<p>Ok, so as i get closer and closer to graduating i am finding that i cannot choose between my options. Therefore i looked into it and can get 3 associates in Accounting, Criminal Justice, and Speech Communication by only adding 1 more semester than would be needed for 1 of these. I would still go on to a University for a bachelor in Political Science and maybe even a law degree if grades and finances allow. My question is: Is this Logical? Benefits? Drawbacks? </p>
<p>I’d cut out Criminal Justice since it won’t help you with either Poli sci or law school. I’d stick with accounting. As for speech comm, if you can do this without adding a semester, I’d do it. I think at this point it’s more important for you to move on to your 4-year degree though.</p>
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<p>You need to watch the number of credits that can transfer. Some universities will not accept more than a certain number, or won’t admit you at all. Have to agree that an associates in criminal justice will not help you much.</p>
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Just wanted to update this by saying my new plan is still to get 3 degrees, but i have changed from the original and the new 3 are (Poli Sci, Speech Comm, PR/Marketing)
Any suggestions/feedback based on these 3
Why would you do this?
One of the things that you need to learn to do now - as preparation for adult life - is make choices. You can’t always choose to just do everything. And it’s generally a bad idea to pursue multiple degrees simply because you can’t choose between them. Multiple majors or degrees should have a specific idea or plan behind them, and incorporated into a cohesive course of study.
Besides, speech/communications and public relations/marketing are pretty similar to each other. Why would you need a degree in each of these? You don’t.
At the very least, I would choose one of those two and maybe double major in political science and one other one. I also agree that you should watch the number of credits that you can transfer to your four-year college - but also which ones. Many colleges will not take transfer credits in subjects they don’t offer, so if your target schools don’t have a speech communications program (for example) your SC classes may not transfer over.
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Well, its not exactly a case of i can’t choose between them. Originally, that was the biggest reason, but now Tennessee offers free community college and with the amounts of credits from AP/JS I would be able to graduate in 1 yr from cc, so instead of wasting a free year of college I may as well add a few degrees although as you stated earlier I still want to choose to do everything (Literally almost all non Math/Science degrees I want), but consider that I have eliminated a ton of others that I really didn’t want to.
Regarding Speech and PR, I’ve asked others about this and most have said that while similar a degree in both can strengthen each other more than it can hurt (Plus my #4 choice was Sociology which got blasted thoroughly).
I do actually have a plan for after this. I know most colleges have a 60 or so credit transfer limit so I am only taking 2 of these to the bachelor level (Probably Political Science and PR). Then money permitting the University I’m looking at has a side by side for a Law Degree and a Masters in Public Policy which I want to pursue. Also Tennessee’s Community Colleges are automatically required to say whether their programs are streamlined to University and all 3 are.
…or you could choose to graduate early.
Not taking the extra year of community college if you don’t need it isn’t “wasting” a free year of college. Think about it this way: time is money. An extra year in college means an extra year that you are not earning income, saving for retirement, paying into Social Security, etc. It’s also one less year of experience. Remember, too, that TN’s free CC doesn’t cover your cost of living, either.
Now of course, you may decide that the extra associate’s degree is more valuable to you than the lost income - or that the extra AA/AS will make up for the lost income by adding value to you as an employee.
I, personally, don’t think it will. There might be small differences between PR and speech/comm, but I think they are small enough that the majority of employers won’t see the value in having done both. High school and early college students tend to think majors matter far more than they actually do. I honestly don’t believe that most employers are going to be sufficiently dazzled by the fact that you have three associate’s degrees to make it worth the extra year, particularly when two of them are in fields that most people can’t easily distinguish from each other. Frankly, once you have a BA I don’t think your future employer is going to care about your AAs at all, and once you get past your first job they really aren’t going to care.
On the other hand, you may decide that it has some kind of personal value to you - that you want to be able to earn two AAs badly enough (because of personal interests) that you don’t care that you will spend another year in school, sacrificing lost income. That’s great! Although it’s a determination that only you can make. (I did something similar myself - instead of taking advantage of the extra semester AP credits bought me, I studied abroad.) In fact, I tend to think that’s a better reason than thinking there will be some sort of career advantage for you, because I really don’t think there will be.
Given your career goals - a JD + an MPP - I think the extra associate’s matters even less. Once you finish law school and start looking for work with the JD, zero employers are going to care that you have an extra associate’s degree in speech/comm or PR. They’re going to care about the JD and the MPP.
My opinion still stays the same. I think you should pick two - one political science, and then make the choice between two very similar majors. However, it’s not going to hurt you to do all three - you’ll just spend an extra, apparently free, year in college. So power to you if you want to do it!
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Thanks for the continued response! My cc that I would be attending is only like 5 miles down the road so CoL isn’t going to be a factor (if it was that would certainly alter my decision). I can definitely see your point about the menial gains of a 3rd associates if I want a JD and MPP, but those are hypothetical and my financial situation is probably as bad as it can get in terms of either being able to self-pay or getting gov’t help (Family income 100k+, but EFC is near 0). I am set on 3, but I do want your opinion as to some good options instead of say PR
*Also, Note that by EFC I meant what my family will contribute which is 0, EFC by Gov’t Standards is around 14k) Also if anyone can explain to me how a student is expected to cover that much of a difference would be much appreciated
24k*
and before anyone says loans, Yes I understand that I will undoubtedly need those, but I assume the gov’t has a way of navigating actual EFC rather than income based EFC
Your financial aid will be based on the EFC that’s determined by the FAFSA. They don’t care about the amount that your family is actually contributing. I know this because my parents’ EFC is around there, they only contribute a couple thousand per year (which is all they can feasibly contribute in their situation regardless of what the FAFSA says), and I still get financial aid as if they were providing the full EFC.
I just wanted to clarify that. The government’s method of of navigating EFC is to treat your calculated EFC as your actual family contribution, regardless of how close (or far) it is to what your family is actually contributing.
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Thanks for clarifying, that does sort of surprise me. I mean what if a family isn’t close, has major medical issues and costs, or just isn’t willing to contribute (Mine fits all 3 of those categories).
Quite frankly, them’s the breaks. As there is no way for the government to determine family closeness, and major medical issues are a completely separate issue, they get ignored. Not to mention that if refusing to contribute was a basis for qualifying for financial aid, most families would likely just refuse to contribute and save themselves a good chunk of change.
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Well, if you are set on 3 degrees but the JD + MPP plan is hypothetical, then I would make the third one something different that could support you if you decided not to do the JD + MPP (or graduate school at all, or took some time off). Not knowing what your CC offers, it’s difficult to offer concrete suggestions. A general suggestion is math - political science can be a very quantitative field, especially beyond the undergrad level.
I selected a TN CC at random (Nashville State CC). Some other useful third associate’s look like computer information systems or technology, healthcare management, medical informatics, paralegal studies (especially for an aspiring JD!), computer science, maybe a foreign language.
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Juillet- The CC I am attending is Northeast State. I think those are valid suggestions, but not for me. I would like to look for a social science/Humanity which can support me (oxymoron I know). The reason for this is in HS
Grades: Math- 89 Sci-91 Eng- 92 Hist (All AP)- 99
ACT- Math-24 Sci-28 Eng-25 Reading-32
So, My stronger subjects tend to be along the History/Reading based subjects. Math is an absolute no go. I have considered things like environmental health as a field because I am somewhat better at basic science, but those degrees also contain considerable amounts of math.
Here is a link to all degrees offered at the cc
http://catalog.northeaststate.edu/content.php?catoid=12&navoid=1026
A social science or humanities degree that can get you a job that will support you is not an oxymoron. It’s a persistent myth that the only people who get jobs are science and math majors. Most people don’t major in science and math, yet about 95% of people with college degrees are employed.
You might consider economics or economics/business, English (for the writing skills), digital media (could go along with the interest in PR and comms), occupational health (related to environmental health), surveying and mapping (lots of political scientists use GIS tools in their research, although this might require some math), or the legal office administration option. You could also consider getting a certificate in EMT-paramedic.
If you really want to do the PR + speech communications + political science, just do it - if those are you interests, and you can’t think of anything else, then just do that. The AAs overlap, but I don’t think anyone is going to care much down the road anyway.
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Alrighty thanks for your help! The jury is still out and ill definitely consider your insight