Psychology, Art and Law A levels, what uni course?

[EachandEveryone]

My poor niece each teachher is telling her to study each of their subjects at uni. She is also doing English and no one has told her to drop a 4th. Shes quietly determined but does not have a clue what she wants to do career wise. She had a work placement which was office based and it wasnt for her. I think it was the placement as she went largely ignored. Shes arty but tells us it doesnt pay. Shes not interested in computers at school. Shes so confused and says she doesnt want to work in the public sector like the rest of the family! Which i think translates into she doesnt want to be a carer for a living. Shes into music/fashion/makeup but says theres no money in it plus shes not really interested in moving to London.

Its a horrible time she needs to start applying for next year. Even then she knows she wants to go to Leeds or Manchester and the school is exactly the same as when I was there. Encouraging them to go into nursing/teaching/office work and preferably in our local going nowhere town. Its really difficult.

Psychology plus Law suggests criminology, or some releated sociological field.

But the important thing is to pick a subject that interests you enough to want to spend three years studying it.

And stop being so directly vocational. Good employers want well-rounded indviduals who can think for themselves.

Law? Law, English, and Psychology is 3 good A-levels.
Joint honours between 2 subjects?
I would advise her to just do the degree she'd enjoy the most (though probably not art) and worry about jobs after.

Law, psychology, linguistics, politics, anthropology? Some universities (if she'll consider others than Leeds/Manchester) allow you to study 3 subjects in the first year... You can choose to major or combine in y2. Lancaster used to as my DN went and completely changed subjects based on quote a random choice she chose in year 1

Law seems a rather pointless A’ Level. Certainly not required for entrance to a Law degree and completely irrelevant in the legal profession. It’s not considered particularly academic either. (And, as others will tell you, not a ‘facilitating subject’ - though that won’t matter if she has other A’ Levels that are.)

This screams 'foundation art year' to me. Perhaps at a uni with a strong fashion and/or film department. I have no idea where that would be! If music/fashion/makeup is where her heart really is (and not just a fun hobby) then I'd pursue that. Theyre all big industries with opportunities; yes they are hard to break into but not impossible. A foundation art year is imo well respected and gives her another year to explore and consider in a purposeful way, plus to set up projects or encounter people who are doing that.

I think she needs to go to some uni open days and see what takes her fancy. As others have said it doesn't always have to be vocational but it has to be something interesting enough to dedicate most of your time to for 3 years.

My old university ran a good programme of career events for people who didn't know what they wanted to do, and because it was seen as a "good" uni lots of graduate employers ran their own events targeted at us. A degree in a proper academic subject opens all sorts of doors; you don't need to know what you want to do with it before you start. For example my degree was in history, I worked in business for a few years and now work in the public sector in a really interesting role (no caring!) that there is no specific degree for.

Criminology, social worker or art therapy?

Graphic design if she's arty but worried about art not paying?

If she's not sure about doing just one subject, but is pretty good at them all would something like Combined Arts (www.dur.ac.uk/liberal.arts/ or www.birmingham.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/liberal-arts/liberal-arts-and-sciences.aspx) be suitable? It keeps options open a bit longer, and would allow her to tailor her degree to a combination of things that are interesting to her

I think shes more worried about using computers.

Neither psychology nor law A level are necessary to pursue at degree level. English would be a better substitute for either and keep her options open. Art involves a significant written component.

It’s unfair to expect teens with not much knowledge of the world of work to pick a career out of thin air. Ignore the teachers. Leeds and Manchester have many courses to choose from. I would second keeping her degree quite general and then maybe something will spark her interest along the way.

Buisness studies. Art and the social sciences are not going to find her work (I should know). And law is tricky. Do something that has applications for many work places, business study is a good example.

Art based course or may be art history.

As someone up thread said...Art therapy might well be an option or teacher training specialising in art - could always go into the private sector.

Curator or marketing/PR jobs in museum/gallery sector.

Take a year out. Travel and/or do some random work.
Think about what she wants from life.

Do a joint honours degree in any of the two. Not sure how easy it is to do Art and Law together but could be interesting.

Take a year out. Travel and/or do some random work.
Think about what she wants from life.

This, exactly. My Dd did a Business BTEC, finished last summer, didn’t particularly enjoy it, wanted a break from studying and has no idea what she wants to do long term.

She has spent this year working in a large supermarket, plus doing 2 volunteering roles.

She is going Volunteering abroad in autumn, back for Xmas and then off travelling, maybe combined with more volunteering or work abroad. She has saved all her earnings to go away.

I would love for her to decide what she wants to do and head off to uni or a job, but I know it’s pointless until she has some idea what she wants to do long term. As long as she isn’t sat doing nothing, and is building general skills through work and volunteering, that’s fine.

DS, on the other hand, had his eye on a particular niche role at 16, applied at 18 but wasn’t successful. He has done 2 yrs at uni, currently on a placement year in a different role to the Niche one but same company. Has impressed all his managers.

He will graduate next summer, take a year to travel then re apply for the niche role, failing that will try and get into the company in the dept he is in this year.

Some kids know what they want to do young, as per my DS, some take longer, like DD.

Delay uni. It doesn't have to happen immediately after school. Work for a while, find out what you like and what you don't. Uni these days is so very costly that it seems daft to go just for the sake of it. In her shoes I would wait.

Higher ranked universities may not accept A Level Law. If she wants to go to Leeds or Manchester, these are both Russell Group universities and they may not recognise it. It's important to find this out first before she sets her heart on them. History or English would get her further than Law. Does she work hard and get high grades? If not, these universities may not be for her. Uni open days will give her a better idea of degree subjects and the unis themselves.

My other niece got into Manchester with a BTEC in sports science so she might get in with a Law A level. Why do they offer them if its so useless?