The Student Room Group

University has taught me one thing, what is the point in university?

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Reply 20
Original post by simstar88
He clearly thinks he is on the same level as them.


No, i don't. Im obviously not gonna be on the same level as them or anywhere near. However, I have thought why did they drop out? Was it because their creativity was being suppressed? I mean, Jobs was one of the most aesthetic people in the industry when it came to produce design, it was a focal point.

its nothing to do with intellectual capability, more the reasoning why.
OP what uni are you at?
Reply 22
If you go to university, take no initiative, and wonder why you're not developing intellectually then I'd suggest you re-assess the weak link there.
Reply 23
Original post by Overmars
I'm confused - are you the OP?

Anyway, the complaints I'm reading are:

1) You're being spoon-fed everything and you're not required to be creative
2) You have to do everything yourself because the lecture doesn't teach you anything

Look -- undergrad is all about learning the foundations of your subject and practising to think abstractly about a problem.

If your problem is that you don't like going through the theory -- tough titties; everyone has to do it. In academic terms, 'creativity' comes later on with a masters/PhD after you've ticked enough boxes.

If your problem is that the theory is too formulaic and easy then you really have picked a course that is too easy for you.

My advice would be, unless you think you could get enrolled in a more challenging course easily, just go through the motions and ace the exams. It might not have been the most ideal university experience but you'll at least have the piece of paper and the recommendations required to do something useful after.


You don't understand.

We are given stuff to work on rather than being told;

make something unique that has

x
y
z

If what you make has that criteria you'll get the marks. Under that principle everyones work would be unique and independently creative. However, at present time everyone is being spoon fed other peoples work to work on, which nullifies innovation.
Original post by jb9191
programming
maths for computing
hardware
algorithms

etc.


what course?
Reply 25
Original post by moon4pie
Do you actually realise that by what you said, you're in effect challenging the entire concept of education developed by our society, over a millenia ?

Universities have a solid purpose in cognitive development. You cannot blame the entire system over a particular issue that you're having in your life , because, the chances of it being routed in the system instead of your mind, are so slim, that they shouldn't even be considered .

To trace the problem that you're having to its source, you need to have an open-mind, and accept every possibility, even when the problem points back at you !

Edit :

You know, it's not polite to judge people out loud...


I'm not a polite person.
Reply 26
Original post by jb9191
...


Are you in your first year? If so, you'll find out soon enough that the stuff you are being spoon-fed is barely enough to get you a third.
Reply 27
Original post by jb9191
Yes, thats how I truly feel. I thought I'd actually get taught stuff and be asked on a routine basis to practice and so forth on my subject. Instead I'm being spoon fed like a puppet in a play various pieces of information and its really not helping me evolve intellectually. Yes I could revise in my own time, however, I could do that without being at university and its made me think 'why the hell am I here?', 'why the hell does anyone go to university?'.

I really do not see the point in university anymore and I actually think I'm a fool in thinking it would provide me a platform to do well in life. It doesn't. It teaches you to do as you're told by an employer and to be spoon fed.

I mean, I sat there the other night and thought 'why did Steve Jobs drop out?', 'why did Zuckerberg drop out?' (not saying I'm anything like them, I'm not, I'm a completely different person, they were great people, however, more the reasoning why, it makes you think) and then i realised, probably because they realised it was a waste of time too. I don't want to be a paycheque slave in the sector. I want to innovate and learn new things but I can't do that. Im fed things I need to learn. I should be told 'go away and do xyz and meet the certain criteria set to get marks', thats research, thats making movements and making something of yourself and encouraging self development and innovation. I feel we are being led like sheep.

I see it as two ways

1) Be at university - get in loads of debt - be taught things on basis of the strict syllabus - get a degree that says I can do something but when i need to put that in practice I can't because i've been taught to regurgitate, not innovate.

2) Leave university - just pay living costs - teach myself something that I feel will land me a job - put together a portfolio - phone the company, tell them i dropped out as I thought uni was poor - keep going over stuff - then hopefully get a job - it has been done

I really don't understand why degrees are valued so much. They're pointless. We'd all be far better on job schemes where companies get investment rather than universities and you get taken on and taught by the company (apprenticeship type thing for more skilled people with higher graded a levels). So say you got straight A's at A level you would get backing from the government to be a trainee solicitor with an actual firm on the job.

Yeah, I've been looking for an answer and i don't think ill ever find one to be honest. I've actually learnt 1 thing on my course so far, the rest i've had to go back to my room and research and look up via books, something i could do at home anyway and save myself loads of money.

Anyone else feel like this? I feel so down. :frown:


You're studying a humanities subject aren't you?
Reply 28
Original post by chrislpp
You're studying a humanities subject aren't you?


lol you tool, read above.
Reply 29
"No, i don't. Im obviously not gonna be on the same level as them or anywhere near"

You see ? This is what judging people out loud ends up doing. If one aspiring student would be asked "Do you really compare yourself to Einstein" , by responding "No", he subcounciously would end up limiting his own mind.

Geniuses are not born, they are made, and in a society such as ours, the interaction between individuals is crucial to its own progress. So please...
(edited 13 years ago)
Reply 30
Original post by moon4pie
"No, i don't. Im obviously not gonna be on the same level as them or anywhere near"

You see ? This is what judging people out loud ends up doing. If one aspiring student would be asked "Do you really compare yourself to Einstein" , by responding "No", he subcounciously would end up limiting his own mind.


I know theres a chance, without ambition, we wouldn't have got to university in the first place would we?

However, I just feel let down and as if, university wasn't everything others hyped it up to be. I thought i'd learn a raft of new things in lectures, instead i've got my head stuck in books and learning from books almost everything.
Original post by jb9191
You don't understand.

We are given stuff to work on rather than being told;

make something unique that has

x
y
z

If what you make has that criteria you'll get the marks. Under that principle everyones work would be unique and independently creative. However, at present time everyone is being spoon fed other peoples work to work on, which nullifies innovation.


Exactly. They're educating you by teaching you things, not telling you to go away and think of something then get marked on it. If that's what you want to do, go away and design a product/make a program/whatever you do and get marked on it by how much profit you can make on it. If that's what you want to do in life then go for it. It's a great path to go down. If you want to further your academic knowledge of something so that you know better ways to design your product/write your program/whatever you do then stick at university. If you want to go into research in the field you're studying then stay at university. University's not for everyone, but I don't understand how you think you were mis-sold it. You're in higher education being educated.
Reply 32
As others have said, I don't understand how you can be that innovative if you haven't even covered an undergraduate course, unless you know it all already?
Reply 33
Original post by moon4pie
"No, i don't. Im obviously not gonna be on the same level as them or anywhere near"

You see ? This is what judging people out loud ends up doing. If one aspiring student would be asked "Do you really compare yourself to Einstein" , by responding "No", he subcounciously would end up limiting his own mind.


I don't really care about his subconscious, that's hardly a crime really is it? I also think people need to learn that there are harsh realities, like losing, people being better than you etc.
Reply 34
Original post by jb9191
I know theres a chance, without ambition, we wouldn't have got to university in the first place would we?

However, I just feel let down and as if, university wasn't everything others hyped it up to be. I thought i'd learn a raft of new things in lectures, instead i've got my head stuck in books and learning from books almost everything.


I believe that 2/3 of the makeup of a genius is because they are born with it, the other 1/3 is reliant on the world around them. So... they are born?
Original post by jb9191
Yes, thats how I truly feel. I thought I'd actually get taught stuff and be asked on a routine basis to practice and so forth on my subject. Instead I'm being spoon fed like a puppet in a play various pieces of information and its really not helping me evolve intellectually. Yes I could revise in my own time, however, I could do that without being at university and its made me think 'why the hell am I here?', 'why the hell does anyone go to university?'.

I really do not see the point in university anymore and I actually think I'm a fool in thinking it would provide me a platform to do well in life. It doesn't. It teaches you to do as you're told by an employer and to be spoon fed.

I mean, I sat there the other night and thought 'why did Steve Jobs drop out?', 'why did Zuckerberg drop out?' (not saying I'm anything like them, I'm not, I'm a completely different person, they were great people, however, more the reasoning why, it makes you think) and then i realised, probably because they realised it was a waste of time too. I don't want to be a paycheque slave in the sector. I want to innovate and learn new things but I can't do that. Im fed things I need to learn. I should be told 'go away and do xyz and meet the certain criteria set to get marks', thats research, thats making movements and making something of yourself and encouraging self development and innovation. I feel we are being led like sheep.

I see it as two ways

1) Be at university - get in loads of debt - be taught things on basis of the strict syllabus - get a degree that says I can do something but when i need to put that in practice I can't because i've been taught to regurgitate, not innovate.

2) Leave university - just pay living costs - teach myself something that I feel will land me a job - put together a portfolio - phone the company, tell them i dropped out as I thought uni was poor - keep going over stuff - then hopefully get a job - it has been done

I really don't understand why degrees are valued so much. They're pointless. We'd all be far better on job schemes where companies get investment rather than universities and you get taken on and taught by the company (apprenticeship type thing for more skilled people with higher graded a levels). So say you got straight A's at A level you would get backing from the government to be a trainee solicitor with an actual firm on the job.

Yeah, I've been looking for an answer and i don't think ill ever find one to be honest. I've actually learnt 1 thing on my course so far, the rest i've had to go back to my room and research and look up via books, something i could do at home anyway and save myself loads of money.

Anyone else feel like this? I feel so down. :frown:



I study physics. That's not particularly easy. First year is the easiest year by far and it gets more challenging as you progress. Your university education is as good as you make it. You can get through by just learning what the lectures say by rote or you can work hard practise and get a real sense of achievement and deeper understanding.
Reply 36
Yeah I was thinking this the other day and realised that University isnt to just teach you about reasearching on your field of study but the people you meet and the experience you gain make you a more rounded person. Yes you heard me right, university is for contacts and learning things off your mates and being up to mischief at the same time as being able to balance work. This is the skill you are trying to gain.
Original post by jb9191
It teaches you to do as you're told by an employer and to be spoon fed.


You're doing it wrong.
Reply 38
Original post by Rob da Mop
Exactly. They're educating you by teaching you things, not telling you to go away and think of something then get marked on it. If that's what you want to do, go away and design a product/make a program/whatever you do and get marked on it by how much profit you can make on it. If that's what you want to do in life then go for it. It's a great path to go down. If you want to further your academic knowledge of something so that you know better ways to design your product/write your program/whatever you do then stick at university. If you want to go into research in the field you're studying then stay at university. University's not for everyone, but I don't understand how you think you were mis-sold it. You're in higher education being educated.


Im not being educated though, thats the point. Im educating myself back in my room. How hard is that to fathom?

:dontknow:
Reply 39
Original post by jb9191
programming
maths for computing
hardware
algorithms

etc.


what bits are you finding easy and which are hard?