COUNTDOWN TO COLLEGE WITH BRIAN MOONEY:EVEN THOUGH there are 1,278 courses on offer through the CAO, more than a quarter of all first-year undergraduate students are studying Arts degrees in fewer than 10 courses.
The largest programme in the State, the Bachelor of Arts in UCD (DN001), accepted 1,232 new students in 2008. Arts faculties in the NUI universities in Cork, Galway and Maynooth each accepted on average of 1,000 new students. Added to this number are major faculties in Trinity, University of Limerick, the Colleges of Education, and a number of the fee-paying private colleges.
Points requirements in 2009
Because theses programmes offer such large numbers of places, the last person offered a place tends to have a points score between 350 and 370.
The overall spread of academic ability of successful applicants includes many students with maximum points, with the average point score being 400.
Given the present economic uncertainty it is highly probable that many applicants who would traditionally have applied for courses leading to careers in sectors of the economy that are now contracting will instead seek places in Arts programmes so that they will have a range of options following graduation.
If this trend emerges in 2009 it will push up the entry points requirements for arts degrees.
Choosing your subjects
The BA is a vast degree covering a multiplicity of subjects, with the main universities offering up to 30 distinct subjects. Within general arts programmes, students can select between three and four subjects in first year, dropping to two or sometimes one subject for the remainder of the degree.
Given that many colleges now require their new first-year students to register their subject choices online when they register in August, places in many subjects fill up quickly leaving late registers with a very limited choice of subjects.
In my view this is technology gone mad, locking some students in choices they quickly regret, while at the same time locking out students who are eminently suitable for those subjects. It would be far more sensible to allow students to explore their subject choices in the first week or two and then register their choices.
What’s new in 2009?
At UCD, the English and Drama programme (DN064) combines all aspects of English literature, from the medieval period onwards with the study of drama and performance, including dance theatre and selected aspects of performance art.
The four-year BA in International Modern Languages (DN069) allows students take up to three languages, including Italian, Spanish and Portuguese from beginners’ level and includes a year of study abroad.
Access to the UCD Arts programme has also been widened through two new entry pathways to suit different types of learners. Through Arts (part-time) Evening (DN022), students can take modules in a subset of UCD arts subjects in the evenings. Arts (part-time) Day (DN023) is a very flexible way for students to study for an Arts degree at their own pace. Part-time day students have the same subject choices as full-time students.
At NUI Galway, the new BA in Environment and Society/Youth and Family Studies (GY120) focuses on the application of the social sciences. The first two years are taught at St Angela’s College, Sligo, with NUIG the location for third year.
Trinity College has launched two new programmes. Ancient and Medieval History and Culture (TR028) investigates the cultural and political origins of Europe through art, culture and history of the ancient and medieval worlds. Political Science and Geography (TR029) considers international economic, political, security and environmental questions of political science and geography.
What can you do with an Arts degree?
Arts subjects don’t tend to have a clear career path, but HR managers look to employ well-educated graduates who are self-motivators and who demonstrate creative and analytical skills.
In achieving these competencies, students involved in college societies and who learned such skills as public debating, acting and event organising, prove to employers their suitability to be self-motivated in acquiring the specific skills necessary to perform new responsibilities. In recent years up to 50 per cent of arts graduates progress into professional postgraduate studies, in areas such as business, law, journalism and creative writing.
More than 40 per cent of arts graduates proceed directly to employment, although this year’s graduates are having far greater difficulty in securing employment.
Traditional employment routes include teaching, politics, civil service, journalism, performing and visual arts, public relations, financial services, recruitment, management consultancy and customer service. It is to be hoped that, for the graduates of 2012, the economy will be in recovery and they will have a wide range of options.