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Applying for philosophy

Hi, Im 19 and dropped out of my architecture course at Nottingham last year. I am looking to make a big change to study Philosophy instead as it is something I am very interested in but have a lot of concerns.

Firstly, I am worried that philosophy is a useless course that doesn't have an easy paths into any careers after graduating.

Secondly, my grades are AABB in DT, Business, Maths and French. Not sure if I stand a good chance applying to an AAB course when my subjects don't align with philosophy very well.

Thirdly, Im not sure how applying through UCAS works when I already have my grades and am just overall worried because I don't have any support through school like I did before and it all feels quite overwhelming on my own.

Any help with my situation would be greatly appreciated, Thanks.

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Employers don't care what you studied for generalist grad schemes in e.g. the civil service, law, financial services including accountancy, investment banking, management consultancy etc, and other generic business management function type grad schemes. Studying philosophy will neither make you more nor less employable than if you studied any other subject, as ultimately how employable depends on what you do to make yourself employable.

If you go to uni for 3 years and all you do is turn up to lectures and exams then even if you get 1sts in everything, without a lick of work experience, no internships, and no relevant transferable skills developed by e.g. taking on leadership/committee positions in clubs/societies, you simply are not any more employable than a school leaver - and that doesn't matter whether you studied philosophy or "applied theoretical financial engineering for wannabe investment bankers".

If you find philosophy intellectually stimulating and it's something you want to pursue at degree level do it. The things that make you employable are the things you do beyond the degree. As far as employers are concerned the degree is a tick box - does the applicant have a degree at 2:1 or above Y/N? If tick yes, proceed to next stage of application.

Reply 2

McGinger

As above, having a degree, having higher thinking and sharper analytical skills than a school leaver, is what employers want, not the actual subject knowledge. This is why so many grad schemes and initial grad jobs ask for '2:1 in any discipline' etc.

What will make the difference, as @artful_lounger has explained, is all the other stuff you do at Uni - any sort of work experience or study abroad, and anything else that shows that you didn't just 'study' - so get involved in as much 'other stuff' outside your course as you can, anything that develops skills, confidence, and wider understandings - anything that makes you look a more interesting person that just 'has a degree'.

Reply 3

Szara_SOAS

Original post

by Jontyward

Hi, Im 19 and dropped out of my architecture course at Nottingham last year. I am looking to make a big change to study Philosophy instead as it is something I am very interested in but have a lot of concerns.
Firstly, I am worried that philosophy is a useless course that doesn't have an easy paths into any careers after graduating.
Secondly, my grades are AABB in DT, Business, Maths and French. Not sure if I stand a good chance applying to an AAB course when my subjects don't align with philosophy very well.
Thirdly, Im not sure how applying through UCAS works when I already have my grades and am just overall worried because I don't have any support through school like I did before and it all feels quite overwhelming on my own.
Any help with my situation would be greatly appreciated, Thanks.

Hi,

Lots of Philosophy degrees, such as SOAS's World Philosophies programme, don't require specific A-level subjects. Rather, the admissions team is looking to see your passion and interest for the subject, which you can convey in your personal statement.

Philosophy can be a very rewarding subject that helps you build transferable skills, such as problem solving, critical thinking, argumentation, and research. These skills are valued across different industries and recent graduates from the department have been hired by organisations such as the Cabinet Office, Chatham House, the United Nations Development Programme, Edelman, the Inter Faith Network for the UK, and more.

I know it's easier said than done, but try not to stress too much about UCAS process. You've already been through the process before and they have their contact details on their website which you can use for questions.