Is it worth choosing Philosophy for a college choice?

[MKR&*42]

Ok,

So I went to a college open morning today - it's been like..the only college I've wanted to go to and I absolutely loved it! The facilities, the ranges of courses available.. just, everything!

I've had 4/5 subjects stuck in my mind which I want to do in college (They recommend we start applying in 3 months xL) but I'm not sure if it's really worth it. I do know you can only do a maximum of 4 so I scrapped GCSE Spanish and here are the ones I want to do;

. Psychology
. Sociology
. Critical Thinking
. Philosophy

IF I get into that college, and those courses don't clash - is Philosophy really worth doing? I read on the course information sheet that you need a B in English Language and Maths, which would mean I'd have to work harder xL = More stress = Go mental, and I'm not sure whether it's worthwhile or not?

* No I don't have a clue what I want to do in the future, I just know what I want to study in college and after that I'll be stuck.

So, has anyone chosen philosophy or has an opinion on this? XL

[Chippiewill]

Philosophy is about 90% essays and almost entirely logic based, if you're good at problem solving and picking apart arguments then it's a pretty decent subject to do. But if you struggle with that kind of thing steer well clear. Philosophy also requires a very good ability in reading, a lot of the pre-1900s philosophical theories are written a style which could only be described as.. dense, picking out all the information and implications is a tricky proposition.

Philosophy could be regarded in a way as applied critical thinking and involves bits of psychology within also so if you're going for those then philosophy certainly isn't a bad choice.

[MKR&*42]

I do know you can only do a maximum of 4

I forgot, I can do 5 if I get a certain amount of A's at school. So far, with my current grades I think.. if I improved 1 more grade I could do 5 subjects, but 5 subjects = too much.

And Thanks Chippiewill for your advice :D

[beth]

5 subjects is hard work, i did 5 and really struggled til i dropped one. also anything is "WORTH" taking if you like that subject.

[Oleh]

Isn't it something stupid like "what colour is the wall" "green" *flips light off" "what colour is it now" "green" *flips light on* "what colour is it now" "green"


That's what I've heard from people who took it at GCSE.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong

[Chippiewill]

Isn't it something stupid like "what colour is the wall" "green" *flips light off" "what colour is it now" "green" *flips light on* "what colour is it now" "green"
Well that doesn't really make sense but I'm guessing it stems from one of the theories of perception debating whether different people perceive the same colour differently. Look up veil of perception if you're interested.

Philosophy is about debating and arguing about which we cannot empirically (Scientifically) observe.

[Recursion]

5 subjects is hard work, i did 5 and really struggled til i dropped one. also anything is "WORTH" taking if you like that subject.

Except:
Media
Photography
ICT


Isn't it something stupid like "what colour is the wall" "green" *flips light off" "what colour is it now" "green" *flips light on* "what colour is it now" "green"


That's what I've heard from people who took it at GCSE.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong

How do you prove the wall is green? How do you prove the spectrum of light that makes it green?

I took Ethics at A Level (a lot like Philosophy) and jesus is it difficult. A lot more difficult than you're making out :P

[beth]

Except:
Media
Photography
ICT



How do you prove the wall is green? How do you prove the spectrum of light that makes it green?

I took Ethics at A Level (a lot like Philosophy) and jesus is it difficult. A lot more difficult than you're making out :P

tom behave yrself, if you want to do a career in media or ict then of course taking media/ict is important. bet you wanted to put drama there too and remembered i do acting ;)
photography i consider as a hobby rather than a career (unless you can make money from it ALL the time, which is hard), but if you enjoy it and you want to do it, then why not? it's yr life, don't live it to please others.

[Inseriousity.]

You don't say what you'd choose to do if you don't choose Philosophy.

While I've never done it, I wouldn't say you'd be discredited for taking an 'soft' option (although I personally hate this attitude) if you did take it if that's what you're worried about. Philosophy is very tricky to get right. You have the option to drop a subject after your 1st year so if you take it and find out it's not to your liking, you could always drop it. :)

[MKR&*42]

You don't say what you'd choose to do if you don't choose Philosophy.

Hmm, I suppose I Would have with my original choice which was GCSE Spanish. We never got offered GCSE Spanish at our school, and to go straight into an A level for Spanish is ridiculous - on the GCSE Course, you can switch to a AS level in year 2 though.

Yeah, that's what I would do if I couldn't do philosophy.

[Kyle]

Since critical thinking and philosophy are kinda sorta alike (arent they?) you should probably just choose one of the two rather than try taking on 4 a levels. Would certainly advise against taking 5 as you will just die and you only need 3 to get into uni anyways.

[Recursion]

tom behave yrself, if you want to do a career in media or ict then of course taking media/ict is important. bet you wanted to put drama there too and remembered i do acting ;)
photography i consider as a hobby rather than a career (unless you can make money from it ALL the time, which is hard), but if you enjoy it and you want to do it, then why not? it's yr life, don't live it to please others.

Our family know a couple of people at the BBC and have talked to them about exactly this, they immediately throw CVs with Media on in the bin, they're looking for people with subjects like English Lit, Philosophy etc.

[MKR&*42]

Our family know a couple of people at the BBC and have talked to them about exactly this, they immediately throw CVs with Media on in the bin, they're looking for people with subjects like English Lit, Philosophy etc.

He's right xL

It's done quite alot in Universities as well. They have a list of what they call 'soft subject's - which they don't approve of when they see people applying for Uni. There were 2 uni's who did post their 'soft subject' list, but I think only 1 of them does it now..not sure which one.

But yeah - soft subjects would include Law (for some reason they prefer you to learn Law in uni not college) and Business. They prefer more subjects like said above ^ English Literature and History etc.

[The Don]

He's right xL

It's done quite alot in Universities as well. They have a list of what they call 'soft subject's - which they don't approve of when they see people applying for Uni. There were 2 uni's who did post their 'soft subject' list, but I think only 1 of them does it now..not sure which one.

But yeah - soft subjects would include Law (for some reason they prefer you to learn Law in uni not college) and Business. They prefer more subjects like said above ^ English Literature and History etc.

Law isn't regarded as a soft subject lol. Obiously it's not highly regarded compared to Maths, History, English etc.

It is true that if you apply for law at uni, having a level law doesn't really add much favor as they prefer to teach it a different way, but it’s certainly not a soft subject, such as media, film studies or photography!

( Yes, i'm currently studying a level law ;) )

[Hecktix]

Universities love philosophy, as philosophy is a good demonstration on how you think, how well you can look out of the box and more importantly how well you can write (if you can't write essays I'd run away from philosophy, fast). To the person who said Critical Thinking is like Philosophy, it's not - Critical Thinking is a waste of time, it's remotely interesting but a lot of universities class it along side "General Studies" - Universities prefer you to show you can think critically through academic means, therefore A levels such as Philosophy, History/Classics and English Literature are often high on their lists of preferred subjects.

I'm currently doing a Psychology BSc alongside Human Neuroscience and my philosophy A level has helped me tremendously since I've been here as in many ways picking apart the ideas of philosophers is similar to picking apart the ideas of a psychologist, in the sense it's often evaluating what can't be empirically proven as someone said above.

It depends what you want to do at University although philosophy will help with most BA and some BSc degrees.

[Chippiewill]

To the person who said Critical Thinking is like Philosophy, it's not - Critical Thinking is a waste of time
Critical thinking is used by philosophy as the basis of a good argument, I wasn't saying that the Critical thinking was the best idea but that if you're taking it then it makes philosophy easier.

[chantellehugs]

IF I get into that college, and those courses don't clash - is Philosophy really worth doing? I read on the course information sheet that you need a B in English Language and Maths, which would mean I'd have to work harder xL = More stress = Go mental, and I'm not sure whether it's worthwhile or not?

Trust me when I say this Warren, GCSE "hard work" is nothing compared to A Level hard work. At GCSE you can get away with messing around for half the year and then revising a few months before the exam and still get an A. At A Level you need to be focused and stay on top of everything to get the grades you want. It's quite a shock when you move from GCSE to A Level so it's better you get used to putting the extra effort in now rather than later.

You should probably have a think about what type of career you want as well, otherwise you may end up doing those A levels and realise that you've done the wrong ones. Looking at all of your subjects I'm guessing you don't plan to go into a career to do with maths or science? If that's the case I would suggest you do English Lit or Lang. :)

[Red]

Critical thinking seems really general. I know at my school it was offered as something extra only. I wouldn't take on extra alevels either because its enough to get into a good uni with 3 and your wouldn't be over stretching yourself. Obviously you need to start thinking about career choices (ruling out science based careers with those choices) but I would recommend doing what you enjoy best and think you can get the highest grade in.