bromsgrove_avfc Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 Out of my group of 4 best school friends I was the only one that left at the end of the fifth form and didn't follow their route to Uni. They all now have dull jobs their very bored with whilst I have a rewarding job and earn nearly twice as much as all of them? They reckon they did have a great social time at Uni but I think this is a myth as I also had a fantastic social time in the same period at my life and don't feel like I missed out on anything by not going? My personal opinion is it's a complete waste of time and most grad's I've met haven't got a clue about real business? Do you mind me asking how old you are? Just wondering because you sound like you've 'made it' without going to Uni, so wondering if you chose the 'non uni' route years ago or recently. Thanks for all the advise lads. I'm 37 next month. My first reaction was to say that I haven't 'made it' as such as this sound brash and aloof, which I'm not(at least I hope not?), I just have a fairly well paid job I enjoy that takes me to places I never thought I would go and class as work. When I thought about it, I guess I have 'made it' in the sense that I am happy where I currently am in life but this can mean many different things to different people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc443 Posted November 22, 2006 Author Share Posted November 22, 2006 Out of my group of 4 best school friends I was the only one that left at the end of the fifth form and didn't follow their route to Uni. They all now have dull jobs their very bored with whilst I have a rewarding job and earn nearly twice as much as all of them? They reckon they did have a great social time at Uni but I think this is a myth as I also had a fantastic social time in the same period at my life and don't feel like I missed out on anything by not going? My personal opinion is it's a complete waste of time and most grad's I've met haven't got a clue about real business? Do you mind me asking how old you are? Just wondering because you sound like you've 'made it' without going to Uni, so wondering if you chose the 'non uni' route years ago or recently. Thanks for all the advise lads. I'm 37 next month. My first reaction was to say that I haven't 'made it' as such as this sound brash and aloof, which I'm not(at least I hope not?), I just have a fairly well paid job I enjoy that takes me to places I never thought I would go and class as work. When I thought about it, I guess I have 'made it' in the sense that I am happy where I currently am in life but this can mean many different things to different people. By 'made it' I mean you've got a bit of money, you're comfortable, and obviously happy, which is what i want in years to come. Uni just isn't my thing really- If I do go, it'll probably be because I need it for a specific job, not just to do anything. Spose it'd help if I knew what i wanted to do really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturdaygig Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 So we're not quite a regular football crowd then, eh? 50% graduates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasthevillan Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 Just wondering what everyone else did/ doing/ plan to do. I'm at sixth form at the moment and most of my mates are planning on going, but I don't really fancy it myself. Would you advise going? Bearing in mind I don't know what I want to do, don't wanna be in debt, but got pretty good GCSE's (A*'s, A's) and will hopefully do ok in my A levels. To be honest I'm thinking about just getting a job straight from school, Accountancy or similar. Cheers. Not read the other sbut trust me it is the best time in your life if you get away from home! Get you grades and go somewhere good like Nottingham or Sheffield, you can still watch Villa and you will not regret it, trust me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.I.C.O. Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 I did a BA in Geography at Salford University, and a MA in Human Geography at Manchester. I got good grades for both but I'm yet to really do anything with them! AAAARGGHH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pablopicasso Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 i went to uni as a mature student and had great fun.. worked hard and played equally hard and it was probably some of the best times i have had in my life... i recommend it to any young person, but would advise to take it seriously and work as hard as you party.. a degree is a must in some cases, although experience is also a requirement... good luck in whatever you choose to do, and remember... you shouldnt live to work, you should work to live.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasthevillan Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 i went to uni as a mature student and had great fun.. worked hard and played equally hard and it was probably some of the best times i have had in my life... i recommend it to any young person, but would advise to take it seriously and work as hard as you party.. a degree is a must in some cases, although experience is also a requirement... good luck in whatever you choose to do, and remember... you shouldnt live to work, you should work to live.... Damn right! But it is always nice to have money in the bank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffman Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 I'm about to finish my degree in Commerce (Financial planning/accounting major) and it's not bad. Plenty of grog and parties but you get over the work after 1-2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
privateer Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 I'd say do it. However, after a couple of years break, ideally - do the gap year travel thing if you can. Otherwise work to earn a few quid to keep the debt down, get out into the real world and socialise with normal people before going! It really is easy to recognise the "straight - out - of - uni" people in the workplace. The only downside is when you do go having experienced the wider world, you may look on your first - year fellows as being immature rocket polishers - because they often are. They will mainly have come straight from school, will be away from home for the first time and think they are the dogs bollocks but will actually be pricks. They will annoy the locals, they will talk vacuous shit poorly-disguised as intelligent comment and most of them you won't have anything to do with after you leave. (Anyone who has been to Uni and/or got older and/or lives anywhere near a Uni will probably recognise this!). However, you will meet lots of people that you will recognise as being cool - and there will enough of them to ensure you have a great time. If you do it right you can balance partying hard with cool guys and shag plenty of girls and get a half decent degree as well. Do it wrong and you will end up in debt, with no degree and a pregnant bunny-boiler! Mmm. not an easy call, it sounds, but it is. Go for it because having a degree doesn't hurt - it doesn't have to be vocational. I did mine having worked for a few years and had a great time before I went, got the degree and also had a great time doing it and then got a job that had nothing to do with the subject I studied. As time passed the degree on the CV did display its value, despite being non-vocational. If I were to sum up the ideal it would go like this, I think: Work => Travel => Uni => Work There are a number of permutations of that but a stint at Uni before you get to the "obviously mature student" point is certainly worthwhile IMHO. One thing I would say, I meet very few people who say anything along the lines of "University. Ruined my **** life, I really wish I had never done it". In fact, I have never met anybody who has said any such thing. However, I meet plenty who say they wish they had of gone or would like to do it but don't think they will get the chance now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrogers Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 Degrees are a piece of piss, did mine whilst at work, i.e. part time.... **** pissed it, 1st in IT and Business studies, didn't even cut into my drinking time!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
privateer Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 Degrees are a piece of piss, did mine whilst at work, i.e. part time.... **** pissed it, 1st in IT and Business studies, didn't even cut into my drinking time!! I did think of including that sentiment in my previous post because it it was indeed a piece of piss. I spent most of my time pissed and on drugs and still got a 1st in Applied Micro-Bionics. Felt a bit bad that I was such an apparent waster and did so well compared to my hardworking fellows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bromsgrove_avfc Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 Work => Travel => Uni => Work Have to say my one regret in life is that I didn't do a round the world backpacking trip when I had the chance. If you can take a year to do this I would say the life experience is worth more than any qualification you can get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 Im at Cardiff at the moment doing a degree in french and ancient history. Socially its the best thing that happened to me, as after school I was a very naive 18 year old, so being able to grow up without the hassle of a job was good fun However, I am a wee bit concerned about the debt, my money management isnt great. Im currently on a sandwich year out in Nantes and the day my grant came through, I went on a 4 day day bender with mates geting through about 300 quid aka a months rent. :oops: But then again Ive got the freedom to enjoy life a bit, learn a few languages _ ie im taking up italian and russian in my spare time atm, and I plan to take up something really weird like arabic or chinese next year, and then go into a job on the back of a degree. Job wise I havent got a clue what I want, and Im not manicaly driven to follow a certain preforession. ANy job that allows me to travel a bit, and has some sort of ladder I can try and climb will do me, but I think the social bzenefits, meating loads of people, and getting about a bit, will stand me in better stead for all that job malarkey my folks keep reminding me of. oh and i love part time student jobs, be it barman jobs or the odd day working in the milennium stadium etc, all part and parcel of it imo. opportunities to do loads of stuff, get involved with societies etc if thats your thing _ I was involved with the french society at our uni last year, and we just got given a budge to organise two large "french" evenings, which involved just drinking wine all night, and a trip to paris, so basically I love the experience to bits at the moment. Oh and I also took a year out and worked as a teaching assistant in Canada for a bit before Uni which definitely helped a bit. Working in the real world is a definite plus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bromsgrove_avfc Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 Im at Cardiff at the moment doing a degree in french and ancient history. Socially its the best thing that happened to me, as after school I was a very naive 18 year old, so being able to grow up without the hassle of a job was good fun However, I am a wee bit concerned about the debt, my money management isnt great. Im currently on a sandwich year out in Nantes and the day my grant came through, I went on a 4 day day bender with mates geting through about 300 quid aka a months rent. :oops: But then again Ive got the freedom to enjoy life a bit, learn a few languages _ ie im taking up italian and russian in my spare time atm, and I plan to take up something really weird like arabic or chinese next year, and then go into a job on the back of a degree. Job wise I havent got a clue what I want, and Im not manicaly driven to follow a certain preforession. ANy job that allows me to travel a bit, and has some sort of ladder I can try and climb will do me, but I think the social bzenefits, meating loads of people, and getting about a bit, will stand me in better stead for all that job malarkey my folks keep reminding me of. oh and i love part time student jobs, be it barman jobs or the odd day working in the milennium stadium etc, all part and parcel of it imo. opportunities to do loads of stuff, get involved with societies etc if thats your thing _ I was involved with the french society at our uni last year, and we just got given a budge to organise two large "french" evenings, which involved just drinking wine all night, and a trip to paris, so basically I love the experience to bits at the moment. Oh and I also took a year out and worked as a teaching assistant in Canada for a bit before Uni which definitely helped a bit. Working in the real world is a definite plus. I'd work on your English first! Bloody youth of today! :evil: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 my keyboard here is atrocious, one of those ones where you literally have to smash each key for it to come out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted November 23, 2006 Moderator Share Posted November 23, 2006 Went to Uni many moons ago in the early eighties when a degree was worth something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 to be fair it does depend what degree you do. I had flatmates who were doing proper stuff like law and psychology and working quite hard even in the first year. I, on the other hand, had no lectures before twelve and a 5 day weekend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted November 23, 2006 Moderator Share Posted November 23, 2006 Arts degrees were always available from the cubicles in the toilets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lombardo Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 Im in final year of a Business Degree in Dublin City University now and its killing me, dont get me wrong, I loved the previous three years but final year is pure torture if you ask me!!!! Still, if I was given the option of not going to uni or going, I would definitely have chosen the latter!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetrees Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 My opinion is that if you actually want to pursue a profession, then go to Uni. If you don't, then don't. As an employer a common problem with young people in this country is that they have been to every academy imaginable, except the one of common sense. Universities are turning out graduates with nothing degrees who then expect to walk into jobs with a fat package before they have even done anything. As an employer of commercial people, an 18 year-old with a good attitude and reasonable A Level passes is a far better proposition than a 21 year-old graduate who thinks that he is already there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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