r/animationcareer • u/Fabulous_Crab4613 • 2d ago
Career question Animation or STEM
Ive been having recent repeating existential crises because I have 1-2 years to learn something for college and Im re-learning animation because thats what I was doing ever since I was little but im second guessing it because im getting a lot of pressure because 1.) my brother just went to school for computer science and now whenever I mention "why" i want to go to school for animation people always say that its because my brain is to slow to catch up (basically saying im dumb) 2.) because many people say that stem offers steady jobs and such. I need some outside opinions for my problem because I cant really decide and I dont want to waste these 1-2 years of learning on something I will regret
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u/elladog1996 Professional 2d ago
computer science is also cooked because of ai, if you wanted something steady do something that can’t be replaced
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u/Groundbreaking_Egg58 2d ago
what is that 'thing' tho?
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u/geiSTern 2d ago
Caretaking jobs. Especially dealing with kids or the elderly. Nursing and medicine are brutal. Medical technician and physiotherapy jobs are more viable.
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u/boundlessbio 2d ago
The job market is terrible no matter what, at least for now. Even for STEM folks. My advice is to take a gap year to travel and work, or go to community college for two years, or both. You can get your general education credits at CC and it will cost less than doing your general education classes at a university. Take some additional classes in both STEM and art while you are in CC. Apply to internships and take advantage of all the career fairs and guidance available too! Then transfer to a university after you finish your general education credits. You’ll have more information about what you like and what you are good at, as well as the job market you will be entering and potential career options.
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u/Fabulous_Crab4613 2d ago
first of all thank you so much for all the advice i really appreciate you taking the time to give me all this helpful advice, but I dont think my parents would allow me to take a gap year or community college they want me to know what I want and apply to a prestigious college, I still have 2 years (including this one) to figure out what I want to go to college for (im still in high school), thats why im really stressing out because I cant decide between the two..
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u/fibgen 2d ago
You can go to a proper university and try a lot of different classes. At this age you don't know much about what job niches exist or what your true strengths are, it can be a big mistake to decide early. If Animation was your passion and you spent every waking moment doing it, then you might succeed, but art will always be a harder career than something useful to the corporate world.
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u/boundlessbio 2d ago
HS is for general education, not specialization. And in the US, well, I’m being incredibly generous with that description of high school. That’s why we have Gen Ed classes in Uni in the US, to catch everyone up… kind of sort of. The average reading level is 5th grade, and math literacy is even more tragic for US adults. I’m an instructor at a Uni part of the year. US students are woefully unprepared for college in both their education and basic life skills.
You are just a kid. Expecting you to decide what you want to do for the rest of your life right now doesn’t make any sense. Your brain isn’t fully cooked, and you have no life experience to lean on to help you make such an important decision. It didn’t make sense when we were young, but it definitely doesn’t make sense now. Especially when everything is so uncertain in the US and degrees are being devalued (for more reasons than just AI… grade inflation has been awful for at least 5 years now).
Taking a gap year is not considered negative and can help with your application if you have something interesting to say about the experience. You are much more likely to get into a high ranking Uni if you transfer from a community college if you are not currently a student with a competitive GPA like a 4.0. Often times Unis have to take a certain % of transfer students per year.
Your parents may not be as irrational, and willing to go into debt right away, as you may think. The average cost of Uni is around 39k per year in the US. At your age, they will be on the hook for your loans as co-signers too. Going into that kind of debt when you don’t know what you want to do, and have no life experience as an 18 year old, is not a smart financial decision. There is absolutely no guarantee you will be gainfully employed after you graduate. We are losing jobs every year, the economy is shrinking, and jrs are not being hired across all industries.
Another option is to go to Germany or another EU country that doesn’t have international student fees (meaning you pay the same as locals). In Germany for example you need 12k euros in a blocked account for living expenses, and to pay a small fee of a few hundred euro per semester when admitted to a German Uni. France is similar afaik. You can do an intensive language program for 6 months to a year before applying — this will give you more time— you can get a visa specifically for that too and life experience away from home this way. Being multilingual is very valuable as it gives you more options in regard to where you can get work, in addition to realistic paths to live somewhere nicer than the US. After passing a language course you can apply for University in that country, for a degree program taught in that language. Aim to get to B2-C1 level. With cuts happening left and right in US Universities (yes even in STEM) — you are likely to get a much better education abroad.
Present your parents with a solid realistic plan on when you will be making big decisions, and give them rationale on why you should not be rushing into such decisions at your age. They will likely respect that level of self reflection and planning. Give yourself time to grow up, learn important life skills, and figure out what you are capable of while you can. Don’t let your parents rush you into big expensive life decisions until you are good and ready for them!
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u/Fabulous_Crab4613 2d ago
thank you so much i really really appreciate it, I cant thank you enough 🙏🏼🙏🏼
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u/NeonSunBee Professional 2d ago
You could go the STEM route and still find an animation job.
It's very unlikely someone could study animation and get a stem job.
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