At A Crossroads (College Related)

[subaru000]

Hello, to everyone. I have not posted one of these in a while, but I am hoping to get some help for this situation.

For some background, the college where I am currently at is not all that helpful, as you will see later. I have gone to them several times leaving with more questions than answers and it is very frustrating! It sucks when people that have a job don't do it well. Anywho, this is my last year at this college, and I have a college in mind to transfer to, but it is both a private and a liberal arts college, which means it costs a ton of money, but gives generous amounts to transfer students.

Onto the dilemna: at the college I am at now, I uselessly took about four classes that I do not need at all. I did not know what I wanted to major in or focus on, so I just took whatever sounded interesting. As a recipient of financial aid, I did some research and I read that there is now a 6 year limit on people that receive it to get a Bachelor's degree. I am now entering my fourth year so it's time to speed things up a bit.

There are two things I would like to study, which the private college offers: International Studies and Spanish. At this point, there is no way that I could do both without getting into tons of debt (icky), so this is what I am struggling with. Here is what both offer:

International Studies -

Major is 12 courses, but I will need one more course done before entering the major (a Spanish class), so that brings the total up to 13, plus one more for a comprehensive test or complete a thesis, so 14 even.

This works out well for what I would like to do - work with a human rights organization (specifically an LGBT one) and have the language learned as well. I think this is probably the better of the two, as I will have had more of an political background as to what a country's laws are, how does that part of the world function politically and what does that country feel against those from the U.S.

Spanish -

Major is 9 courses, but I will need one more course done before entering the major (a Spanish class), so that brings the total up to 10, plus one more for a comprehensive test or complete a thesis, so only 11.

If I chose SPN, then I would have the ability to converse fluently, but I feel like I would lack some of the things that would help with working for anyone except for where fluency is required. I would hope that some jobs would look for fluency alone, but it seems to not have as much of a ''Get out there and change the world!'' kind of vibe that International Studies would have, and that is something I would love to experience.



Although I think the answer is pretty simple, I just wanted to post it and get a reaction. Thanks for any helps in advance.

[ems]

I think u have descided what u are going to do . U clearly think that International studies would benefit u more and be of more use if u were to pick out of the two , as u have many positive points for it but with Spanish u have a few negatives or doubts.

[SunSparks]

Originally Posted by ems

I think u have descided what u are going to do . U clearly think that International studies would benefit u more and be of more use if u were to pick out of the two , as u have many positive points for it but with Spanish u have a few negatives or doubts.

^this.

If your speaking the most practical one, as in the one thats likely to get you a high paying job, International studies. A degree in Spanish itself lends itself to mostly translation jobs and teaching.

If your looking for more of what will be more worth your money to spend time in college studying, Spanish itself as a language can be learned outside the class on your own. I know I've been learning some German myself out of class.

But again, it seems like you have your mind set. If thats your gut feeling, go for it!

[subaru000]

Originally Posted by SunSparks

^this.

If your speaking the most practical one, as in the one thats likely to get you a high paying job, International studies. A degree in Spanish itself lends itself to mostly translation jobs and teaching.

If your looking for more of what will be more worth your money to spend time in college studying, Spanish itself as a language can be learned outside the class on your own. I know I've been learning some German myself out of class.

But again, it seems like you have your mind set. If thats your gut feeling, go for it!

Thanks to you both, ems and SunSparks for replying.

Anyone can learn a language outside of the college or school that they are in, even on their own out of motivation, but the ones I am in are prereqs for both majors, ironically.

To be honest, I don't really know what International Studies really is, but I do know that I'd have more options as to what classes to take and what to specialize in, so it will work out well.

Again, thanks or the responses and I will keep that in mind throughout the application process.

[TheEdend]

To be honest, I don't really know what International Studies really is, but I do know that I'd have more options as to what classes to take and what to specialize in, so it will work out well.

This is a red flag right here. If you are short on time to complete your degree, you want to make sure that you know what you are getting yourself into.

Who have you talked about it in your college? Have you asked the career counselors? I would also go and look up the staff list for your campus. See which professors have masters in International Studies, and ask if you can meet with them to talk about it.

If you want simple information on how to find out what you want to do with your life, I highly encourage you to get this book called Community College Success. It has some very basic, but powerful information about how to find the right career for you. I personally like it because its the first book to many that can help you out through all of this.

[subaru000]

I have an idea of what it may be - an interdisciplinaran field - which works out well, but I do not know what it is. Like anthropology for example (the study of man) and meterology (the study of weather) can easily be described, but I do not know how to describe it to other people.

I have spoken with advisors at the current college and I have seen the pre-reqs of what Eckerd wants, and I sent them a transcript inquiry so that is taken care of. I do have some questions to ask Eckerd, which I will tomorrow or Wed. to learn more about when to send them transcripts.

Within the next few weeks, I'll get everything straightened and apply for admission. Thanks to all for the help.

Thanks for the tip, Gus. I'll give it a look soon.

[Gravity]

Originally Posted by TheEdend

This is a red flag right here. If you are short on time to complete your degree, you want to make sure that you know what you are getting yourself into.

I was going to point this out too, though for different reasons. If you aren't necessarily clear on what the degree is, then potential future employers probably won't be either. This doesn't mean it will absolutely be a hindrance to you, but you will have to market your education a *lot* more to any job you apply for. This is a main difficulty with [area] studies degrees - many of which are offered by departments as fairly new programs, no more than a few decades old - but another problem is the fact that you will likely have a higher degree of choice in the classes you take, and therefore less specialization.

Besides, as interesting as everything in International Studies sounds, it also sounds situational and temporary. Much of that will have to be learned, or learned in more detail, when you actually get to a country you're going to work in anyway. But if you can't prove fluency in Spanish (or whatever language) first, then why would they send you to begin with? To give an example, I do have one family member that ended up working in Latin America after her degree, and she majored in...Spanish.

Now, as scary as I've made it all sound, I really do think you should just choose the major you're more interested in. In the long run, you'll probably be able to break into the field you want regardless, and in the short run, it will make school a lot more enjoyable. But, if you're looking for the fast track on how to get yourself working in a foreign (presumably Spanish-speaking) country, then I'd recommend Spanish.

Will you have any room for electives after the Spanish major? Could you take some courses from the International Studies program anyway?