To believe a degree does not make one clever...

[KeepOnKeepingOnAndOnAndOnAndOn]

I have a standard degree from a rather prestigious uni (this ain't no stealth boast btw!) and I still feel I am not half as intelligent as many i meet. People assume I will be, because of said degree.

I would like some sort of a career, possibly in teaching, but fear I am no longer clever enough (baby brain/ too much drink and drugs as a wayward teen etc etc )

When I speak of this I often get the answer, "But you have a degree..."

My degree was pretty easy and I did the bare minimum to get by. It doesn't fill me with confidence at all about my levels of intelligence :/

*shot down

I was just thinking about this today. I've almost finished my masters and I'm thick as shit. My memory is terrible and I always feel like I'm one step behind everyone else. However, I do have a good work ethic and I'm emotionally intelligent, if that means anything. Also confidence has so much to do with it. However, there is something to be said for a bit of humility and understanding that you may just know a little bit about some topics but it's impossible to know everything about everything!

I went to a prestigious uni and I did literature

a friend got herself onto a prestigious ma literature course, without having ever read full novel for degree..she was rather more pinned down at MA level and crumbled and had to pull out...

Oh she went on to be a teacher...

indigo yes I am!

Someone once told me a degree or other long qualification isn't so much an exercise in intelligence as in your ability to stick with something.

It's a long hard slog purely from the length of time it takes to do never mind the content and for that reason alone, having one demonstrates you have many attractive skills to employers.

I thought that was quite interesting.

Sorry, so what exacty are you saying VIP!? There is hope for me yet ?

my boyfriend has a Bsc, a Msc and a PHD and is a lecturer at a university the subject he teaches is so far above my head that im in awe of him i just have a combined arts BA 2.2 and he says that he is in awe of the fact that i read a lot and can talk on history and books so is he the intelligent one or am i, no both of us focussed on different areas his being maths and mine being literature

DH has a PhD and I've a MSc. We both have 3 degrees from prestigious Russell Group unis. I think DH is really clever. I'm just about average, just scraped through. Actually think I've forgotten a lot of what I learned and have low confidence. Am now applying to do yeat another degree, but this time in my dream subjects (art related).

"Yet"

"Having a degree doesn't make one clever...."

Awww don't say that! At the grand old age of 53 I am a few months into a degree course after having had no formal education since I was 17!!!

I was hoping that at the very least it would make people think that actually, I am quite clever after all

I have two degrees and am a doctor. I constantly meet people who are much cleverer than me. I don't think i am very clever, really. I just loved studying and had a great memory. Kind of over educated rather than natural intelligence I think in my case.

I am, in my opinion, very clever (though not exceptional) and did attend a prestigious university.

Without my degrees I would still be intelligent. I have never had a high flying career. Most people could do the very average jobs I have had.

To me the really clever people are the ones who have successful lives, the ones who do the best with what they've got.

Having a degree doesn't make you clever but getting onto and passing an academic degree course at a good university means that you were of at least above average intelligence to start with.

I suppose I don't mean over educated, I meant to say highly educated or academic, rather than natural intelligence.

I hate it when people say "but you have a degree!" thing is so many people have a degree now that there will always be someone with a degree and oodles of experience to go with it and you just can't really compete with that when you are job hunting.

I do know people who are brilliant at passing exams and writing essays but when it comes to doing a job they are rubbish, because of a lack of interpersonal skills and good old common sense.

TBH if I were an employer I would value say a 2:2 OU degree from a candidate who was working all the while then someone with a first from full time uni with no work experience.

It's important not to confuse intelligence with knowledge.

I'm in my 2nd year BSc degree( mediocre Uni). DD doing GCSEs. When I try and engage with her re learning/study/revision, she sternly reminds me that a degree is not the sane as "GCSEs are actually hard"

Same

In my opinion, having a degree doesn't make you a fountain of knowledge or a very smart person in particular, but it does tell me that you are capable of learning, retaining knowledge to a point where you can pass a difficult test. That in itself tells me that you aren't dense and that you can apply yourself to meet a deadline.

I graduated with the highest degree grade for my course. I'm about to get my MSc now.

I have no common sense and am one of the clumsiest people you'll meet.

I wouldn't regard myself as being clever, I am just good at researching and writing. Not retaining information though unfortunately.

OP, have you heard of imposter syndrome? I get that feeling regularly, I think I know how you feel!

I am the same op. Have 2 degrees but would say I'm of quite average intelligence. I am a sahm now too, so my degree knowledge is basically useless these days anyway. I did really enjoy my studies and don't regret them, but do feel like I have wasted my supervisor s time by doing them, as I am no longer employable in that area after a few years out to have children.

I have no idea what I'm going to do once DC are both at school, the thought of it cripples me with fear, so I am pretending it will never happen! I am not clever enough to retrain so no clue what I can do anymore.

Mmm, I think a degree can make some people smug, which is a sort of end of learning mentality.

I have every respect for the staying power of people who get degrees, but I've met too many idiots with degrees and really intelligent people with next to no education to believe that a degree is any indication of intelligence whatsoever.

But as for your lack of confidence after a time away from study and the workplace that is quite natural but easily overcome by getting back in the saddle.

I have two degrees from a good university. One is a law degree which is often viewed as prestigious and was challenging in parts. I don't think having them "makes me clever", but I do think I was quite smart to start with. It's not like I was Rainman or anything, but I've always been a fast learner and good at writing and digesting knowledge, and those talents help to make you a good university candidate in subjects that are reading/writing focussed. I've always had a v.g memory, which is helpful as well.

I knew people at my law school who were incredibly intelligent. Their brains were so agile, and they were just leagues ahead of me. I also knew people who appeared to be very thick but were very diligent and plodded through their subjects, so I don't think a degree is evidence of smarts necessarily. It is evidence that you can work on something, and see it through to the end, which is an essential attrribute if you are to maximise your intelligence.