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Comm (Liberal) Or Comm/Arts (1 Viewer)

stevey6404

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Hi,

I'm having dilemma as to whether I should choose Commerce (Liberal Studies) or Commerce combined with Arts at Sydney. Firstly Liberal Studies allow me to do 3 majors in any faculty but combined arts allow me to do 4 max for 1 extra year.
The only reason I'm probably choosing liberal studies is that it allows me to major in 3 business/economics major because normal commerce doesn't allow me (and USYD don't have a combined commerce and economics degree).
But I'm also interested in Psychology so I thought combined with Arts might allow me to a psychology major because the USYD website says I can choose majors from other faculties so I might do 2 business majors, 1 economics major (which is considered to fall under arts) and psychology from the science faculty.

So..few questions:
1. Would Commerce/Art allow me to major in psychology as 1 of my 4 majors as it's from the science faculty and what's the chance of that happening?
2. Would I still be able to graduate as Commerce/Art if I choose Psychology as a major because that may affect the number of credit points I need to gain in the Art component as psychology is from the science faculty.
3. Why is the liberal studies cut off so high?
4. Would employers value Commerce (liberal studies) or Commerce/Arts degree more?

Thanks for your help =]
 
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sugarnaut

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You should probably ask these questions on the university's forum, as they probably have more knowledge on this :p
 

ExitOnly

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I'm also interested in knowing the answers to these questions.
 

DaltonF

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As a student currently transferring out of Comm (lib) I'd reccomend you choose Com/arts. This is primarily due to a few reasons (warning; I see university as an investment that has to have a certain ROI, if you're doing it more for interests sake my post is less relevant);

1. Commerce, (what?!). People have no clue what the liberal studies is meant to mean. So in terms of impressing anyone, whether that be family, friends, other students or most importantly in my case, being a business student potential employers, you've got nothing. This is at the cost of an extra year at university. Compare to comm/arts, you get two degrees.
2. Even though Comm (lib) is a good starting point, being essentially the most flexible degree at the University of sydney (due to recent restructure etc, you'll only have two 'cores' which is insane, once you understand what that means, but bare with me, it's a VERY rare thing). BUT this is a business degree, and that freedom of choice is wasted largely on someone who has no clue what they want to do. Therefore, even though you get to see what the university has to offer, it's pretty much a waste for employability.
3. Finally I'd argue against the com/arts doctrine and say why not do a straight degree and do an honours year. Unless you specifically want to do something within arts, then it's a waste of your time and money. If you're interested in a topic, you can sit in on lectures for free.
 

milomarc93

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As a student currently transferring out of Comm (lib) I'd reccomend you choose Com/arts. This is primarily due to a few reasons (warning; I see university as an investment that has to have a certain ROI, if you're doing it more for interests sake my post is less relevant);

1. Commerce, (what?!). People have no clue what the liberal studies is meant to mean. So in terms of impressing anyone, whether that be family, friends, other students or most importantly in my case, being a business student potential employers, you've got nothing. This is at the cost of an extra year at university. Compare to comm/arts, you get two degrees.
2. Even though Comm (lib) is a good starting point, being essentially the most flexible degree at the University of sydney (due to recent restructure etc, you'll only have two 'cores' which is insane, once you understand what that means, but bare with me, it's a VERY rare thing). BUT this is a business degree, and that freedom of choice is wasted largely on someone who has no clue what they want to do. Therefore, even though you get to see what the university has to offer, it's pretty much a waste for employability.
3. Finally I'd argue against the com/arts doctrine and say why not do a straight degree and do an honours year. Unless you specifically want to do something within arts, then it's a waste of your time and money. If you're interested in a topic, you can sit in on lectures for free.

Up until this afternoon Comm (lib) was my first preference, I changed it to straight commerce for this exact reason. 'Liberal studies' isn't marketable, and it isn't even considered a double degree.

I didn't want to spend the rest of my life explaining what the 'liberal studies' component was. If you're keen on Arts, do Com/Arts.
 

milomarc93

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To answer the 3rd question you asked,

The cut-off for Liberal Studies is high because they only offer 50 spots according to the course organisers I spoke to today. This is even less than Combined law which offers 200 spots, and straight commerce offers a few hundred.
 

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