English or Media courses?

[SpaceArcader]

I've applied to uni to do Media and Communications, but I'm having doubts over the subject and thinking of taking English Literature. I've heard you get more out of Media than English when it comes to getting a job but I feel that I can excel better in English than Media. At the end of the day it depends on my results but I just wanted your opinion.

 

[Valkyrie101]

English Literature is a much more highly regarded course in terms of academic rigour, so it's the best option generally. If you're looking for a career specifically in media, that might be worth consideration, but otherwise English is a better bet - especially if you're better at it.

 

[BlueberryMUNCH]

Okay, my opinion isn't professional in any way; I'm only in year 12 at a Sixth Form.

What I've heard is that media is really just an easy thing to do, and in fact it's...not really that great for jobs because it's generally not seen as a really amazing thing.
End of the day though, it really depends on what you want to do when you leave Uni.
If you want to go into something that'll specifically need media, then by all means, keep at it.

But if you don't really know what direction you're gonna pursue...then I say do English, mate.

I think, at the end of the day, the fact you have any doubts should be enough indicator to change your mind. That's what I think, anyway:].

 

[SpaceArcader]

I'm still unsure, because I had an open day at the uni and the english lit teachers seemed very intelligent which kind of put me off, I'm not saying I cant stand that but I felt that I needed high expectations and standards for it whereas media was the easier option.

However now I feel that I can do it and I think that's all the confidence I need.

 

[Art Axiv]

I'm still unsure, because I had an open day at the uni and the english lit teachers seemed very intelligent which kind of put me off, I'm not saying I cant stand that but I felt that I needed high expectations and standards for it whereas media was the easier option.

However now I feel that I can do it and I think that's all the confidence I need.

The higher the standard, the better you will be at the end of the course. I'd go with English in the case you've just described.

 

[LostAlone]

Ok...

I did my BTEC in Broadcast Media (instead of A levels), my BA is in journalism, and I'm just about to finish my masters degree in International Political Communication (which is a media course run from my universities journalism department, although it doesn't sound like it is). So I've been studying media for the past six years.

It's like any subject in many ways, at times its been great, at times its been boring. Assuming you go to a good institution, you don't need to worry about being seen as lacking academic rigour, no-one in the real world gives a damn about that kinda stuff. The only way it might matter is if you want to go into academia, and in that case you'll be writing for media studies professionals who know that its not true.

However, I will tell you now, with not a single grain of sarcasm that I deeply regret choosing media to study.

Seriously.

You will be taught so many things that are absolutely irrelevant to anything other than working in the media. The problem with that the media are ALL downsizing and no-one will want to pay you to do anything. At the very best, you will be expected to intern full time for over a year to get into something that pays. It is a hard path. If you really want to get into the media, go straight from school because experience is what matters, not qualifications. Make little films and stuff and show you can do things by yourself and you will have a shoe in.

If you are not psychotically devoted to working in the media, (and even if you want to work there but aren't THAT drive) then study basically anything else. English is a great subject to study, opens lots of doors. Maybe not as well a specific qualifications in something does, but its a decent direction to go in that covers a lot of different things.

As it stands, it will pay you to be as generalised as possible. We all have a dream job that we want, but you NEED to be pragmatic. Study stuff that doesn't exclude you from doing other things.

I'm happy enough with where I am atm (ie failing to be employed), but if I could go back and change direction, then hell yes, I would have done my A levels instead of leaving for college, I would have gone to uni, studied english, and had my back up career in teaching ready for me. Media is WORTHLESS as a subject to anyone except the media, and tbh, they aren't too keen on it either.

 

[Elamdri]

I've applied to uni to do Media and Communications, but I'm having doubts over the subject and thinking of taking English Literature. I've heard you get more out of Media than English when it comes to getting a job but I feel that I can excel better in English than Media. At the end of the day it depends on my results but I just wanted your opinion.

If you are seriously considering an English degree, I would highly recommend looking to see if there is a professional writing specialization at your school. I know it's not as cool as lit, but from a practical standpoint, I think you get a lot more from a professional writing degree than a lit degree.

 

[SpaceArcader]

Ok...

I did my BTEC in Broadcast Media (instead of A levels), my BA is in journalism, and I'm just about to finish my masters degree in International Political Communication (which is a media course run from my universities journalism department, although it doesn't sound like it is). So I've been studying media for the past six years.

It's like any subject in many ways, at times its been great, at times its been boring. Assuming you go to a good institution, you don't need to worry about being seen as lacking academic rigour, no-one in the real world gives a damn about that kinda stuff. The only way it might matter is if you want to go into academia, and in that case you'll be writing for media studies professionals who know that its not true.

However, I will tell you now, with not a single grain of sarcasm that I deeply regret choosing media to study.

Seriously.

You will be taught so many things that are absolutely irrelevant to anything other than working in the media. The problem with that the media are ALL downsizing and no-one will want to pay you to do anything. At the very best, you will be expected to intern full time for over a year to get into something that pays. It is a hard path. If you really want to get into the media, go straight from school because experience is what matters, not qualifications. Make little films and stuff and show you can do things by yourself and you will have a shoe in.

If you are not psychotically devoted to working in the media, (and even if you want to work there but aren't THAT drive) then study basically anything else. English is a great subject to study, opens lots of doors. Maybe not as well a specific qualifications in something does, but its a decent direction to go in that covers a lot of different things.

As it stands, it will pay you to be as generalised as possible. We all have a dream job that we want, but you NEED to be pragmatic. Study stuff that doesn't exclude you from doing other things.

I'm happy enough with where I am atm (ie failing to be employed), but if I could go back and change direction, then hell yes, I would have done my A levels instead of leaving for college, I would have gone to uni, studied english, and had my back up career in teaching ready for me. Media is WORTHLESS as a subject to anyone except the media, and tbh, they aren't too keen on it either.

I've applied to uni to do Media and Communications, but I'm having doubts over the subject and thinking of taking English Literature. I've heard you get more out of Media than English when it comes to getting a job but I feel that I can excel better in English than Media. At the end of the day it depends on my results but I just wanted your opinion.

If you are seriously considering an English degree, I would highly recommend looking to see if there is a professional writing specialization at your school. I know it's not as cool as lit, but from a practical standpoint, I think you get a lot more from a professional writing degree than a lit degree.

Thank you for these observations and everyone in this thread. I fully appreciate it. I checked the department and they had an English lit and creative writing degree, so that may be useful. I do love the media, I especially wouldn't mind working perhaps PR or marketing or some form of work within the game or other industries, I also would like to try out journalism for gaming too and I've won a star letter recently in the OXM magazine.

 

[LostAlone]

Thank you for these observations and everyone in this thread. I fully appreciate it. I checked the department and they had an English lit and creative writing degree, so that may be useful. I do love the media, I especially wouldn't mind working perhaps PR or marketing or some form of work within the game or other industries, I also would like to try out journalism for gaming too and I've won a star letter recently in the OXM magazine.

I would definitely say stick with English.

You can easily transition into media (its an industry based on actually being able to do it not having letters after your name) after uni. Just work in your own time during uni, make videos, write a blog, work for the paper. A media course will teach you nothing that experience and a 'writing for the media' book won't teach you better. All that those courses do is let you submit films/articles for credit. That's fine I guess (and beats essays), but remember these words:

When what you love becomes 'work', you will learn to hate it.

University is a times when you will absolutely ignore your course in favor of pretty much anything else. That's the same no matter what you study. Being forced to work on things, mostly about which you couldn't care less (trust me) will bleed out all your enthusiasm.

So, go to uni, study something else, and never feel like you HAVE to do media stuff. Lecturers don't expect much from you (seriously), and you'll have at least 2 days a week to work on that when you want to.

Personally, studying journalism taught me to hate news media, and qualified me to do NOTHING else (hence needing to do an MA). Essentially a waste of time and effort, all because when choosing courses I didn't think there was anything else I could do with my life.

Be VERY careful. There is already a crisis in the media industries because of media courses turning out thousands of qualified people. Journalism particularly has hundreds of applicants for every job. Think in terms of 'what do I do if I CAN'T get a job here ?'.

I know only two people who now work in the media (from nearly 400 undergrads in my year). The rest are mostly doing admin jobs or are unemployed. Media courses are very big now, primarily because any bugger can criticize films intelligently or write a snappy headline. It takes NO ability to pass, and can be a lot of fun, particularly if you are on a creative course. Sadly, there are very very few jobs out there, and having coasted through uni never needing to learn anything or apply yourself AT ALL will absolutely come back to bite you on the ass when you start writing your CV.

 

[gazumped]

I've heard you get more out of Media than English when it comes to getting a job but I feel that I can excel better in English than Media.

You can get pretty much any job with English. You can become a lawyer with an English degree. This is according to my college English Lit. teacher, anyway, who was rather angry when he found out his best student was going on to study art.

Media would teach you more specialist skills, so if you're definitely going into media it might be a better choice, but you seem to have your doubts.

And don't be put off by "intelligent" teachers, they're just well read (of course, being English teachers) so probably come off more that way. Don't choose a course because it's 'easy', then what's the point of doing it? Are you going to spend that much money and time on something that didn't push you? That taught you only easy things that you could have learned off of the internet or from a reference book?
And if you think you're better at English than at Media, relax, you can take the challenge!

 

[LostAlone]

Edit - I really must apologies for being incredibly long winded AGAIN. And excessive use of CAPITALS to add emphasis. Please take it seriously though. Even if you do pick media, make sure you know what to expect, and feel free to PM me if you talk more about it.

Media would teach you more specialist skills, so if you're definitely going into media it might be a better choice

Bold added for importance.

The media is like an attention whoring little cock-tease. You might think that getting inside isn't so tough, but thats what everyone else thinks too. It doesn't matter how definite you are about wanting to get in, the media (and many of the bitches I knew at college, but thats only tangentially relevant at this point) will make its own mind up who gets in.

Its not like being a lawyer or a doctor or a teacher, where you actually have to qualify to do it, and once you do you can be pretty certain that their is a space for you SOMEWHERE even if not exactly where you want.

I'm not saying it can't be done, but I cannot emphasize enough (hence reiterating again) that you cannot just show up and expect to get a job. Not anywhere. Not even on a little local paper. This is an industry where people are fighting tooth and nail (and mostly failing) to work FOR FREE.

You NEED a back-up if the media won't take you. There is no way to be certain, or even 'more likely' unless you win a national award or have the missing watergate tapes. You simply will not have that safety net doing a media course.

You might think that PR and similar stuff is an alternative, but its largely a different skill set. Journalism is a good base but anything creative is absolutely not, and without actual PR training they won't touch you. It is marginally less competitive, but only marginally, and again, there will be an expectation that you will work for free for a while. I have a masters degree, specific PR training and solid work experience and I still probably won't be paid for another 6 months, assuming I find something at all.

Basically its a shitty time to be a graduate all round, and you need to have as many doors open as possible. No-one will quibble with English as a degree, its as good as any other and its just as relevant to being a reporter as it is generic office work. It will fill in the blank for any number of graduate jobs that aren't too worried about subject, and you personally can fill in the media-blanks by actually doing the work on your own time.

On the other hand, media degrees come with the perception that you couldn't even write an essay so you spent your degree making crap films. Its not true, but thats how people feel about it. The industry HATES media degrees, because you don't actually have any professional grade experience.

At the very best you'll have been working on non-pro equipment and you'll have to be taught everything over anyway. At the worst, you'll have done a creative degree which couldn't lead to a job no matter what. Playing at director is lots of fun (thats what I did at college) but there's no way to turn that into work. They just don't advertise for a director.

In essence the only career path for a media degree is taking it up to PhD and teaching it, which I doubt is what you are after.