Confused about course choice???

Does the name of the course really matter? Whatever it is down as on UCAS will be the official one -- is the course you've had the offer for the same course code etc as the one you thought you'd applied for or is it different?

It is the content of the course you need to focus on and look at exactly what you'll be studying and what you'll be learning, make your decisions based upon this aspect. To me it seems like you're doing English language and literature, but their language department also includes their linguistics department and their literature department also looks at American literature.

Oh wait no, the course I thought I had applied to was (Q390) the one I have an offer for is (Q391) xx

Okay... I thought as much, so for whatever reason they've obviously decided to give you an offer for a different course. They may contact you to explain their reasons for this, or they might not bother.

But you now need to decide if you actually want to take this new course they're offering you -- it doesn't seem like the new one is drastically different but it might be enough to make you not want to go to Kent. They're now offering you linguistics as well - do you want to study linguistics? It seems like this one willbe more 50% language and 50% literature, whereas the previous one seemed to have more of a literature focus by the way they've written the course title.

I wouldn't say the course name really makes much difference because when you apply for graduate things you have to give a transcript of everything you've done in your degree anyway. The things I would check out is stuff like if you're considering doing a PGCE afterwards at all to do secondary school teaching, is at least 50% of the degree still a national curriculum subject? As some universities are a little bit funny about a linguistics degree and won't accept it (as I have recently found out) but if you wouldn't ever consider teaching then this is nothing to consider

Also check out things such as if the previous course had a year abroad in the USA included, does the new one still have it etc?

Thank you that's SOOOOOOOO helpful!!
Well the new course is fine, just veryyy long haha... I'm guessing it's a joint honours degree but I wanted to do Lang / Lit wherever I went so this means I can. I like that I can do English AND American Literature and that I can also study Language AND Linguistics... I want to work somewhere within the media industry when I'm older. I'd love to be a Sports Journalist, or maybe work in advetising and marketing ... from what I've seen, English graduates are perfect for these roles??


Ahhh sorry my grammar and everything is **** - I'm too excited for words!xxxxx

Well, it would depend what else you did when you were at uni - so getting involved in student journalism, and local journalism in your university city would be beneficial so you can build experience etc. Having an English degree but no experience probably wouldn't be too beneficial for these kinds of roles! You'll find stuff of interest to you at university anyway Having a background in language and linguistics would be useful to you in media/advertising etc as the manipulation of language is one of your best weapons in terms of selling things... so yeah, you will be fine. Well done on your offer, you seem really pleased which is great - I take it that it will be your firm then?

(I'm in the final year of a linguistics degree, hence my language related chat!)

Thank you that's SOOOOOOOO helpful!!
Well the new course is fine, just veryyy long haha... I'm guessing it's a joint honours degree but I wanted to do Lang / Lit wherever I went so this means I can. I like that I can do English AND American Literature and that I can also study Language AND Linguistics... I want to work somewhere within the media industry when I'm older. I'd love to be a Sports Journalist, or maybe work in advetising and marketing ... from what I've seen, English graduates are perfect for these roles??


Ahhh sorry my grammar and everything is **** - I'm too excited for words!xxxxx

Well I'm just overwhelmed! Kent giving me an unconditional offer and Oxford Brookes giving me a conditional offer?? It just seems like it doesn't add up, haha!!

Thank you for being amazing anyway, where do you study? (You can tell me about you now after my rant haha)xx

Many people find it very dry, difficult and rigorous

Kent just gave me an unconditional offer (WOOOO) for this course: English & American Literature and English Language & Linguistics (Q391)

On their website the course is listed under, English Language (English and American Literature)...


So what is the actual name of the course??
xxxxxxxxxxxx

I'm at Edinburgh.

As I've already said to you, do you actually want to study linguistics? see how much of the course content actually is linguistics and how much choice you have with regards to modules etc.

I've found it really tough going at times as I'm not a scientist and my science brain does not really exist (I'm an arts student through and through) and to be honest, learning how to distinguish sound waves on a spectrogram is certainly not anything I a) enjoy or b) can do, although the two are probably highly related. In a general course you also have to do really hardcore sciencey stuff involving labs and equations as well as the other social side to language.

I got a conditional from Kent today ahhhh! Have you heard back from Surrey yet? Decided on your firm and insurance?

Ahhh!! Hello frienddd hahaha...

Erm, this is what has happened so far:

Kent - Unconditional
Pompey - Unconditional
Oxford Brookes - Conditional
Bournemouth - Conditional
Surrey - Conditional

Kent is my first choice but the course is ******* scrappy as you may be able to tell from this thread haha ermm but yeah, I presume that'll end up being my firm (as it's unconditional) so I won't get an insurance choice...

What's the offer for at Kent...and how are your offers going so far...??

you present such a happy picture of my life!

Ok... errr, this is what is annoying me about this course at the moment:
1. The course name is LOONGGG - ignore the actual name, it is the content you need to concentrate on looking at.
2. It's a joint honours - but I thought you originally applied for JH anyway? having a JH degree isn't a problem at all, I do JHs and am applying for grad things atm and it isn't an issue.
3. Linguistics from what I've heard, is hard! - yes, it is and I'd advise you to check out the actual modules of study and consider if you realisitically see yourself enjoying them - ling is such a broad subject area and covers both science and arts meaning a lot of people struggle with it.

BUT. These are my further thoughts on each of the above points:

1. Why should this bother me??? agreed
2. I'm covering A LOT of stuff, I'd feel more 'at home', at Collyer's we'd have a Lit lesson, and then a Lang lesson... clearly, university would be similar - I assume Collyer's is your school/college (not a good idea to write it online btw!) and yes, you would have seperate lang and lit lectures and seperate tutorials etc but come to 2nd and 3rd year you wouldn't study either subject in as much depth as you need to do both so wouldn't have as much module choice.
3. Linguistics may be hard, but it's going to take up around 25% of my time and study at university and I'm just going to have to work my assssss off!! - yes... but this 25% of time is an awful lot if you really hate it and is really something you need to consider as then you'll spend 25% of your life wishing you were doing something else. For all I know you might love it so I could be being silly, but I think you seriously need to consider what you're going to be expected to study as I found regardless of how hard I worked I just couldn't produce results in some areas of linguistics because I really lack the scientific knowledge/ability to understand why these things were happening, particularly in phonetics and phonology.

Well done on all of your offers. Two unconditionals is soo good. I wish I had an unconditional which is impossible seeing as I have only completed the AS part so far. My offer for Kent is conditional 320 points with AB but like you, I have a long course name and it's confusing me to look at. I applied for Comparative Literature and the name has seriously lengthened: Comparative Literature and English Language & Linguistics. I was like wtf but I am so happy that I've overlooked it lol. I have four conditionals and STILL waiting on Bournemouth. They need to get their arses in gear and let me know cos I love it there! Really unsure now though cos I really liked Kent when I saw it and it has a good reputation etc so I need to think about it. I may be seeing you at Kent then. Ahh I can't wait for uni .. will be amazing. Yeah an unconditional offer is ideal because with a conditional, it could go wrong and then you end up stuck. Was Kent originally your first choice?

Yes, but will you love the university if you don't enjoy your course? Edinburgh is my home and I love the city so much but during second year I considered dropping out and this was primarily because I hated linguistics so much. It is fine now, but it is amazing how much your experiences on a course taint your entire life so much as a student. You will have covered an awful lot during your English degree yes, but remember you did not actually apply for this degree in the first place and therefore it is important you look beyond the fact that "its Kent" and actually look at the course. There is presumably a reason why you didn't apply for this degree in the first place and therefore you need to assess the changes.

I'm not saying you won't enjoy the course or studying linguistics at all and I don't want to put you off, but having been in a similar position, it is something for you to properly consider

Not going to lie, I think every university I've chosen has been my first choice at one point haha butttt Kent has been for a good few months.. after longgg thought about it! I love it so much and you completely 100% HAVE to go there because then I know somebody who has a stupid long course name like me haha ... where's your first choice at the moment and have you look at any of your universities as of yet?

P.S. Bournemouth are LAME. They asked for 300 points from 3 A-Levels & 1 AS - which I have - then go and give me a conditional offer? BOO!! xx