Arts VS Arts (Adv) (Honours)? (1 Viewer)

[Deer]

Hey, it's a bit annoying because I'm sure this has been discussed before, I just can't see the threads!

I got 99.1 so I'm assuming I can get into the Arts Advanced Honours course, but I was wondering if anyone here had done it and what they thought of it? It probably sounds like a no-brainer decision, but apparently it's not very flexible in terms of experimenting with electives and stuff before you choose your major, and I'm not 100% sure what I'd major in because there's so much to choose from!

Also I spoke to a friend of mine whose sister did it, and apparently she tried to change from Adv Hon to just plain arts but she wasn't able to because of the rigid credit points or something (I don't know uni-language haha), so yeah, I was just wondering if anyone had any advice/experience with either arts or arts adv hon? It would be much appreciated! : )

 

[izzy88]

hey

I'm not studying Arts Advanced, however I did look into it when I was choosing courses (a couple of years ago now), and I have some friends that are doing it.

Personally, I chose against doing the Arts advanced course when I went to uni. I had a couple of reasons- the first was that I (thought) I wanted to study a language, and I didn't think it really gave me enough time to properly study it (one year less than normal). The second was that it means you go straight into second year subjects, and are with people that have had one more year than you- by second year lecturers generally assume you know things/how stuff works- first year subjects ease you in, and aren't marked as hard. This however hasn't appeared to be too much of a problem with people I know doing arts advanced- they have done well in their subjects so perhaps reason 2 isn't much of a reason

Third reason?- Uni is fun! why rush You do really need to know what major you are going to do as well- my friend doing arts advanced has an english major, but was doing some ancient history units as well- she then decided she wanted to do ancient history honours however she hadn't fulfilled the pre-requisites for it (needed an ancient language, but didn't have time to put in). At last point I knew, she was hopefully able to do combined english and ancient honours, combined honours has its own perils...but it looks like it should work out.

anyway, they were my thoughts at the time, however that was four years ago now- in then end I chose arts/law, and I have enjoyed every year I have been at uni. I didn't want to rush it

On the other hand- if you are looking to do postgrad after your degree, and you know what you want to do, then it could be the right degree. It gets you there quicker, and does save you a year fees. Same perhaps if you want to do grad law or a grad degree that requires you to have an undergrad degree first- it gets you there in the same time as an arts degree, but you come out with honours instead

 

[Deer]

Wow thank you so much for taking the time to write that up for me, I really appreciate it. I think I will definitely want to do post-graduate after my degree, and saving a year's fees definitely appeals to me, but yes I shall have to take all those other things into account!

Going straight into second year subjects does sound a bit daunting, I'd probably like to have the easier transition period, especially because I have to move up there and that will be a big change in itself.. HMM oh I don't know, still a lot of decision making to be done. I guess I'm also trying to assuage my mum's/family's/the general public's fear that "YOU ARE WASTING YOUR ATAR!!" by just doing arts. I know, I'm not going to do a course just because I have the marks to, but there is certainly pressure there

Anyway, thanks so much again for all your advice, you've cleared up a lot of things.

 

[amber44]

I never knew there was that much of a difference between the standard stream and the 'advanced' stream. What's the actual degree structure like?

 

[izzy88]

I never knew there was that much of a difference between the standard stream and the 'advanced' stream. What's the actual degree structure like?

there are no difference in subjects, but arts (advanced) students skip first year eg. so they go straight into second year subjects and do 3 years of a bachelor of arts in 2 years, then do honours in the third year.

 

[Asubmarine]

I'm doing the adv hons course at the moment and I suppose the best part of this degree is getting to skip first year subjects - you get a lot more freedom to go into depth in areas you really enjoy early. Like you've already hinted at though, the course doesn't allow for all that much experimentation with different subjects. Having to qualify for honours the pre-reqs for your majors are much stricter than a regular arts degree. To complete a major and qualify to do honours you generally have to do 8 courses in that subject area as opposed to 6 courses for a normal arts major. Getting into honours also means that for some subjects you can't cross list courses from other subjects towards your major so that's definitely a draw back..

If you're planning on double majoring but can't really decide what you'd study without trying some of the subjects first then this course is a bit of a stretch. But if you're happy only doing one major and have a rough idea of what you'd do then it shouldn't really be a problem. I'd only recommend anyone to try and do a double major in this course if they're really set on what they want to do.