If you have a university degree

[Crackerofdoom]

Do you have buyer's remorse for the subject you studied?

If you were doing it now, would you study the same thing?

I did a joint honours degree in history and French.

DH never went to uni but is really passionate about history, constantly reading books and watching documentaries and he really enjoys discussing history.

I realise I don't have a fraction of his passion for the subject but love languages and if I was going back now I would definitely study another language instead.

Just wondering if it was just me really.

Joint honours Geology and Physics

I’m very outdoorsy - hence the geology.
I love, love, love physics, but knew even at O level that my maths was not good enough to make a career of it, but I’m glad that I studied it. I went on to do an MSc in Geotechnical Engineering, which combines both subjects, and have worked in this ever since - nearly 30 years! No regrets.

I did pharmacy and often wish I did chemistry or a different science instead at a different university or went to university later rather than straight from sixth form.

I did history, then computer science. I work in IT, but I reckon I use the analytical skills I gained from history more than the tech stuff.

I studied law. Have been a lawyer for 25 years (crikey - that's even longer than I thought)

My first degree was in engineering,never used it. Second was in chemistry and ended up in a lab, I absolutely love it. I love numbers and problem solving I find the arts and languages really difficult.
I do regret not using my first degree however it set me up to help DD with GCSE/a level maths and physics😂

I studied Law which was a mistake, I hated it from day one and didn’t pursue a legal career.

I wish I’d chosen to study psychology or philosophy which are where my real interests lie, but I was sadly ‘encouraged’ into Law due to great exam results and an arts degree being rather frowned upon by comparison.

I still spend my spare time listening to philosophical and psychological lectures and books, so I really do regret not pursuing this passion into a career.

I did law and wished I hadn't. I had wanted to do business studies and my parents talked me into law. I now wish I'd done something business with french, as they were my favourite a level subjects and I've have worked harder!

I didn't enjoy my degree. Was dry and a slog.

20 years since graduating, I have since done an MSc and do an entirely unrelated job.

*something like

I originally did Chemistry and Biology 20 years ago. I'm now back at uni doing pharmacy, relying on my knowledge gained in my original degree. I'd never consider doing anything that didn't involve these subjects.

I don't.

But I studied two languages.

I have a creative arts degree, no regrets whatsoever, despite being told right left and centre that I would starve to death by choosing that subject, within a year of graduation I was earning considerably more than my friends who graduated from business and engineering degrees, but I guess this was because my degree and I were a good match, I loved the subject but also had the ability (and luck, which people tend to forget about, but the key thing to move your career forward is not just skills, hard work or ambition but to be at the right place at the right time).

Where all my career went potty never to recover was when I decided to take a step back to support exh’s career progress. Moving away from my career network to become a housewife for a few years is my only regret in life.

No, don't regret it at all - I think its opened lots of doors for me. I did a 4yr degree, Business Studies with French - involved studying at a French university for half of 2nd year and a full 12 months out in industry in France. It was still fairly unusual then to spend that much time abroad, particularly in industry.

I did a law conversion course & qualified as a lawyer a few years later but my first degree / experience was talked about more at my law interviews. Really glad I did it, made me much more independent and still fluent in French even though I don't use it much. Think employers are more interested what you got out of it / why you did it, rather than what specifically you studied.

The only education I got from Uni was how to live independently and have a bloody good time!

10 years on and I am in a different field, didn't need the degree I obtained and could be in my current role with no degree at all. I started at entry level and worked my way up.

I wouldn't bother unless it guarantees a decent job with excellent pay.

@queenofthelamas I started the law conversion part time over two years when I was 29. Managed to get a training contract to pay for the second year and the year's LPC, plus small maintenance grant.

Admittedly, I didn't have a child but you have plenty of time yet - three trainees at my firm, including me were around 30. Another of my course, with a training contract, was 41.

I’m not money motivated but wish I’d done a degree leading into a career that paid well enough for P/T work. Maybe accountancy or similar. Purely because I developed a serious health condition whilst at uni making F/T work impossible. If that hadn’t happened, I would have been happy with my social science degree.

I studied history, but wish I had followed my father's advice and studied marketing. I think he was right and I would have been really good at it and made good money from a career in it. I was never able to afford a pg qualification in it, so was kind of stuck. Did teaching for a bit which apart from the teaching, was really rubbish. Have done admin since which I enjoy but unlikely to ever make a lot of money from and it's not the most creative role. Dad knew best (for once!)

I did natural sciences but I've ended up never using it and have forgotten most of it. I enjoyed it though.

No regret of my maths degree, I think it helped me find jobs. I still want to go back and work harder on my grades then go to good university.

I did a European studies degree which was two langs and whilst it was very varied and had a lot of mix and match modules, I felt I was spread too thin so never felt i was really an expert in anything at the end. In the first year I was sat in history lectures (this bit was compulsory) with history students when I'd not even done gcse. I also, really, only spent 4 months in each country which wasnt really enough to get fluency up. So if I could do it all again I would pick just one language and focus on that! That said, despite teaching for a few years, I'm quite happy leaving languages for fun now and really feel something more vocational would have been much more useful.

I did philosophy. I quite enjoyed it, loved the experience of being a student, and it's been more useful than I expected career-wise, but I didn't have a passion for the subject. I regret not waiting until I was a bit older and had a better idea of what my interests were. I'd love to do another degree in history, but it's not a realistic option - far too expensive.

Arts/Marketing here, total regret. I wish I'd got a career/skills/practical degree rather than passion. I was really creative growing up and 10 years of industry, spreadsheets and utterly vapid projects has sucked out any the joy. I dream of retraining as podiatrist

@Missdotty

I studied history, but wish I had followed my father's advice and studied marketing. I think he was right and I would have been really good at it and made good money from a career in it. I was never able to afford a pg qualification in it, so was kind of stuck. Did teaching for a bit which apart from the teaching, was really rubbish. Have done admin since which I enjoy but unlikely to ever make a lot of money from and it's not the most creative role. Dad knew best (for once!)

Ironically, I ended up doing a lot of PR and Marketing with a History degree!

I worked in Communications for professional sport for years. It was a couple of chance conversations and speaking French which got me into it. Plus most of the sports journalists I worked with hadn't done journalism at university. Employers seemed far more interested in work history than qualifications.

I knew I wanted to be a primary teacher, so instead of a degree in a subject, then a PGCE I did a 4 year degree in Education instead (BEd). I'm teaching still, 25 years later, so it was a good choice, and I felt it got me more prepared for teaching than a one year PGCE would have. I had 4 years of relevant lectures for all areas of education across many curriculum subjects - specialising in 2- and a lot more teaching placement time, over 5 different schools.

No, absolutely not. Loved my degree and has served me well, though not linked to my career.

Doing another degree, love it again. If I could, I can think of at least 2 others I'd really like to do were money no object...

I was 'guided' to choose a vocational degree by my parents. I chose Occupational therapy because it appeared to be the most flexible when it came to areas of practice once qualified. I was right. I worked as an OT for a couple of years before I specialised. I now work as a healthcare professional in a very specialist role ( rarely use my OT training now - but I couldn't work here without a healthcare degree). Still NHS so not overly well paid but my hours are flexible which allows me more time with my DD. I also really enjoy my job.