Are there any courses, you would actively discourage your dc doing at uni ?

[JennyTals]

Is anything a no go for you, or would you support any course

@DamsonIcecream My DH did a two-year MBA at a top-tier uni several years ago and it enabled him to change fields and gave him in-depth knowledge in certain areas.

It transformed his career.

Perhaps some business degrees aren’t very useful but others are, imo.

My Bf is a police detective. When we go out eat in our home city we can’t go to any of the restaurant with open plan kitchens. When she has, she knows most of the chefs from arresting them. It’s notorious. I wouldn’t be encouraging my child to “train” for that sector

It depends on the job. If you want to be an economist or analyst you need economics, stats or maths. For engineering you need engineering. Many of the well paid graduate programmes do require something specific.

Wow that's great. However he's not studying golf is he? He's playing golf and working which is different.

I'd be fine with any respected university, Russell Group plus a few other older ones and specialist institutions. I'd want them to do a subject they love, most importantly. We're very fortunate to be able to support them financially so they can take risks with their interests, and not just choose the most vocational choices.

If you're still reading OP, my advice to younger people would be to do a degree that actually qualifies you for something after the 4 years.

Unfortunately, I did a degree in Psychology, and while it was interesting, most of my class didn't end up being Psychologists, because it's very competitive and you need years of extra study to get there.

If I could go back in time, I would have studied an Allied Health Profession - Occupational Therapists or Speech and Language Therapist, Physiotherapist etc. I believe these degrees have work experience built in to them, and once you complete your degree, you can register and actually start working in that area.

It's fine. Especially if it has a statistical component and they do some research for the voluntary sector or work experience.

Piffle.

Accountancy firms used to love engineers and geographers.
Accountancy was a second rate degree.

Economists are best if they have studied maths or history

Engineers who did physics are the sharpest

Yes, as I said, about half continue into the field of study, i.e. get a job in the subject of the degree 🤷

When she has, she knows most of the chefs from arresting them. It’s notorious

What for?

I'd probably steer my kids away from pursuing degrees in fields that AI is likely to dominate, like writing.

This could help:

Oops. No link? I'll try one more time

It doesn't appear to be showing. Google 'Yes, you're going to be replaced', its an interesting piece on the Aporia website.

This entire thread is an illustration of why the American liberal arts model is superior to the early specialisation British model.

Vassar and Williams and Brown
are the reason the US imports its engineers

I agree that A-levels involve too early specialisation. On the other hand, I teach summer schools for mostly US students, and it’s not wildly unusual to encounter mad mixtures like someone majoring in marketing with a minor in criminology.

@Talkinpeace I wouldn't say nursing is an unnecessary degree. Nurses these days are prescribers and carry out tasks/procedures that were traditionally done by doctors. Many work autonomously.

The underpinning knowledge needed is now a lot greater than it was 40 years ago so degree level education (and above) is required.

WRT debt, that's only in England. Wales and Scotland still have the bursary

@Talkinpeace You wouldn’t apply to those colleges if you wanted to be an engineer though, would you?! You’d apply to colleges known for their engineering departments such as MIT or Georgia Tech, or a highly-ranked state school.

I agree re. A nursing degree nowadays @Blushingm. One of my friends made a career change to nursing in her 40’s (she’s now 50) and def. felt that she needed the degree. At least if you wanted to be in the higher bands.

Yes, but not stop them.
So Acting etc. and Fine Art are top of my head, but also with debt I'd like them to show a genuine interest in any subject they study, not just choosing the best they can think of because " everyone else is applying "

@Talkinpeace

Vassar and Williams and Brown
are the reason the US imports its engineers
That's really random selection of colleges

@Talkinpeace

Nursing did not used to be a degree.
This indicates that you know very little of what nurses actually do.

They used to change bedding, deal with bed pans, change dressings and follow very simple instructions from the doctor.

Nurses are now highly trained medical professionals

If I wanted to do engineering in the US, I wouldn't be applying to Williams. Brown otoh mightn't be a bad choice. If I could get into the Vassar-Dartmouth dual liberal arts-engineering degree I might go for that.

In general though, state universities are good, affordable choices for engineering, and obv MIT, CalTech, Stanford, the armed forces academies, etc.

A huge attraction of the liberal arts model is the broader curriculum (including STEM, humanities, mfl, writing), and the chance to develop a true interest before deciding on a major.

Nursing was always skilled but it was not an undergraduate degree.
Its a job (among many others) that would be better NOT wasted on years of lectures

The nurses I know have multiple post grads after their undergraduate degrees. They’re some of the most educated people I know, to be fair

Top colleges in the USA knee deep in legacy entrants

In the UK our absolute top two are Cambridge and Imperial