uni degree... enjoy it?

[fonzee]

Basically im 20, worked last 2-3 years in IT support, which i find unexciting and unchallenging so time for a change. Always regretted not going Uni so now seems the perfect opportunity to go. I either do a specialised subject in IT and aim towards a different path in the industry, or try something completely new.

So, questions...

What you studying and where to?

Enjoy it or not? Why?

Meet your expectations?

What career you aiming for?

How you finding the financial side of things?

Any regrets?


Thanks

update: 21 now, still looking to get out of IT

 

[OpenToSuggestions]

The problem with uni now-a-days is that anyone can go and get a 'degree'.
Just make sure it is a degree you enjoy and there are jobs in it, and doing the degree at a good institute is essential
Degrees are not worth less than they used to be - some people say this but it is not true. Just any old dump calls itself a uni now!

For example, tea making with scrotal studies at Derby uni isn't worth the time nor effort

Why did I go uni?? To get a well paid job, with opportunities to progress further.
I am an engineer at a major uni and it is damn tough, but it will be worth it when I am done.

The financial side is not very good, if your parents have a good job (it is beyond me how parents in their forties cannot earn over 30k combined) then you get little or no financial help.
Remember you lose 9% of earnings over 15k when paying loan back. Also remember this is on top of 20%tax and 11%NIC. Don't let money put you off, but it really needs to be considered!
Hope this helps a bit

EDIT: may be get sponsorship from current company?

 

[p4radox]

What you studying and where to?
Engineering


Enjoy it or not? Why?
Yes. The work is challenging but rewarding. The people are amazing and social side of things is great.


Meet your expectations?
Yep.


What career you aiming for?
Chartered Electrical Engineer


How you finding the financial side of things?
I take the full loan, and am lucky enough to receive a modest allowance from my parents. I get by okay, which is really fortunate as some people struggle quite a bit. Especially those that blow their loan on Xboxes and TVs in the first week of term...


Any regrets?
Not taking a gap year and travelling, and not studying further maths at A Level.


Thanks
You're welcome

 

[shifty_uk]

What you studying and where to?
Multimedia Technology at Paisley.
Enjoy it or not? Why?
Not enjoying it because of the crap Uni, unfortunately I need to complete this year(2nd year) to get into another Uni though. Also too much physics and not enough design.
Meet your expectations?
No.
What career you aiming for?
Some form of interactive design role.
How you finding the financial side of things?
It's been ok, would help if work wasn't messing me around with hours etc though. I went from working full time to working crappy hours a week.
Any regrets?
I left school at 16 because I landed a place on the first year of a design HND with my portfolio, I then landed a top internship with a brilliant web development agency but of course I was young and knew best, quit both the course and the internship 2 years in thinking I wanted to do other things. I could've been sitting with a degree right now, instead it's what I wanted after all and I'm having to redo second year etc again and all the messing around looks bad on my CV! edit: I also wish I'd stayed on at school and done highers.

 

[mitch212k]

interesting paradox you mention further maths. im wanting to do an engineering degree (just started AS levels) and am taking physics, biology, chemistry, maths, further maths. any comments on why you wish you'd taken further maths and the gap year too? The gap year is something i'm undecided on as i fear i'll forget everything if i take a year out, but i'd like the money from working during a gap year.

cheers

 

[OpenToSuggestions]

interesting paradox you mention further maths. im wanting to do an engineering degree (just started AS levels) and am taking physics, biology, chemistry, maths, further maths. any comments on why you wish you'd taken further maths and the gap year too? The gap year is something i'm undecided on as i fear i'll forget everything if i take a year out, but i'd like the money from working during a gap year.

cheers

I did physics maths IT at Alevel with Biology AS. Further maths AS level would have been good to have I think.
Physics and maths are essential - You need to do a full Alevel in both

Remember however engineering requires maths, physics and X all at certain grades to get into uni. Where X can be any other Alevel, so do something you can get a good grade in

 

[RandomTom]

Studying towards a BA in Business & Advertising at the University of Lincoln - Very new university with quite a hefty chunk of money being ploughed into it at the moment with quite a few new buildings popping up around, yet it's a very small totally walkable city, which saves money on transport - which is a factor you might need to consider when choosing a university.

It's alright, the work is interesting, it's not hard enough, sounds perverse but I want more academic work, though they've put quite a lot of emphasis into employability and sadly I think that quite a portion of the people here aren't very employable, there are quite a lot of people who live for the nights out and nothing else - not the wisest choice coming to small lil lincoln, though plenty of bars but only about 5 clubs - enough though to satisfy the masses. Loads of awesome pubs, but no one I've met seems to agree with me that pubs are better than clubs and quite happily **** and vomit the night away, daily.

I think you should aim higher on the league table at a university with more experience, you'll see a larger list of socials and tradition, but this place is just packed with potential at the moment (I'd recommend largely it in 3 years time but now it's just spending and growing.) I kind of regret it (so far) as the experience hasn't been up to my expectations but I'm probably asking too much, some of the people here are idiots but there are some gems - good friends even if i don't get to see them much.

I probably ask too much but I should have gone to Loughborough uni, seems awesome, more established, green and social. I regret not resitting A level physics to get my dismal D to a C at least.

Financial? It's too expensive, the city is cheap to live in but uni in general is a 'live in the red' kind of ideal. Get a part time job. You have to put your own effort in to get results too.

I think because you've already got experience, go to uni come out with a bit more and you'll be laughing.

 

[SlyReaper]

I have recently finished three years at Warwick University doing a maths degree. Best three years of my life. Now managed to bag a job in engineering which was pretty much what I wanted to do in the first place (although I still don't have a start date ).

Basically, if you want to go to university, do it NOW. If you put it off, it will be harder and harder to do it in the future. If you've saved a little money, great. If not, it's still doable by living off the student loan. It's also possible to work while you study, but I only ever did odd jobs for beer money.

Obviously as a mathematician, I'm biased about what subject you should take. Maths is a jack-of-all-trades sort of subject. No career will ever expect you to be able to evaluate integrals on functions of infinitely differentiable Riemann manifolds for example. But it enforces a certain rigour of thought, allows you to easily visualise complex abstract concepts, and give you first rate problem solving skills. Of course, it's bloody hard work and it's not for everyone.

As you've worked in IT, you'd probably do well in a computer science degree.

 

[p4radox]

interesting paradox you mention further maths. im wanting to do an engineering degree (just started AS levels) and am taking physics, biology, chemistry, maths, further maths. any comments on why you wish you'd taken further maths and the gap year too? The gap year is something i'm undecided on as i fear i'll forget everything if i take a year out, but i'd like the money from working during a gap year.

cheers

Further maths would just have made my first term easier. I was lucky to get in without it really, but they shoved the entire A level FM syllabus into my head in about a month, which was intense.

I wish I'd worked for 6 months and gone traveling for 6 months after that. I just hear so many people talk about how amazing it is.

 

[Blackstar]

What you studying and where?
Archaeology at Edinburgh (3rd year)
Enjoy it or not? Why?
I'm absolutely loving it this year. The course is fantastic, the lecturers are very good and the lectures are involving and interesting. The subjects i choose are just brilliant, human origins, human and animal remains, underwater archaeology and isotopes in archaeology.
Meet your expectations?
It has exceeded them, i had very little expectation of the course to begin with as i didn't really know what i was letting myself in for.
What career you aiming for?
Hopefully something to do with archaeology either in the field or otherwise
How you finding the financial side of things?
Very very difficult, although my fees are paid for me i get very little else.
Any regrets?
None at all, i've made great friends, having a good time and doing what i what to do.

 

[fonzee]

totally agree mglover, i'd be looking at a proper uni and need to be 100% sure in my choice of subject, hence why I need advice etc. i have 360+ UCAS points, which should get me in most places.

thanks for everyones input so far, an interesting read and hopefully for others too!

 

[OpenToSuggestions]

Ensure you check for accredited courses. Engineering (Mech or Manufacture or the like) are hugely valueable (so are other types of engineering but I don't know much about those!), but they need to be IMECHE/IET accredited, and poor unis won't have accreditation

Civil eng needs to be ICE accredited and so on and so on.

 

[RandomTom]

totally agree mglover, i'd be looking at a proper uni and need to be 100% sure in my choice of subject, hence why I need advice etc. i have 360+ UCAS points, which should get me in most places.

I got 300 and applied for a 240 ucas points place, I'm an idiot.

Seen as you're in Cornwall travelling home might cost quite a bit on the train if you spread your wings further than Exeter/Southampton/Bristol - might be something to consider.

 

[excaliborg]

Go for it, it's worth trying it once if you are unhappy with your job currently then you'll always regret it if you don't at least give uni a try.

I studied Fire Engineering at Leeds University, only one of about 15 people across the country to get the degree this year as it's a specialist job, but everywhere around us! There is a lot of work for us at the moment and for example, I had multiple job offers when I graduated so could choose where I went.

Being a specialist group in a large Mechanical and Electrical engineering firm we also get paid more, and treated better than their M&E guys!

Anyway, what i'm getting as is; try and find a specialist subject which you're interested in and do some prior research, find out how companies are doing and if there is a need for people to do the jobs. you'll find yourself in a much better situation than doing a general degree which doesn't particularly lead to a specific job.

 

[Ricochet J]

What you studying and where to?

Mechanical Engineering MEng

Enjoy it or not? Why?

l love it. Very exciting. You learn new concepts every day. Very maths and physics based, very challanging.

Meet your expectations?

It surpassed my expectations.

What career you aiming for?

There's soo much you could do with Engineering, but i'm hoping to specialise in the energy sector for military defence.

How you finding the financial side of things?

£3700 per year for the course. So that's £14800, round it up to £15000 for the degree.

Any regrets?

Wish I payed more attention in Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

Thanks

No problem

 

[Kreeeee]

What you studying and where to?

Enjoy it or not? Why?

Meet your expectations?

What career you aiming for?

How you finding the financial side of things?

Any regrets?

Computer Science, Bristol.

Not really, just want it to be over now. Love the social life but fed up of directed learning now.

Kind of, it's a lot more simple than I thought it would be.

Starting a family business with my father.

Lots of debt because of the loan but never struggling despite getting the minimum loan + tuition fees paid.

None whatsoever.

 

[Nitefly]

What you studying and where to?

Enjoy it or not? Why?

Meet your expectations?

What career you aiming for?

How you finding the financial side of things?

Any regrets?

MA in Law at the University of Bristol.

Yes. Its pretty intense and currently I am being too lazy for the work load. The seminars are fantastic and I learning a lot. Its a huge change from Biology, my undergraduate degree.

I wish to be a barrister.

I will have spent an absolute fortune on my education (~>£40k inc. living expenses). The chances of joining the Bar are slim to say the least, so if I fail, I am in some serious trouble. Or I'll decide to be a solicitor, we shall see.

None.

 

[RandomTom]

WUT? The distance between home and uni really doesn't matter that much :\. At the end of the day you can get reasonably priced train tickets if you book early... and there's always Megabus. Distance should not put people off :\.

It shouldn't but if someone plans on regularly going home to see parents, friends or anything, the burdon of a ridiculous train fare could put you off, completely unnattached reasoning I know. He's in Cornwall and say he went from Plymouth to Warwick (for ex.) a return would be £84, if you do that journey more than a few times a year it'll sting.

 

[Ricochet J]

What can people tell me about... the London School of Economics and Political Science, Manchester, Sheffield, Warwick, and the School of Oriental and African Studies?

LSE, regarded as one of the best business schools in the world. Manchester I think is third behind OxBridge in the league tables and SOAS is meant to be an excellent all rounder.

 

[Maccy]

What you studying and where to?
Currently taking music tech at Portsmouth uni

Enjoy it or not? Why?
Loving it so far, although only in my first year. Social life is awesome down here.

Meet your expectations?
So far yeh

What career you aiming for?
Somewhere in the industry, but then isn't everyone?!

How you finding the financial side of things?
Better than expected, student loan and parents.

Any regrets?
Not yet