Pro's/Con's of Interdisciplinary Degrees

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by foobessional, Jul 7, 2011.

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  1. foobessional

    foobessional New Member

    Hey folks, I am looking into Empire State College(SUNY) and their bachelors interdisciplinary degree. I was curious as to the pros and cons of doing so, and how potential employers may perceive it. Thanks in advance!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 7, 2011
  2. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    It highly depends on what degree and what employers you are talking about. Speaking in VERY general terms, an interdisciplinary degree could either come off as being unfocused and unspecialized, or, creative and pleasantly different, depending on what job your are looking for.

    In short, it could either make you stand out as different (special) for certain employers, or it could make you unqualified for jobs that require a specific major for other employers.

    The best thing to do is to first establish your goal, then think backwards. What do you need to accomplish before you are eligible reach your goal? Make the steps, continuing to work backwards, until you get to where you are presently. Then, follow through :banana:
     
  3. NorCal

    NorCal Active Member

    I agree with MC, an Interdisciplinary Degree is really what you make of it. One person told me his wife got her bachelors degree in Interdisciplinary Studies because she had more than enough credit credit to graduate, yet she didn't have enough credit in any specific area to graduate with a degree in any particular field; kinda seemed like a degree by default because you've been going t school for so long. But again, I'm not incredibly knowledgeable on Interdisciplinary studies so your guess is as good as mine. . .
     
  4. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Pro - It might be more fun/interesting than some other degree.
    Con - If you ever decide to go to grad school it might not be sufficiently focused to qualify you for admission.

    Some people just want a degree and so they earn one in Liberal Studies or General Studies (not the same as Interdisciplinary) and that's fine. All the pros and cons come into play when you start thinking about what you want to happen AFTER you get the degree. Since you haven't said what you hope the degree will do for you it's hard for people to lay out the pros and cons.
     
  5. recruiting

    recruiting Member

    It's never hurt me.

    This question has been thrown around quite a few times in cyberspace, including my NYIT forums. What I will tell you is when I went to the Old Westbury NY campus at NYIT to graduate a few months ago the "College of Arts and Sciences" was packed with students. We had more graduates with IDS degree than any of the other NYIT colleges/schools, that was cool but it made our day so long.

    Just make something your focus, depending on what a school offers for concentrations you could really be in well with a potential employer. Decide what you want to do after you are done and make the concentrations work for you, make them all work together.

    For example, suppose you want to go into Human Resources three good concentrations would be Labor Relations, Business, and maybe a higher statistics course or a Social Science. Knowing what directions you want to go in BEFORE you start your IDS degree will really make life a lot easier when you decide on the concentrations. However, If you are all over the map with concentration selection that may look a but odd to a hiring authority, but who really knows what someone will say or think.

    Best of Luck!
     
  6. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    The really, really nice thing about Empire State College is that you can design, and even name, your own concentration within one of the Areas of Study (aka majors) they offer.

    If your desired fields for the IS degree are somewhat related, you might be able to have an actual major to your degree, if you can articulate how they represent a unified subject.
     
  7. gamache4education

    gamache4education New Member

    I received my Bachelors of Science Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies at Liberty University, there are many jobs you can do with this degree. Take for example i had to work with 2 cognates, which is education and Fine arts. this would able me to teach multiple subjects, which is consider to be a plus and would be a big help. You can do other things with this degree, it all depends on what you want to do. Here is a list of jobs that you can do with this Bachelors degree:


    Information Technology, business and networking
    Media, communications and film
    Performance art, art theory and graphic design
    Anthropology and physical science
    Psychology, sociology and history
    Business, international studies and finance
    Cultural studies, political science and economics
    Biomedical engineering, chemistry and technology
    Social sciences, human services and developmental behavior
    Religious studies, technology and science


    I also want to add that you can also get your masters and PH.D in Interdisciplinary Studies..
     

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