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single honours vs. dual honours

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
What are the pros and cons? Or does it not really matter?

I could either study 'English Studies', or do a joint honours in 'English Literature' and in 'Linguistics', to cover all aspects of English. Are there disadvantages to dual honours, or are they less respected in the world of work?
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    no third year dissertation, unless you opt for it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    No I don't think they're less respected, especially if they're fairly similar subjects anyway. If both of those things interest you equally, then go for it. But remember that you are allowed to take some modules from outside of your degree course anyway, and have them count towards it, so just because you don't do linguistics, doesn't mean you wouldn't be able to do the odd module from that course. But if you're really interested in it, then I'd go for the dual course, because it's looks better on a CV than "I did a few modules in Linguistics."
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    single honours = specialist.
    dual honours = erm... for poeple unsure of what they want
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ^^

    Although that is far less of an issue for Arts students.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It is the norm in a lot of places to do dual honours, loads of 'old school' businessy people were asking me what my major and minor were, I just said I was doing maths and maths, and they were like 'oh, you must like maths then!'.

    Although at school I was told it's better to do one subject, get the degree, then do a masters in something else if you fancy it.

    But now I've changed from Maths to Accountancy, Business Finance and Management, which is something people had told me before wouldn't be that good (if you want to be a manager, go get a job, they said). But the course looks great!

    I think too many people worry about what employers think of their degree, a good (2.1 or 1st) will get your foot in the door for most jobs that want a graduate, then it's just down to experience / added value really.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I wouldn't do dual honours after seeing what my ex had to do. He was doing maths and computing, but by the 3rd year didn't really have a strong enough basis in either to feel competant at either. He basically said "well I've done 2/3's of the 1st year in each, 1/3rd of the 2nd year of each and now I'm starting to do 3rd year modules and don't have a clue because I'm lacking background knowledge".
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I did combined honours in social sciences and did modules in sociology, economics, philosophy, history and theology. Phew, it was difficult! I didn't feel I had enough basis in any single subject to deal effectively with the work I had to do. It was interesting, and varied but when it came down to it doing one module in the ecomomic history of 19th century england didn't help me the next year when the history module I chose was totally unrelated.

    I would recommend single honours if you know what it is you want to study, but it's personal choice at the end of the day, and the dual honours course you are referring to sounds pretty similar to the single honours. :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ^^

    Although that is far less of an issue for Arts students.

    Exactly. I do Spanish and Russian and especially the former is no small committment.

    Although I do a four year course (and only get a BA which kinda annoys me) and joint honours and I think it actually counts more in your favour when they see you've done two courses. It shows a broader range of interests and that you can apply yourself to a wider range of problems and challenges. I know that I certainly would be less employable if I only had Spanish on my CV though that may partly be due to the high selling factor of Russian.

    In short, don't do a degree for how it will look to prospective employers. Do it because you want to do and because you're genuinely interested in it. To be honest, unless you want to persue a career with specifically technical requirements, most employers will employ people from a vast range of backgrounds. I've just got a job doing Internal Audit / Corporate Banking with RBS (haven't accepted yet but have the offer) and apart from A-level Economics, I have no mathmatical/banking background and am completely arty farty.

    Doing a degree shows that you can apply yourself, work hard, research, think for yourself and show dedication and motivation. In most jobs, they can teach you how to be a banker / sales person / whatever, however, they can't teach you motivation, hard work, dedication etc. This is why unless you want to be an engineer or a doctor or something like that, they will accept people from any academic discipline.

    So in short, don't think of future employers when choosing your degree. Do something you are interested in and love because you will do well in it. If you choose a degree cos you think it will look good on a CV rather than that you're interested in it, it will show both in the course of your degree and also when it comes to interview time. Hope this helps.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    minimi38 wrote: »
    no third year dissertation, unless you opt for it.

    :confused: not that i've come across.

    i do criminology and social policy. i wanted to do criminology but wanted to do something else to vary it a bit - broaden my knowledge etc.

    it's not at all because i couldn't decide what i wanted to do!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kazbo wrote: »
    I wouldn't do dual honours after seeing what my ex had to do. He was doing maths and computing, but by the 3rd year didn't really have a strong enough basis in either to feel competant at either. He basically said "well I've done 2/3's of the 1st year in each, 1/3rd of the 2nd year of each and now I'm starting to do 3rd year modules and don't have a clue because I'm lacking background knowledge".


    the way it works with me is i do 2 units from each honour and then 1 that both honours do if that makes sense! now i'm in my final year and only do 4 units (and my dissertation) i do 2 from each.
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