People who don't go to uni, do they really miss out?

I'm personally a bit unsure about whether to go to uni. Bit of a long story, but basically I had a bad experience in sixth form and got bad A/AS Levels, so I'm feeling a little put off by academia at the moment. And right now I feel like I'd rather just be earning some money as soon as possible to be honest (well, that's if and when I eventually find a job or set up a business, which is a whole other battle in itself lol).

But then, I often hear about how uni is supposed to be "the best years of your life", and how it makes you grow as a person, and things like that. And I feel a bit worried by that. If this is so, what exactly do people mean by all that? And, is it really such a disadvantage to one's life to not do and complete uni? Or are there other ways that one could "grow as a person" and enrich their life without uni? Or is it ultimately just down to the individual and their personal goals and opportunities that they encounter?

I know this question is probably rather broad, but I would like to hear answers from all different sides, thanks :smile:

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Harrifer

Unless it's relevant to your career of choice, I wouldn't bother with the huge fees you'll have to pay.

A poor degree isn't worth much anyway. From what I understand, you're barely considered a graduate without a 2.1

Get working is what I say, that's from someone at uni.

There's no 'growing' that you couldn't do without a job. What people refer to is living on your own and taking responsibility, which you could do anyway. They might also be referring to being exposed to new ideas that they were too lazy and stupid to have found out about on their own.

Reply 2

MalingaTheSlinga

Tbh, uni is what YOU make of it. Not everyone experiences the massive social side to it, only those who choose to. You can still work and have that side with work mates, but again, you would need to choose to. Even in a job, there will be some people around your age. With uni it's probably considered easier as everyone is your age, but if you find the right people, you can do that everywhere. At the end of the day, your future and being settled is more important. I don't think you'll miss out by not going to uni, but all your mates won't be 18-21 and similar; they could be 25-40 and like pubs, etc, rather than clubs/parties.

Reply 3

username321708

I am 23 years of age. Having come from a poor and working class background I can say that I have experienced one of the many alternatives to pursuing education; going straight into unskilled work since 16. Factory, warehouse, call centre, sales, shop work, you name it I've done it, and I've hated most of it because I knew I was always not fulfilling my potential or challenging or developing myself as a person as much as I wanted to. It made me feel quite hollow at times. It has developed some personal attributes that I am proud of though, which can only be gained with experience. Resilience, great communication skills, perseverance, patience, determination and personal responsibility just to name a few. As previously stated though, I feel my intellectual development has just been hibernating since the age of 18 and only now am I starting to realize my potential and utilize it. I am entering education this year though and I can't wait.

I would say that university it is not the 'right' path for some people, and school leavers certainly need to lose the idea that going to university is the done thing, or it is what is expected. If you do not feel passionate enough to study something for 3 or 4 years and put in an awful lot of work to achieve a good degree, then just don't bother. I've met quite a few people who just go to university to get drunk most days and avoid real work, these people are sadly just wasting their own time in the end, albeit they are having fun; but it's not worth getting into thousands of pounds worth of debt for.

Vocational qualifications go a long way towards developing yourself in that direction if it's what you want to achieve and these type of courses mostly do not involve continuing education onto university level. The other two options from my point of view are you either enter a line of work or industry of which you want to sculpt a career out of, and then start from the bottom and work your way up, old school style. However with the economy the way it is I doubt the majority of employers now would be willing to hire junior members of a team when they are having to make cutbacks and redundancies, so perhaps right now this pathway is not as viable as it once was. The last option is opening your own business, creating a product you want or simply becoming self employed if you are in a position to market any skills, whether already existing or in development.

I'm afraid that is all I can offer on the matter, I am only giving you examples that can relate to my own knowledge and personal experience. I think you are doing the right thing for questioning your future path though, a very wise thing to do.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 4

CherryCherryBoomBoom

Some great answers so far everyone, thanks a lot :top:

Original post by 21stcenturyphantom

I'm afraid that is all I can offer on the matter, I am only giving you examples that can relate to my own knowledge and personal experience. I think you are doing the right thing for questioning your future path though, a very wise and thing to do.

Yes, I am constantly questioning my future path, especially since I am at an age (19) where I really do need to be figuring out what the heck I'm supposed to be doing, since I'm an now an adult and all, but I feel it can be so hard. There are quite a lot of options out there, but it's a case of figuring out which is the best for me, what the pros and cons are, and how to go about them in the best way.

Well done on finally figuring out what's best for you :smile:

Reply 5

username321708

Original post by CherryCherryBoomBoom

Some great answers so far everyone, thanks a lot :top:

Thank you. :smile:

I would begin to indulge in some nostalgic comments about how I wish I had done things differently when leaving school, but I won't bother as nostalgia is pretty pointless if you are trying to be productive. :wink:

It's sort of cliche but have a good hard look at yourself, and I mean scrutinize yourself and do not hold back. Think about what you want to do, what you are interested in, what sort of personal skills you want to develop and then set goals or achievements and then set about knocking them down and climbing further and further up the metaphorical mountain of self fulfillment.

It depends how you react to change, some people are unwilling to accept it whilst others willingly and spontaneously embrace it, but most people I would imagine are somewhere in between. Being honest with myself, I am confident that my future path will mean losing contact with a lot of old friends and acquaintances simply because I won't be the same person I am now, but I see this as something that is necessary for me to develop as a person, and I do not see it as something that I should be afraid of. I am not saying the same will be true for you though by any means. I wish you good luck with whatever you decide. :smile:

Reply 6

Lilrascal19

I think it depends on who you are and your personal goals.
I kind of wish I never went to university and I had it stuck in my head for a very long time that it was
GCSE's > A-Levels > University. (I study accounting)

I knew what I wanted to do before I even started university and if I had done my research properly, I wouldn't be in university right now, I would be working, whilst gaining the accountancy qualifications I need. I personally feel for subjects like accounting, you really do not need a degree in, when there are other options out there which makes me ask 'Why have I conformed to this life?'
Hey ho, if this was the way I was supposed to go then, I can accept that.

Again, for me, the whole university experience isn't what I expected it to be and I think this is because I don't live far away from the university. I'm still in the same county but I do live away from home.
I do love the people I've met so far and yes we go out partying and do other nonsense, but apart from that, it is constantly studying, doing assignments etc. Don't get me wrong, I love what I study, sometimes I just wish I took a different path.

Maybe if I went to a university up north somewhere, I'd be saying something completely different.

I had someone say to me the other day that 'uni days are suppose to be the best years of your life' (Although for me, secondary school was lol :smile:

) and I can honestly say that if you are going to do it, then do it and live it to the fullest, because after that, obviously depending on what you do, it will be a 9-5, 5 days a week, 40 - 45 weeks in the year and that will be your life until you start a family or retirement haha.

I'd say, if you what you want to do in the future, requires a degree, then it will probably be in your best interest to go ahead and pursue it. Do not let your AS/A level grades, question your capability in university. Anybody can get a first/2:1 if they put their mind to it.

More to the point though, if you do go into work full-time, what would be the likelihood of you saying to yourself, 'I wish I went to university?' and if you do feel like you will regret it, then go to university, it's only 3 or 4 years, which will fly by. You'll be in debt and stuff but at least you can say you've experienced it.

Ok...Thats my analysis lol... Sorry for the long post.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 7

TheSownRose

What do you think people did before uni was commonplace - spend their whole lives in some version of arrested development, forever stuck as an adolescent? :rolleyes:

Reply 8

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

unless it's relevant to your career - university is a huge waste of time

Reply 9

rockrunride

I admit that accessiblity is going to become infinitely more difficult than ever thanks to certain broken promises. But university for me has been much more than education. Admittedly when I had just turned 18 I was far too young and immature; I was independent enough to live by myself, though thinking too much that it was going to be a party with some occasional work. Even second year was too decadent tbh, leaving me here on my less intense year abroad wanting to work as hard as I possibly can. Uni has made me see the things that I need to appreciate in life, things that I am responsible for, it's basically matured me a hell of a lot. It has opened my mind allowing me to embrace new ways of thinking and vitally different ways of living life. If the fees were to stay at £3200 I could only recommend university for the life-changing experience it beholds.

Reply 10

ByronicHero

I don't think so no. I've not grown as a person as a result of going and if anything I'v taken steps backwards while there.

The experience isn't inherently positive, it is an opportunity much the same as any and comes with it's own positive and negative aspects. Will some people be missing out on something they will have found to be a great thing? Yes of course. Will the opposite be true of many other people? Yes of course.

It depends on the person, their situation, the university, their motivations etcetc ad infinitum so to make a blanket statement that it either is or isn't an important thing for X or Y reason simply isn't correct in my opinion.

I wish I had never gone, for example.

Reply 11

CherryCherryBoomBoom

Original post by Harrifer

Why is this post is getting negged? :s-smilie:

I thought it was a fairly decent comment :dontknow:

Original post by Lilrascal19

I'd say, if you what you want to do in the future, requires a degree, then it will probably be in your best interest to go ahead and pursue it. Do not let your AS/A level grades, question your capability in university. Anybody can get a first/2:1 if they put their mind to it.

More to the point though, if you do go into work full-time, what would be the likelihood of you saying to yourself, 'I wish I went to university?' and if you do feel like you will regret it, then go to university, it's only 3 or 4 years, which will fly by. You'll be in debt and stuff but at least you can say you've experienced it.

Those are some good points you've made :yep:

. It's just that for one reason or another I did struggle to get any Cs at A/AS Level, so I worry whether I'd cope well with uni or not. I think that if I were someone who could easily get Cs/Bs or higher, then going to uni would probably be a no brainer. But as it stands, that's not the case :sigh:

Original post by paddy__power

I wish I had never gone, for example.

Why do you feel this way, can I ask? Is it because you know now that you could have reached your goal career better without uni? Or was uni just a generally bad experience for you?

Reply 12

WolfSong2000

For me, personally, going to uni was the best thing I could have possible done...I consider myself relatively intelligent, but didn't do spectacularly well at A-Levels...came out with BCD, I think...still managed to get into Aberdeen Uni to study philosophy (I wasn't sure what I wanted to do career wise, and figured philosophy would give me good life-long skills if nothing else). I ended up graduating in History, but had a really, really great time. University is a whole other ball game to school. It's a totally different learning experience (or at least was for me) and I feel I learned a lot, both academically and in terms of "life skills".

I'm now at another uni (within top 10 in the UK) doing a masters degree. It's hard work, a totally new subject for me (IR), a very different experience, but I'm still learning a lot.

If you do go to uni, I would recommend doing part-time work while you study. If nothing else, it gives you more experience and adds to your CV :smile:

Reply 13

ByronicHero

Original post by CherryCherryBoomBoom

Why is this post is getting negged? :s-smilie:

I thought it was a fairly decent comment :dontknow:

Those are some good points you've made :yep:

Why do you feel this way, can I ask? Is it because you know now that you could have reached your goal career better without uni? Or was uni just a generally bad experience for you?

A waste of money and time.

Reply 14

Harrifer

Original post by CherryCherryBoomBoom

Why is this post is getting negged? :s-smilie:

I thought it was a fairly decent comment :dontknow:

My post was probably negged because the people who are too lazy or stupid to find out about different ideas on their own were upset that I pointed that out.

This is what you are missing out on at university. :rolleyes:

Reply 15

d123

I don't think university is necessary - of course you can have a successful and happy life without going. However, for me, so far it has been the time of my life. It's made me grow up very quickly, I've met fantastic people and had so many opportunities come my way which wouldn't have happened had I not gone to uni. Of course this isn't everyone's experience, and I love the academic side of it as well, which some people don't. I think if you don't go to uni, you probably do miss out on certain things, but you can make your own experiences that people who do go to uni will miss out on.