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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if you regret your degree choice?

24 replies

Rottiemum4102 · 27/04/2019 16:19

Hi, I'm on my first year of Clinical Psychology BA.

Psych seems to get a lot of bad opinions, people saying how you end up with no job by the end of it etc etc.
I am now feeling like I've gone onto the wrong degree in my life. I went in with such high regard of my potential and just feel crushed each time I get an assignment and whether I should have done a degree that I can more realistically walk into a job at the end of it.

Looking for support really, people who have been successful after a degree... It just feels so bleak.

OP posts:
glasshalf · 27/04/2019 16:20

People kept saying this to me as my degree was quite broad with no direct job at the end but in my 3rd year I got a job in the field which my degree was in and loved it and have just moved on into another one in the same field but with more opportunities!! If you love it stick with it :)

lustforlife · 27/04/2019 16:23

I think the degree is the foundation and it's up to you how you can enhance it tbh. I did psychology BSc and people said the same to me. I only graduated last year and I'm now being paid to train as a LI therapist by the NHS. I would just make sure you do as many extra things as you can e.g volunteering/support work (which is amazing experience if you want to go into a psych job) while you're doing your degree. Smile

Original poster
Rottiemum4102 · 27/04/2019 16:28

BSc sorry what an idiot 🤦🏼‍♀️

OP posts:
Flaverings · 27/04/2019 16:32

What's the difference between Clinical Psychology and psychology?

100Birds · 27/04/2019 16:36

Yes massively - because I did the subject I thought I was supposed to to get a good job! I hated it, got a 2.2 and went into a completely different area of work at below graduate level. Waste of time!

If you love your subject and are willing to put in the work to do really well that is way more important!

Roo3125 · 27/04/2019 16:38

@Rottiemum4102 My DS started with the same degree and now earns £80k as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist 🙄 Most don't realise how difficult it is to get into the further masters/doctorates etc. If you're determined though, it can have fantastic prospects.

randomsabreuse · 27/04/2019 16:41

I definitely regret mine because I took the "sensible" route under pressure from my parents rather than the more interesting (to me) route. The sensible route (law) closed off more long term options than the "fun" route I still wish I'd taken (physics).

Regret the decision still, particularly as the OU now charges full fees!

jamiecooks · 27/04/2019 16:44

I did law when I wanted to do psychology but my dad pushed me towards law (this was 1997!). Ended up a partner in a law firm, hated it and wished I’d done psychology. Too late now as 40 and have a mortgage to pay and kid to feed. As long as you love it that’s the most important thing.

Butchyrestingface · 27/04/2019 16:47

Hell, YEAH. Don’t want to say exactly what it was but it was spectacularly pointless, even for an Arts degree. Followed it up with an even more pointless - if that’s possible - masters.

Back at uni aged 40 doing another masters with a more practical application this time. Smile

Caribbeanescape · 27/04/2019 16:48

Yes I do. I studied languages. I was told it would be great for the future and for my career. I am now in my 40s and earn a low wage. I use both languages every day, and couldn’t do my job without them, but don’t get paid any more than someone who does the same job, but only in English.

I am giving up my job and going back to university to retrain as a speech and language therapist.

Xyzzzzz · 27/04/2019 16:49

Yes I also did psychology and work in finance. I think I wasn’t advised when well choosing a degree or maybe I didn’t ask the right questions. But I can’t go back so what can you do?

cardibach · 27/04/2019 16:50

Lots of jobs and career paths just want degree level education. The subject isn’t important. There are loads of opportunities out there if you make the most of your skills with voluntary work/part time work to enhance your cv.

Thatsalovelycuppatea · 27/04/2019 16:50

Don't moan about a degree! At least you could go to uni. Having any degree would set you on the job ladder surely?

PoesyCherish · 27/04/2019 16:57

Sort of. I hated my degree all the way through and wanted to quit. I honestly don't know how I made it through. However if I hadn't kept going I wouldn't have met my DP and I probably wouldn't now be retraining. So... swings and roundabouts. I have a friend who did her degree at the same time as me. She absolutely hated it and made the decision to leave. She's now got a job she's really happy with and is really glad she made the decision to leave.

Ces6 · 27/04/2019 17:04

Yes! Modern languages. Don't know what I was thinking. I wish I had done speech therapy too but it's too late for me.

Original poster
Rottiemum4102 · 27/04/2019 17:06

Flavourings, Clinical psych is a branch of degree to basic psych my university offers. We'll learn far more in the clinical field. Like how a psych/criminology degree will focus more into criminal through the years etc.

I love it, I really do. As soon as the doubt sets it with my own potential however I have a depressive period where I wonder if all the stress and mental strain on my wellbeing is worth it in the end. I'm sure I'll feel better after the exam period is over.

OP posts:
DaveCoachesgavemetheclap · 27/04/2019 17:10

I did a subject I loved then did a PGCE. My DH was working in computers when I met him and had always wanted to study archaeology but his parents had dissuaded him. After we got married, he quit the job
he hated and used his savings to go back to Uni to do archaeology. He then did a Masters and a PhD. He now works in archaeology and although the pay isn't great, he loves his work.

Marchinupandownagain · 27/04/2019 17:19

Having any degree would set you on the job ladder surely?

Not at all. Maybe thirty years ago, not now.

PurpleDaisies · 27/04/2019 17:21

I really enjoyed my degrees (both of them!). They’re not directly relevant to what I do now but I wouldn’t change what I studied. I’d still like to study more though.

septembersunshine · 27/04/2019 17:21

Actually no. I did English Lit. I got very low grades in maths and c's in science. The rest were ok but I was hardly the shinning star in anything. In the end there was literally no other subject I could do a degree in.But I really loved it. I learnt loads. Read loads. However, I never had a career after. I became a PA/ administrator. Hated it. Couldn't go into teaching lacking the basic maths and science qualifications and found no other career paths easily opened either. I did try to re-do the poor qualifications but failed once more. So I was and remain a very low earner. 39 year old mother of four now quietly writing fiction and poetry in the cupboard under the stairs. I am excited about this. Very very excited.

Sometimes op, you just have to follow the road. You made the best decision with the information you had at the time. You can't predict what will happen in the future. Anything could happen. You can make anything happen. That's the great thing. I would stop musing you have made the wrong decision and get stuck.

septembersunshine · 27/04/2019 17:22

*get stuck in!

cardibach · 27/04/2019 17:23

*a degree does help. My DDs job was only accessible to people with degrees, though the subject didn’t matter.
Rottie what do you mean by your ‘potential’? What are you looking for from the degree? In what ways do you think it will hinder you (or not help)?

cardibach · 27/04/2019 17:24

That should say Marchin at the start. It was there when I typed it.

BogglesGoggles · 27/04/2019 17:26

You can always drop it and do a different degree

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