Advice on "Dropping Out" of Uni

AJK86

Well here's the story, I went to UEA in Norwich last year after working as a duty manager in a hotel - didn't really want to go because I'm more of a hands on person who likes to be working, earning money etc. But go I did and I've just done my 1st year - now I've just started a summer placement with a large well regarded company with a great graduate management scheme. Even though I'm only there for 12 weeks, I'm on the scheme and I'm doing really well - I've already been told they'd hire me as they're very impressed.

The thing is; in 2 years when I graduate, this is the job I will apply for, so as I've already got the job I want and it has great prospects, is it worth carrying on with Uni - I might aswell drop out now and concentrate on working hard at this firm and in 2 years I could be on my 2nd promotion on a good salary as opposed to starting at the bottom.

To be honest, I don't enjoy uni, I only went because I thought it may improve my future chancs of employment, but as Ive now got the job I will apply for in 2 years anyway, I may aswell 'drop out'

I would really appreciate some advice on this one - I'm wrestling with myself as to what to do

Any advice/comments welcome. Cheers

impy78

I think you should stay at uni- you're going to drop out of uni on the basis of 12 weeks?


You're still firmly within the honeymoon period of the job, and your degree is still going to help you whether or not you come back ot this job.

Anyway, uni is about having the fredom to develop as person as much as anything else.

Sillychuckie

Agreed...
If the company is impressed enough to hire you now, nothing will have changed when you re-apply 2 years down the line.
Be sure to:
- Get fantastic references from all you can that you have worked with during your 12 week period.
- Network... get to know people in the company and keep details of them and how you might contact them.
You'll have no problems getting work again in 2 years and with a degree, you should (in theory) be 'worth' more...

I had a similar quandry as you did and am glad I went back to uni... the main reason being, having just come out of uni now I can see that the business that was thriving when I was there is now in a little bit of trouble.
They are selling out with bits being taken over and others being merged.
IF I wanted to go back there, I probably could (with all the references etc) BUT I also changed as a person during the rest of my uni career and decided it was best to get a job elsewhere.

Keep your options open for a long term future. Go back to uni (especially as you started before the top-up fees came into action... make the most of it).

Volcano

Go back to uni.....

With a degree under your belt you will have far more clout at the company. A friend of mine found he was held back within his company despite starting at a high level, with comments such as:

"You can't apply for this promotion as you don't have a degree"....."we pay him more than you for doing the same job because he has a degree"......"a degree is a pre-requisite for this management position I'm afraid" etc etc.

Beware the company that blows sunshine up your !!!!!!....they can employ you for the next 2 years on sub-graduate wages whilst you take on graduate level responsibilites. By the time you realise you won't get a promotion, they've had their pound of flesh and you've wasted 2 years. (obviously you can't be sure this will happen but ALL companies want high calibre staff for the lowest wages if possible).

I didn't enjoy my 1st year at uni either and wanted to leave but I'm so glad I stuck at it. Anyway, how can you turn your back on all that concrete, the LCR, sitting in the square on a sunny day, crap coffee from the Hive, biting North Sea wind whistling over the Broad in winter, the bizarre UFO shop?

Go and have a word with the careers centre (down the side of the library), they are excellent, completely free and really know their stuff.

AJK86

Thanks for the comments guys, but what about the huge debt I'll be avoiding?? - also does anybody know how the new credits system works where I can rejoin uni based on the credits I have got so far?

Cheers

Seraphim

AJK86 wrote:

Thanks for the comments guys, but what about the huge debt I'll be avoiding?? - also does anybody know how the new credits system works where I can rejoin uni based on the credits I have got so far?

You don't have to end up in debt just because you go to Uni....

Not sure about the credits thing, however if you really want to continue with your job, have you thought about the Open University? They will give you credits towards what you have already passed, and you can take it from there. The fees are not too expensive - in fact for me, the fees were the same as conventional Uni only I worked full time at the same time so I didn't get into any debt. The courses are well written and there's a great support network. Also, contrary to popular belief, there's a huge contingent of young students and our numbers are growing year on year Good thing this is you'll end up with your degree AND you can stay in the job....just another alternative for you to think about

chatta

sounds like a heads or tails either could be right dilemma to me, but suppose I would tell my kids to stay at uni.

Volcano

"huge debt" means nothing when you earn "huge wages"!

Remember that student debt has nothing in common with the debt accrued by everyone else. If you don't earn over £15,000 then you don't have to pay ANYTHING back. Also, the rate of the loan is a lot cheaper than any other loan you will get from ANY bank etc.

Graduates, on average, earn £150,000 more during their lifetime than non-graduates.

And sorry chatta, but with 4 posters saying stay, and 0 saying leave, that's not a 50/50 situation.

piggeh

Get some advice form the firm you're with and ask them if they would take you on permanently now as you enjoy the challenge so much.

Of course, you have to also think about where it would put you if they laid you off or went bust. Only you can really decide if you want to take the risk of 'dropping out' now and take the risk of staying with the company.

Anyway, I dropped out twice, just for good measure, and I don't really think a uni degree gives you an edge. It's about getting the right breaks and if you feel you have got lucky and found a fantastic company who want you to work for them and are loyal to their staff, then personally I wouldn't hesitate.

Voyager2002

At last, Piggeh has given the most important piece of advice. You really need to talk it through with your (current) employer and listen carefully to their advice.

ts_aly2000

Hi AJK86,

Personally.. I'd drop out and take the job. Life is all about opportunities and following the ebbs and eddys that come our way.

There is another possibility, you could go part time at university.. Employers might even pay for it. They may hum and harrr but that would then be a pointer reaction to factor into your decision.

Like you, I went from working (5 years) and went to university. The thing that amazed me most at uni was the amount of faffing about that went on. I'd just come out of working where things were done, and into an environment where most of the people I was 'working' with didn't have a clue in the world how to do anything. It was a huge dissapointment. I'd built up this view that university was an environment full of inspired individuals and striving for better science and alike. University is full of alchoholics, druggies, and a whole load of people who shouldn't even be there. We can thank Blair for that!! It was a big blow to my view of the world, that something which could take a year at most was stretched out to 3-years of constant !!!!!!ing about.

So my advice to you would be to go with the flow. Grab the opportunity of this job. And if it goes pear shaped you can still jump back on the university bandwagon.

The other option, "Take a year out." Lots of undergrads do this for all sorts of reasons.

And don't view this as dropping-out, you're not at all. Keep your options open in all departments.

Good luck!! Hope that adds a new perspective to things