University

Kroegen · 13 May 2006 at 08:52

Is it really worth it?

Im in my first year of college, and i want to do a mobile computing course at my local uni.

I was wondering would i be better off with going straght into work, rather than uni?

semi-pro waster · 13 May 2006 at 09:17

It depends what you do there and what you want out of it. In computing it seems as a general rule that you can get about as far by working on the job and learning as you go for say IT support but programming seems to be better taught at uni however you also need experience in a work environment which can be difficult to gain. Experience and ability both appear to be more highly prized than qualifications although without qualifications you may hit a 'glass ceiling' for certain jobs. I should say that I'm not in any computing related area at the moment but I have a lot of mates who are and I'm only working on my observations of them.

However I'd say that uni is about more than just getting a job at the end of it, I've met some of the best mates I'll probably ever know, had a lot of fun and gained some valuable life experience as well. You might find that all at work and you certainly won't have such a massive debt but I'd say for me the positives far outweigh the negatives

whitecrook · 13 May 2006 at 09:18

think of the job you want to do and if that job requires a degree go for it otherwise just get a job. There is no point going to uni 'just because'. You need a reason and a goal.

D.P. · 13 May 2006 at 09:27

A degree is only part of what uni gives you.
Many jobs will require a degree
It will be near impossible to do a technical job with out a degree unless you can magic several years of experience from somewhere.
A degree is often used as a sorting mechanism: e.g., IBM ignore you unless you have a 2.1 or above from a reputed university.
If you do a top degree from a top uni then big companies are normally begging for you.

If you are going to do a degree that is from a less reputable univeristy and doing a course which doesn't provide any direct employable skill then a the degree itself wont be much use, but you will still leanr a lot of useful things at uni.

Stellios · 13 May 2006 at 12:19

Have a look at a 4 year sandwich course? 2 years in education, then a year in work then a final year in uni.

Im starting BSc Computer Science at Northumbria in September, cant wait.

Psyk · 13 May 2006 at 13:18

whitecrook said:
think of the job you want to do and if that job requires a degree go for it otherwise just get a job. There is no point going to uni 'just because'. You need a reason and a goal.

I think uni is a good idea if you're still unsure what you want to do. But if that's the case you have to be careful what you do at uni. Pick something very general, a pure science, maths, english, history, etc. Stuff like comp sci wouldn't be very good for that situation.

But it seems like this doesn't really apply to the OP as he has an idea of what he wants to do.