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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Degree ideas

87 replies

chopc · 29/04/2023 20:26

My DS is in year 12 and is doing IB and his higher level subjects are Maths, Chemistry and History

He has no idea what career he would like to do. I would imagine his future career will
Involve numbers but HL IB Maths has taken its toll and he doesn't want to do a Maths related degree

I know he can study his favourite subject at Uni which is History but I have heard from many sources that a Maths/ Science related degree will have better employment prospects.

It wouldn't matter so much if he knew what he wanted to do but as he doesn't, I am wondering if you could suggest some degree subjects and I will then look it up

The careers service at school
were useless as they said anything relating to maths, chemistry or history would be for him but we knew that anyway

OP posts:
Pearfacebananapoop · 29/04/2023 20:30

Accountancy
Economics
Engineering
Pharmacology
Business studies

History - how is his written work? A lot of history graduates go into PR / Comms roles but normally with English alongside it.

Pearfacebananapoop · 29/04/2023 20:32

Also real estate or anything related to surveying...

QueenofLouisiana · 29/04/2023 20:37

If you go on the ucas site you can put in the subjects being studied and it makes suggestions. They are fairly basic suggestions (ie it gave DS politics, he’s going to do international relations) but it’s a starting point.

Mumoftwoinprimary · 29/04/2023 20:40

Economics is sometimes described as a cross between maths and history.

SeasonFinale · 29/04/2023 20:48

Economics

But history would still get him into decent internships alongside STEM candidates.

What does he want to study? If history is his favourite then he is more likely to enjoy his period study and therefore perform better in his degree.

Original poster
chopc · 29/04/2023 20:49

Thanks all. Unifrog unfortunately didn't give great ideas

I think for most engineering courses, you need physics? Apart from chemical engineering which I can suggest to him

He has fallen out of love with maths so have discounted a straight economics degree. All the ones at reputable universities have a large maths component

Keep the ideas coming. Thank you!

OP posts:
lovefizzycolabottles · 29/04/2023 20:59

What about something broad - lots of liberal arts degrees look great. Bristol, etc etc natural sciences at Durham?

Dotcheck · 29/04/2023 21:06

Global development
Global Sustainable Development
Business and Finance
Economics with History
Chemical Engineering
Politics and Economics
Disaster Management
Construction Management
Energy … ( basically type in that word and interesting things come up).
PPE

He can do a combined degree- History with Econ, or whatever else he likes

universityhelp · 29/04/2023 21:37

I was thinking along the lines of archaeology or palaeontology, but for job prospects maybe he'd be better doing chemistry or chemical engineering, then specialising afterwards.

Original poster
chopc · 29/04/2023 21:41

Thanks everyone. Will look through the options we haven't considered before and will tell him

OP posts:
Camablanca · 29/04/2023 22:05

Well the main reason STEM graduates are more employable is because of the media hype around 'coding' roles, which they're seen as well suited for. There's usually a fair bit of programming on the degrees anyway.

If your son hates Maths (and by extension anything logic) then he's not going to want these jobs. So he might as well do anything else really.

There are plenty of specific degrees for fields like sustainability, environmental engineering etc but if he doesn't want to do that I suggest taking a degree that provides a wide enough choice of modules so he can try other things. Combined honours, maybe 'business studies and linguistics/another XYZ'?

Camablanca · 29/04/2023 22:08

Also to narrow - instead of history. he can take other related courses. International relations, politics , East Asian studies?

Psychology?

Original poster
chopc · 30/04/2023 11:46

Thank you.

He has always been "Mathsy" but HL IB analysis has taken all the love out

He applies maths to even driving manoeuvres so I think the logic is deffo there

OP posts:
TizerorFizz · 30/04/2023 12:12

@chopc
What a shame about maths. Chemical engineering would be an obvious pick! However, what about law? History is good prep for this. Maths too. He’s doing 3 really academic subjects at higher so he might enjoy law. He would need to select universities carefully as getting a job is competitive. However a history degree would not hold you back. Not one bit. You can also follow up a history degree with MLaw in your chosen field. DD did not do this but several of her friends have. I will be accused of bs going on about law, but he might find it logical and a good degree to do.

Another avenue might be Landscape Architecure. Sheffield are the best for this. Without physics I’m not sure about architecture, but he could look. Might need to brush up on art! Environmental engineering is usually part of civil engineering. DH has a consultancy in this work. Most courses will require physics and few are stand alone environmental engineering degrees because it’s too narrow. However worth having a look and of course the maths is applied to problems. There are also building services engineers.

We also have friends who did planning degrees. It really is training for a job but if he’s interested in that, it might be an avenue to look at.

Economics might be maths heavy but management is more applied maths. Lots of options won’t be maths at all. Bath is worth looking at as a start. It’s definitely broader than accounting and finance. It’s the most over subscribed degree at Oxford!

Hope he finds something.

TizerorFizz · 30/04/2023 12:14

@chopc
I also meant to say that applied maths on a university course might bring the spark back.? It’s not the same as slogging through IB. It has more purpose if you see what I mean.

BrokenWing · 30/04/2023 12:33

I was also going to say look into the area of Civil/Structural Engineering. A lot of unis/courses do not need physics. There are so many different and interesting specialities starting with civil engineering - engineering is maths heavy so he will be able to utilise his strengths without it being purely maths and hopefully that will make it more enjoyable.

ds researched civil engineering and was very keen on it before a last minute switch to mechanical engineering (imo he would have had better opportunities in civil).

NewtonsCradle · 30/04/2023 12:40

A degree that combines history, science and has strong employment potential? Geology.

MetaDaughter · 30/04/2023 12:40

Philosophy

PettsWoodParadise · 30/04/2023 12:53

Do what he likes the most and he can then do an MA in something specialised or more career focused.

Law is another careerist of arts graduates go into, you don’t need to do a law degree, there are options to enable a switch to law.

TheMoops · 30/04/2023 13:09

Graduate employers really like history as a subject. Accountancy firms specifically target history graduates.

80% of graduate jobs don't ask for a specific degree subject so he should choose something he's good at and enjoys.

Camablanca · 30/04/2023 14:21

TheMoops · 30/04/2023 13:09

Graduate employers really like history as a subject. Accountancy firms specifically target history graduates.

80% of graduate jobs don't ask for a specific degree subject so he should choose something he's good at and enjoys.

This sounds very far-fetched. If you mean the Big4 they want bright and capable graduates from any background. Nothing special about history.

If your proof for 'targeting' is that they held an open day or whatever for history graduates it's probably because it's one of the most popular default degree subjects for people who have no idea what they want to do.

Zwicky · 30/04/2023 14:27

LSE do an economic history course - with a standalone or a joint honours

TheMoops · 30/04/2023 14:32

This sounds very far-fetched. If you mean the Big4 they want bright and capable graduates from any background. Nothing special about history.

History does get a particular mention though. That doesn't mean they don't recruit from a range of disciplines but the skills history graduates align particularly well with careers such as accountancy.

If your proof for 'targeting' is that they held an open day or whatever for history graduates it's probably because it's one of the most popular default degree subjects for people who have no idea what they want to do.

My 'proof' is working in careers and employability in higher education. I speak to graduate employers and analyse this data for a living.

Camablanca · 30/04/2023 14:34

chopc · 30/04/2023 11:46

Thank you.

He has always been "Mathsy" but HL IB analysis has taken all the love out

He applies maths to even driving manoeuvres so I think the logic is deffo there

Have a look at 'Computing' or 'Information Technology', rather than Computer Science degrees. These are usually very much less maths heavy.

Seeing that he has 'dislikes', not 'likes' iyswim it's a bit of a shame for him to get a degree with no STEM component at all. While it's true that many jobs don't require specifics. A STEM graduate can usually do anything a 'generic humanities' can. Not so much the other way around.

I did accounting and finance at a university which allowed quite a few optional modules. I picked graduate level mathematics and statistics. But I also got to do international relations and politics (most of my accounting modules were humanities anyway).

Just enough 'STEM' to meet the criteria for jobs specifying 'generic STEM'. Equally, plenty of humanities. I had no particular passion for anything, I just wanted the £££ and it worked great.

I know people look down on Management (that's another course!) /Business whatever but these can be extremely suitable for a generalist, as you get to 'make your own degree'. As a PP said data analytics etc is the new in-thing, so you can pick modules in that. Or go full 'zero maths' if that's what you want.

Pearfacebananapoop · 30/04/2023 14:38

@Camablanca why would people look down on a business degree? Never heard anything so daft.