English with a minor in Writing or English & Professional Writing?

[crispygoat]

I plan to study English next year and have applied to two different programs. Although I plan on getting a teacher's certificate after University, I rather write for a magazine. I'll always have the certificate if the opportunity shows up. I applied at a University for English, and if it happens to be where I go, I'll take Writing as a Minor. As for the other University, I applied to a program called English and Professional Writing. The programs are described here (English & Minor in Writing) and here (English and Professional Writing).

Which one would you recommend me?

On a side note, does any one have information about teaching in another country? Maybe England or Australia?

Thanks.

[TallLankyBastyd]

Neither...

...you'll be WAY more employable as a "carrot juicer"!!

Choose your path... or it'll choose you!!

[DudeistMonk]

Only go into English if its your absolute passion...an English degree is about as useful as a music degree, or a poly sci degree.

1 in 10 will be able to use it to do something awesome.

2 in 10 will wind up working a desk job editing medical copy or writing catalog descriptions for toilet brushes till they brain themselves all over their monitors.

2 in 10 will wind up teaching high school english

1 in 10 will wind up a professor

...and the other 4 will be working at borders.

*disclaimer - I pulled these statistics out of my ***.

[TallLankyBastyd]

*disclaimer - I pulled these statistics out of my ***

Which is EXACTLY what an English Major would do because they REALLY suck at math...

[DudeistMonk]

^
Yeah except I was a Communication Arts major...which is just as worthless a degree btw (unless you have an outside skill like web development that happens to make you desirable) and also means I suck just as bad at math.

[TallLankyBastyd]

I have a BS in Mathematics... and... well, don't tell anybody...

...but statisticians pull those numbers out of their *** as well. But being "professionals" they can do so with a beer in one hand and a bong balanced on one knee.

Be cool stay in school!!

[Alcyon]

I'm actually taking a Major in Creative Non-Fiction with a Minor in Professional Writing (Journalism) over on the west coast here at UVic (University of Victoria, BC). If you want to write for a magazine you need the Professional Writing minor; the regular writing minor will probably be more of a fiction based program and won't give you the tools you need to get into the publishing/magazine industry. But you know what, if I lived in Ontario, I'd be at Ryerson... They've got the best Journalism program in the country imo.

[MakiSupaStar]

I was an English Major with an emphasis in Creative writing. I found that that my degree was pretty useful. You're able to communicate your thoughts and ideas in written form in a quick and effective manner. Although, funny enough, I have wound up being a teacher. But before this I was a web developer/flash interface dude. So it's not so much your degree but what you pursue.

[Fontaine]

My roommate has an english degree, he works at a call center. You do the math.

Oh crap your going for an english degree you probably can't , I'll help you out, DON'T DO IT.

[MonetBass]

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

So it's not so much your degree but what you pursue.

That's it right there. I have a music degree I don't currently use to make a living, but what I learned from it was invaluable. Thankfully I also have a Business degree (MIS), so I can afford to say BS like that.

[crispygoat]

Originally Posted by Fontaine

My roommate has an english degree, he works at a call center. You do the math.

Oh crap your going for an english degree you probably can't , I'll help you out, DON'T DO IT.

Like Maki said, a lot of University degrees are pretty much useless. It's what you pursue.



... and my math average for my four years of High School was 94%.

oh... and it's you're not your

[Fontaine]

Originally Posted by crispygoat

Like Maki said, a lot of University degrees are pretty much useless. It's what you pursue.



... and my math average for my four years of High School was 94%.

yes but the piece of paper you get will say you are an english major, not a math major, companies will not go by how you did in high school if your already after going to college.

[zero0bass]

There's a bit of a disconnect--everyone says they want English majors because we can analyze and communicate more effectively, but then they go off and hire ****ing illiterate econ majors who process information at a second grade level.

All liberal arts degrees are similar; none will give you a job straight out of school. You have to do the hunting, and if you don't try hard enough on the job hunt you're going to end up at a call center. If you hike it out, you can get some decent jobs that travel frequently and have lots of vacation time and pay well. Or the first two, in the case of teaching (teach overseas = make bank).

Have extracurriculars. Not ****** college clubs, but write freelance for newspapers, music sites, whatever.

I'm an English and Linguistics dual, by the way. It makes you smarter than everyone else, yet not super employable.