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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:
frankie001 · 04/10/2016 19:11

Wouldn't change my degree but wish I could go back and work harder. Came away with a 3rd but was battling some mental health issues through my study.

flumplet · 04/10/2016 19:13

Yes I did English too, and 100 per cent think it was an utter waste of money. I'm qualified for sweet FA. I wish I had done something like history or medicine or law or something that you have an actual tangible career path. Thing is I've never known what exactly I want to be when I grow up (still don't!) and have haphazardly ended up floating around the civil service in admin roles. Confused

allegretto · 04/10/2016 19:14

Yes. I did modern languages. Wish I had done something that led to a better paid job! Actually rather than change degree, I wish I had not pottered around after university with low-paid jobs but had really tried to get on the housing ladder quickly instead.

TinklyLittleLaugh · 04/10/2016 19:22

But Fumpet with your English degree you could just do a Law conversion course.

I did a science degree, which was okay, just a bit dull, but my year in industry cured me of ever wanting to work in a lab. I did a masters in a business related subject and walked into a graduate scheme.

gwenneh · 04/10/2016 19:24

English with Medieval History, and yes, if I had it to do over I would do something STEM related!

But there's a lot of other mistakes I would correct on a second go. :D

spaghettithrower · 04/10/2016 19:33

Yes, I did Chemistry and if I had my time again I would do Geology and then a masters in Vulcanology.
I should have applied to Natural Sciences at Cambridge and then I could have done Earth Sciences as a first year option and see where it led.
At the time, I decided I just wanted to do Chemistry, applied to Oxford and didn't get in. The school said I should take a gap year and apply to Cambridge or Nat Sci but I didn't want to. So off I went to study Chemistry and I enjoyed it but I think I would have enjoyed a career to do with Geology much more.

BennyTheBall · 04/10/2016 19:36

I did English even though I didn't know what I would do with it, I just did it because I was good at it and I got an unconditional offer to do it.

Anyway - my career has never utilised it, in fact I have gone on to do a BSc and MSc in a subject that's a million miles away from English.

If I had my time again, I would do something medical, I think.

StarkintheSouth · 04/10/2016 19:36

Kind of. Same as you, I did English Lit because I was good at it and enjoy reading. I wish I'd gone traveling like I wanted to (DM talked me out of it) and then done something like business as that would have helped me more in my current career. Having said that I had a fun three years and made some lifelong friends so I can't say I totally regret it...!

80schild · 04/10/2016 19:38

I loved my degree and would definitely do it again. Nutrition and dietetics. My only issue is that I have always been more passionate about music. It makes me feel better than anything else does and it is something I regret giving up at school. I have gone back to it now and am doing okay. I never had the maturity or depth as a teenager to be really good. I believe this is the way my life was meant to be.

NotWeavingButDarning · 04/10/2016 19:43

Yep. I have a doctorate in zoology. I am now basically a very poorly paid menial worker who gets to copy things out from the newspaper and make the boss cups of tea. I am utterly miserable and wish I'd been a vet.

HottySnanky · 04/10/2016 19:48

Another English Lit graduate here... got pushed into it at school because it was my best subject but should have done something more vocational as it has been of no earthly use to me and also because I never knew what I wanted to do I just drifted into shitty admin jobs. Am now a SAHM and just starting an Access module with the OU because it's 20 years since I went to university. And spending all day with tiny children I can just feel bits of my brain falling away like a wet cake.

elfonshelf · 04/10/2016 19:51

Yes... although I did change at the time.

Started out doing Archaeology at an RG university - it was dire, 6 hours lectures a week all on one day, no tutorials and only one essay a term. By the time I left, over a third of my year had already gone. I wish I had gone ahead and applied for Archaeology & Anthropology at Cambridge... I had good enough grades but the school were not encouraging at the application stage.

Switched and did a design degree at Art College - I was one of the lucky ones and actually worked in my field for a number of years, but it wasn't very well paid and there were no jobs available in the UK so I had to go overseas.

If I was choosing again - and especially if I was a student today and having to pay £9k a year in fees - I would probably go and do something in conservation... of the old building/monument sort, not eco-warrior type.

There was very little in the way of guidance for university courses when I was at school - most people did law or medicine or a degree in an A level subject (French, English, Maths etc). I didn't know about half the things that you could study - I was regarded as pretty out there opting for Archaeology.

catgirl1976 · 04/10/2016 19:52

I would have done law and been a barrister rather than doing psychology

Bountybarsyuk · 04/10/2016 19:56

So- half the people did a practical degree like Law or Accountancy or Engineering and found it a bit boring and wish they'd followed their heart and done English or Liberal Arts.

The other half did English and all wished they'd have done one of the above ones with a 'career path'!

I think the desire for something else is not entirely factually based- most Law students do not end up practicing Law, it is hard to get training post-uni and the people I know tend to find Law boring but accept that on the basis of decent pay. I am not sure that many of these 'career paths' really are careers- most Psychology grads don't end up using their degrees either, as it takes years of specialist study to do clinical psychology.

The other message I take from this thread is- choose carefully for yourself, and if you find yourself on the wrong course and you know this, try to swap or take a year out and transfer early on.

I guess only people who didn't really love their degrees are posting though, so the fact everyone liked someone else's choice and not their own is inevitable!

mixety · 04/10/2016 19:59

I enjoyed my arts degree, but should have taken a gap year first. I think I'd have got more out of it.

If I had studied something else,it should have been Computer Science. I am considering retraining to work in IT, but it never even occurred to me when I was 18 to study that, so I can't really regret not choosing it.

BeansMcCready · 04/10/2016 20:01

Yep. I studied Drama. Think that's all I need to say!

Glitteryfrog · 04/10/2016 20:04

I wish I'd done an engineering apprenticeship.

Original poster
malificent7 · 04/10/2016 20:05

One thing that i also always loved was art. My tattoo artist charges £80 an hour and the art intrigues me.

Its do well paid but i dont kniw if im talented enough to make permanent marjs on domeone's skin. Imagine making a mistake!!!

OP posts:
Original poster
malificent7 · 04/10/2016 20:06

Typos.. agggrrr!!

OP posts:
LonestarStateOfMind · 04/10/2016 20:06

I did a degree in one of the arts, I really really wish I hadn't. All these years later (10+) I am at a complete loss as to what to do next. I have always had jobs and do have a job but not a career and not degree related Confused

NotSayingImBatman · 04/10/2016 20:11

I did a Law degree. At 16 and heading off to do A Levels, I really wanted to become a doctor. My family and teachers talked me out of it, in spite of exemplary grades in Maths and Science. I wish I could go back and give my 16 year old self a firm kick up the arse.

Jellykat · 04/10/2016 20:17

No, i knew from a young age that i wanted to go to Art school, my degree is in Fashion/Textiles and it taught me amazingly practical skills!

I realised halfway thro, that i never wanted to go into the mad crazy fashion industry, i never had ambitions like my peers, but sold my collection, had DS1 a year later and made anything he needed.. Have been selling to shops for years, get private commissions, occasionally do work for an interior designer, and am mad about sewing and being creative 28 years later, it's who i am Smile

FelixFelix · 04/10/2016 20:20

Jelly that is very encouraging. I always feel like im doing a bit of a cop out choosing to do an art degree, compared to people working towards say engineering or medicine etc. as for a lot of people it's classed more as a 'hobby' rather than something you can make a career out of. I'm doing an access course at art college at the moment and hoping to go on to study a textiles degree so it's nice to know someone is doing well out of it!

Headofthehive55 · 04/10/2016 20:22

Important to do something you like. However, I've found my vocational degree , nursing, more use in the jobs market than my academic degree (chemistry).

Kabex · 04/10/2016 20:33

Definitely. Maths rather than fashion