Should I discourage my kids from going to Uni?

Lunar_Eclipse

ringo_24601 wrote: »

It doesn't matter - they can't publicly price themselves lower than Oxbridge or they might as well put a big poster over the Arndale Centre saying "Manchester Uni is quite good, but not the best."

Pricing is part of marketing. No one wants to be the 'budget price' uni

Putting it another way, who would choose or want to pay Oxbridge prices for Manchester? Most people believe Oxford & Cambridge universities are better than Manchester and thus Manchester should be cheaper.

Also, there will be plenty of people who want budget price universities, otherwise we wouldn't have the current university tier system that has existed for years.

zcrat41

I think you should never discourage a kid who wants to go to Uni to study a subject they love and are interested in. If on the other hand they want to go and get pi**ed up for 3 years then totally discourage them.

I have a degree in Egyptology and Ancient History. I can read Latin, Greek and Egyptian hieroglyphs fluently and a smattering of Hebrew. I went to one of the top 10 Uni's in the country and it paid off when going for graduate jobs - I got on a retail graduate scheme and worked my but off. Several rungs up the ladder I didn't every use my degree knowledge but I often used the analytical skills I gained. And you never know, I could have made the next Indiana Jones!!

jtr2803

Interesting thread and points made. No one is right or wrong in my eyes and Uni is a very emotive subject.

When I was 14 I had my future pretty well mapped out, I knew I wanted to be a marine biologist and spent many a lunch time looking at Uni prospectuses and working out where I wanted to go. Unfortunately I was bullied terribly during my last two years at school and there was no way I was staying to do A levels, then my local college wasn't offering the subjects I wanted so I started doing a BTEC in Animal Care but it was a load of twaddle and I dropped out after about 4 weeks.

I then met a man and got pregnant so Uni was well off the cards. I ended up doing an Accountancy NVQ in my own time and was fortunate enough to get a part time job and support continuing my studies. I then had a break from Accounting until I was offered the a job at my current company and I am due to finish my ACCA qualifications next year. It's been a long hard slog but I am pleased with myself for carrying on with my studies.

That said, I've actually come full circle and desperately would love to go back to Uni to pursue my original passion of Marine Biology but due to finanical and family commitments it's just not possible . I think Uni is very useful for people who have a clear interest in a subject and it's true that there are many jobs where a degree is really the only way into that profession but I don't know many 16/17 year olds who truly know what they want to do as a career yet. I have known many of my old friends do a four year Uni course only to finish and realise that they no longer want to work in that subject! There are also a number of people who go just for the 'experience' but it can be one hell of a costly experience!

If my daughter wanted to go to Uni then I would do all I could to support her, even if I didn't think the course was suitably 'academic'. I would actually much prefer her to do a years travelling/volunteering, I expect she would have a much clearer idea of what she wanted to do with her life on returning without the normal trappings of gap year working, ie many enjoy the money too much and cannot bear to give it up.

mumps

jtr2803 wrote: »

Interesting thread and points made. No one is right or wrong in my eyes and Uni is a very emotive subject.

When I was 14 I had my future pretty well mapped out, I knew I wanted to be a marine biologist and spent many a lunch time looking at Uni prospectuses and working out where I wanted to go. Unfortunately I was bullied terribly during my last two years at school and there was no way I was staying to do A levels, then my local college wasn't offering the subjects I wanted so I started doing a BTEC in Animal Care but it was a load of twaddle and I dropped out after about 4 weeks.

I then met a man and got pregnant so Uni was well off the cards. I ended up doing an Accountancy NVQ in my own time and was fortunate enough to get a part time job and support continuing my studies. I then had a break from Accounting until I was offered the a job at my current company and I am due to finish my ACCA qualifications next year. It's been a long hard slog but I am pleased with myself for carrying on with my studies.

That said, I've actually come full circle and desperately would love to go back to Uni to pursue my original passion of Marine Biology but due to finanical and family commitments it's just not possible . I think Uni is very useful for people who have a clear interest in a subject and it's true that there are many jobs where a degree is really the only way into that profession but I don't know many 16/17 year olds who truly know what they want to do as a career yet. I have known many of my old friends do a four year Uni course only to finish and realise that they no longer want to work in that subject! There are also a number of people who go just for the 'experience' but it can be one hell of a costly experience!

If my daughter wanted to go to Uni then I would do all I could to support her, even if I didn't think the course was suitably 'academic'. I would actually much prefer her to do a years travelling/volunteering, I expect she would have a much clearer idea of what she wanted to do with her life on returning without the normal trappings of gap year working, ie many enjoy the money too much and cannot bear to give it up.

One of the sad things this year is that people are opting to skip the gap year to avoid higher fees next year. I think working/travelling/just living for a year or two between school and university is a very good thing.

daska

One thing I've not seen mentioned on this thread is that there are courses where tuition fees are NOT payable by the student. E.G. Orthoptics at Sheffield Uni

ceridwen

jtr2803 wrote: »

Interesting thread and points made. No one is right or wrong in my eyes and Uni is a very emotive subject.

When I was 14 I had my future pretty well mapped out, I knew I wanted to be a marine biologist and spent many a lunch time looking at Uni prospectuses and working out where I wanted to go. Unfortunately I was bullied terribly during my last two years at school and there was no way I was staying to do A levels, then my local college wasn't offering the subjects I wanted so I started doing a BTEC in Animal Care but it was a load of twaddle and I dropped out after about 4 weeks.

I then met a man and got pregnant so Uni was well off the cards. I ended up doing an Accountancy NVQ in my own time and was fortunate enough to get a part time job and support continuing my studies. I then had a break from Accounting until I was offered the a job at my current company and I am due to finish my ACCA qualifications next year. It's been a long hard slog but I am pleased with myself for carrying on with my studies.

That said, I've actually come full circle and desperately would love to go back to Uni to pursue my original passion of Marine Biology but due to finanical and family commitments it's just not possible . I think Uni is very useful for people who have a clear interest in a subject and it's true that there are many jobs where a degree is really the only way into that profession but I don't know many 16/17 year olds who truly know what they want to do as a career yet. I have known many of my old friends do a four year Uni course only to finish and realise that they no longer want to work in that subject! There are also a number of people who go just for the 'experience' but it can be one hell of a costly experience!

If my daughter wanted to go to Uni then I would do all I could to support her, even if I didn't think the course was suitably 'academic'. I would actually much prefer her to do a years travelling/volunteering, I expect she would have a much clearer idea of what she wanted to do with her life on returning without the normal trappings of gap year working, ie many enjoy the money too much and cannot bear to give it up.

Sorry to hear that you got bullied out of the "life you should have had" - such a worthwhile type of career too (ie marine biologist):(

Just to wish you luck that you manage to get your life back on the track that the bullies knocked you off. The best revenge will be to set yourself a goal that you will aim to meet those bullies in x years time and say "Nah...nah...nah..you didnt manage to ruin my life after all:D. Look at me - I've now got the CAREER I always wanted - and what job do YOU have?:D"

Dont let those bullies win...go for your goal.

ceridwen

On the original topic - I would say that the thing is to encourage children to "bring out the best" in them - whatever that best is.

If they are academic - then do encourage them still (whilst ensuring they know the financial consequences of going to Uni. these days) and make sure they weigh up all pros and cons and do what will suit them best personally. I would tend towards "Dont either encourage or discourage these days - just give them the objective pros and cons and let them make up their own minds". I dont believe its a parents responsibility to try to push their child either way - either in or out of University (admits to having once had the view that I would have actively encouraged any children I had had - but Society has changed and so has my view - to being a purely "objective" one).

BTW - back in my day degrees had "scarcity value" and personally I tend to think one of the "agendas" to making University so costly to go to is a form of "rationing by price" in order to ensure that degrees get that "scarcity value" back again. With all sorts of non-academic people going to University currently - then it must be difficult for employers to tell which degrees are really "worthwhile" and choose a suitable candidate for graduate jobs.

A lot of younger people have already said they wouldnt go to University at that high cost - therefore those that do go will have a better chance of getting the graduate jobs one expects after going to University.