To go to a more prestigious uni for course I'm not as interested in?

[nomannocry]

I have been accepted onto two postgrad courses.

Course 1 - will result in an MSc - 2 year course - guaranteed a job in a field I have always been interested in, entirely sure it's the career I want, always been a passion - low ranking university - same university I have my undergraduate degree from.

Course 2 - will result in a MEd - 1 year course - not something I have always been interested in but could become more so upon doing the course, jobs aplenty, not sure it is the right career for me and certainly not a passion - RGU and top 10 university in the world.

I am torn. Any advice?

Depends on the subject you are studying

Posters suggesting that course 2 would make you more employable are failing to address the fact that a social work MSc would actually qualify you to work as a social worker (or AMHP, etc, as you progress) - whereas course 2 won't. Even non-social work jobs in related fields are more likely to see that training and qualification as more valuable than a year of purely academic study.

Course 1

Agree that you should check if there is a better uni for that course first though.

You will do much better if you are happy and interested.

Course 1. Life’s too short to do something you’re not engaged with.
If you’re the right app,I can’t for a job, enthusiastic and knowledgable no one will ask which Uni you went to.

Posted before I read the entire thread.

SW will never be a well paying career so I would pick the one that is the least expensive and will get you in the workforce the fastest.

Does the 2 year degree have clinicals or a semester internship?

Course 1. If it guarantees the job you want why wouldn’t you?

If you’re worried it won’t help you later in your career (is that what you’re worried about??) then is there the equivalent of course 1 at a higher ranked uni. Sometimes a prestigious university does matter - so if it could later on, and there’s that option then explore it. Otherwise crack on with course 1.

@nomannocry you'll find a lot of discussion about this sort of issue on the Higher Education board, so you might want to check that out.

In a nutshell the answer to your question will vary depending on what line of work you are in. For professions such as law and finance, the university you went to does make a difference; for lots of other types of work it doesn't matter at all and as you can see from pp some recruitment processes deliberately ignore it.

In your case, if your passion is to be a social worker, you should absolutely do Course 1.

Course 1 will actually qualify you for the job you want, what would even be the point of course 2?

University rankings matter a lot less for vocational courses, I did a healthcare msc at a fairly low ranking uni and everyone got jobs just fine.

They do in the field I work in. I would go for the better uni.

But that’s the point - it very much depends on the field. Certain universities will have a good reputation in particular fields, but by extension, so will particular courses - so if course one is most relevant to what she wants to do, that’s going to be more important than the overall reputation of the university.

The university I attended isn’t a big name, ‘prestigious’ university. You wouldn’t boast about having been there. However, the Master’s I did there was only available at two UK universities at the time. You had to be good to be accepted, regardless of the wider reputation of the university.

I went on to work with Harvard and Cambridge graduates, and yes, it sounds impressive and they were impressive people. But while one was my boss, the other was my direct report. You need more than just an impressive university name on your CV.

That’s a long old slog if you’re not that invested in it

For social work the only time I could see it potentially making a difference where your MSc was from is if you wanted to go into research. For frontline social work all they will care about is that you have the correct qualification/registration. There is a massive recruitment crisis in social care; you will have no issue getting a job

Not sure why you're even considering course 2, seems like a no brainer.

Course 1 without a shadow of a doubt.

University rankings matter not one jot unless you’re talking oxbridge and elitist careers.

Course 1 and enjoy your life!