To wonder how the HELL some people get into university?

[SayYuleNowSayWhipTheReindeer]

I'm currently doing a degree as a mature student alongside work, and am just amazed at the stupidity lack of knowledge some of my fellow students have. For instance, nearly all of them - on a fecking ENGLISH LANGUAGE degree course - mix up "your" and you're", "there" and "their", and use the spelling "definately".

I overheard a conversation today that involved several students talking about how they didn't know their times tables above 5 or 6.

AIBU to seriously wonder if it's even worth doing a degree if this is the standard they're allowing in at the moment?

Thanks LRD - and no need to apologise. :o

Yule, PC is not an acronym. You pronounce each letter. An acronym is pronounced as if it were a word. Acronyms - TARDIS and GUI. Not Acronyms - BBC and TV.

sayYule, your OP is kind of slagging of all students who're not mature students issn't it? ... I mean, did you not expect some 'tone' for that?

I get it now you've explained a bit more but it does sound quite damning about the generation of current students really.

I get the feeling I'm missing something in my reading of the OP ...

(Btw, I never knew that MIlly ... thanks!)

I have a slight issue with mature students (not all, and nothing person to you, depends how mature we're talking).

Especially in Wales where they are funded entirely by the Welsh Assembly, one of the two who graduated with me was 63...after being paid for out of the pot, he didn't see the point in getting a job or putting back into the economy.

He should have done an OU course, at least he wouldn't have taken a place of somebody else-some "illiterate" 18 year old who would be putting into the pot for a lot longer and probably putting more into the pot considering the field we studied in.

Oh and I think I'm in labour a bit so I'm generally a bit pissy with every thread I'm gracing.

Sorry.

There's the bad spelling, the bad grammar; but what pissed me off the most as a mature student was the constant chatting and texting in lectures and seminars. SHUT UP AND LISTEN! IT'S ONLY AN HOUR!

I work in local papers. We sometimes get CVs from graduates who can't spell the name of the paper.

Although that's not as amusing as the applicants who haven't bothered to change their email from the one they set up as workshy students, e.g. [email protected] [paraphrased]. At least that one was accurate.

" I did my MA with a 1 year old child .."

I'm glad I read that a second time!

First time I thought, "now standards have really slipped." :)

I'm sure she knew then before she was 6 months old Lequeen

BrianButterfield, please don't take this as an attack (I am also a teacher).

But if you find that year upon year pupils are making the same mistakes and not learning,

...maybe...

...just maybe...

the way they are being taught needs to change!

them* bloody illiterate I am

LeQueen, I think your post is connected to the actual point.

Every 18 year old should have basic literacy and numeracy in a country with compulsory education. Whether or not they are at university is neither here nor there.

Pendeen now that would be impressive.

I agree it'd be ideal Milly.

But IMO it's a separate point from 'and do we judge those students at university who don't'?

IME, it is perfectly possible, though not ideal, to cope with Higher Education with flawed literacy/numeracy. And I know plenty of people who hold down good jobs with flawed numeracy/literacy.

I do feel angry and sad that some 18 year olds don't have the skills that their education was intended to give them. But mainly because it means they wasted their time. I disagree that these skills are an absolute necessity. They aren't. It's possible to get by, and to make up these skills later on. It certainly doesn't mean you're stupid or a failure if you've not got them.

(Sorry ... to be clear, obviously I know you weren't saying it meant people were stupid or any of that ... I was waffling on about my own views there!)

i'm a mature student at a former poly university luckily the real world isn't as jaded as mumsnet and the degree is worth something in my industry!

also the younger students on my course are very bright, all A level A grade student (as they keep telling us )

does make me laugh that on mumsnet people can make you think you're a thicko as your university isn't 'highbrow' enough. and also students are there to learn aren't they.

I'm sure my OP isn't slagging off all students that aren't mature students.... I'm pretty sure I said 'some of my fellow students'.

Sayyule..

Maybe they're all clever clogs who don't need to work so hard as you.

Reeling - damn you could be right.

Yes, I realized midway through the thread what you were saying, SayYule, I just meant I read the OP that way initially and felt a bit ruffled-feathered-y.

I think it is easy to feel that way because there's a fair amount of doom and gloom about current students.

I rote-learned my times tables at school and am very glad of it now. I reckon mental arithmetic (which is a bit of a non-starter for numbers much above 20 if you don't know your times tables) has to be up there with the alphabet as pretty essential basics to learn at school.

Am I right in thinking that children don't have to rote-learn them nowadays, because that's authoritarian or not child-centric enough or some such bollocks?

In the States pupils have to take SAT standardised tests and submit teh scores to universities that they appy to. These tests cover maths, English, reasoning etc. and are way above the level of times tables.

Maybe we should introduce similar tests which can be retaken until a sufficient level is reached.

Yes, there are some people at universities who should not really be there, in terms of basic aptitude, motivation and attitude.
However, most university students are not like that and I hate the pigeonholing of recent graduates that goes on, the whole "can't spell, no common sense, not as clever as old me" thing.