Degree in Art? Is it really worth it?

What type of Art degree is she thinking of? If she knows what job to get into specifically after the degree, and it has a good pay then let her. If not then no, it wont be worth it even though she may be capable getting an average paid job; but it would be difficult due to competition with other applicants with a more suitable degree.

I was in the same position as your sister 4 years ago. I studied Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Art for a levels (got 2 A*s and 2 As). Although I was keen on a creative career, my teachers and some family members pressured me to study something academic at a good university.. so I ended up studying Biological Anthropology at Durham. It was a totally alien place to me and I disliked much of the degree. Academically I was still one of the top, but my self esteem was totally shot. It almost destroyed me, but the degree also helped me to discover concepts I had never imagined before. Fortunately I managed to find a dissertation topic that interested me in my final year, as well as a supervisor who supported my rather strange research ideas. This worked out well and now I'm looking forward to starting a funded postgraduate degree related to my undergraduate research. Although I wasn't happy initially, I now consider myself very lucky to have taken this path.

Your sister is clearly very bright and I think she needs to consider her options carefully. Art might be her passion, but she may find that an art degree won't feed her hunger for knowledge (which I assume she has, with those grades in science). She can pursue art as a hobby, and this won't make her any less of an artist than people studying an art degree. Personally I think that my own artistic development progressed greatly due to it being a hobby, rather than something that was taught to me.

If I were you, I would encourage your sister to look into courses that combine strong science with scope to do her own projects and explore ideas that interest her. Depending on what subject she chooses, she could even study the origins of art and the evolution of culture from a scientific perspective. (if you like, i can try and give some pointers here)

Whatever she decides, I hope it works out well for her

There are a lot of people who get into top universities to study Art with similar grades to your sister. I share similar grades to her (A*A*AAA) but as opposed to studying Maths I would much rather follow my passion. It is going to be a bumpy road for her applying especially if she isn't equipped with a foundation (I have found that out the hard way). If she is insisting on doing it, it's the right choice. I am sure when she looks back on her life the decision to either become a Scientist of Artist is going to greatly change how she lived - hopefully not one in regret. (again she could do it as a hobby but there are academically and artistically challenging art courses I would say)

The thing is the course she intended on applying is not available at top universities, she wants something really specific.
And I don't think it is worth the 15k-a-year tuition fee. Ideally I would want her to pursue STEM subjects.

What course is it that she wants to do? ..sometimes the specific courses offered at lower-ranked universities have much stronger links to industry and better employment prospects.

The thing is the course she intended on applying is not available at top universities, she wants something really specific.
And I don't think it is worth the 15k-a-year tuition fee or about 50k a year all inclusive, also she's only allowed to apply for univ in the south, so she eventually lives not that far from me, which generally will be more expensive. Ideally I would want her to pursue STEM subjects.




You pretty much sum them all up. I already told her that nothing can stop you from joining an art society later at university and she could develop her hobby in her free time. If she finds a way to incorporate that art skills later in her career then that would be even better. I supposed architecture course would be ideal since afaik it incorporates engineering and design.



She's taking an art course outside of school, not sure if it counts as a foundation though. Initially, my parents were kinda supportive about her decision and that's why she's taking the art course.
But even if she's taking the right choice, I'm not sure if it's the best choice for her career and her future. Also when she decided to do art, I kinda got the feeling that she wanted an easy way to get through uni cause that's what people from my country do when they decided to do their degree abroad, generally, not just art in particular. People tend to opted for a not-so-famous university without that much of engagement but still having the prestige of graduating from a UK university, despite how ****ty the uni is.

So much hatred coming from me for these people lol.

why you hating?

Depends which industry she wants to go into.

She wanted to do graphic design or interior design.

Here is another thought of mine:
The disadvantage of studying abroad is when you go back to your home country, you'll have less connections to 'relevant' people thus it would be harder to get a job, unless you have acquired particular skills that put you on the upper hand. Thus eventually employers will come and look for you, instead of you who do the job hunting.

And I think the degree she's choosing won't put her on the upper hand. I don't think the art course in my home country vary vastly from the art course in the UK. Even if it is, I don't think it is enough to put her on the upper hand.

The course I'm taking on the other hand, computer science, certainly puts me on the upper hand. I've seen the curriculum they use at top unis in my home country and the assignments they have given. They just don't cover concepts and fundamentals as much and as deep as I do and the difficulty of my assignments are harder by miles. The differences when you're studying at a developed country as opposed to a developing country are really apparent. For example, on my third year I could do a project on Oculus Rift which will never happen if I do my degree in my home country.

I also do work on Oculus Rift at my uni I'm on an "art" course as well. I do game art. Theres also 3D animation and Visual effects if she wants to look into those. They're art courses that have a job at the end if you go to a decent university. (hertfordshire / NUA / bournemouthe / demontfort / etc.)

I'm sorry but she'll find herself going nowhere if she does an Art degree, there are little almost no jobs that want an Art graduate. The short answer is simply - never! There is literally nothing you can do with a BA in Art honestly.

The only respectable branch of Art is an Architecture degree (BArch) and whilst respected it is extremely hard to find a job as an architect. Next best is Digital Graphic Designers, who get an alright pay but again the jobs available are quite limited.

Any other form of Art degree is pretty much useless and the only benefit is learning new skills. That's pretty much it. If she is doing 4 Sciences she could get a BSc and get some of the best jobs out there... why is she honestly wasting her time and money on one of the most useless degrees.

That's exactly what I would prefer her to do, a course where she could incorporates her art skill but doesn't put her potential in the field of science into waste.



Well said.