Is returning to university worth doubling my student debt?

Lokolo

ladyhepburn wrote: »

I don't wish to be ignorant, as I don't know anything about that area, but the titles appear to describe fairly similar things to me.
I should have clarified - it wasn't the subject, but that they didn't actually need a degree for their jobs.

Sorry that was a mistake, I meant I'm not

I am filling in the census for 5 people at the moment so not fully concentrating sorry ha. :cool:

RedwoodBrook

OP - While I admire your aims I do find them a little unrealistic.

Forgive me If I have misread, but you say you want to study maths and physics at college with an aim of going to Uni and doing astronomy? You have been accepted onto the college course currently?

Might I suggest you get on with college, see if you can manage that and worry about applying to University when the time comes. You may find things/your views/the financial situation has changed by the time Uni comes around.

I fully understand what you are saying about not putting your life on hold due to illness, but sometimes we have to be realistic about the restrictions illness (and other issues) put on us.

Best of luck.

Derivative

A Physics degree is not an easy degree to do by any means. I do not have the article with me now, but a poll of our student body had Physics as the second highest workload (before Chemistry).

Degree level Physics is nothing like A-level either. A-level Physics is mostly qualitative, whereas at degree level you need to be very comfortable with advanced mathematics.

I would decide what job you want now. Not what field you want to be in, literally get on job sites and see what's out there. Because you may be disappointed - I know I'm not studying for a research position by any means - the chances are minimal you'll get anything that pays well.

paddyrg

Make sure you're not pinning too much hope on a single outcome - that way leads to disappointment if things don't go perfectly according to a plan made several years beforehand...and life has a habit of throwing obstacles in your way...

You love astoronomy, so why not study it on your own, from books, evening classes, OU, etc., as opposed to pin all your hopes on a 3 year degree with only a narrow field of employment opportunities afterwards?

Derivative

Brr, lab work. Much prefer the theoretical side. :P

WhiteHorse

ladyhepburn wrote: »

The degree would be Astrophysics or Physics and Astronomy (something I've been interested in since I was 5). Ideally I would like to go into research ...

Don't want to rain on your parade, but there are so few employment opportunities in this area that it's probably not worth pursuing.

... if I didn't then I would go into teaching - a relative of mine is a Physics teacher in a comprehensive, and she could basically take her pick of the jobs available because there's such a lack of science/Physics teachers.

Yes! They are begging for good science teachers. But be sure that the enormous stresses of secondary school teaching are okay for you. Perhaps teaching at Higher/FE level would suit you better.

Using my languages DipHE (French, German and Italian) isn't much of a possibility - even most lecturers don't know what it is, and you need a full degree (possibly a Masters) to do a language-related job - teaching, translating etc.

Actually you don't - an advanced level qualification from the Institute of Linguists is better regarded as it's more functional. That route might be worth exploring.

Derivative

ladyhepburn wrote: »

I've read about people with a Physics degree working on satellites looking at climate change, nanotechnology, medical science and instruments to detect landmines. So aside from teaching, I'll hopefully find something!

It is all too easy to convince yourself this sort of work is out there though. Look for recruitment opportunities now, assuming you already had the degree - can you find any of these positions? I don't plan a career in Physics and it's possible I would have been better off choosing a different degree. Luckily I have a lot of transferable skills for the field I want to work in.

Derivative

The great thing about academia is to a good approximation, if you work hard enough, you WILL get results.

Derivative

ladyhepburn wrote: »

I'm presuming you work in a Physics-related field - or at least studied it?

I'm currently an undergrad, not planning to work as a scientist though. As you say, teaching is a good fallback - unfortunately not as well paid as some of the other jobs out there (as they say, if you can't - teach).

Hax

ladyhepburn wrote: »

II can't do evening classes

Curious about this one - why can't you do evening classes?