Social Sciences? or Arts? in UCC

Schoolteacher

Social Sciences - Can anyone tell me what this subject is all about? My daug has chosen it as her first preference in UCC, but I think it's too heavy an academic subject for her and that she will most likely drop out after a couple of weeks. She's a very young 19 y.o. who thinks university will be a doddle.

I personally think an Arts degree which would include Sociology as one of her subjects would be a much safer bet.

Please help. She's already dropped out of another third level course. I don' want her to make a very big mistake again.

CantGetNoSleep

An arts degree is a lot more academic than people think, a lot of essays and assignments throughout the year, don't see how it would be any easier than social science anyway

Here is what social science entails anyway

http://www.ucc.ie/en/CK102/

michaelgriffin8

Im currently doing arts with sociology and economics and a lot of my friends are doing social science. Arts IS A LOT more academic than people think and it is no doddle. Im currently in third year and under a lot of pressure. I think arts is less heavy than social science tho. We do a lot of the sociology with soc. sci. tho so there is some overlap but if she is going to do social science then she has to be interested in the social policy side of things like the law and policy about youth groups, disability groups, emmigration, affordable housing, drugs, community groups.....things like that.... social science has mandatory classes in philosophy and economics and stuff like that and there is a good bit of continuous assessment. Sociology is a good subject to do in arts but some people find it very wishy-washy, if that makes sense. if she is thinking of doing social work after social science, she should be aware its very hard to get into. hope some of this is helpful, im just rambling on!!

Tambo

Hello,
My name is Jade..i'm this years Arts Celtic Studies and Social Sciencs rep...
Thought i should comment on this. It all depends on what yout daughter wishes to achieve out of her degree. Is she interested in being a social worker etc?? Or, does she even know what she wants to do?? I, myself didn't have a clue so did what most people do in that situation and did Arts. I think that's the best option for people like me. It's a great course and you get to do a variety of subjects. She can check out the various subjects on www.ucc.ie... and if she wants more info just type www.ucc.ie/french for example and she will be brought to the departamental page. I would highly recommend doing arts, expecially if she's so young. I was only just 18 when i came to college. By doing arts i had time to think about things i was interested in and now know exactly what i want to do after my degree. If you want any more information you can email me on ugacsass@student.ucc.ie.

All the best,
Jade.

Orizio

Second year Arts student(History and Politics) and personally I have found Arts, particurly in first year, quite easy. It is true that you get a decent amount of assingments, but essays in particular seem to be marked easy.

I would strongly suggest doing an arts degree regardless. I haven't regretted it yet.;)

epiphone

Hi Orizio, My son is considering Politics & History in UCC next year. I am curious to know what career path you choose with your degree in politics and History?

Is it easy to make friends doing an Arts degree as the class sizes are so big?