If you went to university what courses or degrees would you say are worth it and what is pointless to study?

[Cupcakeicecream]

Whether you went to university or would start over and go back to university what would you study.
How many of you actually use the degree you got is it actually relevant to your life or a complete waste?
What degrees would you say are absolutely pointless to study and why.
If you had the chance to change your career what would you study.
Or would you bother going to university if you had your time again.
What degrees are worth it either getting you into a job with work life balance good salary job prospects ect

I will be applying for university in 2021 to study LD Nursing so I am hoping it will useful.

For me its career progression. I could work my way up to a registered manager but they jobs are few and far between. But a nursing degree in the field I already work in would open up doors for career progression and almost double my take home pay.

I think any degree that teaches you to question and investigate is invaluable.

Did a BEd in the dark ages as I wanted to teach. Landed up taking a sharp turn into a Civil Service management scheme and stayed in the CS for the rest of my working life so the degree could have been in anything I suppose.

DS wanted to teach MFL so did a European Languages degree followed by a PGCE and now teaches.

Whether you went to university or would start over and go back to university what would you study.
I went, studied Physics and under- and postgraduate level.
How many of you actually use the degree you got is it actually relevant to your life or a complete waste?
completely relevant couldn’t do my job without my degrees.
What degrees would you say are absolutely pointless to study and why.
I don’t think any degree is pointless if you’re interested in the subject.
If you had the chance to change your career what would you study.
I wouldn’t.
Or would you bother going to university if you had your time again.
Yes I’d go all over again.
What degrees are worth it either getting you into a job with work life balance good salary job prospects ect
And STEM degree, medical degree, law, architecture, many, too many to list.

The arts are as important as STEM subjects. It is more frequent that the poet or novelist challenge a society, than an engineer.

How can you live in the world we live in and not realise that the revolutions in how we live over the last 200 years are due to engineers and scientists? It wasn't a poet who invented the combustion engine or the train or the plane or modern medicine or the internet. It was lots and lots of scientists and engineers working together to change the world. Great poets and novelists do inspire people but they are few and far between, over a million people do non-science degrees every year, how many of them change the world by the literature they produce? And isn't that only possible because of an engineer inventing the printing press/kindle? Most steps forward in the creative arts have involved scientist and engineers creating new tools a few years earlier that have inspired artists, from new pigments, fabrics, photography, lighting effects, electronic music etc etc.

I know degrees in the humanities teach useful skills, e.g. people trained in law or languages are essential in the modern world, but there are more people doing non-science degrees than science degrees and we have a skills shortage for STEM. STEM degrees lead to well paid secure jobs so if you want value for money from your degree STEM is a good bet. A mediocre mathematician will be better paid than a mediocre classicist.

I think this is a toughie

I went to a uni which is sort of renowned for weird and wonderful degrees. And I know people who did them.

And for every person who was like that degree was a waste of time / money I don't use it 10 years on. I know another person who did the exact same course whos made a career out of said degree.

I think more consideration needs to be done these days for what you want to get out of h the degree and what you want to do afterwards.

STEM degrees don't necessarily mean well paid. Scientist tend to be one of the lowest paid professions there is (yes even lower than teachers and nurses)

I did a law degree and I went in to law. It was very useful. Taught me to always try and see both sides.

In the days when degrees were free, I wouldn’t care what degree my D.C. did. Now - if they wanted to do something like media studies or film studies, I think I would baulk. I would prefer they went straight into the work force - or travelled around.

I agree with PPs dont do psychology unless you know you can get a 1st and want to become an educational psychologist so are willing to do and msc and PhD. Even then it is super competitive.

Because Chipotle I’m not daft. I recognise that there is a difference between political revolution and innovation. Dickens was an ameliorate, literature changed the way we treat mental health, philosophies change governments.

I did my degree in Welsh Language. Always lived in S Wales where Welsh isn't as common but because all publications and services must be bilingual it puts me way ahead of other applicants even though my roles have always been completely unrelated to my degree. Suppose I'm the person you call on for translation/to speak to a customer complaining of lack of Welsh Lang services.

politics, loved it, and use it daily for arguing on the internet

I think anyone considering taking a degree, should imagine themselves as an employer and think, would my subject matter chosen make a difference?

Some fluffy degrees and we all the type of subjects, wouldn’t cut it with me as a hirer.

My first degree was in biochemistry which I never used after graduation. I then went back and did nursing which got me a job from day one and my knowledge and skills will always in demand, I can pretty much guarantee I won't find it hard to find a job and I can always make it fit my lifestyle ie agency work, full time work, 9-5, shifts etc.

If I had to choose again, I would do a subject that is pretty much guaranteed to get you straight into a job ie nursing, medicine, dentistry, social work etc. However I'm sure others will have different opinions and an education is never wasted, no matter what the subject.

Fine art degree is totally pointless! I'm still looking for a job in the arts and I'm mid 30's!

@Gilead did you mean to direct your comment at me? I have no idea what you’re talking about?

I did Classics and while the factual information I learned rarely comes in handy (other than at pub quizzes), I feel like the intellectual rigour of translation, close examination of texts and defending my arguments against experts in the field has stood me in good stead.

Although funnily enough, it did once help me get a very competitive teaching assistant role! The headteacher said they were focussing on literacy and he thought it would be a help. I’m not sure that it really correlated that well but I’m thankful anyway!

Apologies Chipotle in a great deal of pain and not as with it as I could be! 💐

@Gilead no problem.
I recognise that there is a difference between political revolution and innovation. Dickens was an ameliorate, literature changed the way we treat mental health, philosophies change governments.

I literally didn’t understand a word of this, too many big words. I told the thread I was a physicist right, I don’t do big fancy words.

I’m sorry you’re in pain.

I did a Geography degree at a good University. I’m now head of Geography in a secondary school. I don’t necessarily use my degree knowledge everyday, but I couldn’t really do my job without it (although some people are now training to be Geography teachers with degrees in journalism etc because of a shortage of teachers).

The most pointless degrees are ones that leave you feeling you are owed a job, and/or the ones that make you feel bitter that you're not good enough to have got the job you want. Sadly, these degrees cannot be classified by subject - they depend entirely on the person studying the course!

Scientist tend to be one of the lowest paid professions there is

Are you talking about postdocing, average salary £31k so not exactly horrendous? Agree terms and conditions are rubbish but there's also a snobbery about 'selling out' or 'not being a good enough scientist to survive in academia' and going into a well paid secure job in industry.

I would avoid Media Studies like the plague if you want to be a journalist or on the telly. However, if can be useful in other roles in the media. And vocational study in sound/ production etc can be great.

But I find media studies degrees very infuriating, as they sell a dream to kids that is unsustainable.

I don't think any degree is pointless, but on balance I would tend to recommend more general courses over highly specific ones as they can keep your options open better e.g. I would recommend 'biology' over 'forensics' due to the recent crisis in funding of forensic science.

Why don't you tell us what you think about all these points, OP? Or are you just taking 'research' notes for your article?