Forced to stay at uni!

ftbworried

Sorry katrina but Im gonna agree with your parents, only due to seeing my friend in your situation. She went to uni at 18 (with 6 grade As at A level!!!) and did her first year, she quit a week into her second year. She quit thinking that "she'd be better off working her way up". She had a part time job in a pub and they'd offered to make her a supervisor (ringing any bells?), "whooohooo, a chance to climb the career ladder, no?" Well yes, she climbed to bar supervisor on a princely wage of 20p over the minimum wage. Having realised that it wasn't really going anywhere she looked around for a 'better job', but - because SO many people have degrees nowadays she found that the only opportunities open to her were working in call centres cold calling. She spent 3 years pushing everything from phones to utilities- even debt collecting, for someone with 6 A's at A level??? She was seriously brain numbed to the point where she realised that she should have stayed at uni. She's gone back to uni this year BUT has had to start from year 1 again AND gets less financial help with her fees because she has already officially received 2 years funding from the LEA.

I think she'd admit that leaving uni was a big mistake, and that she was niave as to her job prospects. Although she's gone back, she is in real financial trouble due to her already having had funding help- also, her other peers are all graduated now and reaping the rewards - that can't be easy to watch knowing that it could have been her!

BTW 'wanting a house' as a reason to quit uni is extremely short-sighted. My husbands best friend left college because he wanted to earn money to buy a car- 8 years on he drives that very same car and is still stacking shelve in sainsburys (the same job he left college for 8 years ago!!!) whereas my hubby (begrudgingly - he hated it too) completed his education (therefore delaying getting a car for 2 years)and got a great job at the end. You can see the look of regret on his mates face when hubby pulls up in his brand new Saab now - if only he hadn't been so short sighted!

You might leave uni now- rent a flat somewhere- but how will you feel in 18 months time when your peers all graduate, perhaps get well-paid jobs and BUY a house? Will you have wished that you stuck your education?

If you are absolutely 100% unshakebly confident that you can get a good job without your degree then leave, but do your homework- check out the job markets for each situation and don't just leave out of default of not wanting to carry on. Leave because you have a better career lined up!

missk_ensington

I dont think parents should encourage their kids to go to uni if it isn't what suits them. It saddens me that they force their kids down a path of academia to which they're not suited, just because of the kudos of saying "my son/daughter went to university".

I get the impression amongst some social circles it is deemed a parenting failure if you bring up kids who dont go to uni!

My cousins girlfriend scraped (and I mean scraped) 5 C's to get into doing her A levels. She hates doing them, she wants to do childcare and be a nursery nurse as its where her passions lie and her abilities, but her parents are forcing her to stay at Sixth Form and then on to university and she just can't do it. She failed her AS levels despite trying her best, but her Dad blamed this on boys/going out/bad teaching.... everything apart from the fact his daughter isn't academically gifted!!

My Mum pushed me to uni knowing I was academic, but she advised my brother not to go because she knew he wasn't academic, for him Further Education/Vocational Learning was better suited to his abilities.

There's a certain snobbery about being in Higher Education, but trust me getting CCD in your A levels and then a 3rd/2.2 degree is not going to give you a high salary -you'll be looking at £15,000 a year job - equivalent to that of a junior secretary. If its not for you, leave now and pursue what you enjoy and what motivates you.

In relation to FT Buyers post above - Yes if you have 6 A's at A-level then you'd be crazy to leave university, however if you have Cs or Ds I think ypou're probably wasting your time, if you can't achieve top grades at A level, what chance have you got in a course even more advanced and demanding?!

It should be noted Im at uni, in my 2nd year but I do it for enjoyment since my current salary WITHOUT A DEGREE is almost £20,000 a year pro-rata plus what I potentially make from property developing (I use this term very loosely, in buying !!!!!! hole houses living in them, doing up, selling....). Sometimes it depends on the individual, and Higher Education is a waste of time, for other people Higher Education is invaluable.

It isn't a one size fits all though.

chriswuk_2

Get off you lazy student @ss & sort yourself out.

You have 3 options:

1. Stay on at uni
2. Get a job
3. Go on the dole

University isn't for everyone, and you are NOT guranteed a good job after you finish. I went to uni for 3 years to do a course in IT, and when I left, I could not find a lob for love nor money !

I ended up working for a mate of mine setting up computer networks & telephone systems, but the work slacked off, so I got a job in a call centre. I progressed through several teams, working on the telephones (on 11k PA), and after 6 months, I applied for an IT job in the same company (12k PA). I was there another 12 months before I got a job in the telecomms industry, working as a soft coder (18k). 2 years later, after working my b@lls off, I got a job in a telecoms service provider, testing the system I had previously soft coded, and earning 30k PA.

If your not happy at uni, leave and get a job, don't just be sitting on your @ss all day long doing nowt, as you will get depressed & things will go down hill from there.

Jersy

There's a certain snobbery about being in Higher Education, but trust me getting CCD in your A levels and then a 3rd/2.2 degree is not going to give you a high salary -you'll be looking at £15,000 a year job - equivalent to that of a junior secretary. If its not for you, leave now and pursue what you enjoy and what motivates you.

yes and know

however i believe im the exception to this.

i got much worse results than that at a level, buts thats through being lazy

however now i know im one of the better ones in my year

si1503

Katrina-trying_to_save!?! wrote:

Im currently in my 2nd yr of uni, i have no motivation whatsoever and never want to go into uni! my works piling up and i have no want to actually do it. Ive spoke to my parents about it and they just give me the whole " think of how much you'll be earning when you finish!" but i know that I'll scrap through so is there any point in me wasting another year and a half!!

its getting me really down, as I dont know what to do! I want a house (even renting would do me) but everyone is just contradicting me!!!!

I HATE IT SOOOO MUCH! please help

p.s i have good gcse and a levels grades, more than most of my friends have!

Leave now. Get a job in a career that interests you. You'll be a lot happier and probably end up far better off in a profession that you enjoy and are motivated to do, than something that you have no time for.