Is it worth going to Sixth Form / College and university?

I'm sure I'm not the only one, but 6th form breaks my soul with the constant repetitiveness, mixed with absolute morons circulating around the college. The lessons are awful, and you're always thinking of what better things could be done. Yet, we all go to 6th form etc because there is bugger all else. Can't wait to leave.

What I said wasn't exclusive to degree's, I said you could go onto A-levels so that you are gaining something for your time instead of 10th prestige on cod and a bunch of failed interviews.

Then maybe when the job market improves, GCSE's and A-levels will suffice and then experience will also be valuable, but at this current moment in time employers can afford to be picky. So it WILL be difficult no matter what industry you are looking at.

I was discussing this subject with my sixth form tutor the other day. He said that he would not recommend anyone to go to university now with the rise in tuition fees (he told me not to discuss his opinion with anyone else in the sixth form as he is obviously supposed to encourage and would probably get a *******ing from other teachers). Instead, he said that he would recommend doin an Open University degree which is well respected whilst trying to gain experience in that field via an apprenticeship.

I have been thinking about this a lot as it gives you the best of both worlds as you are gaining experience and still getting a degree which employers want.

I study because I am passionate about my chosen subject. I also want to make a decent amount of money doing what I enjoy, and if that's what you call "being trained" then I suppose I am. And quite happy about it.

I was discussing this subject with my sixth form tutor the other day. He said that he would not recommend anyone to go to university now with the rise in tuition fees (he told me not to discuss his opinion with anyone else in the sixth form as he is obviously supposed to encourage and would probably get a *******ing from other teachers). Instead, he said that he would recommend doin an Open University degree which is well respected whilst trying to gain experience in that field via an apprenticeship.

I have been thinking about this a lot as it gives you the best of both worlds as you are gaining experience and still getting a degree which employers want.

Yeah, I also want to try the Open Uni. The only downside I'm seeing is that you don't get that same social experience you get with brick unis, and my social life is really lacking at the moment which is why I'm considering maybe going to uni in the near future. Also, for a good few months last year I really tried to get into an apprenticeship but got rejected from everything, so bear in mind that they're just as hard to get as normal jobs!

Oh no, you're not trained at all. This is what I love the most, statements like this.

If only more people took note.

It can be quite difficult to detect sarcasm on the internet. This would be one of those instances.

For people who want to go to university just for the social life:

Why not just go along and try and join the societies or go to student pubs and clubs? Surely there is no point in going to the time and expense of a degree just for the hanging out when you can do all that for free in the evenings? You could also try to live with students. In a big university city, 90% of shared housing around the campus area will contain at least one student, so it should be easy to find.

At a uni hiking club I used to go to, we had a couple of girls who came to the city as au pairs and were looking to meet other young people. Nobody cared that they weren't students.

Although, it seems like to would be hard to get involved with that stuff if you're not a student?

Does every uni let non-students into their societies and stuff?

Well, there is no problem going to student pubs and clubs and soforth.

If you are just looking to meet like minded young people to have fun with - does it even matter if they happen to be students or not? The way most students make friends is via living together so you could just look into shared housing whether it is with students or not. House shares with more than two people are generally sub 30 year olds.

I left school at 16 but I still enjoyed the student experience by housesharing, going to student pubs occaisionally and soforth. The only difference was I was working full time so I had a ton of money A friend from school was at the local uni when he turned 18, so I went round his halls every so often and went out with his student mates.

I had more of a student lifestyle from 16-18 then I did when I actually went to uni when I was 21!

Well, if you consulted the official policies and rules - probably not but I can't see most people having a problem with it. As I said, we had a few non-students in a society I went to and it was also common for alumni to come back and join in occaisionally or for people to bring friends.

Yeah, I also want to try the Open Uni. The only downside I'm seeing is that you don't get that same social experience you get with brick unis, and my social life is really lacking at the moment which is why I'm considering maybe going to uni in the near future. Also, for a good few months last year I really tried to get into an apprenticeship but got rejected from everything, so bear in mind that they're just as hard to get as normal jobs!

Hang in there and you will find one, I finally got one today after four months of interviews. It's sure is tough with about 100 applying for each decent apprenticeship.

On the social aspect of things, why should you need to go get a degree in massive debt to have a social life. As somebody else said, go along and join the clubs and societies and plus you will have money so you can afford to go out and socialise as university isn't a passport to a great social life, it's what YOU make of it.

If you spend all your time studying for your subjects, this must have some form of negative psychological impact to your brain. From my experience and research so far, most subjects in sixth form and college are taught so that the person passes. Teachers don't care about expanding the students imagination, they in fact (mostly unintentionally) delude and train the students to become consumers and conformists working for around £25-40k a year. We aren't being taught, we are being trained. How many film directors or artists or millionaire entrepreneurs and businesses men do you know who went to college? Here are some examples of college/university dropout successes; Quentin Tarantino the director of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. Richard Branson, owner of the virgin company. Sir Alan Michael Sugar, owner of Amstrad, dropped out when he was 16! Bill Gates - Microsoft. Steve Jobs - Apple. These examples made me lead to the assumption that we are being trained in college and in university, and on top of that, we are paying to be trained! It's ridiculous! Is paying 27 thousand pounds for a three year course in University really worth it? I surely don't believe so... modern education methods corrupt the students imagination and potential to thrive and become a somebody.

OK, thanks for the words of encouragement . One of the reasons I stopped applying for apprenticeships was because some feedback I was getting that apparently in interviews I wasn't showing enough passion for the roles. This has made me question myself and whether I really want to be going for these roles anymore, so I decided to give it a break. I'd also rather have a proper job so that I can hopefully earn more money than I would from most apprenticeships, and maybe go travelling later.

Oh yeah, and there's also the fact that I'm struggling to get a job anyway in this bad economic climate, which is why I was wondering if it's worth going to uni full time instead so I have something more to do with my time whilst also getting a (possibly) sought after qualification?

What roles have you been applying for? Do you research on the company and the subject to use as ammunition for enthusiasm. The economy may be bad now and it could be even worse if you went to uni and still struggle. Statistically there is about in average of 80 applicants for every graduate job and the figures where high even before the recession.

If you spend all your time studying for your subjects, this must have some form of negative psychological impact to your brain. From my experience and research so far, most subjects in sixth form and college are taught so that the person passes. Teachers don't care about expanding the students imagination, they in fact (mostly unintentionally) delude and train the students to become consumers and conformists working for around £25-40k a year. We aren't being taught, we are being trained. How many film directors or artists or millionaire entrepreneurs and businesses men do you know who went to college? Here are some examples of college/university dropout successes; Quentin Tarantino the director of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. Richard Branson, owner of the virgin company. Sir Alan Michael Sugar, owner of Amstrad, dropped out when he was 16! Bill Gates - Microsoft. Steve Jobs - Apple. These examples made me lead to the assumption that we are being trained in college and in university, and on top of that, we are paying to be trained! It's ridiculous! Is paying 27 thousand pounds for a three year course in University really worth it? I surely don't believe so... modern education methods corrupt the students imagination and potential to thrive and become a somebody.

I'm sorry to break it to you but you are talking out of your hole or rather just parroting back what has been force fed to you by overbearing parents and school teachers.

Me and many of my friends finished school at 16 and many of us are doing well for themselves now. For example:

- D is a self employed gas fitter and makes over £35k
- N worked for estate agencies for a few years before setting up his own lettings agency with a friend. He also owns several of his own properties that he lets out.
- C worked started working in tech support and is now a network admin making around £30k
- M is in the police
- S is in the Royal Military Police
- Before I went back in to full time education, I was an insurance underwriter working for a major financial institution. When I finally decided to go to university, I turned down an overseas job offer that would have netted me £40k in my first year at 21 years old.

and the oldest of us is 28 so it isn't as if we are going back very far into history.