Nice People Thread Part 9 - and so it continues

chewmylegoff

Nikkster wrote: »

I get the MSci bit (I did a 4 year undergrad as did about 50% of the people on my chemistry course).

It's just always confused me that someone might have an MA that they've 'earned' and someone else might have one was more of a 'bonus' (I would upgrade if I was offered ) - how would someone not in the know tell the difference?

I have a scummy BSc. I thought you only have to do one year to get an MSc in a subject but you have to have a BSc first, but not necessarily in the same subject?

Accountancy is the same as Oxbridge degrees. Once you have been qualified for a certain time you can pay a fee and call yourself FCA instead of ACA. I can upgrade now as I have 10 years' post qualified experience exactly as of today which is a nasty reminder of the passage of time.

Masomnia

chewmylegoff wrote: »

I have a scummy BSc. I thought you only have to do one year to get an MSc in a subject but you have to have a BSc first, but not necessarily in the same subject?

Accountancy is the same as Oxbridge degrees. Once you have been qualified for a certain time you can pay a fee and call yourself FCA instead of ACA. I can upgrade now as I have 10 years' post qualified experience exactly as of today which is a nasty reminder of the passage of time.

Yep I did a three year undergrad BA, and will have (all going to plan!) and MSc after one year. And as the titles imply they're different subjects. Some science degrees you can do the full 3 year BSc and then one years MSc in one go.

Is that Fellow Chartered Accountant rather than Associate Chartered Accountant? Or something like that? I suppose the different letter just recognises your experience, which seems fair to me.

chewmylegoff

Masomnia wrote: »

I remember when I was 15/16 I was walking down the corridor at school with a friend and we were talking about universities and degrees etc. He was looking at doing physics and he mentioned that you got a BA for doing physics at Oxford. I said I wondered why they give you a BA rather than an BSc, is it the content of the course or something, and a teacher walking in front of us stopped and turned round and said in a pretty scathing way 'Oh, it's because Oxford and Cambridge are up themselves. No other reason.'

The debate about why kids from state schools are under-represented at these universities comes up a lot, and even though I went to a decent state school a lot of the teachers had that attitude. So it really doesn't surprise me that kids from these schools aren't encouraged to apply, and aren't told that they have a realistic chance of going, or that it's worth their while.

Funny how some moments just stick in your head even though it was so long ago and it was years before the significance of it hit home.

And with that, I'll go to bed.

Night all!

I had an interview at Balliol which was one of the worst experiences of my life. Coming from a state school (albeit grant maintained and a boarding school) I was treated like some kind of leper by the other interviewees, the students acting as hosts and by the interviewers themselves. One interviewer actually laughed at me in the interview when I got something wrong, which was less than pleasant. I have never wanted to leave somewhere so quickly, and I was stuck there for 2 days. On the second day I had an interview for a different college whose name I can't remember which was much better but they rejected me as well.

PasturesNew

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Cambridge. She did geography / geology at Girton. I think she said she forked out £10 for an MA, but did a proper masters, too. About the interaction of glaciation and vulcanicity in Iceland.

I know the village well.... ex-bf from there, spent loads of time on the rec, or running round the graveyard at midnight as some idiot came up with some (probably years old BS) about running round the graveyard anti-clockwise and chanting something or other would make some ghost appear or something.

Knew somebody who was a part-time waitress at the College.

PasturesNew

zagubov wrote: »

Everybody needs some sparkle on their CV.

That's why I did an A level
I was 35 when I did that.

PasturesNew

silvercar wrote: »

Feeling very under qualified.

I've rectified that for you.

PasturesNew

I was about 33 before I discovered what a degree was and what it was "for". I'd got some on-the-side work for a headhunter; she had jobs advertised at £250k/year and I had to go through their CVs at the "first sorting" stage to put them into piles of yes/no.

And I spotted ONE thing .... they ALL had a degree - and ALL started off in "posh jobs".

So I joined the OU - and while I was waiting (they all started in January) I did an A level.

OU was OK, but had to drop out due to [a] cost equipment. Back then, with all the paperwork and watching BBC2 and needing to lug a full sized PC and printer about, I'd moved 350 miles one way, then 100 miles the other - and didn't have a phone socket (for a dial up modem), nor a video recorder ..... so dropped out for a year ... then couldn't afford the fees ... and then time passes.

Ended up with "half a degree" and originally "expected to come out with a first"

And now I can't afford it + is there really any point at my age + I'm not settled enough to be able to commit for now.

vivatifosi

PasturesNew wrote: »

That's why I did an A level
I was 35 when I did that.

I left school with five o levels and did my only a level when I was 28. So very similar. Few who went to my abysmal school were expected to get anything or do anything. A large number of my peers from there have done the same as me and studied for years on end while working, but it is a hard slog and often things take priority.

Intelligence is only part of the story as to why some have degrees and others don't. Life chances also played a big part, particularly for people our age, when it wasn't expected to go to university. My school was just happy to churn out factory fodder.

lostinrates

chewmylegoff wrote: »

I had an interview at Balliol which was one of the worst experiences of my life. Coming from a state school (albeit grant maintained and a boarding school) I was treated like some kind of leper by the other interviewees, the students acting as hosts and by the interviewers themselves. One interviewer actually laughed at me in the interview when I got something wrong, which was less than pleasant. I have never wanted to leave somewhere so quickly, and I was stuck there for 2 days. On the second day I had an interview for a different college whose name I can't remember which was much better but they rejected me as well.

DH and his siblings all went to state school then Oxford, as did others.

My niece also had what she describes as a horrid interview at an Oxford college and did not go to state. Its not to do with that usually ( she also didn't ge in, but I think that's probably right, sadly....for personal reasons I also think its a blessing in disguise for her, which she may realise many years down the line) . I certainly know of a don at Balliol who went through the state school system without even thinking hard about who we know at Oxford.


Edit...

As for interviews, DH chose his college on the basis of liking the surroundings of the college mainly at that the interview had been the least worst. He missed one interview because (he says) the times had been given to him incorrectly, (I think he might have just got it wrong or been disorganised as teenagers are). Dbil chose his uni based on the fact It would annoy his parents if he didn't go to oxford and was in London. ( good uni though, some of you lot went there ) and sil tried balliol but didn't get in because in looked like nepotism so went somewhere else.

I chose my place based on it being the best ranked course in my subject at that time. If I could go back I would not make the same decision. If I were to follow the same route I'd go somewhere with a better balance of other stuff.

lostinrates

vivatifosi wrote: »

I left school with five o levels and did my only a level when I was 28. So very similar. Few who went to my abysmal school were expected to get anything or do anything. A large number of my peers from there have done the same as me and studied for years on end while working, but it is a hard slog and often things take priority.

Intelligence is only part of the story as to why some have degrees and others don't. Life chances also played a big part, particularly for people our age, when it wasn't expected to go to university. My school was just happy to churn out factory fodder.

Exactly, and inversely now, undergrad degrees mean 'less' simply because its expected such a large proportion of people will do one.

You don't get rewrites in life and refuse to waste time regretting, but I do sometimes wish I had done something different then. . Probably full time work