Is University overrated these days? (1 Viewer)

[henry08]

Math 55 must be insane!

 

[Dr_Fresh]

i thought it has more to do with what course you are studying

b arts @ unsw vs mbbs @ uws

ok, maybe it should be this

stupid people/people who fail at life (i.e. didnt go to uni)/people at crappy non-Go8 uni doing degree they hate --> "uni is overrated"

successful people/people at prestigious uni/people doing degree they acutally wanted to do --> "uni is not overrated"

go figure

 

[adamtherobot]

The way i see it, anyone can get into Uni (ie. alternate entry, pre-allocated spaces for Indigenous Australians, mature-age students, bridging courses, TAFE / private college articulation programs, OUA etc).

But attending classes, understanding the content, PASSing the classes and getting a decent job out of it at the end of it all is another thing all together.

I'm a mature-age student (27) who works full-time, i see a lot of younger students in my night classes who just don't give a rats ass about being there, i actually told one off last week for wasting the lecturers, the other students and my time, he ended up leaving the class a few minutes after this.

I'm not saying the entry requirements should be tighter or harder, but still, i guarantee you that quite a lot of students don't even finish the 1st year, think about it, have a look around your classes and count how many students you remember from your 1st year (obviously this might be a bit hard with flexible delivery, differing timetables, deferrals and diferent majors / minors), but alas, i hope you see my point.

I always regretted not going to uni straight out of school, but i feel that i'm better prepared to engage in higher level study now than i was 9 years ago when i finished the HSC.

Apologies, i've gone off on an old-man tangent here, but what i'm trying to get at is that University IS something that is revered and looked up to.
Getting straight pass concededs and not grasping the concept of higher learning is not.

Trust me, distinguished companies WILL ask for your transcript and WILL check your performance over your entire Uni "career", because that's what it is. Your career started on Day 1 of Uni, not at graduation or after landing your first job or Internship.

Peace, kids.

Regards
Adam

 

[sailor_girl]

This topic has had some interesting discussion.

I went to uni and did a course that I 'wanted' to do, passed every subject because I wanted to be there and put in the effort, and successfully graduated at the end of 2008.

However, my degree has thus-far failed to get me a job. All the employers these days seem focussed on experience, far more than on a degree. I guess because it has got to the stage where the vast majority of people have a qualification of some kind, they have to find some other way to choose the best person for their job.

So yes, I think uni is overrated. All of my friends who finished school and went straight to work or into a trade are so much better off than me now. They have a secure, full-time job and regular income, financial security, the opportunity to (or already have) purchased a house etc. I want all of these things, but working four shifts a week casually in a shop is not providing enough income (or job security) to do any of this stuff.

The thing I'm trying to say is - yes, they most likely started off working four shifts a week casually in a shop, but they did that straight out of school. Most people at that age don't want to start a family right then etc. It wasn't such a problem for them to start at the beginning then. I don't want to start at the beginning now (for a career in retail for example), I am 25 - I want to be able to work full-time with a regular income so that I can start a family. If I hadn't gone to uni I would be able to do that.

As far as I'm concerned I wasted four years of my life, and accumulated a massive debt. If I ever end up working full-time in another industry it means I'll spend most of my life paying for a degree that I never used.

When we are at school, everyone tells you that uni is the most important thing - everything is about 'preparing you for university' etc. There is no point if there are no jobs for the new graduates once they come out of university.

Uni is overrated because the employment market cannot support the amount of new graduates universities are churning out annually.

 

[babikakez]

This topic has had some interesting discussion.

I went to uni and did a course that I 'wanted' to do, passed every subject because I wanted to be there and put in the effort, and successfully graduated at the end of 2008.

However, my degree has thus-far failed to get me a job. All the employers these days seem focussed on experience, far more than on a degree. I guess because it has got to the stage where the vast majority of people have a qualification of some kind, they have to find some other way to choose the best person for their job.

So yes, I think uni is overrated. All of my friends who finished school and went straight to work or into a trade are so much better off than me now. They have a secure, full-time job and regular income, financial security, the opportunity to (or already have) purchased a house etc. I want all of these things, but working four shifts a week casually in a shop is not providing enough income (or job security) to do any of this stuff.

The thing I'm trying to say is - yes, they most likely started off working four shifts a week casually in a shop, but they did that straight out of school. Most people at that age don't want to start a family right then etc. It wasn't such a problem for them to start at the beginning then. I don't want to start at the beginning now (for a career in retail for example), I am 25 - I want to be able to work full-time with a regular income so that I can start a family. If I hadn't gone to uni I would be able to do that.

As far as I'm concerned I wasted four years of my life, and accumulated a massive debt. If I ever end up working full-time in another industry it means I'll spend most of my life paying for a degree that I never used.

When we are at school, everyone tells you that uni is the most important thing - everything is about 'preparing you for university' etc. There is no point if there are no jobs for the new graduates once they come out of university.

Uni is overrated because the employment market cannot support the amount of new graduates universities are churning out annually.

What course did you study?

 

[sailor_girl]

What course did you study?

Bachelor of Social Work

There are no jobs in Queensland (even at a lower level) unless you have at least twelve months paid full-time experience. Twelve months is the barest minimum that employers are asking for - most want two years.

There are few graduate programs - I have applied, but they only take a couple of people a year (and they are based in Canberra). There are basically no entry-level/graduate entry jobs.

 

[hungwell1337]

imo, that is poor career planning on your behalf

 

[-Lemon-]

Bachelor of Social Work

There's you're problem.
The students who study these type of degrees consistently fail to realise that they add zero value (or even perhaps negative value).
University degree's like science, finance, accounting or whatever actually add value, both via signaling and content.

Signaling: if you do a pure maths degree and get first class honors then you signal intelligence, an ability to solve complex problems, etc

Content: If you study Medicine then you obtain certain knowledge and skills that someone who has not studied Medicine does not have.

Now lets analyze the signaling and knowledge adding properties of degrees like Social work, Gender Studies, Psychology, International Relations, etc.

Signaling: At worst they signal a mild form of retardation, but most prominently they signal a high level of gullibility, that the individual is easily taken, that they lack critical though, etc.
(Ask yourself, would you employ a person who fell for one of those Nigerian email scams? I think not)

Content: Although perhaps not as familiar with some of the jargon, people who havent studied say Social work or Gender Studies are just as qualified to give there opinions on the topic in question.

This is an undeniable fact. I'm not trying to be mean here but you guys need to learn not to give away your time and money so easily, careers in social work are great but DEGREES in social work are not. Be aware of the distinction.

 

[bio_nut]

Bachelor of Social Work

There are no jobs in Queensland (even at a lower level) unless you have at least twelve months paid full-time experience. Twelve months is the barest minimum that employers are asking for - most want two years.

There are few graduate programs - I have applied, but they only take a couple of people a year (and they are based in Canberra). There are basically no entry-level/graduate entry jobs.

You weren't doing part time vaguely related work, even volunteering during that time?

And if you only got passes in a degree like that, of course it's going to be hard to get a job. The people I knew who did that degree had a D average and had no trouble at the end, because they worked a lot in the summer holidays each year and got their foot in the door.

You're not looking hard enough, tbh

 

[hungwell1337]

the lesson here is that

do sciences/engineering/commerce/law at uni

 

[Chemical Ali]

Does anyone else think that with the increasing no. of people going to uni, and also with the fact that the HSC is now just about compulsory, one day we're going to see a two-tier uni system, just like uni and tafe now?

By that I mean, you'd have a lower tier that churned out your nurses, teachers, accountants, basically a glorified trade school for 3 or 4 year qualifications. Then you'd have the higher tier where most of the research took place, and they taught the degrees where you actually go to uni to learn something and not just qualify yourself for a job.

Coz it just seems to me like most uni students now are people who would have left school after year 10 a few decades ago, and there ought to be some kinda separation between vocational training and higher learning!

 

[blerkles]

Bachelor of Social Work

Community Services is the easiest area to get volunteer work in. Networking is essential... the non-advertised job market is huge. So volunteer where you can to meet people who hire people like you.

There are heaps of people with Behavioural Science, Social Science, Psychology (non-registered) and Community Services based degrees that would love to go for certain positions but the requirement is a AASW accredited Social Work degree. Count yourself lucky you are accredited with a particular profession but look further afield... not just Social Worker jobs. Investigate the AASW's career information as to suitable careers.

Type "Social" into Seek and you get over 5K responses... surely some are entry level. Thought about relocating to somewhere more rural (i.e. more desperate for qualified staff)?

 

[merillem]

Job job job. Yeah yeah, that's important. But you work to live not live to work.

I did a degree that I didn't end up using, but does that mean it wasn't worth it?
Hardly.

Uni is a great time in life - you meet loads of people, party and, shit, even learn some interesting stuff that expands your brain. I went on exchange, did a short course overseas, travelled, played sport, went drinking, learned a language and took classes on stuff I probably wouldn't have ever learned about if I'd just gone to TAFE.

Uni is about education, experience and opportunity.

If all that matters to you is money then yeah, go work down some filthy hole for 12 hours a day for 7 days straight and make a shitload of cash.

If the question is really 'is uni overrated these days?' not 'do I need to go to uni to get a job?' then the answer is no. Uni is still the place where you are going to broaden your mind and have access to opportunities that others simply will not have.

 

[ReNG]

Well that's just my opinion anyway. What do you guys think?

Don't most people just choose a university which has a course that best suits what they like and need? Well, that's how i'm choosing which university and course i'd like to do.

 

[John555]

By the way, I go to ANU, so stop using that go8 = happy people vs non-go8 = thinks uni is overrated crap on me.

 

[Casmira]

you guys realise some professions dont care what uni? go to any random career expo for b commerce students, i asked all the representatives there what uni they went too and it all varied uws, unsw, usyd etc.

 

[Tim035]

B. Medical Science @ UNSW. Almost HD average (83.76). Status- unemployed.

 

[Azamakumar]

B. Medical Science @ UNSW. Almost HD average (83.76). Status- unemployed.

lol

 

[bio_nut]

B. Medical Science @ UNSW. Almost HD average (83.76). Status- unemployed.

Well, yeah, science degrees are useless without higher research.

 

[d0mokun]

I reckon the name of the university is overacted. A university is a university. And mind some of you people, UTS used to be a tafe.

But what concerns me is the international reputation and whether that uni would be condiered/recognised if you wanted a job overseas