[Baddream]

I've loved History for years, but studying it at college has really made it hard for me to like this subject any more, esp when you have to learn about topics that you are REALLY not interested in. My teacher is very unhelpful, i.e. he contradicts himself and is very confused when it comes to writing a good essay for exams, so I'm worried I'm not even going to pass the subject.

As opposed, my English teacher is really encouraging and she's rekindled my love for English which was kind of lost in year 10.

So I'm split between the two subjects.
I just wanted to know from anyone who does either degree at Uni how they find it and what the degree consists of.

[Feefifofum]

In any university course you're going to have to study some things that don't interest you that much - there are always compulsory modules, and they often cover a range of topics, not just the specialist subjects that you're most interested in.

In general terms, English at university has a reputation for being an 'easy' degree. I'm not saying that's a fair assessment, but the fact that the reputation exists means that you might want to think carefully about studying it.

Do you have any ideas of what you want to do after university? That might help guide you in your choices.

[writergirl]

(Original post by Baddream)
I've loved History for years, but studying it at college has really made it hard for me to like this subject any more, esp when you have to learn about topics that you are REALLY not interested in. My teacher is very unhelpful, i.e. he contradicts himself and is very confused when it comes to writing a good essay for exams, so I'm worried I'm not even going to pass the subject.

As opposed, my English teacher is really encouraging and she's rekindled my love for English which was kind of lost in year 10.

So I'm split between the two subjects.
I just wanted to know from anyone who does either degree at Uni how they find it and what the degree consists of.

Well stating the obvious different Universities will run varying degree content however I've just graduated from the university of Liverpool doing English so I can say what kind of thing I've experienced?

Not sure how it relates to other unis but I found it fantastic...i'm going on to study at MA level next. Basically, over three years we studied a range of literature including Shakespeare, Dickens, children's literature, the Victorian era, the Romantic era, the Renaissance, right to modernist literature, modern american fiction, british poetry from 1930 onwards, american poetry from 1930 onwards, to Medieval literature, a module complete focusing on the novel since its birth in 1740, and even a module in 'talking pictures' i.e. comics. Safe to say there is a lot to choose from, module wise, but that's good if you're not sure where your interests lie yet? If you do have an idea as to what eras/prose or poetry you like then fantastic, but personally I really found what I enjoyed most about literature through studying a degree in it.

Assessment wise it was exams and essays; same for history. If you're really unsure as to which to pick why not consider a joint honours degree? A few friends of mine did English and History joint honours degree. It is a lot of hard work (as with any degree) but they relished being able to switch from one to the other if they got sick of analysing too many sources for History, or looking at too much alliteration.

Hope this helps PM me if you want any advice or want to talk about it more, i'm all ears now i've graduated haha.

[Baddream]

(Original post by Feefifofum)
In any university course you're going to have to study some things that don't interest you that much - there are always compulsory modules, and they often cover a range of topics, not just the specialist subjects that you're most interested in.

In general terms, English at university has a reputation for being an 'easy' degree. I'm not saying that's a fair assessment, but the fact that the reputation exists means that you might want to think carefully about studying it.

Do you have any ideas of what you want to do after university? That might help guide you in your choices.

I'm not sure exactly but something around public affairs, civil service or anything along those lines.
Some of my mates that are doing English in first year of uni have told me it's so much easier than A Level so that sounds really appealing to me.

(Original post by writergirl)
Well stating the obvious different Universities will run varying degree content however I've just graduated from the university of Liverpool doing English so I can say what kind of thing I've experienced?

Not sure how it relates to other unis but I found it fantastic...i'm going on to study at MA level next. Basically, over three years we studied a range of literature including Shakespeare, Dickens, children's literature, the Victorian era, the Romantic era, the Renaissance, right to modernist literature, modern american fiction, british poetry from 1930 onwards, american poetry from 1930 onwards, to Medieval literature, a module complete focusing on the novel since its birth in 1740, and even a module in 'talking pictures' i.e. comics. Safe to say there is a lot to choose from, module wise, but that's good if you're not sure where your interests lie yet? If you do have an idea as to what eras/prose or poetry you like then fantastic, but personally I really found what I enjoyed most about literature through studying a degree in it.

Assessment wise it was exams and essays; same for history. If you're really unsure as to which to pick why not consider a joint honours degree? A few friends of mine did English and History joint honours degree. It is a lot of hard work (as with any degree) but they relished being able to switch from one to the other if they got sick of analysing too many sources for History, or looking at too much alliteration.

Hope this helps PM me if you want any advice or want to talk about it more, i'm all ears now i've graduated haha.

I do think it's great to do a joint honours degree but not a lot of universities offer it, and writing a personal statement for different courses sounds like a really difficult task.
I see you study a lot of different texts from different periods, but how are you taught it? Like do they give you the texts and expect you to go off and learn all about it yourself or do lecturers go through it and say some key points of the text?

Thanks for the replies!

[writergirl]

(Original post by Baddream)
I'm not sure exactly but something around public affairs, civil service or anything along those lines.
Some of my mates that are doing English in first year of uni have told me it's so much easier than A Level so that sounds really appealing to me.





I do think it's great to do a joint honours degree but not a lot of universities offer it, and writing a personal statement for different courses sounds like a really difficult task.
I see you study a lot of different texts from different periods, but how are you taught it? Like do they give you the texts and expect you to go off and learn all about it yourself or do lecturers go through it and say some key points of the text?

Thanks for the replies!

That's true about the personal statements, but it depends on how hard you find it to decide between the two. We are given a book a week for each module (usually studying two modules per term) and you have to go off, research, come with ideas, and then you have a lecture a week (for most of the modules) and then we had an hour tutorial per week where 8 people sat with a tutor and discussed it. You have to do a lot of your own work on your own, as contact hours with tutors was only 6 hours for me this past term! Yet, tutors will go through the texts in lectures normally, some may give more context and historical grounding but most talk about the text to introduce you to the author and the work.

[Reader 79]

(Original post by Baddream)
Some of my mates that are doing English in first year of uni have told me it's so much easier than A Level so that sounds really appealing to me.

Be careful about taking this as true across the board. Personally, I found my English BA to be much harder than English A-level - but much more enjoyable and rewarding, too. I'd say it varies from place to place.

Before you choose a subject and course, look carefully at the syllabuses available and pick the one whose options best matches your interests - you're more likely to perform well if you're enthusiastic about the material.

Good luck whatever you decide.

[brendonbackflip]

To be honest, if you don't pass History, I wouldn't see much point in pursuing it. You could always just have it as a side-interest, and some universities have History-based modules in English (might be a lie, but that's what I heard; look at course content closely.)

However, if your History picks up (I hope you do ok!) you could consider it. Really, I don't see much difference between them in terms of job oppertunites, so just pick the one you like the most You could always do History and English together?

[Aeschylus]

(Original post by Baddream)
Some of my mates that are doing English in first year of uni have told me it's so much easier than A Level so that sounds really appealing to me.

No one I know on my course would agree with this. I did IB and the step to university level english was absolutely massive. Beware.

[agoetcherian]

(Original post by Baddream)
I've loved History for years, but studying it at college has really made it hard for me to like this subject any more, esp when you have to learn about topics that you are REALLY not interested in. My teacher is very unhelpful, i.e. he contradicts himself and is very confused when it comes to writing a good essay for exams, so I'm worried I'm not even going to pass the subject.

As opposed, my English teacher is really encouraging and she's rekindled my love for English which was kind of lost in year 10.

So I'm split between the two subjects.
I just wanted to know from anyone who does either degree at Uni how they find it and what the degree consists of.

You've basically summed up my university choosing experience. I ended up applying for English and History joint honours course. Search it in the various universities - its course code is QV31. It limits your choice of university a little bit, though. It's definitely something to consider if you can't choose.

Personally, I wouldn't have wanted to do a straight English degree, mainly because it isn't worth it. I spoke to one person in their third year of English and they had three contact hours a week, which for £9000 as we're going to be paying, just is not worth the money, sadly.

[Aeschylus]

I'll try and answer your questions.

Generally we would get 2 seminars a week (1 after 1st year though this one seminar was quite a bit longer) with 2/3 primary texts, 3-4 bits of critical reading and (in the first term) 1-2 pieces of theory. So for example in 1 seminar we had: several chapters from Moby Dick, several chapters from the Voyage of Arthur Gordon Pym (by which I mean 150-200 pages) , 2 critical essays on each, and Barthes' 'Death of the Author'. Another module we had 3 poems by Yeats, another Irish author (I think MacNeice's Autumn Journal) and an extract from one of Plotinus' Enneads. While we had lectures that broadly covered the basic set texts, seminar tutors would often bring in their own works so heavy reading was essential.

While some people might think English to be easy, and indeed I think you can get a low 2:1 with less effort than should be necessary, to achieve the really high marks you have to put in a lot of work. I found getting my work from a middle 2:1 to a first required a lot of extra reading and work. In all I would reckon I spent on average 40 hours a week reading, working, taking notes etc from the start of second year to the end of my finals (with obviously more work in the last few weeks as it all got rather hectic!)

[Aeschylus]

(Original post by agoetcherian)

Personally, I wouldn't have wanted to do a straight English degree, mainly because it isn't worth it. I spoke to one person in their third year of English and they had three contact hours a week, which for £9000 as we're going to be paying, just is not worth the money, sadly.

I understand your point, but English (and by extension other humanities) are different in that the range of texts covered is so wide, that larger contact time would seem excessive. I agree 3 hours is ridiculous - and I know my university has recently upped the amount of contact time in response to the new tuition fees - but I would argue that it does take a degree of learning that can't just be passed down to you in the classroom - there's only so much help a tutor can give you because you have to go read the stuff and write well about it.

[snailsareslimy]

If you can't decide: Joint Honours! best of both worlds.

[agoetcherian]

(Original post by Aeschylus)
I understand your point, but English (and by extension other humanities) are different in that the range of texts covered is so wide, that larger contact time would seem excessive. I agree 3 hours is ridiculous - and I know my university has recently upped the amount of contact time in response to the new tuition fees - but I would argue that it does take a degree of learning that can't just be passed down to you in the classroom - there's only so much help a tutor can give you because you have to go read the stuff and write well about it.

I get what you're saying, and I agree that it requires a form of learning that can't be done in a classroom, but I think it just comes with the territory. It's basically paying the money for the reading list and then the qualification.

[Baddream]

Thanks for your replies! Really helpful. As some of you have suggested, I've searched into joint honours degrees but there are only 3 universities which offer the course that'd I'd consider going to (seeing as I'd be paying £9,000 a year) so I don't think I'd be applying for that.

I see English isn't as easy as I thought and doesn't sound very appealing from what you've described, so I think I'm going to have to try to work harder to pass History and hopefully apply to that.

Thanks for your help!

Btw, off topic, does attendance matter a lot when applying? My attendance right now is 90% and my teachers keep telling me universities won't want to consider my application if they see that

[Aeschylus]

(Original post by agoetcherian)
I get what you're saying, and I agree that it requires a form of learning that can't be done in a classroom, but I think it just comes with the territory. It's basically paying the money for the reading list and then the qualification.

Yes it's a bit of a nightmare really, especially as people will expect value for money. The thing is humanities departments take on 200 a year where not so long ago they used to take on 50. Generally staff: student ratios have expanded and teaching has not kept up, and pretty much the only money coming in has been for research.

[Aeschylus]

(Original post by Baddream)

I see English isn't as easy as I thought and doesn't sound very appealing from what you've described,

What parts . Most of what I've seen written is applicable to history in all honesty....

[willbee]

Joint Honours is quite a good idea if you really can't decide. You can drop one of them if you want after first year (or earlier) and I'm pretty sure even if you drop it after first year, it means if you train to be a teacher, you can teach it too.

As an English student though, I'd advise you take history. I love English, but it can be just as dull as some parts of History and if you can do well in History then it's a much more impressive degree, provided you go to a "decent" uni.

Attendance isn't something to put on your UCAS application. It would imply that you don't have that much to say about yourself so you had to resort to attendance, which isn't something most unis care about.

[La Esmerelda]

I know they do Eng and History at Nottingham and Liverpool. I'm doing English at Nottingham and I have really enjoyed the course. As the last guy said though, English does have a rep for being an 'easier' degree (probably because it is) but its not like being a History undergrad will earn you any more kudos when it comes to applying to jobs, so that's not an issue at all. History is also a more boring degree and I've had a loooot of fun studying English (whereas I've never heard anyone say this about history).

I studied medieval literature (loved!!), drama (yawn), renaissance literature (fantastic!) and lots of modern literature. I've done Shakespeare, Joyce, Defoe, Dickens...You name them, I've done them. I did quite want to do joint honours with either philosophy or history at uni but wasn't allowed to change. As I understand though you could take both at joint honours and then drop one subject after the year (whereas you can't do that if you start at single honours).

(Original post by Baddream)
I'm not sure exactly but something around public affairs, civil service or anything along those lines.
Some of my mates that are doing English in first year of uni have told me it's so much easier than A Level so that sounds really appealing to me.





I do think it's great to do a joint honours degree but not a lot of universities offer it, and writing a personal statement for different courses sounds like a really difficult task.
I see you study a lot of different texts from different periods, but how are you taught it? Like do they give you the texts and expect you to go off and learn all about it yourself or do lecturers go through it and say some key points of the text?

Thanks for the replies!

[Reader 79]

(Original post by Aeschylus)
Yes it's a bit of a nightmare really, especially as people will expect value for money. The thing is humanities departments take on 200 a year where not so long ago they used to take on 50. Generally staff: student ratios have expanded and teaching has not kept up, and pretty much the only money coming in has been for research.

Doesn't York's English department, at least, still run really small-group tutorials, including some one to ones?

Or are those testimonials on the website out of date?

[Spaz Man]

I'm studying both for A-Level and I prefer History personally. I like the fact that you can choose which period of history to study and specilaise in at Uni.