Really hating university and 2 years in

studentphil

Hi,

I am really hating my university course and I have already completed two years of it so I just have the final year to go. I feel sort of locked in financally now anyway to complete my degree in this subject. However, yet I would dearly love to leave or change course, but I know it is really not worth it when I have come so far. It is my own fault for listening to my tutors at the end of last year when they said I was doing well and the course would be better in the upper 2 years--- which it is not.

Any negative or positive replies are most welcome
Thanks

nalibz

studentphil wrote:

Hi,

I am really hating my university course and I have already completed two years of it so I just have the final year to go. I feel sort of locked in financally now anyway to complete my degree in this subject. However, yet I would dearly love to leave or change course, but I know it is really not worth it when I have come so far. It is my own fault for listening to my tutors at the end of last year when they said I was doing well and the course would be better in the upper 2 years--- which it is not.

Any negative or positive replies are most welcome
Thanks

If i were you i'd stick with it for a couple of reasons.

1) As you say you have spent a lot of money on tuition fees, accomodation, living expenses etc, and to drop out out uni now would see a total loss

2) If you continue until the end of your course you will come out of uni with a degree and the opportunity to earn a lot more than if you didnt have a degree. Also if you were to change course a) it would cost you a lot more for another 3 years b) you would still come out of uni with a degree after 3 years and is not really worth the extra time unless what you do is ultra specific. ie. Many employers just look for the fact that you've done a degree not the actual degree, so for an extra 2/3 years would it be worth it to come to the same job?

The only reason i would change courses and do another 3 years or whatever the length of the course is if a) i was really passionate about the subject and knew exactly what path i wanted to take after the course b) I could assure myself that i would be financially stable during the course and in the years afterwards..

hope that helps,

nalibz

jennifernil

Do you want to change to something radically different? My daughter changed from engineering to science but was able to count all the courses she had done, so does need to do extra years.

Dead_Eye_Jones

i knew of a few people who dropped out and restarted, in my experience some of them kinda regretted it later, when we were all off into the big wide world they were still struggling along in crppy student accom living off loans..

I didnt enjoy my course much, and a tutor once posed the question 'should you enjoy the course?' He was a very enthusiastic guy and loved the subject to death and was very evangelical in approach, yet somewhat contradicting this he seemed to be of the oppinion that it was fine to treat the course as a challenge to be overcome and something to be proud of once you achieved that end. Although he was often sent out by the Uni to make the subject appear fun in schools etc, he also believed it was possible to treat the course as an academic excersise, it didnt have to be fun, it didnt have to be enjoyable.

I never forgot that conversation and continued on with that in mind, I wanted to finish the course and finish it well to prove to myself and others that I could, my course was regarded as very academically challenging and well respected. Once finishing I forgot everything I knew and went and did something else, that I had a good degree opened up the doors and I ended up working in the field I wanted anyway. Most people in my compnay have random degrees tbh.

I think as said above, unless you are dreaming of working in another field and you have to get a qualification to pursue that dream I wouldnt even consider stopping. I think there are arguments for following your dreams but think hard about the consequences and whether you really need to. Can you do a masters in the prefered area later perhaps?

You could always do a second degree, a friend of mine did English and then started a medical course, I guess hes now a qualified doctor, 7yrs later..!

studentkathryn

Hi there,
I was well and truely ready to give up University by the third year and it really got me down. I would definitely advise sticking with it, I'm so pleased I did. Looking back, I can't imagine having given up. But, it was so very very difficult. I went to see a counsellor for a while and we worked through and although it was still such a difficult year, it helped to talk about it. I'm quite a practical person and talking it through with someone outlined the problem and made me see that all I had to do was push through.

It's obviously your decision and it ultimately comes down to whether you feel you can finish the year. But I would definitely recommend sticking it out. But go see a counsellor or career advisor or tutor, or somebody and outline a plan for the next year.

Good luck with it x

Eoin_McLove

With just a year to go, I'd definitely stick with it. As others have said, your discipline isn't especially important when you look for a job (although, certainly, some are better respected than others, and too right!); that you have a degree is what matters.

Is there any chance that you could do a Masters in your preferred discipline? My girlfriend did BA Music at Exeter and didn't really enjoy it, and wished she'd done History instead. So, after completing her BA last year, she applied to do an MA in Holocaust Studies (as I did, although my BA was History, not Music!). She's really enjoyed her degree this year, and it's somewhat compensated for her BA, which she found dull and unchallenging. Perhaps you could do a similar thing, but it depends what discipline you're looking at.

lellie

I hate my degree and know exactly how you feel.. have a year left also.. however I'm gonna stick it out.. I do history, but should have done computer science.. however I intend to look for an MA conversion that allows me to do a computing course when I finish..

Also I must admin Eoin, I'd be interested in holocaust studies, despite the fact I'm not enjoying my BA in history..

Eoin_McLove

lellie wrote:

Also I must admin Eoin, I'd be interested in holocaust studies, despite the fact I'm not enjoying my BA in history..

What kind of history are you studying? There were some parts of my BA in which I wasn't particularly interested, but on the whole I really enjoyed it. It just depends on the university.

The MA in Holocaust Studies is interdisciplinary: history (obviously!), philosophy, literature, and film; so it's good if you want to study more than just the pure history of the Holocaust. I've always loved studying Nazism and the Holocaust since my GCSEs, so it was the perfect MA for me to do after my History degree, particularly because at the time I wanted to do a PhD on antisemitism, Holocaust-denial, and the BNP. I highly recommend it if you're slightly interested. The lecturers are world-renowned experts, so you're taught by the big daddies. Have a look here: http://www.rhul.ac.uk/German/research/Research%20Centre%20Holocaust.htm Also, Royal Holloway, University of London was ranked 12th in the country by The Times this year. :j

heymylastnameislewis

hi i do computer science at stafford and i have not loved 1 minute of it, it is a 4 yr course and im going into my final yr this yr. i say jsut stick with it and if u want u can always to a conversion or post grad after in the subject u want. u would lose a lot if udrop out

studentphil

Thanks, it is true that I am better spending my money on a Masters or PG DIP if I so want to in the future. It is just can I stand a year of real ups and downs to get to the end. I know the choices are much much greater with a degree for bothe employment and PG/ professional study than with Dip HE.

studentphil

I do Philosophy btw. It is not that I hate every single module but as you have to do a very wide range of modules within philosophy on it that I have to take areas of philosophy that I really hate. I just can not help thinking that I should have followed my other best A level subject Economics on into degree level.

I know there is loads I can do with a Philosophy BA and all the professional Business and management qualifications are still very much open to me.