How do Idiots get into university?

AthlonTom said:
I applied for uni on the 2nd September 2003 - Started on the 14th.

1st year - lived with 9 nurses, got into debt, had an awesome time, didnt really goto uni - missed a few exams.
I didnt really like my degree as it was a bit last minute

2nd year - lived with 6 other stoners in the most squlid conditions on planet earth - I'd get up in the evening - the kitchen would have people sleeping in it and so would the hall - it was one long party, I went to uni to aviod cleaning. Failed and few modules and generally did really really badly (Though due to administrative error on the uni's part I didnt have to resit).

3rd year - did the bare minimum until christmas - and utilized all my dyslexia extension thingies to finnish the first semester - did ok!
Semester 2 was good too - came out with a 2:1 (August 2006)

Anyway - onto the point, I went to uni as a thicko just there for the experience - it made me into the person I am today, I've got a massive amount of debt, drank every drink, tried every drug and been to just about every bar in Birmingham, I've got loads of friends, though it did take me till my third year todo any work - I still did ok. Don't be too quick to judge people untill you get out the first year - it'll really surprise you what happens when they start to live a little.


I work for Bellmicro now.
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People like you give 2:1s a bad name. You represent everything that is wrong with higher education today.
 
Spuderoony said:
People like you give 2:1s a bad name. You represent everything that is wrong with higher education today.
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It does seem a joke if you can fart arse about the whole time yet still come out with a good degree. Having a degree really used to mean something. Now it frequently means nothing.
 
dirtydog said:
It does seem a joke if you can fart arse about the whole time yet still come out with a good degree. Having a degree really used to mean something. Now it frequently means nothing.
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Haven't degrees always been classified on the final years results or at least on the final two years results(in the case of Scotland 3rd year being an ordinary degree, 4th being for Honours)? If so why do you or anyone else think that students today are more irresponsible? Aside from the greater numbers which will mean that as a total number you might get more students who don't work but percentage wise this might not hold true.
 
Spuderoony said:
People like you give 2:1s a bad name. You represent everything that is wrong with higher education today.
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I got the grades where it counted - and that was the third year - looking back; if the 1st and second year don't count whats the point in staying in every night and doing work that won't be counted anyway?

I did manage to get my A+ and CCNA though, plus I'm now an HP OpenView Certified professional (And there aint many of them in the world (400?))
 
univeristys are full of inbred mongrels these days.

anybody can get in. government wants everyone to go. the uni's want the money.

the trades have gone to pot because of the greedy gits.
 
semi-pro waster said:
Haven't degrees always been classified on the final years results or at least on the final two years results(in the case of Scotland 3rd year being an ordinary degree, 4th being for Honours)? If so why do you or anyone else think that students today are more irresponsible? Aside from the greater numbers which will mean that as a total number you might get more students who don't work but percentage wise this might not hold true.
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Entrance requirements to university are significantly less stringent than they were for previous generations, which I would think means you must get people who didn't try very hard for their A levels - A levels which themselves are arguably weak compared to yesteryear.
 
[TW]Fox said:
If the lectures were anything like the 1st year of CSN was when I did it you can probably learn more relevant IT stuff from studying the way their pens fell to the ground than from listening to the dude at the front.
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That bad eh? Annoyingly I seem to know everything they are talking about so far except for the electronics practicals. Everything seems quite straight-forward but I can't find any Maths lecture notes posted? They're all 3 years old which isn't too helpful :p
 
Deadly Ferret said:
A-levels.
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Correction, the small number of mickey mouse A-levels you get is what these people pass with; General Studies etc. Please don't just say A-levels because a lot of us did proper A-levels like biology and psychology and I can tell you they are not easy.
 
dirtydog said:
Entrance requirements to university are significantly less stringent than they were for previous generations, which I would think means you must get people who didn't try very hard for their A levels - A levels which themselves are arguably weak compared to yesteryear.
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Too much of a generalisation DD, entrance requirements to some universities are higher than ever, the problem lies with the fact that many unis (mostly polytechnic) are now catering for abstract degrees and also running unconventional Americanised courses while simultaneously putting more emphasis on money than anything else. Middlesex have cancelled History due to financial concerns and are currently over-charging for certain courses. They aren't the only ones who have adopted such practices.
A-Levels may be watered down, although I'd be interested to see evidence for this, but your average A-Level student now has to sit many more than yesteryear.

In all, education isn't all going downhill, it has had to extend to a middle-ground in order to become accessible. Perhaps that was Tony Blair's vision of 50% graduates... after all he didn't specify which meaningless fields they might graduate in.
 
cleanbluesky said:
Too much of a generalisation DD, entrance requirements to some universities are higher than ever
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Indeed, I didn't mean to imply that standards at universities had plummeted across the board.

In all, education isn't all going downhill
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Not all perhaps, but I think overall the trend is down with the exception possibly of Oxbridge and some others.

, it has had to extend to a middle-ground in order to become accessible. Perhaps that was Tony Blair's vision of 50% graduates... after all he didn't specify which meaningless fields they might graduate in.
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That's the whole problem isn't it - a stupid arbitrary figure which Blair chose, based on the false premise that having a degree automatically means someone is well educated and will be a valuable addition to the UK workforce. Low entry requirements (in many, not all universities) and the creation of mickey mouse degrees makes that far from the case.
 
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dirtydog said:
Entrance requirements to university are significantly less stringent than they were for previous generations, which I would think means you must get people who didn't try very hard for their A levels - A levels which themselves are arguably weak compared to yesteryear.
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This is precisely why many employers consider the institution you studied at to be at least as important as the grade you achieved.

I agree with you about A Levels, but the top universities don't use them to discriminate among candidates any more - they're looking towards references, interviews, STEP and AEA grades as a much better indicator of who'll perform well and who won't.
 
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