Art/ Design VS. Philosophy?

<p>Hi there,</p>

<p>I'm quite concerned about what career paths to pursue. If you have any advice, that would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>My first option is going to Parsons in NY for communication design. This is appealing to me because it seems rigorous and exciting. Design is appealing because its a rather loose discipline that seems to breed within the individual a spirit and grasp for being what someone would call a 'creative person.' I'd like to do Advertising if I were to choose this pathway, with perhaps an entrepreneurial focus on things later in life. </p>

<p>My second option is to stay at my current university and continue with my Philosophy degree. I am only a semester in, and I love it a lot. I find it very interesting and exciting as well. I would like to pursue law with this degree. I feel like having a professional degree makes more sense in terms of finances etc. Not to mention I will be in a position to pursue a broader range of opportunities with a JD under my belt. I don't feel I would necessarily have to practice law. </p>

<p>I'm really sorry for such a long ass question. But I appreciate any advice you have for me, as its always nice to have some additional opinions.</p>

<p>I would go with design, but Im a graphic design major and biased. The jobs for communication are growing, as companies compete for sales. And the job market for philosophy is very slim, even if you can use it as a jumping point for law.
It really comes down to waht you want to end up doing with your life.</p>

<p>Mhmm, I do realize that design/ communications is growing… There have been countless things written about how ‘D-School’ is the next ‘B-School.’ I feel as though I am taking more of a risk with design regardless of everything that’s been published to the contrary.</p>

<p>If you have liberal arts interests, such as philosophy, you most likely won’t get to fulfill that interest at an art school-as most art schools don’t tend to offer majors/minors that are not specifically in design. However with that said, most art schools will require you to take art history classes or liberal art classes as part of your general education. Even though it’s not the same as philosophy in the sense that you read philosophies, art history classes tend to cover some of the philosophical ideas presented in art works throughout history, which could fulfill philosophy interests.
If you were to transfer, I’d recommend you look into research universities like USC, Carnegie Mellon, University of Cincinnati(really good in design), Flagship State Schools, because these schools tend to have really strong programs in both communication design/graphic design and philosophy. You could minor in philosophy or vise versa, or possibly double major. The other benefit of a research university that offers multiple majors is that if you end up realizing you hate design as a major you won’t find yourself having to transfer a third time(if you were to go to an art school). I can’t make your career decisions for you, but I would strongly advise you consider schools that are not just art schools if you are seriously considering transferring. That or look into BA programs instead of just BFA programs.
Also, you do know that your major could be anything for law school? You could be a design undergrad major and then go to law school. The most important thing for law school admissions is your gpa and lsat scores. So assuming you end up majoring in some design field, and get a high enough gpa(really hard to do in design because of the subjectivity involved in grading due to your professors opinion of how successful you are or aren’t in problem solving assignments)
Lastly, your perception of what it might be like to be a design major or be a designer is not really spot on.

Studying design at top art schools is definitely rigorous. Speaking from experience, I will tell you that design is like any other major that you major to learn skills and later go on to get hired for those skills. It’s a business, just like any. There are creative aspects to your job, but unless you’re your own boss, what you do on the job will be dictated by your employer. You don’t get to do whatever you want, you end up having to cater to what the business demands(even if it’s not something you’re interested in doing).</p>

<p>None because you won’t get a job in the real world and you will be in debt for the rest of your life</p>

<p>Gf</p>

<p>Hey thanks for the replies. I have been thinking about it and am going to go the design route.</p>