College Degrees

nebula

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Hi Everyone

So I am on the homestretch of my needed Bachelor degree for my career choice of Child Life Specialist. I will finish up my associate's in May, and transfer to Texas Women's University in Fall 2015. My current plan is going to allow me to finish a year early for my bachelor. So I should have my bachelor degree , theoretically in Fall 2016

I have met all the requirement listed for my career:

http://childlife.org/Certification/Getting Certified/EligibilityRequirements.cfm

I have done all of the academic requirements (I will be doing my Practicum in May, and Internship//Clinical next Fall)

and here

http://childlife.org/Certification/Getting Certified/EligibilityFAQs.cfm#BaccalaureateDegreeFAQ
Do I need a degree in child life to obtain certification?

At this time you are not required to obtain a degree in child life in order to be eligible to take the Child Life Professional Certification Exam. Your bachelor’s degree can be completed in any field of study.*
So this brings me to my question. I have looked at getting a Bachelor of General Studies, with an Emphasis on Sociology and Health Studies. I know this would certainly be considered a bachelor degree, but is a general studies as well respected? My other thoughts I had was a full on Criminal Justice degree (I could see that as a "fallback" option if child life doesn't work.) But, Sociology & Health Studies would be more related to my career.............

I am getting mixed reviews on "General Studies" degrees from various people, and I am just unsure. I am hoping somebody has experience in this........
 
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misty8723

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I don't have an answer but my niece got her degree in criminal justice and never found any kind of job. Went back to school and became a nurse.
 

hexiesfriend

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If I had to pick between the 2 I'd pick criminal justice. If you ever want to get into child services investigations it may look better. What specific field in the area of child life do you want to go into? Why not an education degree?
 

Kat0121

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I don't have an answer but my niece got her degree in criminal justice and never found any kind of job. Went back to school and became a nurse.
What kind of jobs was she looking for? My daughter is a CJ major and her goal is to go into law enforcement but she will also be going to grad school. A Phd is the goal.
 

sugarsandz

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A B.G.S. degree might not get you into to many doors pertaining to your field. Why not try and focus on a Bachelor of Social Work? You can work in many different areas with this degree, you can work as a therapist or in many other mental health positions. I thought about going for a degree in sociology but found that I can do far more with a social work degree, at least in my state. I'd stick with a specialization over a general degree, just make sure the job market is steady in your chosen field. Best of luck! :)
 

pinkdagger

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Degrees in general are just pieces of paper that tell others that you are teachable to a certain degree. If you're aiming for a BA of anything, that says you're teachable (and has become the primary requirement of many jobs nowadays, whereas it used to be a high school degree). If you know what you want to do, focus on that. Your practicum and coop will be the things that secure your job of choice. Anything you want to get beyond that would, in my books, be either out of your own general interest or if your job requested it of you to update your knowledge, but it probably wouldn't be a general studies program.

If the child life specialist is your first goal, aim for that first and put all of your effort into that. If it doesn't pan out, you have plenty of time to pursue further studies as you job hunt (and depending on what you want to do as a fallback, it would dictate the degree you get - I personally don't think general studies gets you anywhere specific, so if you have another career in mind, go with that fully). School is also a big expense, so take it one step at a time before jumping into multiple degrees that may not guarantee a job.
 
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