Journalism - w/ law or int. stud? (1 Viewer)

[Hermzie]

Hi, I was hoping I could get a few different opinions on this since I'm having a abit of difficulty deciding for myself. I would like to combine journalism with either law or international studies (and provided that the cut offs don't increase by a lot, I should be able to get into either), but I'm not entirely sure which combination would work out better.

I am dead set on becoming a journalist, and I know that doing a combined degree will open up many more opportunities and broaden my knowledge in whatever it is I intend to focus on - in the opinion of those currently studying at UTS, which combination do you think is worthwhile in studying?

I've already looked up the course handbooks for both law and international studies and both seem quite attractive in what they have to offer, but alas, it's so hard to make a choice!

Little help?

Thanks

 

[kami]

Hi, I was hoping I could get a few different opinions on this since I'm having a abit of difficulty deciding for myself. I would like to combine journalism with either law or international studies (and provided that the cut offs don't increase by a lot, I should be able to get into either), but I'm not entirely sure which combination would work out better.

I am dead set on becoming a journalist, and I know that doing a combined degree will open up many more opportunities and broaden my knowledge in whatever it is I intend to focus on - in the opinion of those currently studying at UTS, which combination do you think is worthwhile in studying?

I've already looked up the course handbooks for both law and international studies and both seem quite attractive in what they have to offer, but alas, it's so hard to make a choice!

Little help?

Thanks

Each degree combination has its perks and problems.

The study of law will in many ways enhance your prospects as a journalist as it will open up an entire field for you to critique and comment on (governmental journalism for one) and many law graduates end up in a career of journalism irrespective of the degree with which they combine. On the other hand, if you choose to combine law with journalism, you will have almost no choice in which subjects to take for the majority of your degree and you will find it difficult to undertake internships as part of your degree. You also would experience problems if you wanted to go on exchange, because of the restricted subject choices. You also have the ability to go into law at a later stage if you should so choose.

International studies on the other hand allows you a wider range of electives in which you can choose to undergo internships, specialise in extra journalistic areas (e.g radio, print, editing, television etc.) or undertake a submajor from another area such as advertising, creative writing, an extra language (in addition to your main one) or even subjects from another uni. You'd also get the opportunity to go overseas for a year, which looks good on any resume, and if your language fluency is high enough you are permitted to study almost any subject at the overseas university (including journalism related ones). The drawback is though, that you'd have to be sure you could put enough money away to sustain you for that year away and that it doesn't explicitly add an additional vocation like a law degree would.

 

[Hermzie]

Each degree combination has its perks and problems.

The study of law will in many ways enhance your prospects as a journalist as it will open up an entire field for you to critique and comment on (governmental journalism for one) and many law graduates end up in a career of journalism irrespective of the degree with which they combine. On the other hand, if you choose to combine law with journalism, you will have almost no choice in which subjects to take for the majority of your degree and you will find it difficult to undertake internships as part of your degree. You also would experience problems if you wanted to go on exchange, because of the restricted subject choices. You also have the ability to go into law at a later stage if you should so choose.

International studies on the other hand allows you a wider range of electives in which you can choose to undergo internships, specialise in extra journalistic areas (e.g radio, print, editing, television etc.) or undertake a submajor from another area such as advertising, creative writing, an extra language (in addition to your main one) or even subjects from another uni. You'd also get the opportunity to go overseas for a year, which looks good on any resume, and if your language fluency is high enough you are permitted to study almost any subject at the overseas university (including journalism related ones). The drawback is though, that you'd have to be sure you could put enough money away to sustain you for that year away and that it doesn't explicitly add an additional vocation like a law degree would.

So there are electives within the international studies combination that allow students to go on internships, whereas the law combination doesn't offer such electives?

Also, with the whole having almost no choice in what subjects I study if I combine journalism with law, would that be for the law component or for the journalism component of the course as well?

Thanks

 

[kami]

So there are electives within the international studies combination that allow students to go on internships, whereas the law combination doesn't offer such electives?

With the international combination, outside of the journalism and international studies core subjects you would be able to study 32cp (4 or 5 subjects depending on faculty or uni) of electives in anything and 8cp (one subject) in any humanities area.

In the law combination, outside of your law and journalism core subjects, you will have one single humanities elective. This means you would be able to fit in an internship, but at the cost of studying or specialising in any other area - one choice only. The other difficulty arrises in that there needs to be internships available for you to do and they may not always be there when it comes time for you to do your humanities elective. So its possible, but takes more planning. You will also lose two first year humanities subjects (which are replaced by mandatory law ones) that single degree and international studies would do.

Also, with the whole having almost no choice in what subjects I study if I combine journalism with law, would that be for the law component or for the journalism component of the course as well?

The choice is more restricted in the communications component, however in the law component you will have the ability to choose 4 law subjects throughout your degree from this list - http://www.handbook.uts.edu.au/directory/cbk90042.html

The reason choice is more limited with this combo (though its still a very good degree set) is because they are two entirely different degrees and so most elective areas need to be sacraficed so that it can be completed in five years. This doesn't happen as much with the international studies combination because ultimately both of those degrees are BAs (if different from the normal BA) so more electives are retained.

 

[Hermzie]

With the international combination, outside of the journalism and international studies core subjects you would be able to study 32cp (4 or 5 subjects depending on faculty or uni) of electives in anything and 8cp (one subject) in any humanities area.

In the law combination, outside of your law and journalism core subjects, you will have one single humanities elective. This means you would be able to fit in an internship, but at the cost of studying or specialising in any other area - one choice only. The other difficulty arrises in that there needs to be internships available for you to do and they may not always be there when it comes time for you to do your humanities elective. So its possible, but takes more planning. You will also lose two first year humanities subjects (which are replaced by mandatory law ones) that single degree and international studies would do.


The choice is more restricted in the communications component, however in the law component you will have the ability to choose 4 law subjects throughout your degree from this list - http://www.handbook.uts.edu.au/directory/cbk90042.html

The reason choice is more limited with this combo (though its still a very good degree set) is because they are two entirely different degrees and so most elective areas need to be sacraficed so that it can be completed in five years. This doesn't happen as much with the international studies combination because ultimately both of those degrees are BAs (if different from the normal BA) so more electives are retained.

Thank you so much Kami. I think I'm ready to make a decision now! *tomorrow's deadline looms*