Thinking about Uni!

Jonny69 said:
Waste of time. You'll rack up loads of debt and not get paid much more than you will build up in 3 years of working. Get a job instead.
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The vast majority of the 'debt' you incur is student loan, which is paid off at a paltry rate and has a completely insigificant rate of interest.

Do it, its great.

Edit: Ah, computing. Think carefully then.
 
[TW]Fox said:
The vast majority of the 'debt' you incur is student loan, which is paid off at a paltry rate and has a completely insigificant rate of interest.
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Not that insignificant, and it's still a lot of money that needs to be repaid. I guess it's easier to convince yourself it's not a lot of debt if you keep repeating it often enough though.
 
dirtydog said:
Not that insignificant, and it's still a lot of money that needs to be repaid. I guess it's easier to convince yourself it's not a lot of debt if you keep repeating it often enough though.
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All a matter of opinion. An insignificant rate when you consider that you could make more on the money yourself in a savings account - and it's a lot of money that only needs to be repaid so long as you have a job, for instance.
 
OP, if you feel that uni will help you get where you want to go - do it. Don't listen to the fools here telling you not to. It's your choice. Remember to take into account wether the pay-off will outweigh the debt though.

Good luck.
 
dirtydog said:
Not that insignificant, and it's still a lot of money that needs to be repaid. I guess it's easier to convince yourself it's not a lot of debt if you keep repeating it often enough though.
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Taken over the course of your life, and considering the experience that university has been for me, I certainly think a debt of about 15k is a price worth paying.

I just can't see that the oppurtunities and friends i've made at uni, I would have experienced had I not gone.
 
dirtydog said:
Yep. He isn't gonna get a well paid computer job even with a degree - employers want someone with past experience.
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Plenty of graduates walk straight into well paid IT jobs. Although, perhaps not graduates with a degree in Computing from Lincoln - I'll grant you that!

:)
 
Do it marra!

I'm in the same position as you except I'm already on the "Foundation Year" or "Year 0" and finish this April. I'm 23 myself and I'll be starting my full Honours Degree this September now. :D

As for the debt if you don't earn over £15000 per year then you don't have to pay a penny back. I look at it like this;

If I start earning enough that I have to make contributions to paying my LEA loan back then it's good because I'll be earning decent money. :cool:

If I don't earn over £15000 a year (doubtful) then at least I've had £18000 from the government for naff all. :rolleyes:

Win/Win situation really, go for it my son! :p
 
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dirtydog said:
Not that insignificant, and it's still a lot of money that needs to be repaid. I guess it's easier to convince yourself it's not a lot of debt if you keep repeating it often enough though.
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Do you know anything about the student loan?
 
I know about the student loan and I don't like having it hanging over me, but it was my only option if I wanted to go to Uni so that's life.
Regardless of that, the OP didn't ask about people's views on the loan, he asked for help and advice about the course NOT a discussion on the resulting debt, so try not to derail the thread as these type of threads invariably end up ;)
 
Haly said:
I know about the student loan and I don't like having it hanging over me, but it was my only option if I wanted to go to Uni so that's life.
Regardless of that, the OP didn't ask about people's views on the loan, he asked for help and advice about the course NOT a discussion on the resulting debt, so try not to derail the thread as these type of threads invariably end up ;)
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The way I read it, he asked for opinions on going to university as well. Part of the equation is getting into a lot of debt. Admittedly it's hard to understand his writing but that's what I inferred anyway.

KingDing said:
I about 24 and i just thinking about starting Uni! Crazy idea but i think the time is right. What you guys think?
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dirtydog said:
The way I read it, he asked for opinions on going to university as well. Part of the equation is getting into a lot of debt.
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Yeah but you've both summed up your views on it, now you're just going to go round in circles never agreeing with each other because you just have different views and are both stubborn :p
 
Haly said:
Yeah but you've both summed up your views on it, now you're just going to go round in circles never agreeing with each other because you just have different views and are both stubborn :p
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Me stubborn? You must be confusing me with someone else :p

Yes I agree that the debate on whether a student loan is really a debt or not is boring and I don't have any great enthusiasm for carrying it on. I know enough students who hate having the debt hanging round their necks to be convinced that I am right anyway.
 
dirtydog said:
I think so.. are you implying that if I did know all about it then I would never come to the conclusion that it is still proper debt?
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Yes, thats exactly what I am implying :)

IMHO, it is not a proper debt becuase:

a) The interest rate is so low, you never really owe more in real terms than you borrow
b) The repayments are set in such a way that it barely even dents your income
c) The repayments stop if you ever earn less than £15,000 and only restart once you earn more than that again, so you can't get into serious financial bother if you lose your job/fall on hard times like you do when you take out a regular loan
d) It gets written off, IIRC, when you get to 60 if you've not paid it all off.

The only problem with is the pshycological feeling some people get with owing money.
 
I did know all that, for what it's worth ;) It's debatable how low the interest rate is - it might only be a few % a year but on a five figure debt, compounded over several years it adds up. Also the interest continues to accumulate regardless of whether you are earning the £15k or not.

Anyway..... let's take Haly's advice and let the thread get back on track shall we :)
 
I know a guy who is currently 28, in his second year of university after doing his time in the army. He seems to be getting on fine with it all, although now is considering jacking it in to become a police officer.

All the luck in the world to you if you decide to take it up. I'm currently doing a Computer Science degree, with an industrial placement next year. Already found myself a job and I found it better being from Computer Science then a specific degree like software engineering, internet computing, multimedia computing as they were restricted to the jobs they could apply for. Where as I had a very broad range of experience from my course.

Hope that helps.
 
As you're looking at Lincoln i'll give you a bit of advice. Half the Media/Multimedia courses are based at the Hull campus and half at the Lincoln campus. Check where you'll be going - they've been actively trying to move out of Hull (who could blame them? ;)) for a while now, and its all come to a head this year. I'm not actually sure if theyre offering courses here next year, but i seriously wouldnt advise coming to Hull to study. Eg. Half my tutors are at Lincoln most of the week, eg. my housemate (Computing) has to get up for a dissertation meeting at 8.30 once a week because his tutor is only in Hull for one day a week. :rolleyes:

Not to mention lack of equipment etc, and the staff here are really stretched.

On the bright side, i hear the Lincoln campus absolutely stinks of money (i must go sometime) :p

Hope that helps. :)
 
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