university , my daughter is beggining to think its a waste of money

[45nanny]

My daughter did really well at college and has just started uni in preston . Spoke to her this evening and she said she is so bored. She has no lessons this week apart from a talk on monday and a hour or so lesson on thurs . she is up to date on her studies and has a good social life too . She said she thinks the whole uni thing is such a waste of money and i,m so worried she'll throw it in and come home . she worked so hard to get a good place and just feels that there isnt enough to keep her focased.
i ,ve said to go chat to soemone in her department about how she feels , is this normal , no lessons . help .

Eek - this thread is becoming a bit quarrelsome, but I shall stick my oar in anyway.

I was a university lecturer and admissions tutor in a pre-92 university before having children. I dealt with many, many first-year students who were struggling with university life/finding that their course wasn't quite what they'd expected - and so on.

45nanny, if your daughter is still feeling like this, my advice (FWIW) would be for her to talk to her tutor in the first instance. University is very different from school, and it's possible that the expectations haven't been made clear to her regarding time spent on private study and such like. It can initially seem as if you have acres of spare time - but nobody really tells you that that spare time is supposed to be spent in the library/doing private study/creative things/whatever could make the difference between a low 2.2 and a high 2.1 (or, nowadays, even a I). If this spare time is filled, boredom should not be an issue.

The other possibility - and this is also something for your daughter to talk to her tutor about - is that she is right, and the course is a waste of money for her. She will be investing a vast amount of time and money, and she has to be as sure as she can be that it is an investment worth making.

Has your daughter really thought about - and discounted - the more academic options that might be open to her? Sometimes it can be a good idea to get a degree in an old-fashioned subject whilst gaining outside experience in the subject that interests her (in your DD's case, fashion). If you were to quiz journalists, for instance, you'd probably find that most of them did English degrees, not journalism.

I fear this will be seen as critical, but it isn't meant to be. I just think it's worth entertaining the idea that your daughter might need to have a re-think!

Arrgh, but most fashion journalists have done a course in fashion journalism..........

The fashion industry can be like a closed shop. Think Absoultely Fabulous.It really can be like that dahling!

It is quite precious and incredibly selective and competetive. If 100 people apply for one job, they will always take the one with the fashion background......that is all they are interested in. So they are not going to take on a regular journalsit, when there are million people chasing one job. There will be loads of incredibly talented fashion journalsits, so they can take their pick.

Ditto buying...they might just take someone with a business degree...but generally they want a fashion business related degree, and will have 100s of applicants with the right experience, so they would rarely take on someone with an degree not related to it.

My local uni, had 500 applicants for every place on it's degree course. This is fairly normal...........finding a job is even more competetive. They can pick and choose in all aspects of the industry, that is why having the right background is essential if your daughter wants to go into it.

I would say stick with it though, it is a fun, fast moving industry, even if a mite competitive

After reading through the thread, I think Fizz has a point about getting unpaid work experience. Also, echoing Expat, what about your daughter taking a French course?

Lizzy, my daughter has serious learning disabilities. She's 5 and retained at stage - a Scottish term for held back a year - and still in nursery, which the LEA funded for an additional year as it's got an ASN unit. French courses aren't really top of the agenda at the mo'.

i should add our other daughter is NT, but she's only 2 so we're not really thinking about college or university yet.

I would add, on reflection, that if your daughter is happy to carry on with her course, she will need to give it 110%. A lower second class degree from a post-92 university will not make her stand out from the crowd (and, let's face it, degree courses like hers aren't exactly undersubscribed), and her employment prospects might be limited. If she can get herself a First as well as having been pro-active about getting work experience, she will increase her chances of getting a decent job.

Sorry Expat, I meant the Op's daughter taking a French course (you had pointed out that she'd needed it at Chanel)
That will teach me for trying to MN whilst at work, keep getting distracted!

it was meant tongue in cheek, lizzy.

it's a useful skill to have for working in the House of Chanel. but it's possible to learn French without a course - not necessarily the easiest, but possible.

i had two years of French in secondary school, thankfully with a teacher who was really French, but was in for a steep learning curve when I went to live there for a year when I was 15 and found myself living with an Alsatian family on a farm about 12m outside of Strasbourg and i sure as hell didn't have a word of German at the time.

It was just an idea of how the Op's daughter could fill her time.

When at uni I filled my time with drinking and partying/sleeping off effects and watching daytime TV in a hungover state, am impressed that she seems to want more challenges, tbh!

Plenty of opportunity for a French course there, I'm sure, and if funds are a problem, there's usually a French club or community - student associations should know - to attend.

i remember one semester when i had nothing at all timetabled between tuesday 1pm and Friday 3.30pm

im sure once she gets into it more she will have LOADS of work to keep her busy... IMO she should make the most of these few free hours as it wont be long before she has loads and laods of study to do!

this thread is very interesting for me - in my country the first year students are always the busiest doing lots of different projects requiring lots of time. also as far as i know all uni students spent about 30 hours of lessons /lectures+seminars/ at uni and homework and homestudy on top of that.
could someone explain to me what a post92 uni in the uk means?