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Don't take History path in university, unless you want to become either:
-a teacher/professor of high school/university
-a researcher or anything related to it

As for other jobs available after your degree, you will be able to get those with other university paths, but on the other hand, you will have more than those few jobs to be available if you take other paths (such as economy..).

Sources: my own experience. Being history student for three years, former economy student, switch from economy to history was out of a sudden completely untought deciding, and I consider this thing to be one of the worst mistakes I ever did in my student's life.
History courses might have interested me, but I realized quickly I didn't belong to this, but that was too late for me to change again back to my former courses.
Sure there are few interesting Master's available (such as Master's in Modern/Contemporary Socioeconomic History, and that's about it), but that won't change fact I spent three years in a path I didn't belong to. Now all I can hope is that those Master's degrees I will be able to earn thel, and that they will be interesting and useful.
Don't just go for what seems 'fun' or 'interesting' at first view, rather stick with what you feel you are made for (if it's History, well, stick with it).

Very very interesting..

Noobert wrote:Very very interesting..

Bitter irony is another way of seeing this all, I know.

It's not like I'm neither the first, nor the last, to do mistakes in my university path,. Ah well...

I think an awful lot of people make mistakes with their paths into further education.

I myself have to decide what I want to do for the next few years. It's not as easy as picking your favourite colour or deciding what to have for lunch. But I think it isn't necessarily a bad thing to make mistakes? We learn from them. And while you may think of this as a bad thing Jim, Just look at the positives. It gives you a completely new outlook on your future, it's given you time to think. I'm sure it's helped you mature as a person and you never know, you might get a job you enjoy out of it.

So look on the brightside jim!

Here's a video you might enjoy. wear sunscreen

Q Man wrote:I think an awful lot of people make mistakes with their paths into further education.

I myself have to decide what I want to do for the next few years. It's not as easy as picking your favourite colour or deciding what to have for lunch. But I think it isn't necessarily a bad thing to make mistakes? We learn from them. And while you may think of this as a bad thing Jim, Just look at the positives. It gives you a completely new outlook on your future, it's given you time to think. I'm sure it's helped you mature as a person and you never know, you might get a job you enjoy out of it.

So look on the brightside jim!

Here's a video you might enjoy. wear sunscreen

I learnt from my previous mistake straight after high school, which led me to university to escape my first pick (was some low requirement tech studies). However, I didn't only solve the mistake (going to uni to study eco), but I did a new one, with this switch, three years ago. Well, it gave me time to think for the last 2.5 years that I did a big big big mistake and that I cannot solve it, also that job offers were less interesting considering what I don't want to do. I kept on the other hand the false idea all would solve by itself and that I would probably see positive facts after time...
Help me mature maybe, but I did not enjoy university so far due to that mistake, as I noticed quite well I wasn't where I should be. I don't belong to this "kind" of students apparently (don't ask me what it means, I don't really know myself). I'm feeling like a foreigner there, unlike when I was/am with economy students (or people interested in economy), and I still feel that, about three years later. But it's too late to change, I can just hope next year I will not be a foreigner anymore.

I know for a fact I am not made for teaching, and that I wouldn't like it...
I also know I'm not made to be a researcher. So professionally talking, I might find jobs outside of those, but I know I would have found them anyway if I didn't study history.

TBH, I should have rather taken correspondence courses...this way I would have studied history, but not felt like a foreigner, as I would have spent some of my time differently.

Q Man wrote:
Here's a video you might enjoy. wear sunscreen

I love you.





My name is Jim, and I also study History! OMG OMG OMG OMG HIY FIVE!


Yeah im not feeling good about my prospects after uni....though I am enjoying the studying.

Jim wrote:

Q Man wrote:
Here's a video you might enjoy. wear sunscreen

I love you.





My name is Jim, and I also study History! OMG OMG OMG OMG HIY FIVE!


Yeah im not feeling good about my prospects after uni....though I am enjoying the studying.

I got used to the kind of studying more or less, and like most of what I study, it's just that I do feel like a foreigner to the "community" of history students in my university. That, doesn't make university fun for me to feel like a foreigner within the path I picked.

Worst in all of this, is that I cannot even blame other people or things, it's all my fault to have made the wrong choice....

Cole wrote:Worst in all of this, is that I cannot even blame other people or things, it's all my fault to have made the wrong choice....

I think they call that a lesson for life? See? You learned something at Uni.
Win for Jim.

Juliette wrote:

Cole wrote:Worst in all of this, is that I cannot even blame other people or things, it's all my fault to have made the wrong choice....

I think they call that a lesson for life? See? You learned something at Uni.
Win for Jim.

A battle won indeed, but the war more or less lost, to use a metaphor to fit my situation...(war not totally lost, as I didn't fail exams for now...). IF I manage to get up towards Master's and succeed it, I guess I will able to call it a draw instead of a narrow defeat.

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Cole wrote:Don't take History path in university, unless you want to become either:
-a teacher/professor of high school/university
-a researcher or anything related to it

As for other jobs available after your degree, you will be able to get those with other university paths, but on the other hand, you will have more than those few jobs to be available if you take other paths (such as economy..).

Speaking as someone with a First in History, MA with Distinction in Economic and Social Research, and currently in my second year of PhD (Studying Medieval/Early Modern Agrarian Capitalism), all at Durham University - I'll bite

First off: History is not necessarily about the subject but about the skillset acquired - the ability for independent research, cogent arguments and analytical skills acquired in a history undergrad degree transcend the actual facts you learn. And if they don't, then you're not doing it right

Secondly: a history degree from a good university is a precious commodity - specifically because of the above skills. I know people who have gone on to do law conversion courses, journalism, accountancy, fast-tracked in the police, etc - all on the back of their history undergrad degrees.

Thirdly: as Kitfox says, its never too late for a change - with a history undergrad degree, many doors will still be open to you. I know someone who went from studying Aerodynamics to taking up a history MA. And I know someone who went from doing his PhD to taking up a very sortafter financial job in the City. When one door closes, another one opens.

Sources: my own experience. Being history student for three years, former economy student, switch from economy to history was out of a sudden completely untought deciding, and I consider this thing to be one of the worst mistakes I ever did in my student's life.
History courses might have interested me, but I realized quickly I didn't belong to this, but that was too late for me to change again back to my former courses.
Sure there are few interesting Master's available (such as Master's in Modern/Contemporary Socioeconomic History, and that's about it), but that won't change fact I spent three years in a path I didn't belong to. Now all I can hope is that those Master's degrees I will be able to earn thel, and that they will be interesting and useful.
Don't just go for what seems 'fun' or 'interesting' at first view, rather stick with what you feel you are made for (if it's History, well, stick with it).

As for this, then maybe history wasn't the course for you. But that doesn't mean it isn't the course for everyone. Also, you should have little trouble switching between economics and history - perhaps if you wanted to go into Physics or something but not economics. Heck, if you realised history wasn't the path for you so early on, why didn't you change to an Economics/History Joint Honours Degree?

Anyways, for anyone out their undecided - I'm a very happy history PhD student, on an ESRC grant, who feels there are many options out there (perhaps I'm deluded, who knows )

First off: History is not necessarily about the subject but about the skillset acquired - the ability for independent research, cogent arguments and analytical skills acquired in a history undergrad degree transcend the actual facts you learn. And if they don't, then you're not doing it right

That's one of the theoretical "shields" I had in mind thinking "oh history studies provides this, it should be taken as a quality in future when I'm in search of higher degree/job". However, it doesn't seem to be as easy as this, in my country.

RepliMagni wrote:As for this, then maybe history wasn't the course for you. But that doesn't mean it isn't the course for everyone. Also, you should have little trouble switching between economics and history - perhaps if you wanted to go into Physics or something but not economics. Heck, if you realised history wasn't the path for you so early on, why didn't you change to an Economics/History Joint Honours Degree?

Anyways, for anyone out their undecided - I'm a very happy history PhD student, on an ESRC grant, who feels there are many options out there (perhaps I'm deluded, who knows )

They propose a History/Eco double degree but considering the little range I always managed to get my exams (I'm neither a genius nor a hardcore worker), I would have probably failed a great part of them, given I'd have had double the work. I'm astonished about the amount of exams they got, amount of work they need to provide, and tiny sleep time they got (a friend of mine often sleeps less than 2h due to all of his studies).
I was tempted by this, but I realized that I had literally no chances to succeed that. And now, I think I would indeed have failed it, if I tried it.

Anyway, I will inform myself tomorrow about both Master's I could try
History of Economics from History point of view, and Economics' history, from an Economy point of view. Both being more different than their name might seem to be.
Both revolving around socio-economy and history.

However, I'm well aware that I don't live in the UK or the US, and that doing a thing for Bachelor then another for Master's, isn't really easy to do...not within the habits of my country's universities.

Q Man wrote:Here's a video you might enjoy. wear sunscreen

This is one of the bestest videos I've seen in a long time. I lol'd.

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