Ridiculous to try and sue a university over a "mickey mouse" degree?

[Creambun2]

thetab.com/uk/2018/03/10/a-graduate-is-suing-her-university-for-60000-for-giving-her-a-mickey-mouse-degree-62377

Surely, it is down to individuals to research their university and course appropriately and understand that whatever degree or university you go to, getting the job you want will be mostly about you and your skills?

I agree universities pump out lots of propaganda about "employment prospects" but saying, for example, 90% of graduates employed within 6 months means nothing is 89% of those are not in graduate level jobs.

It is a con, big time. But lets not blame the victims of the con for not knowing that?

Girlsonfilm

I did Grad recruitment for a city partnership for a lot of years and we took from three unis only.

I know this is not the main point of the thread but why did you do this? Did you not feel you were missing out on a lot of talent or was it just an easy way for you to reduce the number of applications? Because although I tend to agree with the comments about “mickey mouse degrees”, I can’t believe that there are only 3 universities whose degrees are worth something. More likely that you were just perpetuating the old boys’ network.

"Let's just say it took me less than 5 minutes to find that Anglia Ruskin are near the bottom of numerous rankings."

As I said, you have to know there's a ranking in the first place. There aren't in all countries.

We were told at school that anything with the word 'studies' in it was an inferior degree that would make us a laughing stock. We were also taught that computing was a dead end subject and there was no future in it. In the 1990s

Superb post, Samphire, indicating as it does that ample information is easily accessible for anyone with even the most modest wit

blastomama I absolutely agree that the lesser Unis are just as responsible for their claims as anyone else - it's partly why I'm watching this claim with such interest. Trouble is, the ridiculous tuition fee framework was always going to turn them into a comfortable roost for those whose self belief ranks rather higher than their abilities

"We were told at school that anything with the word 'studies' in it was an inferior degree that would make us a laughing stock."

I disagree with that. I wish I'd done European Studies rather than just languages. It was much broader and would have helped with the kinds of jobs I was doing, but I didn't even know it existed.

16 - 18 year olds really don't need an adult to help, they just need to be independent readers and self motivated - leaving them to do it themselves makes the whole process almost self selecting!

I don't agree. This might be true for children coming from families with a history of university level education but there is a huge amount of important info which does not appear in the mountain of stats. It is difficult to know what is true, what is likely to be nonsensical claims if you don't have some experienced guidance.

When my children were going through this a good number of their friends whad no idea which universities were popular with big companies (with the best graduate schemes) or how individual departments might be valued even if the university itself wasn't a prestige name. Their teachers were not always aware either.

Yes they had a mountain of statistics to wade through and lots of advertising but little industrial or personal experience to guide them.

As ever the children of those who know the system will be fine, its the first generation attenders who risk racking up huge debts for a degree with very little market value.

Gwen it is referenced in the UCAS process. You are offered that information during the application process, no matter where you apply from!

There are 3 stages, Discover is the first and the links to various reviews are included

www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/choosing-course/how-choose-between-undergraduate-courses-and-unis#reviews

This is ridiculous. I worked my socks off at A-level and uni doing a course that required all hours under the sun. It wasn’t fun and I didn’t go out as much as other students and I didn’t pursue a ‘passion’ but I put my career prospects ahead of cheap student club nights. That information is available before you apply.

Someone who worked for Shell said they only recruited from Oxbridge and Edinburgh in their field. I was disappointed to hear that and also peeved as I know that mAny at Edinburgh uni are private schooled not sure about how that stands at Oxbridge now. I’m not sure shell would openly admit that so how would you know. It was prob 10 years ago so maybe things have changed.

"Gwen it is referenced in the UCAS process. "

I really don't think this is the same as having someone explain it for you, especially if you come from a foreign country.
I mean, the idea that a foreigner is supposed to know that a university that is called a university might not be considered one because it's a former poly...

The idea of what is a crap degree changes with time too

Yes it does - the much derided Media Studies from a good university gives strong grounding in a range of humanities and technical areas which equip people for a range of creative industry jobs. These are jobs not likely to disappear soon to robotics (unlike many areas of medicine and law).

Ditto many of the sport and leisure degrees. Most of these would have been the applied courses done at polys when I went to university. It was notable that polys were always better at equipping people for work than the universities.

"I didn’t pursue a ‘passion’ but I put my career prospects ahead of cheap student club nights. "

When were you at uni? In my time, this wasn't considered a good thing even by employers. They wanted rounded individuals, not people who sat in their rooms all the time.
There was even a myth that a first wasn't well regarded for this reason. (That one was silly, but it was one of the things I think people told themselves).

@reallyanotherone
I have a BA in psychology, because my A levels were arts subjects. The course and teaching were identical to those doing the BSc psychology. We were in the same lectures, same task requirements, same exams. The only difference was that, at my university, if you failed a year on the BA side you got one chance at retake whereas if you failed the BSc (identical exam paper) you got 2 chances to retake.

I also have an MSc in psychology.

Where is there a difference in the courses?

I’d be more embarrassed that I got a degree from Anglia Ruskin University.

The government really need to crack down on these joke universities where the entry requirements are laughable

It's not a joke university for health and social care professionals and is building a medical school on one of its campuses at the moment.

It's only on here I hear of it being a joke uni

(I'm not a student or graduate or any way affiliated with the uni btw!)

I don't necessarily disagree C8H mainly because, as you said Their teachers were not always aware either.

That is because of long term funding changes. Not the teacher's fault. That is something everyone should be protesting about.

Nonetheless, the information is 'out there' in a format many students say they prefer. There is so much of it available and yes, it would be easy to drown in it, but honestly, the UCAS system really does set it all out in an easy to follow format. Yes, there is a lot of info, but if you are applying for a degree you really should be giving it a lot of thought, especially these days with the fees.

For almost 20 years, every single year I've been there, sat with a 17 year old who is the first in their family to consider going to university. Some with little or no support. They were usually the ones who did most research, read every page on the UCAS site and could usually teach me a new thing about the application process.

Once the decision to apply for something has been made the process really is supportive and informative. Support to make that decision is a bit different, but as UCAS have reps who go out to schools, conventions etc, they do pretty well there too.

Add to that Open Days, in FE colleges and Unis, the centralised Fairs and various Youth Programmes in less privileged areas and there is a lot of support for the decision making too!

I am NOT saying it is easy, I AM saying that if a student is determined to go then there is a lot of information to help them make the right choices.

d be more embarrassed that I got a degree from Anglia Ruskin University

I'm not! I really enjoyed my time there, got to use the university facilities in my third year (not sure if you can still do that), made amazing friends and Cambridge was a lovely city to live in. I got a really good job afterwards in advertising.

It was an arts and technology college for years.

The snobbery about university on mumsnet is unbelievable.

I am curious about how this research is done, particularly if the student doesn't have parents who've done this before

The same way as any other research can be done in the age of the internet? I honestly don't know why there's this race to the bottom in terms of expectations, but if still unsure, perhaps reread Samphire's excellent posts around what even less dedicated students are capable of when it suits

BTW I assumed the posters commenting on "David Beckham Studies" were being ironic, so googled it ... I really, really should have known better than to doubt them for an instant

I had no idea graduate schemes even existed until i got to uni. It wasn’t even clear what uni was for- unless you did law/medicine etc i thought you just chose a subject like you did a’level. I didn’t even know pharmacy and physiotherapy were vocational degrees. Neither did my parents to suggest them.

It’s ok saying “look it up” but the sheer amount of information is impossible unless you have a definite idea of course and career. As an 18 year old i had no idea what i wanted to do, so i didn’t even have a starting point of which courses to look at, never mind which uni. Part of the reason i did the “wrong” course is i had no idea of career paths..

I’d be more embarrassed that I got a degree from Anglia Ruskin University. I too have no affiliation but THAT is ridiculous. It has some of the most amazing and progressive medical courses, a brand new science development and is, in some courses, really world class.

Gwen If you don't think the UCAS process is complete enough, the data available or clear enough, what would you like to see available, for home or overseas students? I really can't see what else could be offered! It will always be down to the individual to do the research, and to make a decision based on that research.

"I have a BA in psychology, because my A levels were arts subjects. The course and teaching were identical to those doing the BSc psychology."

I don't know if it's still the case, but the OU used to let you choose between a BA and a BSc if you did social science.

@MrsFezziwig

A combination of numbers (2000 applicants for 5 jobs) and three "best" universities for the subject (one was an ex-poly and two RG), but it was a very traditional partnership; bowler hats still worn and no trousers for the female staff and this was the 1990s, so the old boys network was alive and kicking (God only knows how a gobby northern woman like me got the job!)

Part of the reason i did the “wrong” course is i had no idea of career paths.. That is a big problem and I saw a lot of changes over the years. Anyone guiding a student through Track should have that conversation. Though again, the funding disappeared a long time ago.

These days ALL university pages have career progression information for every course. From GCSE - Post Grad, from entry level jobs to the acme of achievement, that info is there.

UCAS (sorry, but it really is the be all and end all of information for students) has all sorts of links for careers advice. They start with 'what do you want to be when you grow up' style questions.

I know it wasn't that good when I was at school, and DH was told he could only really choose from jobs A, B and C at the local factory based employer, but as that was pre National Curriculum I don't think that will surprise anyone