Uni is just over-sold and disappointing

[Greedybilly]

My lovely 19 year old has just finished Yr 1 of uni ( when did the courses end at Easter? What happened to term 3?)
She was unlucky with her flatmates who were awful to her and her course mates mostly commute.
Part time jobs are none existent and she's done umpteen trial cafe shifts only to be ghosted.
She had such high hopes and seems like a shadow of her former self. It does all feel like a massively over marketed business.
Anyone got any words of wisdom/happy endings??
Gutted for her and angry at all the hype and nonsense.

@Pettifogg Pity thoss of us who live rurally then! What possibility of commuting? To where? Bottom 10% university that doesn’t do top academic subjects? So dc have to dumb down do they? That system can work where all unis are more or less equal, but where they are not, it’s a potential nightmare. Great if UCL is just up the road or Edinburgh. For the rest of us it’s more complex.

You're right, as it is currently. But over time, things might adapt. I took live quite far from any highly ranked unis, but there is a 'university centre' about 5 miles away, which runs courses under the umbrella of an RG university which is too far to commute to. I envisage more of this type of provision maybe.

I loved my undergrad as made mates early on. Catered hall though so lots of opportunity to meet lots people. I think self catered en suite flats are very different. Hated a post grad year I did as was so different: missed my mates, didn’t make really good friends and only finished it as paid for.
With my DC I’m very much presenting all options to them : uni of no uni. Commute or live there etc

University is a scam now and I can’t believe that the sector has sunk so low in the thirty or so years since I left. It makes me sad and the inequalities involved in some kids graduating with over 50 grand of debt and some with none at all are sickening

@Skinnysaluki So how many went to university when you did? Vast expansion post 1992 and again in 2013 when the student cap was lifted has caused this. Every job “requires” a degree and it’s ludicrous. It’s not academic study half the time and it’s bums on seats for most universities and that inevitably dilutes quality. Why should the tax payer pay for that? Student choice - student pays. Seems fair to me.

@Skinnysaluki would you go back to fees paid by the state and maintenance grants?

(not saying I wouldn’t but that’s a lot of cost)

@SheilaFentiman Who is paying? Tax payers? We’ve got defence and benefits to pay for and the nhs. It’s not happening is it? Or do we borrow so our dc pay? We have to reduce spending to levels that match tax take and paying for students (37% of school leavers) simply isn’t possible.

@MeetMeOnTheCorner I am not particularly advocating it, unless it came with a wholesale restructure of student numbers etc. I was curious if it was what @Skinnysaluki was looking for.

@SheilaFentiman Money. Free education. People who advocate for this have no idea of numbers and costs - utterly different from “their day”. Even Corbyn got stung on this one. It’s a want but it’s never costed and no one ever says who else must pay! I do think there should be restructuring of the sector. It’s far too large and unwieldy with no reason for a good many courses other then to employ university staff.

University over expansion is a curse in most of Europe and North America. The very weak hypothesis that economic growth would result from a "better educated" population hasn't materialized. There are many structural reasons for that but one which is not spoken about enough is that university does not of itself transform the intellectual performance of mid-IQ young people.

The cutout versus what they actually get in terms if lessons and tutorials is insane. DD is at a RG uni and at most in term two had 6 hours a week. She too struggled to find a job, and she nearly jscjdd it in at Christmas.
She stuck it out and fortunately became friends with a few girls in term 2 from her course, then friends with their friends and that’s who she will be living with next year, but it hasn’t been easy at all-no one in her landing at halls was very forthcoming.
She is having a better time now, but it’s not all plain sailing and the cost is exorbitant. I often wonder if it might have been equally expanding to do open university and go travelling. It would probably have been cheaper!
I agree with you largely op, and I’m sorry your DD is having a hard time.

University was the absolute making of our older dc and youngest will be going in September after having a year out. It's not easy it's not a 3 year party but it made them grow in ways that they just couldn't have staying in our sleepy little town.

There are some people who get fully funded degrees. If you live in Scotland and earn less than 25k a year you can do a degree part time. If someone goes to a brick uni they might have to pay a small percentage of the fees but at the open university - they pay the difference. There's similar schemes in Wales and NI. I've just finished one.

If a someone doesn't qualify in Scotland, NI or Wales the fees are subsidised. Costs around 8k to do an open University degree in Scotland if someone doesn't qualify for the fee grant

@SpryTaupeTurtle That’s a devolved government decision snd how many 18 year olds qualify? Many think the Scottish system doesn’t work well either as universities need a lot of foreign students to balance the books.

As far as I'm aware the part time fee grant isn't awarded based on parents income. I'm aware it's a devolved Govt decision.

@SpryTaupeTurtle So how many 18 year olds qualify and study part time? It’s not really relevant to the OP’s assertion.

I have no idea. People were talking about degree funding and to be fair - there's been plenty of discussion on the thread that doesn't tie in with the OPs posts

I left home at 18 to go to college about 35 miles away. Hated my course. Had a horrible experience with a landlady - got into halls - had a horrible time there and then ended up with another family who decided to bag up all my stuff when I went home for Easter and let it out to someone else (in those days you paid a retainer to keep your room).

I failed all my exams. Passed four on the resits and could have carried on but didn't want to

I came home. Did some extra Highers and then went to a Poly nearer home to do a degree. My brother left home at 17 to go to uni and he was completely fine

I don't know if transferring to a local uni could be possible at the end of the year. Or maybe transferring credits over to the ou. Hopefully it won't come to that but lots of people struggle particularly in first year.

There's no shame in changing path or uni if something really isn't working out.

But it's not "student choice" when, as you say in your thread, "every job requires a degree"! It's led by employers and universities who are basically fooling youngsters into thinking they need a degree to get a decent job!

And why shouldn't the taxpayer pay for today's students to get a Uni education? After all, it's very recent that students have to pay tuition fees. How is it far that students in the 80s and 90s didn't have to pay, yet students today do have to pay?

Puts the “they are just after the money” argument into some perspective

observer.co.uk/news/columnists/article/why-saving-universities-is-far-more-than-academic

I worked at a university for 5 years and left because it felt like an utter con. I really wouldn’t recommend it to anyone unless you are very academic & get into a top 10 uni. Or it’s a highly vocational course with no other means of entry. Total waste of money for most people these days. At my current employer which is a huge multinational org the most noticeable & successful early careers employees are apprentices.

What level of apprenticeship do you expect applicants to have?

@SheilaFentiman Whereas I agree with some of the points in that article, the universities did decide to over recruit all on their own and increase their overheads. The article has one major flaw. It says other countries produce more graduates within their populations but then says universities have too many students with lower qualifications in their courses. I’ve got bad news: if you want higher standards, you cut out low tariffs. Then you merge universities and go back to a system where we had centres of excellence.

By the way, for most law students, there is no career in law. Another case of mis-selling a degree!

I've never felt any of my degrees were a waste of time and I have never felt ashamed if that's the right word of where I am did them. My first degree was from Glasgow Poly. My first post grad was from Northern college in Dundee. My second was from Paisley Uni

And I graduated last year from the open university. (There were reasons why I had to put work on hold so I went back to uni). Both my post grads helped me professionally.

My brother has a degree from Abertay. I completely understand that there's more pressure now on young people due to debt - but I don't think university is a waste of time.

I have studied alongside people who are also doing ou degrees - mostly in England and it's been hugely positive for them.

For most history graduates there’s no career in history either but it just doesn’t stop it being valued by employers.
A significant percentage of graduate jobs don’t look for a specific degree subject. They are looking for skills.
A law degree will allow a student to develop skills which are highly valued across many graduate roles.