Is History a poor choice for a degree?

Arts degrees outside the top 20 unis should not exist imo. And some grads from Oxbridge CHOOSE not to get a job. Some people like to try discover something in theoretical maths/physics by themselves or just do something else. Some people might go on holiday for more than 6 months afterwards, who knows. These employment stats provided by unis are very vague and can be misleading.

Why would they choose not to get a job? What would they do at home all day?

I'm in my final year of A levels, I got AAAC last year and sent off my UCAS app in October with most of my offers already recieved. i'm going to firm Warwick for History, but I'm concerned that I'm going to regret this later. Like anyone else, I'm only going to uni to improve my job prospects but after reading around on the internet it seems like History will get me absolutely nowhere. I'm aware of the arguments for history, "can go into anything and keeps your option open" "many go in to law", this is what sold it to me in the Summer, but reading around that doesnt seem to be the case and now I'm seriously thinking about it. Any history graduates with advice or experience? Or anyone else, I really need different views on this (even if they are harsh). Am I bettter off looking into apprenticeships to get experience instead? Or possibly a different degree? (I have no science subjects and I think I'm starting to regret it)

History is a fast acting subject but unless you ean't to be a teacher or work in a museum it is positively useless you could becom an expert on the Romans or somthing and that opens up archoligy witch is a fasanating thing to do see if you can go and do a bit at a local dig site to see if it's your kind of thing.

"Like anyone else, I'm only going to uni to improve my job prospects but after reading around on the internet it seems like History will get me absolutely nowhere."

I think therein lies the main problem.

If you only want to go to university for the improvement of your job prospects, do something vocational, or don't go at all. Please don't waste the time of History tutors if you're not actually passionate about the subject. Given the already sketchy employability of arts subjects, there's no point in studying them unless you really, really care about them in an intellectually holistic sense. People will tell you a lot about transferable skills, but the whole point of that moniker is that they're transferable: you lift them out of something greater. If that "something greater" (your History degree) doesn't really matter to you, you're going to have a tough time actually getting through your degree in the first place. "But... I can say I'm able to both write and read with critical accuracy on my CV!" won't be much comfort when it's 4am and you're slaving away on essays you don't want to write.

It's harsh, but it's true. Sincerely, an English student who would fight to the death in the throes of dedication to her field of study.

"Like anyone else, I'm only going to uni to improve my job prospects but after reading around on the internet it seems like History will get me absolutely nowhere."

I think therein lies the main problem.

If you only want to go to university for the improvement of your job prospects, do something vocational, or don't go at all. Please don't waste the time of History tutors if you're not actually passionate about the subject. Given the already sketchy employability of arts subjects, there's no point in studying them unless you really, really care about them in an intellectually holistic sense. People will tell you a lot about transferable skills, but the whole point of that moniker is that they're transferable: you lift them out of something greater. If that "something greater" (your History degree) doesn't really matter to you, you're going to have a tough time actually getting through your degree in the first place. "But... I can say I'm able to both write and read with critical accuracy on my CV!" won't be much comfort when it's 4am and you're slaving away on essays you don't want to write.

It's harsh, but it's true. Sincerely, an English student who would fight to the death in the throes of dedication to her field of study.

I'm aware of the arguments for history, "can go into anything and keeps your option open" "many go in to law", this is what sold it to me in the Summer, but reading around that doesnt seem to be the case and now I'm seriously thinking about it.

Actually I am very aware of people not getting degrees and still earning money. I was going to include it but I thought we were simply comparing degree types. I am teaching myself programming for example, an invaluable and rewarding skill that will be extremely useful in the future, despite not doing a Comp Sci degree.

Many people do pay off their student loans, and often because they chose the right degree and have a good job now. I like your last line, and it applies to many BA courses. Unfortunately, you simply cannot teach medicine or engineering in the library.

Why would they choose not to get a job? What would they do at home all day?

Enjoying their rents.

If they did not get jobs they were overqualified for, they were applying for the wrong ones, I am sure they are capable of trying for jobs they are qualified for.

I think most arts degrees are only good for decent paid jobs if they are from the top unis. An arts degree shows employers you can't do maths or science so its pretty useless.

An arts degree from a low tier uni shows you aren't clever enough to realise you have just wasted 3 years and £50k on something that does nothing to increase your employability while saddling you with a big debt and would have been better off getting a job instead of going to uni.

My daughter is a junior freshman studying History and Political Science. She initially wanted to be a reporter but is now thinking of political lobbying. She absolutely adores history, and is really happy in her subject.

As a mum, that is what is important to me - a happy daughter studying the subject she loves rather than plodding through a degree that she hates just because it is 'employable'.

Life is for living - enjoy it by allowing your heart to share in the decisions you make.

I study politics at Oxford Brookes and I love it. Yes, I'm fully aware that I may not have the same employability credentials as someone who did an arts degree at somewhere like Oxford or UCL, despite what you may think about people who go to a lower uni/ex-poly.
But I still want to get a decent job out of my degree even if I'm not sure what I want to do and don't believe that where I went will massively hinder me as long as I have come out with a decent mark. I could've just got a job like you said but I love learning and wanted to continue in formal education instead of just reading a book, which I would find dull and uninspiring. I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm ranting but it really annoys me when people who don't do a STEM subject or go to lower ranked uni are branded 'useless' by some users on this forum.

I think if more of the 50% of young people studied subjects that employers said they would like such as engineering, it would make sense to have more students.

I have never heard of employers saying they are crying out for more history or english graduates but plenty say they want people who are good at maths and other technical skills.