I was accepted into both science and fine arts. I chose arts, theatre in fact, and it seemed like an easy choice at the time because I was young and naïve and thought I was talented enough to not have to worry about unemployment. You know what – it doesn’t really work like that. Say hello to dinner theatre, where most of my equally talented classmates wound up.
In second year, I realized I missed science and decided to combine the two and double major. If you know anything about university, then you know fine arts (with its endless hours in art studios, music practice rooms, design shops and acting stages) and science (3 hour labs for almost every course) are time fillers. I did an overload in order to fit everything in. Sleep was not going to happen. I also went to school year round, as in fall, winter, spring and (part-time)summer session. I really don’t recommend this route unless you’re tireless and have a constant source of income.
What I ended up with – after also attending two design colleges along the way (one simultaneous with university) since my undergrad degrees (I split them in half, eventually) are pretty useless on their own – was a combination of art and science, multimedia and graphic design with database admin and decent programming skills on the side. I could have gone on to study anything - like medicine (I was accepted to medical school) - but I liked this so much better since I got to be creative from both an artistic perspective as well as with code. I made excellent money, right out of school (though be advised that the average starting salary is mid range) and even won a professional award. Then I quit because I was young and naïve and thought I was talented enough to not have to worry about unemployment. You know what – it doesn’t really work like that.
Since late spring, I’m a night shelf stocker/store cleaner/counter mover/miserable person living below the poverty line. Point of my whole story: whatever I did, don’t do it!
In all seriousness, I can't offer any real advice. My mind says go for engineering if you have the mathematics and the logical thinking required because you will end up working and earning. Medical school is hard - harder than engineering in many ways because of the internship - and you have to honestly care about sick people to be a good gp and be willing to face the ultimate judgement of your skills - people dying under your hands - if progressing on to become a surgeon.
My heart says never discourage an artist. Art is what defines a culture and those who produce it do so out of personal need. They have to create as much as they have to eat. There's the problem though; food costs money. There are more options in graphic design, game design, animation...but only if you have real skill. The majority wind up earning only average salaries at best.
The upfront costs of going into say, multimedia, can be lower if choosing to go the college route (Note: I'm Canadian, so college is tech school here whereas university is college to an American). It may cost more per year, but often is completed in less time than a university degree (factor in living expenses). But then you'd lack a degree, which can be vital in applying for certain jobs.
cody2) now. I'm in that point of life to choose between what my parents want for me and what I like.
