University - is it worth it?

[pips]

unless you're tremendously self motivated, its difficult to keep up with the work load.

oh, bugger.

i have no doubt that i will enjoy uni immensly. i'm one of those people who wants to make the most of everthing i do, so that it's worth something.
i was in a mard last night because my application was a nightmare (i had to cut out 7 lines from my personal statement - all is fine now). is anyone else doing it online? it's making me a little nervous; i want it infront of me, on paper.

i went to another campus tour today and really enjoyed it, so i'm feeling slightly better about it all today, no doubt it will all change in a couple of days or so.

[Soapy]

I'm doing it pips, and I'm scaring to ~*iguana*~ death.

I have to wait for my remark results before I send it off but it's so worrying that the next 3/4 years of your life are resting on this tiny little amount of internet.



Anywho, yes I think uni is worth it. Can't be arsed to elaborate, I just got out of bed

[blueangel]

My friend got into Queens Universaty in belfast and lasted three weeks doing a geogarphy and politics corse. Then she tried to get back in for a nursing degree but because she left her first corse she isn't allowed to apply again untill 2006!

[Cookiemonster]

unless you're tremendously self motivated, its difficult to keep up with the work load.

Not true here, although sometimes we have more work to do than at other times I've never felt overwhelmed by work levels, and I'm one of the least self-motivated people I can think of! It varies depending on uni and course, really.

[jessia]

the work levels for me... they're not too overwhelming. my seminar leader told us we should be doing 5 hours daily, which none of us are close to. there's a fair bit of reading to do, and i don't finish it.. but it's just 'cause i'm lazy and easily distracted.

[Halfaperson]

To be honest, I had a fair few personal problems during my time at Uni that made me grow to hate the place. A lot of bad stuff was happening in my life at the time, so it stands to reason that I didn't enjoy my time there. I am sure that given the right set of circumstances, and a bit more luck, I might have grown to like it.
What I do resent is the constant harrassing of people who choose not to go to Uni. The intellectual superiority people like to assume just because they've got their 2:2 in Leisure and Tourism or media, or some other poor excuse for an academic qualification. The market is saturated with overqualified people, and in many fields of employment there is only room for the very top achievers, so inevitably, many will be disappointed. I am only speaking from personal experience, as I've mentioned, many of my friends, people with Business and Finance degrees have gone back to the same temp jobs they had before they went to Uni.
From the social view point, any new experience is going to be personality building and enriching, whether bad or good, so the whole tumultuous rollercoaster ride of those three or four years will be ultimately beneficial. I merely suggest to people that Uni isn't the only way to live a fun life, don't get the impression that you're somehow missing something that you couldn't get in other walks of life.
Please note that in NO WAY am I denigrating the University experience, or ignoring the many people who HAVE had great times there, I'm only saying that people shouldn't feel pressured into going or feel that they are somehow a lesser being for not having a degree. Some of the smartest people I know never went to uni, and come to think of it, some of the richest. Just do what YOUR instinct tells you. Uni can be a great experience, but you have to know what you want to get out of it.

[All_That_Jazz]

I'm doing it pips, and I'm scaring to ~*iguana*~ death.

I have to wait for my remark results before I send it off but it's so worrying that the next 3/4 years of your life are resting on this tiny little amount of internet.



Anywho, yes I think uni is worth it. Can't be arsed to elaborate, I just got out of bed

Yeah, I'm applying online too. Apparently they prefer it, but it seems...almost risky.

[Kathleen]

If, on the other hand, you decide to go to uni simply because of the pressure put on people to go, and all the scare stories about not being able to get a job if you don't get a degree, then please, don't force yourself into going.

Ugh, I HATE that attitude. I knew a guy who didn't know what he wanted to do with his life and so he just did a degree so he could feel like he was doing something and because it would sound good. But it doesn't sound good at all, it sounds stupid. Why would you spend 3 years of your life, $30 000+ and all of that time and effort on something you don't even really enjoy or will find useful?

So don't worry and think that if you don't go to Uni its the end of the world. Go travelling instead, learn a language, live abroad for a while, find a career that you will enjoy, do some charity work, take up different sports. I'm trying to do all this now to make up for my dire Uni days! But everyone's experiences are different. The key is being happy and confident in what you're doing, everything else stems from that, whether you go to uni or not.

Exactly.
I think if the career you want requires a degree, then you should do it. But just know that university isn't the only option. I hate it how everyone expects you to go to high school, then university, then get a job. There is no format for how your life should be, you choose it! There are so many great things you can do before/instead of going to university. Taking a break and having other experiences often make you realise what you really want to do.

For the record, I am planning on doing a degree, but that is because it will let me spend my life doing the things I love.

[pips]

well, ucas application is done except for a copule of tweeks. so, all i have to do is pay and then press send.
i'm now worrying that i won't get any offers but i suppose everyone is. if i send it off now when do you think i'll get offers? before or after january?

[Cookiemonster]

It really varies, although as you're sending it off quite a bit before the deadline you should theoretically get them a bit earlier than those who send them off nearer the end of the year.

[pips]

the christmas period is going to be a barrel of laughs then. what with revision and nerves from no offers.

[Melancholy Man]

top up fees (thanks for that, our lovely government,

Much as it sticks in my gullet to say so, but on this case I have more sympathy for that arch-liar Blair. He may have benefited from a free university education, but it was at a time when a tiny, tiny proportion of people went there. We now have a situation when > 40% are attending, with more than a few simply bumming around in the likes of media studies. The fees must be paid for from somewhere.

Have there been instances of prospective students being *refused* loans for fees? It ain't a real concept at the beginning of your studies... you won't start repaying until you're earning > £15000. Many of the graduates now griping about repayings find money enough for swish cars or holidays or clothes.

all of whom not only studied at uni for free but got paid to do so!)

That said, consider that they spent their early years living off the bounty of peace and stability, having never so much as fired a musket in their lives, and are now freely invading... no, sorry... *liberating* other countries and dragging us into a dark Orwelian underworld. Then consider that they don't have the balls to face their critics, whether they're octogenarians or the hoi polloi trying to get within 0.625 miles of Westminster. That makes me livid.

[Crazy Bear Mc.Gubbins]

Am I the only student who actually feels rich because of their student loan? All I ever hear is people bitching about 'poor' students and I keep finding I have more money than I could ever need in my bank account. It's enough for top-up fees and accomodation stuff easy and we're still getting broadband and digital TV in the flat <_< Seriously going to university is like applying for free money in my opinion xD

[jessia]

the thing about student loans is having to pay them back...

[Melancholy Man]

Yet today's students will be 70 by the time they retire. Plenty time.

[Max]

that's another thing does anybody else think we should change the structure of the year a little bit, take the exams, get our results, and then apply? i don't know what to think really. it could be a good idea, but would it work?

You can do it that way - I'm going to - but only if you're taking a gap year.

[jimi]

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