Should I discourage my kids from going to Uni?

thefishdude

i agree with pigpen 100% couldnt of put it better myself.

gwhizz75

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I can see you're not big on academic education but to suggest that Psychology and Criminology is a useful degree is just laughable.

To make such an ignorant comment is also laughable. I studied psychology at university, taking criminology as a module in my final year and I was offered a place on a primary teacher training course. One of my best friends did the same and she is currently in the final stages of her primary PGCE.

I decided not to take the place on the teaching course and instead I am now training to be a clinical psychologist... I can't imagine many people feeling that this is not a "useful" career.

My brother studied criminology and is now a social worker. And although a criminology degree won't get you into the police, it can help you to progress through the ranks quicker.

You could also go on to do something like forensic psychology with a degree like this.

A lot of people make catty remarks about subjects like psychology, not realising how much maths and science is involved in the subject. THAT is why you can get onto a PGCE if you study psychology. It doesn't just cover one of the core subjects, it covers them all as well as dealing with child development and behavioural disorders.

The_One_Who

pigpen wrote: »

even if they were unable to get any kind of employment as a result of that course..

Though it is more likely that 'fun' would include peeing off the neighbours, drinking themselves stupid and behaving like morons because mummy and daddy weren't there to remind them they are in fact human beings than anything they learned/experienced at uni.

So.. with a degree, 20k of debt and no realistic hope of a decent career because they 'studied' something inane..

Not all students go out and get wasted for 'fun'...

Having a degree won't close any doors to employment, but it can certainly open them. And it doesn't usually matter what the degree is.

poet123

The_One_Who wrote: »

Not all students go out and get wasted for 'fun'...

Having a degree won't close any doors to employment, but it can certainly open them. And it doesn't usually matter what the degree is.

I can't agree, I am afraid that is not entirely true. Yes, university is an experience, but the end result is surely a degree which will enhance employment chances? and not every degree will do that; Beatles study...a nich market? and not alone.....pragmatism is necessary, undesirable though it may be to some.

The_One_Who

poet123 wrote: »

I can't agree, I am afraid that is not entirely true. Yes, university is an experience, but the end result is surely a degree which will enhance employment chances? and not every degree will do that; Beatles study...a nich market? and not alone.....pragmatism is necessary, undesirable though it may be to some.

I'm pretty sure the Beatles study was a postgraduate. Or it would be a module within a degree, rather than a degree course in itself.

In the golden-plated graduate schemes, the tripping point for a lot of people is not the degree, but the UCAS point requirement.

poet123

The_One_Who wrote: »

I'm pretty sure the Beatles study was a postgraduate. Or it would be a module within a degree, rather than a degree course in itself.

In the golden-plated graduate schemes, the tripping point for a lot of people is not the degree, but the UCAS point requirement.

It was a post grad....worse imo, no funding available, and delaying the start of work for a non entity of a post grad qual.

Not sure what you mean by your second point.

Spendless

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Unfortunately your attitude has become more and more common as university education has become devalued.

I'd have thought it was the other way round? My year group left A levels in the mid 1980s and the ones that went to Uni were amongst the most academic of our year group. They became Geologists, Clinical Psychologists and Teachers. One, very clever close friend of mine, decided not to go but instead took a job in a bank (you needed A level maths back then) and sat her banking exams as she worked eventually becoming a branch manager. I can't bring to mind a single case of my peers of anyone going for the 'life experience'

Nowadays you hear of more going just because it seems to be the 'done thing'. The woman who inputs our wages details and other admin duties has an English degree. This is a job that in my day would have been done by someone with 5 O'levels plus around 5 years office experience or with A levels and 2-3 years experience. I don't see how it was life-changing or enhancing since she continued to live at home whilst at Uni.

The_One_Who

poet123 wrote: »

It was a post grad....worse imo, no funding available, and delaying the start of work for a non entity of a post grad qual.

Not sure what you mean by your second point.

If that's what they want to do with their money that's up to them. They could have went on to do a PhD with it, funding or no funding. People spend money on all sorts of things that I don't really think are that great or useful, but that's up to them.

My second point was just that for a lot of people it won't be their degrees that trip them up when looking for jobs, but it will be their A Levels. Which is perhaps more to the point, as I think we can all agree that university should be open to everyone as long as they are academically able.

Lunar_Eclipse

*Robin* wrote: »

He has been offered a university place to study Fine Arts, on the strength of his diploma course work. He is now preparing for his third exhibition, and has been offered a commission to produce a piece of public art; a sculpture which will be installed at the local hospital.

I suggested a year out, which he'd like to do - he's already very involved with several charities and could easily travel and work with his uncle - but unfortunately the university will not hold over his place.

Having read the comments posted so far, it does seem that my son may be in the group for whom uni might not be the right choice.

Why do you say that?

If you honestly think your son is talented, wants to take up his university place and is happy to go knowing in advance that you can't support him financially, I would strongly encourage him to go. I can't see any benefit in him not going. If nothing else, if you discourage him from going, this is exactly the kind of thing that kids throw back in their parents' faces: holding them responsible for never succeeding in life.

Not sure what purpose a gap year would serve, unless you're thinking employment to pay for university entry next year. In a way, that's just delaying things, I'd let him get on with it.

poet123

The_One_Who wrote: »

If that's what they want to do with their money that's up to them. They could have went on to do a PhD with it, funding or no funding. People spend money on all sorts of things that I don't really think are that great or useful, but that's up to them.

My second point was just that for a lot of people it won't be their degrees that trip them up when looking for jobs, but it will be their A Levels. Which is perhaps more to the point, as I think we can all agree that university should be open to everyone as long as they are academically able.

Yes, they could have gone on to to a Phd, if they were of the mindset of the perennial student, which some undoubtedly are. Anything to delay to the onset of work in some cases, and of course that is their prerogative, if they are spending their own money....often though, they are not, they are supported by hard working parents, who deny themselves to fund their offspring's whims.

In my experience the A levels only come back into play if the degree is not a mainstream one...which brings us full circle.