You fiendish genius, you. I didn't know that about the debt. Interesting. I'm soldiering on. It's epically depressing and pointless, but there's just nothing else to do from here. Anything I might try would be hindered by having quit uni, which frankly is just gay, the fact that £12k in, I'm now worth less on the job market than somebody who quit education after A-levels. ****ing bone country with a ****ing bone government and education system, and the weather is terrible to boot...
Fixed. from the perspective of a final year illustration student. LOL. dont be so linear Nexxo. Life can be awfully dull when your looking at the world in black and white so academically.
I dropped out of college, work as a web developer now, earning really well for myself, 2 of my friends already graduated and have started their careers, their 2 year salary plan still puts them lower than what I currently earn. IT industry is a little different than most everything though. It really depends on what you want to do. What do you want to do? If you don't know.. you better start thinking about it as that's something you should have figured out before entering uni.
If you do quit uni there are still loads of high paying job prospects out there, I'm persuing becoming a chartered accountant, which I don't need a degree for can be an incredibly high paying job. Then you'll also not have to deal with the farce that has become of university. Unfortunately employers don't like it, and it's an employers market right now. I had big problems trying to find an accounts trainee position (which I gave up looking for in the end and funded the course myself) because for some reason, getting accepted into one of the best business schools in the country, then coming to the realization that I and 90% of the other students are wasting their time and money and persuing a different way of more efficiently learning (in both time and money) for the job I was aiming for was worse than just applying for the job straight out on A-levels.
also you need to know the problems you shall incur if you drop out, If you finish your degree you get the small fee re-payment on your loan, if you drop out the student loan company what's all its money back straight away. So re-payment over the rest of your life, or payment up front, and don't expect a bank to loan you the cash, as your credit rating is dirt to them.
University can be about two things in my opinion. It can be about pursuing a line of education that connects directly to your intended occupation, or it can be about learning more about something you feel a deep interest in and which you want to learn a lot more about and perhaps grow an expertise or vocation around. The key word there is WANT - if you don't enjoy it and you don't see it connecting to a job you do want then what's the point? (Well, assuming how far you are through your course. If you're anything past half-way through then it's better to brgrudgingly push on then drop out because that way at least you come out with something.) Me? I studied English Linguistics and Creative Writing. My thinking was simple; "I like writing, am pretty good at English Language and would like to go on to be a novelist at some point." I had vague aspirations of teaching if everything else fell apart, but that was pretty much it. It wasn't until my third year at my girlfriend's nudging that I started writing for the student paper and found something I really wanted. In the mean time though I was engaged by my creative writing and interested in linguistics on an academic level. At the end of the day if you aren't getting something out of it in the long run, why bother? You should place a high enough value on your own time to know whether or not this is worth it. University, as Nexxo says, is not a valid lifestyle choice. You can learn a lot about yourself while you're there, sure. You can grow into yourself. You can discover all about what your lifestyle is - but you can do that stuff elsewhere. You can probably do it faster and better than if you were hanging around with a bunch of people you're own age and of similar level too. If you're seriously not interested in your course and you're seriously not considering going into a line of work which requires degree level education and your investment in both time and money so far doesn't outweigh the potential gains...then the answer spells itself out. On a side note; if you do stick around then don't bother blaming it on the government and the country and wah wah wah. You made the choice to go, aware of the debts and the possible work load. You've now elected to stay. The government made sure that you were as fully aware of everything as you could be when you signed up and is not responsible for you not enjoying your time at university or the fact that you feel you may have made the wrong degree choice.
Its joe's creative and concise writing that makes great game reviews, plus bit-tech just pays the bills, i bet he has other plans up his sleeve.
*cowers from banhammer* My comment wasn't meant in a derogatory way, this would be a poorer place without you and your innate ability for elegantly cutting through the BS. Plus your rants are funny So long as your novels aren't in some way related to Monkey Island, then I'm sure I'd buy them
Such idle hope... you just know they'll be filled to the last page with references. Characters called Thumblesticks Widdlethorn or a guy in the corner trying to figure out a chicken pulley ropeway that works both ways... *hides from banhammer* Anyway, more OT: Take it from a quitter, you are doing the right thing soldiering on. The only legitimate reason to quit is if you find something that you do want to do. The realisation that what you are currently doing is not your thing is making the grass look very green indeed on the other side. What you need to do is keep going for now, while promising yourself to quit if and when you find something you truly want and can attain by quitting.
no, you're not promoted quicker you just start out at a higher rank than someone without a degree which saves you about 24-36 months in promotions AS an NCO. Commissioned you start at the bottom of that chain no matter what. Also certain fields will earn you ranks quicker.
errm, thats not what happened to my brother and friend who are both now Captains in the infantry. If you commission you start at 2nd Lt then pick up to Lt sooner. The only way to start higher is if you are a professional. i.e doctor. BTW what do NCOs have to do with it. Who joins the army as a solider with a degree
This is a OT, but in the Officer Training Corps we're taught that 2LT's will on average make LT in 1 year with a degree, and 3 years without a degree. That's coming from up to date army rank structure guides.
^^ correlation != causation. The army attracts individuals with generally lower standards of education (yes i know i'm generalising). The ones that are smarter will usually have a degree. The smart ones are better soldiers.
This is unfortunately unture. If you are out of the country you are still expected to pay your debt they dont just write it off. granted its usually more difficult to locate you but they can. if you hold a british passport then when you come back your debt will still be there and gained alot of interest. my friends have also just recently graduated and they live in aussie now but still pay there student loan debt. As for uni been about the career you want, its not all about that it does show a level of learning ability and having a degree in certain things can lead to jobs in that area. however i graduated uni in 2008 with a 2:1 in exploration and resource geology i first went to work for a oil and gas consultancy that develops its own software. i was geo-technical support for a year (was intern position then economy crashed and position was not revewed). i now work however for a CCTV company as technical support. This job relies on my IT skills since im in charge of our PC based CCTV solutions and hooking them upto networks onsite. The thing is i got this job because of my 2:1 degree as my boss like many saw i had IT skills but no formal qualifications but my degree showed him that i can learn and the skills i needed wouldnt be over my head. He even said it to me in my interview that the reason my CV sparked interest was because of my strong acedemic background coupled with self taught IT background. Another exmaple of why a degree in pretty much anything is good is that FORD who my dad works for DO NOT employ graduates with less than a 2:1 for fast track manager positions (they go on ford training to become managers then start in an area/site) they have no prequsite of you must have a business degree or mangement degree etc. Hell my dads boss whos in charge of some division for the UK has a background in geology lol. personally id see it through, i did with mine i realised during my second year i wanted to have a career in IT rather than geology but didint want to waste 1. my parents money for sending me to uni and 2. my time over the last year or so. i finsihed my degree and very happy that i did because it has got my where i am today.
have you thought about defering the course, or trading courses? Uni degrees do offer a better prospect of getting a job, following a career in your chosen path. After I served in the army, i decided to go to university, imo it was the best choice for me both on a social and academic level, granted I'm still trying to find the perfect job, but my cousre has given me more options on what I want to do. You might want to speak to your course leader/dean.tutor about your fears about the course.
Not if they don't work for a UK company they won't, because it's collected from pay. Sure I'll always have to pay it off and it's collecting interest like nobody's business but I simply don't earn enough to pay it off. In fact, they are right now automatically collecting LESS than is accumulating in interest. As far as I'm concerned it'll be a life debt and there's no incentive for me to pay it off. I might phone the student loans company and ask their advice.
friends dont work for a UK company its an aussie company and they still have to pay it. the internest on student loan is 0% at the minute so if you pay any of it off you reducing your debt.
