How can people be so greedy?

laughing_cow

Addy1 wrote: »

Some courses cannot be done part time though! Also, bit of a generalisation that us "youngsters" work half as hard as you mature part timers.

Yes, it's a generalisation and doesn't apply to everyone, but when I was at uni the mature students I knew definitely worked harder than us younger students. I think they appreciated it more and they'd had to make more sacrifices, whereas we just expected it as a rite of passage.

m00m00

Addy1 wrote: »

Well in that case the uni is at fault for letting such poor quality students in, and letting them stay in.

On my course there was a 50% resit rate in the first 2 years, with 10% failing the resit each year and leaving the course. Now when we arrive in our 6th and final year, barely anyone fails, not because it is easier, but because the wasters have been thrown out.

If you don't do the work, you shouldn't pass, end of story.

you do study Medicine though, which is a highly specialised area, and not taught at many Universities.

I actually have experience of teaching undergraduates at degree level, and in my experience it's the overseas students who work hardest, followed by the mature students, followed by the careerists, and right at the very bottom are the 'I'm only here because there's no alternative'

Addy1

Ok fair enough, I suppose we have had a bit of a struggle to get there in the first place, and it is not really the course you would choose if you wanted 3 years of the "student lifestyle" with lots of beer and long lie ins!

neverdespairgirl

Running_Horse wrote: »

I did that. It doesn't have to be OU as your local uni probably has part time courses. It is also noticeable that the mature part timers with jobs study twice as hard as the full time youngsters.

I worked hard throughout my A levels, LLB, LLM, and post-grad diploma. I was 19 when I started, and 24 when I finished.

Badger_Lady

I know that I did not work hard as a young student. I was bored, unchallenged, and I knew that I could pass with good grades without putting any effort in, so why bother?

These days (at 25), I think that if I went back to Uni it would be with an entirely different attitude. Firstly, I would know exactly what I'm working for - exactly how it will impact on my career and therefore my lifestyle (something you can know in theory as a schoolchild but you never appreciate until you've lived it). Secondly, I have the fear - I haven't studied formally for many years, and would be worried about keeping up with everything. I'm also used to do everything my boss tells me to do (whereas young me would ignore half of what the teacher said).

So, I don't know about statistics saying one demographic works harder than another - and whatever the stats say there will always be exceptions. But I've got a better work ethic now than when I was a teenager.

miss_corerupted

i find the op post quite upsetting, i'm currently selling my house for £110,000 and i really can't accept anything less, as i then wouldn't be able to buy another!!

scorpio_princess

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

Yes. People who never got a degree, sometimes make degrading comments about those who have achieved higher eduction. I assume from his comments this meant your father hadn't got a degree? Was I correct?

Another comment I hear a lot from older people who didn't get a higher education is "I don't need a degree, I have a PHd in life."

While I won't disagree with this, people who make 'degrading' comments about graduates don't always do so based on blind prejudice. My parents (of whom neither have degrees) have experienced many things over the years that have lead them to not always take the view that because someone went to uni it means they're automatically more able to do the job. One example is my dad, who trained as a mechanical engineer (albeit at a tech college where he got various vocational qualifications) - in his time he worked with many graduates who jumped straight into the top posts on more money even though my dad and his fellow trainees had spent longer on the job, and by and large, new the job inside out. As a result, he spent most of his time training these graduates (who allegedly were more qualified than he) for no extra pay, just so they could claim all the credit and get the top wages. So I can understand why some folk of a certain age are perhaps a bit resentful. Also, the phrase 'all brains and no common sense' is something that has stayed with him ever since. Ok, maybe he shouldn't tar all grads with the same brush (and I must say he is entirely supportive of my quest to get my BA) but it's not hard to see why he feels this way.

Mozette

Benefits_Blagger wrote: »

how am i a hypocrit ?

well at the moment, i am technically homeless, savings wont buy me anyway unless im willing to live somewhere where i will have prostitutes on side and drug addicts on the other.

You're sorted then mate! Where is this promised land?

blue_monkey_2

miss_corerupted wrote: »

i find the op post quite upsetting, i'm currently selling my house for £110,000 and i really can't accept anything less, as i then wouldn't be able to buy another!!

I am confused as to why you find it upsetting. This is what many people are facing right now. Even if my hubby and I both worked then we certainly would not be able to afford a £110k mortgage (double this around here), it might be upsetting for you but you have a roof over your head aleady. What the OP was trying to point out was that it is nigh on impossible to get onto the housing ladder these days. I really do not think it is about choosing somewhere 'perfect to impress your friends' as someone else mentioned.

There always has to be a First Time Buyer in the chain (doesn't there?), if the FTB can't afford to buy and can only afford to rent (as in the OP's case) then you won't be able to sell your house anyway as there will be no chain, will you? And this is what we was trying to point out along the way.

I think it does depend on where you live whether you can buy. Someone working for Tesco in the south will get paid as someone working for Tesco in the North - the difference is that houses are 2, 3, 4 times more expensive in the south. I know that some wages mean you get paid more in the south, but not 3 times more than doing the same job in the North - from my experience anyway.

moomin_white

chappers wrote: »

No you shouldn't but niether should you think it your divine right to be able to buy a house. I'm sorry but there will always be people who can afford to buy and people who can't , no matter what the state of the housing market.
.

oh sorry! but i was under the impression that somebody who earns a higher than average wage and with a big deposit should be able to buy more than a 1 bed flat in the dodgiest part of town? (i don't expect much,just not to have drug addicts hanging around outside) how naive of me...
i really dislike the attitude of so many homeowners who believe it's their 'divine right'(paraphrasing here) to have trebled the prices of their house by doing nothing(just through luck) and then get tetchy when FTBs have the nerve to say they can't afford anywhere!!