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struggling to pick a degree

I know that I want have a career to do with writing and id love to be a screenwriter however I've seen people say that a film degree is 'useless' and looking at the percentage of graduates going on to work after graduates is kinda depressing, , some people have become screenwriters without degrees but I don't know how I would make connections.

Out of all the alevels I do which is history, sociology and psychology I find sociology and history my favourite but sociology is definitely what I do best at so I was thinking of politics & international relations as through sociology I've developed an interest in Marxist theory and my foreign side of the history course is Russian revolution & dictatorship so I do somewhat have an interest in world politics.

Journalism was an option for me and I have looked through it however there aren't much good unis in London that have the degree option.
My dream career is to be a screenwriter as I love movies & tv shows but I would be able to settle for any career where I can write. Any advice or tips? I don't want to waste 3 years on a film degree and I'm definitely not interested in a career in politics.

Reply 1

hotpud

If you don't know what you want to do I would strongly urge you not to go to university. Picking a course for the sake of something is pretty much the worse thing you can do as you only get one funded university opportunity so it is vital that you make it count.

Some ideas on your screen writing. Are you writing? If not, start. Start now. Have you heard of "Shut up and write"? You literally just write for 10 minutes (set a timer). You can choose your topic and if you get stuck you simply repeat the last word until you get unstuck.

After your A-levels, if you still don't know what to do, get a job. Go travelling. Discover yourself. Look for internships or work experience in the film industry. Be persistent. Try to build connections. If at the end of all that it is found you need a specific degree or course, then that is your pathway.

But do not pluck at degree and hope for the best. In a world where you are competing against people who are focused there is a risk you will struggle.

Good luck!

Reply 2

Havermelkelite_

Original post by Salm4111

I know that I want have a career to do with writing and id love to be a screenwriter however I've seen people say that a film degree is 'useless' and looking at the percentage of graduates going on to work after graduates is kinda depressing, , some people have become screenwriters without degrees but I don't know how I would make connections.
Out of all the alevels I do which is history, sociology and psychology I find sociology and history my favourite but sociology is definitely what I do best at so I was thinking of politics & international relations as through sociology I've developed an interest in Marxist theory and my foreign side of the history course is Russian revolution & dictatorship so I do somewhat have an interest in world politics.
Journalism was an option for me and I have looked through it however there aren't much good unis in London that have the degree option.
My dream career is to be a screenwriter as I love movies & tv shows but I would be able to settle for any career where I can write. Any advice or tips? I don't want to waste 3 years on a film degree and I'm definitely not interested in a career in politics.

Have you considered studying Communication Science? It sounds like a good mix of the interests/subjects that you mentioned. The University of Amsterdam has an English-taught bachelor in Communication Science which is #1 globally, might be worth having a read of the study programme.