Universities 2012 on-wards

Not entirely true, degrees can be accredited. Especially in the case of engineering degrees.

However in my profession such as I.T, even if you have experience and want to work for company like Pwc they ask for degrees. Without that your locked out.

Depends how far you want to go, otherwise you may be going back to university when your 30 which isn't the best solution. In the larger companies they won't touch anyone for senior positions without an MBA, for which you need an undergrad. So even if you went a ex-poly, reached 30, wanted to go into a senior position then studied Cranfield school management then it would probably be worth it.
 
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UK-AL05 said:
Not entirely true, degrees can be accredited. Especially in the case of engineering degrees.
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Fair point but do the people working in HRM know the credibility of the accrediting body? Who else they accredit? I imagine the majority will just check the league tables.
 
sniffy said:
Fair point but do the people working in HRM know the credibility of the accrediting body? Who else they accredit? I imagine the majority will just check the league tables.
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Most engineering companies check for accreditation. For large amount of companies if it's accredited they don't look at the university. Army for example.
 
Personally I wouldn't bother anymore unless you want to do something that absolutely needs a degree to progress career wise.

Back when I went to uni I finished with debts of around £10k and I still think that is a lot. The majority of people I know who went to uni wouldn't have really needed their degree to progress, however for a *reasonable* amount of debt it is still a worthwhile experience.

A lot of people I know, when talking to them about it nowadays, only went because everyone else was going. That doesn't meant to say they didn't still have a great time, but the initial decision to go was probably for the wrong reasons or just because they still didn't know what they wanted to do job wise.
 
Nobody knows if the degree helped them or not. People don't directly promote on degrees. It's what happens behind closed doors that matters.

It's why you see people from oxford than say leeds get into more senior positions faster, but HR won't directly tell people it's because of that fact. Unless they want bitter people.

I know someone from warwrick at the age of 28 who is now a strategy director for large multinational. I doubt you could "work your way up" to that so quickly from the shop floor....
It's not particular vocation either, is it? strategy director...

I think this backdoor elitism works even if you just have a degree.
 
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I am looking at going to Uni in a few years as a mature student to study a slightly more niche area. (slowly become far less niche though)

There is NO WAY in hell I would have 40k+ of debt for a standard Computer Science degree for example. You just do not need one for most of the fields where such a degree would be applicable and in most cases, in these roles, experience beats out the degree.
 
Sin_Chase said:
I am looking at going to Uni in a few years as a mature student to study a slightly more niche area. (slowly become far less niche though)

There is NO WAY in hell I would have 40k+ of debt for a standard Computer Science degree for example. You just do not need one for most of the fields where such a degree would be applicable and in most cases, in these roles, experience beats out the degree.
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Depends. You get most techy jobs(1st line support) without degree. But honestly you don't want to get one.

Software jobs? Possible but 90% ask for degree even with experience.
Want to work for large company? Degree required even with experience.

http://pwc.i-grasp.com/fe/tpl_pwclh...9&c=762134652276&pagestamp=sesyvvqbogbaextvcn

Anything involving specialist skills usually involve a degree, sap, J2EE etc
 
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Have she considered going abroad? An article on the BBC today talked about the scholarships and funding you get at American universities such as Yale. I know there are English language courses in Europe which have no fees for EU students (just like people from the EU don't pay in Scotland).
 
bhavv said:
Is this even possible???

I've never seen any uni that will let you do a masters without an undergrad. Most science / maths / teaching Masters degrees require at least a 2.1 in a relelvant subject, and art based Masters still require any undergrad degree plus a portfolio / audition.
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I'm not entirely sure what he meant, but you can apply for the Masters course whien you apply for your undergrad. Some red bricks (up here anyway) will award a Masters after 4 years whilst others will only give you a Honours after 4 years.
Many engineering courses you apply for the masters but can be put down to the bachelors if you aren't doing well enough in 2nd/3rd year.

No1newts said:
University is now a pointless exercise unless you take a vocational degree which guarantees a well paying job (in the medium to long term)

You are talking Law, Medicine, Architecture or Engineering (I have probably missed one but those are the main) in 18 years time if my son wants to go do a mickey mouse degree which is not one of those I will do my damndest to dissuade him. Though I can imagine in 18 years time because of the cost the mickey mouse degrees will be gone because no one will get 20-40k worth of debt for a tourism degree :p
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A law degree far from guarantees a well paying job. Medicine is the only one that does that really, and the work/pay rate (at least for FY doctors) probably negates that.
 
Admiral Huddy said:
I'm a bit puzzled by this statement. Maybe you could clarify. Why would any governing body want to put anyone off going to Uni?
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Perhaps my wording wasn't quite right but in essence, I think that whilst the fees have been increased and as a result so has the amount of debt that graduates end up with, the loans and grants available to the average student will make their quality of life whilst at university and afterwards similar to what they were before all these fees.

The main difference is that the looming figure of debt hanging over graduates heads actively puts students off going to university (somewhat proved by the existence of this thread). I'm not indicating that your daughter is either of the below but my point was that if you are the sort of people who is very academically minded and have your mind absolutely made up that university is for you because you feel it will enhance your career/knowledge/earning potential, then this graduate debt incurred is somewhat of a side issue. There are those that will choose to go to university just because all their friends were or because it was 'fun' or just because they had nothing else to do - it's these sorts of university students that, in my opinion, will be discouraged the most by these new higher levels of graduate debt - which is surely what you want?

Admiral Huddy said:
You raise some very good points as many other have. Putting my own predicament aside for one moment, do you not think most students would now consider a commute given the rising costs? It's not ideal as I said above but practicality and common sense has to play. £42k + is expensive experience.
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Yep - absolutely. And I think gradually a university experience away from home might become less common, with more students commuting to university. Obviously this is a good thing for those commuting - the more people that commute, the less there is to miss out on at university and so the virtuous circle continues.
 
Ahleckz said:
A law degree far from guarantees a well paying job. Medicine is the only one that does that really, and the work/pay rate (at least for FY doctors) probably negates that.
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Medium to long term it does.

Entry level is garbage for all them industries (mostly mid twenties) but 5-10 year in you are talking all of them 40+ if not more!
 
No1newts said:
Medium to long term it does.

Entry level is garbage for all them industries (mostly mid twenties) but 5-10 year in you are talking all of them 40+ if not more!
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The competition for training contracts is huge and demand far outstrips supply. I'm not sure on the statistics, but many people who are eligible for a training contract will never get one. Yes, a law degree will offer many transferable skills that employers will seek but a law degree far from guarantees you a job in the legal sector nor a well paid job.

It's also a bit of a myth that all lawyers are very well paid. If I was looking for the money, I'd say an O+G engineer would be more promising than a law career.
 
I am also thinking of going to uni to study CS Software Engineering but I am worried by the amount of debt I would get while studying there. Not to mention I have heard some pretty horror stories about the IT career being ****.

This is the one subject I really enjoy and into it but I am not sure if it is worth it going though all the trouble, only to be screwed in the end.

Any though guys? What is your experience working in IT?
 
Make sure it's a good uni and well respected, not only that but the course is well respected.
You get some crap unis that have a specific course that is highly sort after.
On the other hand you get great well respected unis, that have some terriable courses which aren't liked.

Make sure you get a good grade and make sure that the course leads to the job you want.
If it goes pear shaped a degree can still be good, lots of jobs/further training still require a degree in pretty much any subject.

But with that much debt I certainly wouldn't of treated uni like I did.
 
Ahleckz said:
The competition for training contracts is huge and demand far outstrips supply. I'm not sure on the statistics, but many people who are eligible for a training contract will never get one. Yes, a law degree will offer many transferable skills that employers will seek but a law degree far from guarantees you a job in the legal sector nor a well paid job.

It's also a bit of a myth that all lawyers are very well paid. If I was looking for the money, I'd say an O+G engineer would be more promising than a law career.
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I would agree, a basic shift leccy in an N/E manufacturing company is looking at 30k.

Engineer Manager 40-50k, Chief/Group Engineer 60-70k+

Thats just the N/E!
 
fml..

why are there 5 pages?

BTEC = fail

No university except for the **** ones will accept a BTEC because its a **** qualification
 
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