Is getting a degree in communications a good idea?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by DegreeDazed, Oct 9, 2011.

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  1. DegreeDazed

    DegreeDazed Member

    What does everyone think about getting a bachelor's in communications? Is it worth anything? Don't know what job I want to do, just exploring possibilities.

    Is a degree in communications like a degree in history; interesting but useless for getting a job?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 9, 2011
  2. truckie270

    truckie270 New Member

    In order to answer that question, you need to provide more information. Worth anything in terms of what? Career prospects - not a lot in my view and experience. Admission to grad. school - not a bad choice, but there are better. It all depends on what you want to do with it.
     
  3. DegreeDazed

    DegreeDazed Member

    Grad school maybe someday but my main goal is finding a degree that is useful in finding a job.

    One friend said to me that just getting your bachelor's degree is the most important thing. He said that it doesn't matter that much what it's in. Doesn't seem right to me.
     
  4. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Well, that depends on way too many factors to give a useful general answer. For me, it literally makes no difference what my degree is in because I'm using it as a resume pad and leverage to earn more money in my current career.

    Let's start with your ultimate goal and work backwards. What job are you seeking and what would you like to study in grad school? If you have that in mind, then you can figure out if Communications works for you.
     
  5. DegreeDazed

    DegreeDazed Member

    Still trying to figure out a direction in life. Looked into graphic arts and decided that the employment prospects were not that great with that degree. Now thinking about communications with no clear employment goal, it's so hard to figure out what to do. Just wondering if a comm degree would provide any employment opportunities or if it was like getting a degree in history; interesting but useless.
     
  6. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    If unclear a communications degree is a good general degree. One better might be a business degree - still general and allows you to go in just about any direction.
     
  7. MISin08

    MISin08 New Member

    It seems like there's still a short list (accounting, health care, maybe engineering, not law) of degree fields where you can still say the degree itself leads to opportunities. Otherwise, for a lot of us the choice of a degree is more like 'already working in X, I enjoy X, so I'll get a degree in X because any degree satisfies the gatekeepers and X suits my talents or is the path of least resistance' or 'need a degree fast and cheap so I'll do Liberal Studies, Business, or Social Science at one of the very flexible schools talked about on this forum"' but the degree itself isn't a meal ticket.

    For someone still looking for a direction in life and not made of money I might suggest fast, cheap and general, and set yourself apart later in grad school after you have a better idea of direction. That's assuming you have already ruled out your local community college for a career-building program.

    If something about the subject matter of a communications degree 'grabs' you that can probably fit in somewhere.

    Phillip
     
  8. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    A few years ago, when I was helping my niece find journalism schools, I noticed that some schools treat journalism as a sub-discipline of communications, so that might be one avenue.
     
  9. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Here, here! (Or was that hear, hear!)
     
  10. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    ...............:haha:
     
  11. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    That is pretty much what I did and it worked well. I knew I wanted an IT'ish masters and had the background so a BS was just something to get done to get into grad school.
     
  12. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

  13. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    The correct form is "hear, hear" but the incorrect "here, here" is used more often on the net.
     
  14. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

  15. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Cheers! :banana::banana::banana::banana:
     
  16. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Now don't tell me that you actually believe that the internet can be wrong? :dunce:
     
  17. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Oh, I've seen many occasions where somebody was wrong on the Internet!
     
  18. ryoder

    ryoder New Member

    Business is always a good degree to have. I tend to think that you should pick a technical business degree such as CIS, MIS, HRM, Accounting, Finance, etc because those can prepare you for an actual job.
    My wife has a business undergrad in finance and she is doing well. I was there with her during her college years and helped her find an internship at a local company. Now, 7 years later, she is a manager at that company. All it took was an undergrad in finance and an internship.

    Don't ask for my story. Its too convoluted :)
     
  19. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I know a few people with Communications Bachelors degrees. They all work in the radio business. They don't make much money but they seem to enjoy their jobs.
     
  20. GeeBee

    GeeBee Member

    I work in local television. Many of my co-workers have communications degrees. If you want to sell TV advertising, or work in the promotions department of a TV station, it's a useful degree. But as Kizmet said about his friends in radio, you won't make a lot of money. (Unless you're really good at sales; then you can make a good living, but you can do that without a degree, too. Or with a degree in anything else; if you go the sales route and hope to get promoted into management, a business degree would be better.)
     

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