Does it matter where you get your undergraduate degree?

I completely agree with you in that people have different priorities and that this does not make them wrong or less. In fact how boring would it be if all people had the same values and priorities.

But please answer my question: If we were to define "importance" as the ability of a discipline to bring humanity forward, then would you agree that a degree in Medicine or Physics is more important than a degree in Applied Golf Management Studies?

^This..

It might be kind of true that for computer science careers which entail heavy coding the university choice is less of importance than the ability to code in different languages.

But maybe at Manchester Uni they will teach you better coding than Manchester Met. So this is something you should maybe look into.

But please answer my question: If we were to define "importance" as the ability of a discipline to bring humanity forward, then would you agree that a degree in Medicine or Physics is more important than a degree in Applied Golf Management Studies?

But we're not here comparing disciplines or fields but (undergraduate) degrees. What proportion of Physics grads will somehow importantly "bring humanity forward? 1%? They go and work for Deloitte and Touche, most of them.

The physicist working on the latest golf equipment is the one moving humanity "fore"ward.

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Define "bring humanity forward"? Your goalposts keep shifting to be more and more specifically focused on what you think are the strengths of physics as a discipline - why is that? Are you concerned that somehow your degree or choices are worth less because people like to play golf?

In terms of human happiness increases for the largest group of people then Golf Management is likely to have a bigger impact than either of the others (there's a lot of evidence that health doesn't impact on human happiness - and physics certainly doesn't).

In terms of which is more likely to contribute towards human colonisation of other planets...that *could* be the physicist, or it could be the Dr doing research into human ability to thrive elsewhere - or it could be the golf course manager who is able to raise the funds for the project.

The physicist working on the latest golf equipment is the one moving humanity "fore"ward.

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It's so sad to see people who are so unhappy/insecure about their own life choices/decisions that they are determined to belittle other people's.

The physicist working on the latest golf equipment is the one moving humanity "fore"ward.

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I think Physics is more 'important' than Golf.

But we're not here comparing disciplines or fields but (undergraduate) degrees. What proportion of Physics grads will somehow importantly "bring humanity forward? 1%? They go and work for Deloitte and Touche, most of them.

Exactly. In my partner's family, there's a perfect example of this. Whereas one of them is extremely academically gifted, did a Ph.D. and now is an actuary, the brother did an HNC and works as a mechanic. The rest of the family is similar - all RG degrees and professional qualifications and jobs apart from the 'failure' mechanic However, said mechanic loves his job, love the fact that he can leave at 5pm and take nothing wiht him, has never had 'work' mobile or email and gets to spend a lot of time with his little girl. The rest of them (and me, to be fair) spend our lives whingeing on about pressures, conference calls, clients...

The mechanic brother clearly did what he was suited to and is entirely happy with his lot. Yet the taint of 'failure' has never left him. What a sad state of affairs to be in.

Exactly. In my partner's family, there's a perfect example of this. Whereas one of them is extremely academically gifted, did a Ph.D. and now is an actuary, the brother did an HNC and works as a mechanic. The rest of the family is similar - all RG degrees and professional qualifications and jobs apart from the 'failure' mechanic However, said mechanic loves his job, loves the fact that he can leave at 5pm and take nothing with him, has never had 'work' mobiles or email and gets to spend a lot of time with his little girl. The rest of them (and me, to be fair) spend our lives whingeing on about pressures, conference calls, clients...

The mechanic brother clearly did what he was suited to and is entirely happy with his lot. Yet the taint of 'failure' has never left him. What a sad state of affairs to be in.

I've got a relation who makes an absolute fortune selling grass and fertiliser products to golf courses. And another who left school halfway through her A levels and is now a director at Barclays Wealth. And another who did a YTS placement and now runs his won company. The routes to success and happiness are very varied and diverse. It's outrageous to see how narrow minded younger people on TSR can be

Completely agree on this. Life has many turns and twists.

But I still believe that certain disciplines are more important than others. For example if golf disappeared tomorrow the impact in everyday life would be small. If physics or computers disappeared tomorrow the impact in everyday life would be bigger.

You're still missing the point.

'Important' to whom?

Just thought Id add my experience.

I'm going back to university to do Software Engineering next September after a two year gap working in finance.

I emailed a ton of top software development companies in Manchester and I managed to speak to a CEO of a nationwide company who urged me to go to University, I asked him a ton of questions regarding this and in short he said the uni for this particular career is not really looked upon as it is the skills you have to show and how well you can code and in which languages.

I asked this as I was either going to go into an Access course to go to Manchester University or use the grades I had from A-levels(BBC) to get into Manchester Met and he advised to go to Manchester Met as in the long run it wont matter and also one of his directors lectures there.

I know this is completely based around the tech industry more but Its an interesting view, as I was really reluctant to go to a university such an Man Met but if it wont affect my career in the long run id rather go asap.

In my opinion over any career though, if you work hard you will always succeed.

To humanity.