Forums › Life › Learning & Education › Any uni folk on here?
Just interested to know if many people on here are at uni and how much the workload effects there ability to still have a thriving party life
I’ve got an offer for uni starting in September but I’ve always been in two minds about whether I should go or not. I have always been clever, but I’ve never enjoyed studying off my own back and find it really hard to motivate myself to get any independent work done – which I know will cause me pretty big problems at uni unless i sort it out.
All the people I know at uni, are much more dedicated to their studies than I am and they are all struggling with the workload, and a lot of them are just forcing themselves to carry on with it because they think it will be better for them in the long run. I’m not sure I would be able to do that if it was me in that situation. I know I should just try and go with it, since anything I do other than uni will still be there for me even if I go to uni and it doesn’t work out, but it’s gonna be an awfully expensive year finding out whether it is for me or not.
Very confused about what I want to be doing, and when I’m not fully sure what I want to be doing I find it very difficult to motivate myself to do it
Any advice from anyone student or not greatly appreciated
You should probably go. You will meet new people and have new experiences that you probably wouldn’t get elsewhere, and if you like your course it should be fun. It will be gruelling and hard as well, but you’ll have some pretty epic unforgettable experiences.
What are you planning on studying there? I feel young people are made to go up way too early. it is also pointless to be forced into a course you do not like. This I found out from 1990-1992 as I came from a family background where (partly because of ethnicity) my parents were determined that I should get good academic qualifications, at the very same time the original rave scene exploded across the UK.
Looking back on it I’m amazed I managed to even last the two years there and not drop out earlier. But many of the things I wanted to do multimedia wise weren’t actually invented properly back then – in hindsight had I gone up in the mid 90s after the start of the multimedia boom I might have stayed there, though at the same time what I could have got a degree (audio / multimedia engineering as opposed to pure electronics/computer system design) still wouldn’t have got me a long term paying job.
Maybe I might have ended up at rat salad park for a few years but I’d still be fixing computer networks and phones and finance systems for my paid work in any case…
And things change drastically even in a few years. There is a backlash from some employers against taking on graduates for junior rôles anyway. I have staff working for me who get paid less and still have degrees (some are older than me too!).
much depends on the actual course and its ultimate market value or whether its something you really want to learn. There are other forms of education than a 3/4 year degree…
@General Lighting 534629 wrote:
What are you planning on studying there? I feel young people are made to go up way too early. it is also pointless to be forced into a course you do not like. This I found out from 1990-1992 as I came from a family background where (partly because of ethnicity) my parents were determined that I should get good academic qualifications, at the very same time the original rave scene exploded across the UK.
Looking back on it I’m amazed I managed to even last the two years there and not drop out earlier. But many of the things I wanted to do multimedia wise weren’t actually invented properly back then – in hindsight had I gone up in the mid 90s after the start of the multimedia boom I might have stayed there, though at the same time what I could have got a degree (audio / multimedia engineering as opposed to pure electronics/computer system design) still wouldn’t have got me a long term paying job.
Maybe I might have ended up at rat salad park for a few years but I’d still be fixing computer networks and phones and finance systems for my paid work in any case…
And things change drastically even in a few years. There is a backlash from some employers against taking on graduates for junior rôles anyway. I have staff working for me who get paid less and still have degrees (some are older than me too!).
much depends on the actual course and its ultimate market value or whether its something you really want to learn. There are other forms of education than a 3/4 year degree…
It’s called psychosocial studies, but to be fair the description of the course is quite vague and I am still not completely sure what it involves. As far as I’m aware it is a bit of a mish-mash of psychology, sociology, anthropology, looking at therapeutic practices within a socio/cultural context. It can lead on to counselling or psychotherapy with further training, and I think this is something I would enjoy. However I have never studied any sort of psychology – I just find it interesting, so I’m not sure how I would cope with learning it formally if you know what I mean.
Im going for an applicant day next week to find out properly what it involves and see how I feel about it then. I have insurance offers for philosophy, which I know I love. But I don’t want to come out of uni in almost 50grands worth of debt with a degree that leaves me more confused about what I know than before I started haha
this seems to be a fairly common course which is appears to be aimed at those who are planning a career in healthcare. if you can graduate from it its more likely to get you a job than a philosophy degree, its the sort of qualification the staff at work who do the activities for the old people sometimes have. the main risk though from partying if studying a course like that is getting nicked and cautioned for drugs as it usually requires enhanced CRB disclosure because you will eventually be working with vulnerable people.
@joksgez 534636 wrote:
It’s called psychosocial studies, but to be fair the description of the course is quite vague and I am still not completely sure what it involves. As far as I’m aware it is a bit of a mish-mash of psychology, sociology, anthropology, looking at therapeutic practices within a socio/cultural context. It can lead on to counselling or psychotherapy with further training, and I think this is something I would enjoy. However I have never studied any sort of psychology – I just find it interesting, so I’m not sure how I would cope with learning it formally if you know what I mean.
Im going for an applicant day next week to find out properly what it involves and see how I feel about it then. I have insurance offers for philosophy, which I know I love. But I don’t want to come out of uni in almost 50grands worth of debt with a degree that leaves me more confused about what I know than before I started haha
I’m going to be blunt, because it might save you £50k, and just say that course sounds pretty useless and you’ll probably regret taking it. Once you’ve started working and really got some sort of concept of large amounts of money (at 17 you probably don’t), you’ll realise that £50k (or however much debt students leave uni with nowadays) is a lot of fucking money, equivalent to two or three whole years-worth of good salary. I wouldn’t take a degree nowadays unless: 1.) I was sure it would help me find employment afterwards, and 2.) I was going to put enough effort in to guarantee a 2:1 or first. It sounds like you don’t really like the idea of studying (nothing wrong with that, it’s not for everyone), and are just picking something that you’re vaguely interested in, but at the end of the day is a mickey mouse course.
As for the social aspect, you’ll get that from whatever you choose to do after you leave home. IMO, three years of super frisbee club and mountaineering society is not worth the tens of thousands of pounds you will pay to go to uni.
I’m in my first year of uni at the moment, it’s still entirely possible to have a decent party life for me at the moment, however I believe after first year the workload increases massively – I know my friend who is in their 3rd year of a psychology course barely gets to go out at all, and when she does she feels guilty and that she should be doing work.
You do have to make sure that you can keep yourself motivated, it’s really easy to slip into a habit of skipping lectures/seminars and just thinking “Oh I’ll read the slides later” but you never do lol. The work is very independent as well, you’re generally given the assignment and a deadline and then they won’t keep at you to get it done at all, and they don’t tend to give out any extensions or stand for anything being late – at my uni if you hand something in up to a few days late (can’t remember the exact timeframe) you will have a whole grade removed and if it’s later than that they will just fail the assignment. Also as cheeseweasel said you really do need to get at least a 2:1 otherwise it simply isn’t worth it from what I have heard.
Thanks for the honesty people it really is what I need to hear. People tell me oh you’ll be fine you’ll adapt but as I’ve demonstrated throughout my entire academic life I clearly don’t adapt and I will always be a bit of a joker when it comes to being motivated to study independently.
I’ve got friends in their last year of uni too and they literally have no spare time, even my very hard working friends in their first year are struggling. So I’ve always thought it would be wise for me to just accept that university might not be for me. It is just really hard when you keep getting told different things and change your mind at least once a week
the only way that course could not be a “mickey mouse” one is if you plan for a industrial / work placement, and to get a high grade.
And even then you will be most likely to be working in the old folks home as all the other treatment centres for younger people are having the budgets cut by the current government (especially any drug/substance use rehab which isn’t punishment based), but even Conservatives know they can’t totally decimate elderly care as thats where half of their voters might still come from.
I will tell you now that these really are not pleasant places to be unless you have desensetised yourself to some large extent (as you are basically watching people prepare for death, one I work in is even harsher as its not really a “old peoples home” any more there are people my age and younger in there what have got really bad medical conditions) and I don’t even look after the patients, just fix up the IT and telecoms stuff there.
If you got a first with honours and a job in one of these places you will be able to support yourself and be doing a very valuable job, but that might not be what you want to do in the future. Certainly it is not the place you would want to be on a bad pill comedown and with a whole list of difficult tasks to do.
In the future I could see myself working in the care sector but I would not want to be working with the elderly I’d much rather be working with homeless/alcohol and substance abusers. But obviously it’s going to be difficult for me to work in that field when I might still be a bit of a mash head myself. My dad works in that field and he strongly advised against going straight into it for a life-long career.
The rest of my family are all tradesmen and I think this work would suit me quite a lot – Painter/Decorator appeals to me a lot, but my family always advise against this as they say the work is never guaranteed. I could quite easily get some work with them doing groundworks but they are very reluctant to let me just coast into that because they say I’d be wasting my brains by not going to uni
TBH the amount of people that take courses like psychology etc. even at college is pretty ridiculous – I really can’t see that helping you get a job.
It’s like people who get a major in medeival assfuckery and then expect a job in my eyes at least lol.
In a recession there is a minimal amount of work anyway – we won’t be out of this for another 5 years or so. True you should do something you enjoy, but there is no point taking a course that won’t get you a job as that will be a very expensive bit of fun.
Though I don’t think you have to pay if you don’t finish the course and you only pay like £20 a month if your earning £24,000 a year and then it goes up. It’s like 9% of your yearly wage or something, and if it isn’t paid after 40 years it is wiped.
working for a rehab place when you are still partying yourself is very risky as it blurs the professional boundaries, you can get nicked and accused of facilitating others to stay addicted which would be classed as not just dealing but abuse, very nasty thing to be busted for.
@joksgez 534697 wrote:
The rest of my family are all tradesmen and I think this work would suit me quite a lot – Painter/Decorator appeals to me a lot, but my family always advise against this as they say the work is never guaranteed. I could quite easily get some work with them doing groundworks but they are very reluctant to let me just coast into that because they say I’d be wasting my brains by not going to uni
there is no reason why you could not work in some trade first and go up to University a few years later. Another aspect of Dutch culture is it is not thought of as “unmanly” for someone to be interested in the design aspects of their livingspace, meaning a lot more “brains” go into the construction trades.
Have a look at these links, it took a fair bit of brains to both design and build the house (the guy is a married man with kids)
@General Lighting 534806 wrote:
there is no reason why you could not work in some trade first and go up to University a few years later. Another aspect of Dutch culture is it is not thought of as “unmanly” for someone to be interested in the design aspects of their livingspace, meaning a lot more “brains” go into the construction trades.
Have a look at these links, it took a fair bit of brains to both design and build the house (the guy is a married man with kids)
thats some crazy stuff GL. I’d love to do that but I don’t think I’m good enough at technical drawing, or drawing in general to go into anything like that. Did anyone ever see the grand designs in central london with a 360 viewing tower at the top? Was wicked
@joksgez 534882 wrote:
thats some crazy stuff GL. I’d love to do that but I don’t think I’m good enough at technical drawing, or drawing in general to go into anything like that. Did anyone ever see the grand designs in central london with a 360 viewing tower at the top? Was wicked
Most technical drawing is done on computers these days and isn’t half as hard as it once was. In our country there is a wrong perception that the skilled trades do not need brains (which is why many of our infrastructure projects run into bad problems and make financial losses), and the idea that everyone must attend University in Western Europe is quite frankly of the most hare-brained things that has arisen here.
Also there would still be a lot of skill and brains needed simply to do things like get the shelves and the LED lights (shown below) in the correct places, and lined up properly to look right.
In most colleges there are 2 years courses for skilled trades which you probably will need anyway to comply with regulations to get jobs, these are worth looking into as your relatives can still tell their friends you have gone up to “University” as all the colleges which are mostly for those over age 18 have been renamed “university” anyway. 😉 At least with those you get to do practical stuff as well as boring lectures…
@General Lighting 534896 wrote:
Most technical drawing is done on computers these days and isn’t half as hard as it once was. In our country there is a wrong perception that the skilled trades do not need brains (which is why many of our infrastructure projects run into bad problems and make financial losses), and the idea that everyone must attend University in Western Europe is quite frankly of the most hare-brained things that has arisen here.
Also there would still be a lot of skill and brains needed simply to do things like get the shelves and the LED lights (shown below) in the correct places, and lined up properly to look right.
In most colleges there are 2 years courses for skilled trades which you probably will need anyway to comply with regulations to get jobs, these are worth looking into as your relatives can still tell their friends you have gone up to “University” as all the colleges which are mostly for those over age 18 have been renamed “university” anyway. 😉 At least with those you get to do practical stuff as well as boring lectures…
Thanks for the help GL. I’m gonna keep an open mind and go to the open day next week see what kind of vibe I get from uni and then re-assess
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Forums › Life › Learning & Education › Any uni folk on here?
