ITV prog tonight on pensions and benefits

bigadaj

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I don't think anybody's ever suggested that York and Warwick are particularly elite.

That's a bit harsh what do you base those opinions on?

Both are Russell group, Warwick is solid top ten in the uk and York is around the top twenty, given that we now apparently have nearly 200 'universities' in the uk then you can certainly argue they are elite.

gadgetmind

I know that York have high standards 'cos they turned me down. :-)

atush

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I don't think anybody's ever suggested that York and Warwick are particularly elite.

Well warwick is in the top10 (and was no 6 when my son was there). He went to the local grammar school, and he said all his house mates, and friends went to public school. Whereas his brother at Birmingham found a mixed bag of private and state school.

I hope a degree from Warwick matters for him when he comes to getting a job (still in law school at the moment).

missbiggles1

gadgetmind wrote: »

York is very good for Computer Science and we take a lot of good graduates from there.

Nothing wrong with them but strange to bracket them with Oxbridge.

missbiggles1

atush wrote: »

Well warwick is in the top10 (and was no 6 when my son was there). He went to the local grammar school, and he said all his house mates, and friends went to public school. Whereas his brother at Birmingham found a mixed bag of private and state school.

I hope a degree from Warwick matters for him when he comes to getting a job (still in law school at the moment).

See my post above.

missbiggles1

bigadaj wrote: »

That's a bit harsh what do you base those opinions on?

Both are Russell group, Warwick is solid top ten in the uk and York is around the top twenty, given that we now apparently have nearly 200 'universities' in the uk then you can certainly argue they are elite.

I seem to have put my foot put in it (inadvertently, for once). I didn't mean to imply anything wrong with them (I went to a plate glass university myself) - it was the "Oxford, Cambridge, Warwick and York" point that seemed a bit odd.

gadgetmind

I guess my problem is that I can't understand why an employer wants someone with a degree but doesn't particularly care what it is as long as it's the required grade and you're wearing the right tie.

We want people who can prove they can do the job, that they can handle the high levels of abstraction we encounter, have the essential knowledge and a whole load more besides that they've acquired due to enthusiasm, and that they'll continue to acquire skills and knowledge without hand holding.

Were I wanting to hire a juggler, then I'd definitely want them to be able to juggle, and I'm pretty sure that I'd ask them to do a bit of it at the interview stage!

jaydeeuk1

Keep savings to a minimum, blow cash enjoying life, and then hire a lambo and go out in a big fireball off cliffs of Dover at 65-70. Much better than sitting in a nappy in a care home, drinking water from a sponge, unable to move and hoping you'd die in days rather than taking nearly 3 months. I'm sure knowing you've got a load of cash in the bank is of little comfort at that point.

missbiggles1

gadgetmind wrote: »

I guess my problem is that I can't understand why an employer wants someone with a degree but doesn't particularly care what it is as long as it's the required grade and you're wearing the right tie.

We want people who can prove they can do the job, that they can handle the high levels of abstraction we encounter, have the essential knowledge and a whole load more besides that they've acquired due to enthusiasm, and that they'll continue to acquire skills and knowledge without hand holding.

Were I wanting to hire a juggler, then I'd definitely want them to be able to juggle, and I'm pretty sure that I'd ask them to do a bit of it at the interview stage!

You're assuming that most degrees are vocational which they're not and aren't intended to be.

Most employers expect graduates to be intelligent, highly literate, good communicators, able to learn quickly and assimilate new information as well as being able to work under pressure. Those are all qualities which can be expected from graduates in any subject as long as they've achieved academically and have studied at an institution which has offered them challenges at an appropriate level.

westv

All this "uni" talk is going right over my head

I left school when university was aspiration not expectation.