English or English and Philosophy Joint Major

beauty101

I'm currently in first year Arts Omnibus doing both English and Philosophy. I'm currently getting top grades in both and enjoying both although I do find English a bit draining and Phil. a little mind boggling! My dilemma is I don't know whether to change to pure English for second year or to keep up the joint major in English and Phil.

On one hand, when I applied through the CAO (I'm a mature student btw) I applied to Arts omnibus because the points for English were very high and I didn't get accepted to pure English. My intention at this point is to go on and do a Masters probably in Journalism or English Literature either way.

However, I'm finding the combination of English and Philosophy works well as sometimes the English is draining and the workload is huge whereas Philosophy isn't as taxing and I enjoy it.

Has anybody done the two as a joint major before? Any advice welcome

Maldesu

If you take English as a single major, prepare for more work loads, esp in year 3 as there are very few final exams in English at level 3 and its mainly essays at the end of term. I've 2 for this term (due on Friday) and both are 3000 words, worth 75%. I know someone doing the single major, and I've not seen her this year at all because she is so busy.

eim19

I'm in my final year of a Joint Major and to be honest, I like the balance of having two subjects. I also think it makes job hunting a bit easier and gives you a broader education. I haven't heard great reviews about Single Honours, mostly to do with the workload.

In case you were unaware, it's not possible to just start doing English on it's own. You have to apply through the school.

beauty101

eim19 wrote: »

I'm in my final year of a Joint Major and to be honest, I like the balance of having two subjects. I also think it makes job hunting a bit easier and gives you a broader education. I haven't heard great reviews about Single Honours, mostly to do with the workload.

In case you were unaware, it's not possible to just start doing English on it's own. You have to apply through the school.

Thanks for you're response. Yeah I think I prefer the sound of balance doing the joint major.

Yes I do know that, I spoke to one of the heads of the department about it and she said it's an interview process and very few actually change from a joint to a single, so if you're grades are good in first year the changes of being accepted are reasonably in your favour.

DarraghWarwick

Hey there,

Congratulations on getting onto the Arts Omnibus. I did a joint major in English and Philosophy in UCD and finished in 2012 with First Class Honours in both and a GPA of 4.0 in my final year. I would definitely advise doing the joint major rather than pure English. My reason being is that, I think, if you only do one subject it can become overwhelming and quite taxing... do not underestimate the importance of variety in upholding your interest in the degree! Also, if you just do one subject, you are far more likely to end up in modules that you dislike or find difficult purely because you have so many modules to do. This can adversely affect your grades. Believe it or not, choosing different subjects can dramatically effect your workload. All English modules have similar deadlines, while dealines in Philosophy tend to be earlier and include an end-of-term exam after all essays are in (vis-a-vis English which is all essays in third year!). If you do all your modules within the same subject you will have a lot of coinciding deadlines which can be very stressful.

As an aside, taking a Joint Major as opposed to single subject major will put you at absolutely no disadvantage when applying for an M.A. in English/Journalism. I have recently completed an M.A. in English in one of the UK's top universities where I had no problem getting in and also finished with distinction and first place on the degree. So take heart and don't let that play a major role in influencing your decision

beauty101

DarraghWarwick wrote: »

Hey there,

Congratulations on getting onto the Arts Omnibus. I did a joint major in English and Philosophy in UCD and finished in 2012 with First Class Honours in both and a GPA of 4.0 in my final year. I would definitely advise doing the joint major rather than pure English. My reason being is that, I think, if you only do one subject it can become overwhelming and quite taxing... do not underestimate the importance of variety in upholding your interest in the degree! Also, if you just do one subject, you are far more likely to end up in modules that you dislike or find difficult purely because you have so many modules to do. This can adversely affect your grades. Believe it or not, choosing different subjects can dramatically effect your workload. All English modules have similar deadlines, while dealines in Philosophy tend to be earlier and include an end-of-term exam after all essays are in (vis-a-vis English which is all essays in third year!). If you do all your modules within the same subject you will have a lot of coinciding deadlines which can be very stressful.

As an aside, taking a Joint Major as opposed to single subject major will put you at absolutely no disadvantage when applying for an M.A. in English/Journalism. I have recently completed an M.A. in English in one of the UK's top universities where I had no problem getting in and also finished with distinction and first place on the degree. So take heart and don't let that play a major role in influencing your decision

Thank you, really appreciate your helpful reply. I think I have my mind settled on the Joint Major now. I do enjoy the English modules but I had a read of the Second and Third year modules and what's involved in them and some of them do seem a little "heavy" so pairing Philosophy and English seems to be a lot more balanced.

Thanks for your advice and well done in your MA!