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Pros and cons of joint-major degree

Hello,
I would like to know your opinion about the joint-major degree. What I will get if I choose it? Is it worth? Will it have a positive impact on the postgraduate studies? What are the advantages of the joint-major degree compared to a single-major degree? What are disadvantages?

Thanks

Reply 1

dans

12

Two for the price of one!! :biggrin:

Reply 2

*knowitall*

Joint - less detail in two subjects.

Single - more detail in one subject.

Do you want to keep your options open? Maybe go for joint - but for postgrad you may find that single honours students get first pick as they will have done more detail in their chosen field.

Reply 3

Angelil

19

svnofing

Hello,
I would like to know your opinion about the joint-major degree. What I will get if I choose it? Is it worth? Will it have a positive impact on the postgraduate studies? What are the advantages of the joint-major degree compared to a single-major degree? What are disadvantages?

Thanks

If you do a joint honours degree, you will still get a BA/BSc like everyone else - it's not like you get 'less' on your degree certificate or anything.
I've enjoyed doing my joint honours degree, although I'd have probably chosen Classics and French rather than Classics and English now. Sometimes there's less flexibility than with a single-honours degree, sometimes there's more - so it really depends. Is it worth it? Yes - it gave me a chance to do a new subject with one that I was more familiar with, and I don't regret the 'new subject' choice one bit.
Does it have a positive impact on postgraduate studies? Well, take a look at my sig and decide for yourself :biggrin:

Advantages - you get to choose from two module lists every year instead of one, which can make your degree more interesting! It's also good if they complement each other and good if you don't know exactly what you want to do at degree level, too.
Disadvantages - you often can't do a module outside your departments if you're doing joint honours, whereas if you do single honours there's more room for you to (I wanted to take a beginners' Italian module, which is outside my department, but wasn't able to due to timetabling for joint honours). Admin can also be a bit of a nightmare as well, but it's not unworkable. Let me know if you have any more questions :smile:

Reply 4

dans

12

I'm going to do Management with French! :biggrin:

Reply 5

kellywood_5

17

You'll get a degree with half of your modules in one subject and half in another. It's worth it if there are 2 subjects you really want to study and you can't choose between them. Regarding postgraduate study, I guess it depends what you want to do. If it's something specific and your 2 subjects were similar, it might help you because you'd have a wider range of experience within the same broad field, but if your subjects were completely different, it might be a problem because you wouldn't have as much in depth subject knowledge. I'd say the advantages are being able to study 2 subjects instead of just 1 to give yourself a bit of variety and not having to do so many modules in 1 subject that you have to take ones you don't particularly like just to get enough credits. In terms of disadvantages, I guess it could be seen as more work in a way having to split your time equally being 2 subjects and it probably means you'll have little or no choice in your first year.

Reply 6

Wise One

11

Mine (International Relations and Anthropology) tend to focus on the same kind of issues (globalisation, the international economy, identity politics, social change) but from different points of view.

One thing I will say is that, as a student, it can affect your sense of identity / community within the department(s). You have a larger pool of people from your course(s) to get to know, but you'll probably be spending less time with each group.

I want to do interdisplinary postgrad, if at all, so there's no real disadvantages for me in that respect.

Plus, it's good to get variety. If one of the subjects is doing your head in, you can just go and immerse yourself in the other for a bit.

Reply 7

The Boosh

17

it depends on your subject - if you are interested in history as one of your options, you may be able to specialise in certain fields in depth (say, nazi europe) but you wont be able to specialise in everything given the limited time span. also, it's harder to master 2 fields at the same time at degree level. put simply, you are competing with the single honours students who get twice as much practice as a joint honours student in the field.

Reply 8

andy5788

14

One thing I would like to say (semantics I know...) is that you DO go into as much depth in a joint honours degree, but not in as many different areas.

By the third year it's not like you're still doing 2nd year units to catch up, you just miss some areas out and specialise more. Put simply, your units in the third year are still third year units so they are just as hard as the single honours people will have to do, there's just less of them. So depth is not an issue, it's breadth.

Reply 9

The Boosh

17

^^^^^^^^^^^^ aye.

Reply 10

global_warning

1

andy5788

One thing I would like to say (semantics I know...) is that you DO go into as much depth in a joint honours degree, but not in as many different areas.

By the third year it's not like you're still doing 2nd year units to catch up, you just miss some areas out and specialise more. Put simply, your units in the third year are still third year units so they are just as hard as the single honours people will have to do, there's just less of them. So depth is not an issue, it's breadth.

I'd agree with you on this. Also, if you are interested in a particular area of one or both of your subjects and are prepared to put in the work, you can pursue it on your own- not having had a particular class doesn't have to restrict you. Additionally, it's possible to sit in on related classes with permission of the department.

Reply 11

Lizj

10

I've just read in today's paper that it is more difficult to get a First or Two One in a joint honours degree than it is in single honours - something to do with inconsistent marking across two faculties I think.
Don't know whether it's true or not.

Reply 12

bewithoutyou

Some friends of mine doing joint honours have said their courses don't feel like 50-50 of each subject but more like 60-60. Although you study fewer modules in each department, you still have to reach the same standards as a single honours student; in a language for example, this means reaching the same level of competence as a single honours student, but in theory with half the practise. Be prepared to work hard, especially if you do two contrasting subjects.

Reply 13

dans

12

But then surely this extra work makes a 2:1 or a first more valuable if you have it in a language and another degree, than just a straight degree. For instance, hundreds of people graduate with Management degrees each year, but not so many with Management and a language.

Reply 14

Gracie312

I'm thinking of doing joint honours in English Literature and Biology... I've rung the university and this isn't a problem, but do you think doing an arts and a science is limitings, say i then wanted to be a geneticist, or an english teacher? I want to keep my options open as I don't know what to do, but I don't want to then end up limiting myself...

Reply 15

Angelil

19

To be a teacher only 50% of your degree needs to be in the subject you want to teach, so you wouldn't have a problem there.
If you wanted to be e.g. a geneticist, you could presumably 'top up' your degree with further study in the sciences (e.g. a master's; science funding is much easier to come by than arts funding) if you felt less confident or felt it would significantly enhance your prospects.

Reply 16

Spain'93

Hey, I too am planning on doing a joint degree: LLB Law with Business. Thing is, I want to take this degree because in case I don't want to work in the UK anymore, I will still have the business side of my degree to go and work anywhere else in the world (as law can only be practised in England and Wales).

However, I am worried that by doing this degree, I might not have the same job opportunities as other law graduates (or business graduates for that matter).

What do you guys think? I've heard many law firms take non-law graduates now, but I'm not exactly a non-law graduate and neither do I want to be classified as one.

Any suggestions? Thanks :smile:

Reply 17

Shelly_x

15

Original post by svnofing

Hello,
I would like to know your opinion about the joint-major degree. What I will get if I choose it? Is it worth? Will it have a positive impact on the postgraduate studies? What are the advantages of the joint-major degree compared to a single-major degree? What are disadvantages?

Thanks

I don't understand what you're asking when you say 'what will i get if i choose it?', a normal BA/BSc degree, just in two subjects.
Its worth it if you have two subjects that you really like and cant choose between them or don't want to drop one, or if you have two related subjects that you'd like to do.
Depends, some people find it harder to get onto masters with joint honours (so i've heard) due to the lack of breadth of knowledge you'll obviously get in certain areas of the subject doing joint-honours. However it also gives you the option to do two different masters if you choose two different subjects.
I'd say the advantages are you get to study two subjects you really like, and my joint degree is really flexible, i get to choose which modules i do and can focus on one subject if i want to or make it equal.
Disadvantages are its sometimes hard to keep up as it seems like you have more work than single honours, as your studying two unrelated subjects and have to get your head around both. Also, both departments will mark differently so you may get confused at first.

Reply 18

GodspeedGehenna

3

mfw I see a thread from 2007 on the main page.

Pros and cons of joint-major degree

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