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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

If you had your time again would you have done a different degree?

193 replies

malificent7 · 04/10/2016 17:36

I would. English. I was great at it at school (A*) gcse etc. Good degree but imo totally useless. No longer want to teach.
I was also good at science but found the maths component tricky. I wish id done something a bit more useful and scientific like radiography. I will prob go vack and study but i wish id done something more useful in the first place!

Anyone else?

OP posts:
WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeG0es · 04/10/2016 17:39

No (mine was in chemistry) but I do wish I hadn't dropped biology at 14, doing it to A level would have probably been more useful than maths for me.

PurpleDaisies · 04/10/2016 17:39

I should have trained as a vet. I the grades but not the confidence to go for it. It's too expensive to go back now. Never mind. I enjoyed my other degrees.

TheHubblesWindscreenWipers · 04/10/2016 17:41

Did a (double) science degree and loved it.

In retrospect, something maths based or geology would have been better financially

JenLindleyShitMom · 04/10/2016 17:41

Hmm, I started a degree last year and had to pull out of it due to other life shit being overwhelming. I was doing accountancy and found it quite dull tbh. I was so pissed off at myself at the time for having to drop out. But looking back now I'm kind of glad as I am more certain now that I should have stuck to my original plan of maths/physics. I panicked and worried about job opportunities and so went for safe accountancy. Just going to stick with my gut in future when I am able to go back to studying.

CoodleMoodle · 04/10/2016 17:42

Yes, 100%. I did Business Management because I was okay at it at sixth form. At uni it was awful and I hated it, but wouldn't let myself quit.

No idea what I should've done instead, but not that. (Some of my unhappiness was related to the uni, but mostly the course.)

JenniferYellowHat1980 · 04/10/2016 17:43

Are you me?! Exactly the same situation, however I've just done some shadowing in radiography and found it dull - in, out, no meaningful interaction with the patient, next.

I've nearly finished access to science but I'm not entirely sure what to do next. The subject I want is a PTP degree which doesn't attract student finance for second timers.

English degree - forget it, no one's interested.

PurpleDaisies · 04/10/2016 17:43

jen my degree's physics. It's great-definitely worth doing when you go back.

5tardusty · 04/10/2016 17:45

I could have written your exact post! Also did teaching and English but wishing i had been a Radiographer.

How strange Grin

ThirteenBastards · 04/10/2016 17:45

Absolutely. My arts degree has been very little use in my career. I knew in my first week I had made a mistake, still ploughed on for three years though.

A step backwards though- I wish I had done different A levels too, that would have most likely influenced my degree choice.

CrystalGlitz · 04/10/2016 17:48

Did English - wish I'd done something with a more practical/professional application eg law, or had the confidence to follow my interest in health and pursue medicine.

JenniferYellowHat1980 · 04/10/2016 17:49

I kind of wish my science and maths teachers had given a shit too. I only did English because my teacher encouraged me - I thought it was a bit waffly and pointless at the time.

BumbleNova · 04/10/2016 17:51

I did languages and I bloody loved it. no regrets at all. I did always think that archaeology and anthropology sounded very interesting but not that practical...

motherinferior · 04/10/2016 17:53

Not in a heartbeat. I loved it. I decided not to do a PhD but I did an MA.

Mine was in English.

RaskolnikovsGarret · 04/10/2016 17:54

Law, totally useless and no transferable skills. Much better to do something you like such as a language, and then do a law conversion course. I would still have become a lawyer but would have known a language as well, and could have gone on to an alternative career in languages. And law is so boring.

Flossiesmummy · 04/10/2016 17:54

Yes, if I could have met the same people on whatever course I did instead.

UmbongoUnchainedInAPearTreeeee · 04/10/2016 17:55

I always wanted to do English but knew it was a waste of a degree really. I did Msc Physics and Astrophysics which I have no regrets about at all. Having such a high level in maths and physics makes you so so so employable.

JenLindleyShitMom · 04/10/2016 17:56

jen my degree's physics. It's great-definitely

Thanks purple. We had a not so great, brand new to teaching, tutor for our physics modules on my access course and I convinced myself I just wasn't cut out for physics (the maths and mechanics I loved!) but I think maybe I shouldn't let that one experience determine everything after it.

steffibabes · 04/10/2016 17:56

Yes, I would do Dietetics instead of Home Economics.

Roomba · 04/10/2016 17:57

Hell yes. I did an English degree, which I loved, but it didn't equip me for anything specific career wise.

I'd read Languages and Law (or do a Law conversion course) if I could do it all again. Much better career options for me, and I would have enjoyed it as it was a close call between that and English when I applied to uni. I made the wrong choice in hindsight!

theocat · 04/10/2016 17:57

Yes - I did Economics and Management which was as boring as it sounds. But I did 2 psychology modules which I loved so if I had my time again I would definitely read Psychology.

YokoUhOh · 04/10/2016 17:58

God yes. I did Music at Oxford: dry dry dry. I got A grades in French and Politics so I could've done Music and French joint honours at a different uni.

I actually want to do some kind of postgrad at some point relating to Child Development/Counselling (I'm
a teacher) but no idea where to start!

Pistachiois50pmore · 04/10/2016 18:00

I did Law (I didn't ever want to practice, I was just totally undecided and settled on that for some reason). If I'd been true to myself at the time I'd have done Philosophy or English but I think I thought it was a bit obvious (classic teenage reasoning there). I wasn't naturally good at Law and it was a slog whereas I'd always found arts subjects came very naturally. I got very into visual and performance art and art history in my early 20s - I now work in the arts and feel a bit weird for not having been to art school. So in a way I really badly regret my degree and didn't enjoy it at all - but on the flip side, Law seems to be very well respected by employers and it meant my first two jobs after graduating were good ones, so when I eventually sidestepped into the arts I was further on than if I'd done fine art first off. So I don't know really!

Pleasemrstweedie · 04/10/2016 18:01

I would do a vocational degree, law or accountancy rather than medieval history.

Lweji · 04/10/2016 18:01

Biology and no.

Having said that, as things have changed, I might have gone for Biosciences if I was 18 now.

Pleasemrstweedie · 04/10/2016 18:02

I would do a vocational degree, law or accountancy rather than medieval history.