The holy grail of university education.

[Deleted User]

Hapless wrote: »

It would only be a poor career decision in your eyes, it may not be in theirs.

I guess you will be one of those "helicopter" parents then when the time comes.

Maybe, maybe not. i'm a good 2 years from parent hood so we'll see

You do realise this thread is about SP's inability to get a decent job after graduating and his continuing feeling of inadequacy?

conradmum

For any reasonably well paid job with prospects, most employers won't look twice at an applicant without a degree.
Dh left school at 16 to start up his own business, is successful, highly experienced and highly skilled and can put together a portofolio of top level projects he's worked on as long as your arm. If he approaches an agency offering consultancy work, their first question is - what qualifications do you have?
Not fair, but true.

Broken_hearted

Hapless wrote: »

None of my kids are going to go to Uni if I have to pay. If they want to go, they can pay for it themselves, I'm not a bleeding bank! Eldest only wants to go to agricultural college as opposed to Uni which I am pleased with. For one thing it's free, and for another she will be quite happy shovelling horse muck all day.

Ouch I am a bleeding bank as you put it, if my children wish to go to uni I will fund it as a parent it's my responsibilty to see they get every option open to them. Both my sister and I went to uni so why should my children miss out.

Broken_hearted

Hapless wrote: »

What do you class as a good alternative?
What if a child of yours wants to be a street sweeper?
What if they have no aspirations for further/higher education at all and want to work in tesco?
Shouldn't it be about what the kids want not what you want?

Then the money saved up for uni will be given as a deposit on a house.

Hapless_2

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Maybe, maybe not. i'm a good 2 years from parent hood so we'll see

You do realise this thread is about SP's inability to get a decent job after graduating and his continuing feeling of inadequacy?

Maybe this is another poor me thread from SP BUT I know of many graduates who have been pressured into getting a degree (any degree) by their parents only to find it is not what they wanted, it is what their parents wanted. One in particular was expected to get a degree in engineering, he did. Yet all he wanted to do was work on a farm driving tractors, which he did as soon as he left Uni. His parents never spoke to him again, he is now 37 and an assistant farm manager.
I rebelled and even though now I am doing an OU degree, I never regretted it as now I can do the degree I want not what someone else wanted me to do. I made mistakes in my job choices, but I never wanted a top flight career and they were my mistakes to make.

Hapless_2

Broken_hearted wrote: »

Ouch I am a bleeding bank as you put it, if my children wish to go to uni I will fund it as a parent it's my responsibilty to see they get every option open to them. Both my sister and I went to uni so why should my children miss out.

If they want to go to Uni or buy a house it's up to them, but I sure as hell am not subsidising them. That is not saying that once they are 18 they have to move out, but they do have to contribute to their share.
If they decide at 16 that they want to go on into education then they can get a weekend job to help save for it. It's called independance and standing on your own two feet.
But then they even have to earn their pocket money in this house, no chores done, no pocket money.

ormus

at the end of the day, its a fact that in the yrs to come there will be 7.5 million uneducated/unskilled jobseekers and just 3.5 million unskilled jobs.
if you want you kiddies to be part of the normal society then you must push them to get qualified.
now i dont really care if its at a uni or a plumbing school. but i dont want my children serving burgers and fries. or sweeping the streets.
its all right having nice liberal attitudes as to your childrens future lifestyle.

nice liberals dont live as part of the underclass.

conradmum

I wouldn't ever push my children into doing what they don't want to do, but that's different from choosing to subsidise them if they want to continue their education.

In fact, from what I understand, parents with a decent income don't have a lot of choice in the matter. The amount of student loan you're entitled to is calculated based on the household income in your family. So if you don't want to support them, they can't afford to go anyway.

That's forcing them not to go to uni.

wanting2save

misscomickat wrote: »

I have a student loan debt of around £15,000 (not sure exactly how much). I don't think it was worth it, and I wouldn't encourage anyone to go to university unless they needed a degree to be a doctor or something specific.

I agree with misscomickat, i wont discourage my kids from going to uni if they want to but unless they want to be something specific which requires a degree then i wont be encouraging it either.

I was doing my degree about 10 years ago and do absolutely nothing with it now. I am a stay at home mum and am hoping to do a midwifery course (another 3 years study) in the next couple of years.

The only reason i went to uni was i didnt know what i wanted to do and it was seen as 'the next step'. I personally think that i would have benefited from 'taking a year out' as it would have prompted me to get a job very similar to the one i had when i left uni (customer services) and my life careerwise would not have been any worse now.

The only thing i will say is that University is a great 'life' experience, i think in the three years i was away from home i grew up alot and became the independent person i am now. I suppose its all swings and roundabouts...

On the moneysaving count, i am saving money for my childrens future but there is no 'reason' for it, it is for whatever the future brings (although that wont be just p**sing it up against a wall) ie uni, first car etc...

studentphil

When you look at universities Arts departments (so English, History, Philosophy, music theology- all those sorts of subjects) are huge departments but in truth these degrees are worthless unless you can get on a grad scheme.

But yet careers advice says go to the best possible university and you will get a good job, but its all wrong.