AIBU to want to be completely sure of my future prospects before going to university?

[CocoaButterGirl]

Hi MN,

Knowing what you know now about what life is like, the real world, skills that are in demand and useful, degrees and career paths that more or less lead to secure comfortable employment....

What would you recommend your DC study?

I am 21, left school after GCSE's and have been working/travelling ever since. I'm now thinking about going to university. My fiance and friends are all for it and I would like to have a interesting career.

Currently, I work as an office assistant in a beauty/health company, the freebies are great and it was a lot of fun for the first few years, but I have always gotten the sense that the others look down on me for not being university-educated and 'only' being support staff and it is not a nice feeling.

I'm interested in most things; history, anthropology, pharmacology, literature, philosophy, genetics

There are so many choices I don't know how to pick just one.

I want to choose something sensible and something that will lead to a good job, especially since it will cost me £27000 and three+ years of lost income.

You will not get into uni without A levels, so you will have to take a step back first.

Find out forst what you need to be able to start Uni - some a levels, an access course etc.

Not true Santana, you can actually get into uni with life experiences as a mature student......even at 21.

YABU or rather, YUBunrealistic. It's perfectly understandable, but no university can promise you a well paid job.

Oh yes and cocoa because you are working there are courses you can do part time over 3 years that you will be able to get a degree in. So you may not have to lose your income.

I think the main thing is to study something that really interests you. Have a look at the Open University website - you could dip your toe in the water with a short course while still working - you will probably find your studying skills are a bit rusty.

I know so many unemployed graduates I think you need to rethink your strategy of getting a degree in order to launch a high flying career.
I know plenty of people with MAs doing the job you are doing now. Only they are in shitloads of debt.
Study for a degree because a subject fascinates you and you really want to do it.

There are no guarantees about that sort of thing. Oh, except that a Meejah Studies degree is not respected in the media.

Really?! Surely you need some form of qualifications?

Hello,

I'm 22 and last year I was in the exact same position as you. I decided I wanted to do something with my life and so got onto an Access course. The only way you can completely ensure you get a job after uni is if you do something like Nursing, (thats what I'm doing) because 90-99% of people go into nursing, the rest either chose to have children or take a year out. Jobs like nursing, paramedic practice, midwifery, etc are direct entry routes so are really the only ones. Everything else there's no telling. A few of my friends did psychology and they're struggling getting anything related to that.

I would suggest going here:

search.ucas.com/

and seeing what courses you'd be interested in, and if you'd be able to get onto them as a mature student or you'd have to do access course/A Levels.

Dont think that university is the be all and end all however. Lots of people end up in highly paid jobs without uni.

Really?! Surely you need some form of qualifications?

She has GCSE's, there are uni courses she can do with these alone. As a mature student some university's look upon life experience, but they often ask for some sort of recent study to see if you are up to it.

Oh, I know about the prior requirements A Levels, Access courses and such, my question is about the actual degree - what ones are realistically worth doing in these times, in your experiences?

Phineyj Yes, I do the 10 point OU courses all the time, lot's of fun!

If you have wide ranging interests, have you thought about studying with the open university? It has the advantage of being part time too so you can carry on earning.

I'm doing the open pathway so can choose whatever modules I like every year. Mine are mostly IT based.

It's really hard to advise if you have no idea what job you'd like to be in, your interest list was a bit broad to be honest.

Avoid mickey mouse courses, media etc.

I don't really think you can go wrong with a language, english, mathematics etc but they're a bit dry

Xpost about OU

No point doing it just for the job, if you want to get a 2.1 you'll need to enjoy it and have some sort of natural ability.

That's good then - so you could quite easily start collecting credits towards a degree that way.

I think it's too hard to call four years ahead of time what degree would make you a cast iron certainty for well-paid employment, in the current economy.

If I had to say, I'd go for chartered accountancy or engineering. However, there are work your way up/train on the job routes that would get you to the same place with a lot less debt.

History and Music degrees have surprisingly good employment records.

What do you want to do after uni, and work backwards. Ie. if you want to be a doctor, do medicine. If you want to teach, do any degree then PGCE or a degree in education, etc. No degree guarantees a good job.

I don't have a levels and I'm in my first year now.

What do you want to do? This is American but worth looking at.

I was going to suggest doing a few of the 10 points type courses, I've enjoyed doing those too and it's a good way of finding out what the reality of doing a full course in a subject will be like. But if you've already done that, I can't be much help!

I think there's a certain element of risk in things like this, and it's best to follow your heart and your instinct.

What do you think you'd like to do if you were guaranteed a job in that field afterwards?

santanalopez I am not doing it just for a job, but I feel it is foolish to go into something without looking at the possible outcomes.

I am a bit indecisive, I am not sure exactly what I want to do, there are 100s of options out there. How do I know if what I pick is the right one for me, or whether there is another better option I have overlooked.

If you like pharmacology you could perhaps to a pharmacy degree? You could be a pharmacist then. You can't get into pharmacy with a pharmacology degree though for some reason.

You don't sound ready to make this decision yet.