams 3Bs and 1C but really bad practical.

I do enjoy art and now I think I should go and do it in uni because i can succeed, but everyone is warning me about how its a dead end degree and you will end up as a teacher :frown:

but then theres a chance where i could succeed.

I tried getting into an art course through clearing but everythings full. A lot of art unis want a foundation degree but i wana do the BA straight away if i take a gap year because i dont want to waste another year.

so what shall i do

go to my insurance science course, more likely to get a job

GAP YEAR risk it do art, its what i am better at and i enjoy but what universities will take my a-level in art and not ask for a foundation degree.

sorry for the essay but i really need help

THANKS :eek3:

Reply 1

yourmothersemufarm

Hi,

I was in a similar situation last year (sort of) I could have gone down the science or art route. I chose art, as it's what I'm good at and enjoy most. My reasoning was that even if it is a 'dead end degree' (which it really isn't), at least I'd spent all that money on something that I wanted to do and enjoyed.

Firstly you need to sort out what kind of art course you want to do - fine art, textiles, illustration, 3D design - there are all sorts! But most will prefer an applicant with a foundation degree.

I got an unconditional offer for a textiles degree last year, but turned it down in favour of a foundation, and am so glad I did. They give you a really good idea of the workload and pace of a degree (much more and faster than a level), and really develop you as an artist. I'm now going on to the textiles course that I originally applied for, and am feeling really well prepared thanks to my foundation. Also my uni guarantees a place on the art/design course you want to do if you pass the foundation, which was a bonus!

Most art courses will want to see a portfolio and interview you, then based on that and your current qualifications they'll either accept you outright or recommend a course that they feel would benefit you more, usually a foundation.

Sorry that's a right essay, but basically my advice is - do what makes you happy, not what you think will get you a job, and art foundation courses are not a waste of a year - they're really useful and fun!

Hope that was at least a little bit helpful & sorry if it wasn't!

edit - also 'art unis' aren't the only good places to do art courses :smile:

Reply 2

xxsaraxx7

yourmothersemufarm

Hi,

I was in a similar situation last year (sort of) I could have gone down the science or art route. I chose art, as it's what I'm good at and enjoy most. My reasoning was that even if it is a 'dead end degree' (which it really isn't), at least I'd spent all that money on something that I wanted to do and enjoyed.

Firstly you need to sort out what kind of art course you want to do - fine art, textiles, illustration, 3D design - there are all sorts! But most will prefer an applicant with a foundation degree.

I got an unconditional offer for a textiles degree last year, but turned it down in favour of a foundation, and am so glad I did. They give you a really good idea of the workload and pace of a degree (much more and faster than a level), and really develop you as an artist. I'm now going on to the textiles course that I originally applied for, and am feeling really well prepared thanks to my foundation. Also my uni guarantees a place on the art/design course you want to do if you pass the foundation, which was a bonus!

Most art courses will want to see a portfolio and interview you, then based on that and your current qualifications they'll either accept you outright or recommend a course that they feel would benefit you more, usually a foundation.

Sorry that's a right essay, but basically my advice is - do what makes you happy, not what you think will get you a job, and art foundation courses are not a waste of a year - they're really useful and fun!

Hope that was at least a little bit helpful & sorry if it wasn't!

edit - also 'art unis' aren't the only good places to do art courses :smile:

I finally decided to do an art degree because its what i am good at and enjoy. But due to the fact i didnt apply to art this year meant I had to take a gap year, and apply for foundation courses next year because only a handful of universities dont require it but that left me in a slight dilemma because i didnt want it to take 5yrs before i graduate and I will also have to pay for the foundation course(because i'll be 19). But recently I found out that theres a local college that does a foundation diploma for art and design and decided to go for that as it will help with my portfolio and I like the idea of trying to do different thing.

oh and I love painting so I was gona do fine art but everyone is telling me a foundation offers so much that you might even reconsider your route. Do you mind asking what university you go to and whats life like there. :biggrin:

Reply 3

yourmothersemufarm

I finally decided to do an art degree because its what i am good at and enjoy. But due to the fact i didnt apply to art this year meant I had to take a gap year, and apply for foundation courses next year because only a handful of universities dont require it but that left me in a slight dilemma because i didnt want it to take 5yrs before i graduate and I will also have to pay for the foundation course(because i'll be 19). But recently I found out that theres a local college that does a foundation diploma for art and design and decided to go for that as it will help with my portfolio and I like the idea of trying to do different thing.

oh and I love painting so I was gona do fine art but everyone is telling me a foundation offers so much that you might even reconsider your route. Do you mind asking what university you go to and whats life like there.

Yay! Glad you picked what you enjoy :smile:

I got a student loan to pay for my course. Go on an open day to the local college to see what the facilities are like - there's somewhere near me that does a foundation, but I decided not to go there because they didn't really have much equipment, but wouldn't have known unless I'd checked it out first

It really does make you think about what you want to do, i was torn between about 4 courses in the middle of this year, but then decided to do textiles still.

I go to UCLan in Preston, and it's pretty good! :smile:

Reply 4

xxsaraxx7

yourmothersemufarm

Yay! Glad you picked what you enjoy :smile:

I got a student loan to pay for my course. Go on an open day to the local college to see what the facilities are like - there's somewhere near me that does a foundation, but I decided not to go there because they didn't really have much equipment, but wouldn't have known unless I'd checked it out first

It really does make you think about what you want to do, i was torn between about 4 courses in the middle of this year, but then decided to do textiles still.

I go to UCLan in Preston, and it's pretty good! :smile:

I am going to check it out on wednesday, i am really getting excited about doing art full time now :biggrin:

oh i am going to as many open days as i can before i apply so i might even visit UCLan if its quite good do u mind me asking what kind of things do you do in your course and whats your average day/week like

sorry about the 21questions :biggrin:

Reply 5

yourmothersemufarm

open days sounds like a good plan!

haha it's ok! well for the first two weeks we all did one project, to introduce us to the course, then we did workshop inductions (just showing us how to use the saws, drills welding stuff etc), then we branched into our specialisms - fine art, fashion or 3d design - i chose 3d. we had 3 modules running alongside each if i remember correctly - mondays, tuesdays, thursdays and fridays we did projects relating to our chosen specialism, wednesday mornings we had talks from course leaders in the design school, and wednesday afternoons off :smile:

after christmas we had the whole of wednesday off, and on thursdays we did our drawing and image making module, fine art did life drawing, but I don't know what fashion did...that ran from january to around easter time. wednesdays we were supposed to work on our artist's book project (the whole course did that), and that was from christmas until may ( I think).
we did about 12 projects over the year, that related to our specialism, some lasting a week, some lasting two or three. our final project was the exhibition one, which lasted around 8 weeks.
an average day consisted of - up at 8am, wander down to uni for around 9, scan in, either wait for a brief to be given out, or get on with whatever you're working on. lunch at 12.30 (pub time!) then back to studios from 1-4, hop over to aldi quickly to get some food, back home, carry on working on project, have food, more work, wander out to the pub at about 10, mooch to a club about 10.30, home at 3am, in time to do it all again the next day, haha! :biggrin:

Reply 6

xxsaraxx7

yourmothersemufarm

open days sounds like a good plan!

haha it's ok! well for the first two weeks we all did one project, to introduce us to the course, then we did workshop inductions (just showing us how to use the saws, drills welding stuff etc), then we branched into our specialisms - fine art, fashion or 3d design - i chose 3d. we had 3 modules running alongside each if i remember correctly - mondays, tuesdays, thursdays and fridays we did projects relating to our chosen specialism, wednesday mornings we had talks from course leaders in the design school, and wednesday afternoons off :smile:

after christmas we had the whole of wednesday off, and on thursdays we did our drawing and image making module, fine art did life drawing, but I don't know what fashion did...that ran from january to around easter time. wednesdays we were supposed to work on our artist's book project (the whole course did that), and that was from christmas until may ( I think).
we did about 12 projects over the year, that related to our specialism, some lasting a week, some lasting two or three. our final project was the exhibition one, which lasted around 8 weeks.
an average day consisted of - up at 8am, wander down to uni for around 9, scan in, either wait for a brief to be given out, or get on with whatever you're working on. lunch at 12.30 (pub time!) then back to studios from 1-4, hop over to aldi quickly to get some food, back home, carry on working on project, have food, more work, wander out to the pub at about 10, mooch to a club about 10.30, home at 3am, in time to do it all again the next day, haha! :biggrin: