This year I've been doing a bachelor of arts (media & communications) at UNSW. I was expecting the degree to contain a lot of practical work because I want to work in either video/film or sound when I graduate. I've found that only ¼ of my degree is practical and the rest is theory. I've found the theory really pretentious and I don't see how I could use it in full time work. I'm talking about stuff like social/media/identity theory. I have no problem with the workload but I just think I'm not fitting in at uni. I'm more of a hands on person than a theory person and I'm not a big fan of writing. Should I drop out of uni and do a cert 4 then a diploma in digital media (save thousands of dollars) or stay at uni?
Should I Drop Out Of Uni & Go To Tafe? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Beege
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Gavvvvvin
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Come to UWS 
slickstar_01
Banned
yes
Sounds like having a hands-on TAFE qualification, where you've had a lot of experience in the practical side of film and television and have produced a great show reel, would be more valuable to finding employment than a theory-based university degree where you've got a bunch of marks but nothing to actually show for it.
Looks impressive, but when it comes down to practical experience, you'll be kind of stuck.
Case in point - my boyfriend is doing Creative Arts at university, and for a year did a non-awards course in film and television at the Victorian College of the Arts as well. He learned far more in each weekly session of VCA about cameras, shooting, lighting setups, editing, writing, the industry etc than he's learned in two years of creative arts. Whenever he has to produce a film for a group assessment at uni, he's more or less the only one who can actually, practically do it.
You can learn theory until you're blue in the face but that doesn't mean that when you get put behind a camera, you can film.
You could always finish your uni degree and then do a diploma or something on top of it afterwards, but seriously, if you hate it so much and it's so expensive, why would you?
Looks impressive, but when it comes down to practical experience, you'll be kind of stuck.
Case in point - my boyfriend is doing Creative Arts at university, and for a year did a non-awards course in film and television at the Victorian College of the Arts as well. He learned far more in each weekly session of VCA about cameras, shooting, lighting setups, editing, writing, the industry etc than he's learned in two years of creative arts. Whenever he has to produce a film for a group assessment at uni, he's more or less the only one who can actually, practically do it.
You can learn theory until you're blue in the face but that doesn't mean that when you get put behind a camera, you can film.
You could always finish your uni degree and then do a diploma or something on top of it afterwards, but seriously, if you hate it so much and it's so expensive, why would you?
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Beege i remembered you wanted to do Info Tech before, why not give that a shot? Else transfer into another course, you have gotten into uni why drop to Tafe after all the effort you put into getting to uni. Also your first year, i was also very disappointed with uni when i was in my first year but now i am use to it, just takes some time.
cute.asa.button
Member
Yes
Do a hands-on course if you want to work in a hands-on job, and a writing based course if that's what you are interested in. Media Communications isn't really about learning how to be a film director/actor/camerman etc, it's about learning to be journalist/deal with the media/work in the media (journalism) industry...for people who want to be journalists, news reporters, journalistic camerapeople maybe, radio presenters etc - people who want to work with non-fiction content (hence the importance of understanding social theory etc)...
I would definitly say if you are looking to make a career out of hands-on film-based work such as camera-work, directing, editing or sound, a tafe course would be a hundred times better!
Do a hands-on course if you want to work in a hands-on job, and a writing based course if that's what you are interested in. Media Communications isn't really about learning how to be a film director/actor/camerman etc, it's about learning to be journalist/deal with the media/work in the media (journalism) industry...for people who want to be journalists, news reporters, journalistic camerapeople maybe, radio presenters etc - people who want to work with non-fiction content (hence the importance of understanding social theory etc)...
I would definitly say if you are looking to make a career out of hands-on film-based work such as camera-work, directing, editing or sound, a tafe course would be a hundred times better!