PSA: Most Degrees are worthless!
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Original post by Fonzworth
Unless you want to be a translator, for example, I’d say languages are sort of on the same tier as other degrees such as history, in the sense that it doesn’t prepare you for a specific job. Language skills are very useful, especially since the UK is one of the most monolingual countries, but I think university is too costly and ineffective for the sole purpose of learning a language.
I’d be interested to hear your suggestions as to how one would go about becoming fluent in a Lang without doing a degree. Living in the country? Yes, although I’m not sure I’d be able to afford that without getting a job, and I wouldn’t be able to get a job unless I could speak in the native language. It’s a catch 22 situation unless I were to do a languages degree at university.
Original post by Drewski
The military is not a finishing school for people who don't know what they want in life. I don't want you serving alongside my friends and former colleagues simply because you can't pull your finger out and decide what to do with your life.
Apprenticeships, aside from a few in the engineering world, are a scam in their current form.
How many trade schools are there, really?
Apprenticeships, aside from a few in the engineering world, are a scam in their current form.
How many trade schools are there, really?
You have no authority over who can join the military pal, I have alot of family in the military so don't play the aged veteren persona with me. It doesn't work.
Original post by JB2001
You have no authority over who can join the military pal, I have alot of family in the military so don't play the aged veteren persona with me. It doesn't work.
Doesn't stop it being true though. The Forces are smaller than they have been in centuries, and can afford to be a lot more selective. If someone's argument for joining is "I don't know what else do to", then they won't make it.
Original post by JB2001
University is worthless in the real world if you do not study one of the following:
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GO TO UNIVERSITY. DO NOT GO TO UNIVERSITY IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.
Other options:
NOTE: ALL JOBS ARE HARD. HIGH PAYING JOBS ARE HIGH PAYING BECAUSE THEY ARE DIFFICULT. MOST PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE THEIR JOB.
'I made a poor choice of A levels,what do I do now?'
If you took A levels that did not include at least two of: Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Further maths – then do not worry! You can do a foundation year! Foundation years involve completing 1 year of the maths and sciences that you should have done at A level, and moving on to a degree in engineering, computer science etc. They DO COST MONEY. However, many good universities like Durham, Southampton, Manchester, Loughborough etc do offer them – so they are legit.
NOTE: UNIVERSITIES ARE BUSINESSES, THEY WANT YOUR MONEY. YOU NEED TO DECIDE IF THEY ARE WORTH THE INVESTMENT.
Anyway, that is about it, I hope I have helped you all invest into your future. If you disagree with me, feel free to babble on about how ‘passionate’ you are about your history degree which you could have learnt in any library anywhere.
•
- Engineering (mechanical, electric & electronic, aerospace, civil, chemical or computer)
•
- Medicine (nursing and doctors)
•
- Computer science or IT
•
- Pure sciences including geology, physics, maths and chemistry (NOT BIOLOGY OR PSYCHOLOGY).
•
- Law (Probably do not study it though – oversaturated af)
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GO TO UNIVERSITY. DO NOT GO TO UNIVERSITY IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.
Other options:
•
- Military – You can learn trades in the military, the military will fund your degree, you will mature.
•
- Apprenticeships
•
- Trade school – trades are always going to be in demand and are a safer economic bet than university. You can always go to university later in life.
•
- Travel, read and take online courses – You have to decide what you are going to do for the rest of your life before you get in £40,000 of debt, so take your goddamn time. There is no hurry. Seriously. No hurry. 1 year 2 years 5 years. You will be better off long term if you just work part time while deciding what you want to do.
NOTE: ALL JOBS ARE HARD. HIGH PAYING JOBS ARE HIGH PAYING BECAUSE THEY ARE DIFFICULT. MOST PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE THEIR JOB.
'I made a poor choice of A levels,what do I do now?'
If you took A levels that did not include at least two of: Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Further maths – then do not worry! You can do a foundation year! Foundation years involve completing 1 year of the maths and sciences that you should have done at A level, and moving on to a degree in engineering, computer science etc. They DO COST MONEY. However, many good universities like Durham, Southampton, Manchester, Loughborough etc do offer them – so they are legit.
NOTE: UNIVERSITIES ARE BUSINESSES, THEY WANT YOUR MONEY. YOU NEED TO DECIDE IF THEY ARE WORTH THE INVESTMENT.
Anyway, that is about it, I hope I have helped you all invest into your future. If you disagree with me, feel free to babble on about how ‘passionate’ you are about your history degree which you could have learnt in any library anywhere.
I studied English and History for my undergraduate degree and now I am going to start studying my PGCE at UCL in September. Clearly, a History degree is not as useless as you think.
Also, your bad punctuation and grammar clearly proves the importance of Humanities degrees.
Original post by Stephan0
*so how does one become a Psychologist?
Spoiler
thanks
having withdrawal symptoms from gcse english lit
The degrees you list are arguably the most useful if you want to go into a specific career. Other university degrees teach you transferable skills and are generally recognised measures of you having a degree (pun intended) of intelligence, learning ability and therefore flexibility, tenacity, and self-discipline that are the baseline of any good employee. You look at nearly any major figure of importance UK and most abroad nowadays, whether they're a PM, President, Chancellor, leader of companies or an industry, civil servant, etc. etc. and you will find that a vast majority of them have degrees you've outlined as worthless.
That said, the degrees you've chosen highlight a very skewed view of what "usefulness" actually means. The fact you specifically reject biology as a "useful degree" whilst approving of medicine shows that you don't really know what you're talking about, considering that a semi-common way into medicine is to do an undergrad in biology/biochem/biomed and do a postgrad in medicine. Similarly, when you argue that a nursing degree is specifically useful, you ignore the fact that the vast majority of nursing has been done by people without degrees until very, very recently as it's more vocational rather than traditional-professional, so the industry patently disagrees with you that nursing is essential.
Everyone thinks they have the world bang-up to rights when they're between 17-20. God knows I did. Ironically enough for this topic, university kicked my ego in the head enough for me to realise I'm not all that and that actually I don't have the right to make sweeping and critical statements about things I'm really not too clued up on. Much as you're right to say that you don't need to go to university to be successful and it's oversold to people who wouldn't do their best there, you're doing it from a position of arrogance and condescension which you really haven't displayed that you've earned (not that anyone should be stubborn enough to assume the can "earn" the right to be arrogant) by any metric.
That said, the degrees you've chosen highlight a very skewed view of what "usefulness" actually means. The fact you specifically reject biology as a "useful degree" whilst approving of medicine shows that you don't really know what you're talking about, considering that a semi-common way into medicine is to do an undergrad in biology/biochem/biomed and do a postgrad in medicine. Similarly, when you argue that a nursing degree is specifically useful, you ignore the fact that the vast majority of nursing has been done by people without degrees until very, very recently as it's more vocational rather than traditional-professional, so the industry patently disagrees with you that nursing is essential.
Everyone thinks they have the world bang-up to rights when they're between 17-20. God knows I did. Ironically enough for this topic, university kicked my ego in the head enough for me to realise I'm not all that and that actually I don't have the right to make sweeping and critical statements about things I'm really not too clued up on. Much as you're right to say that you don't need to go to university to be successful and it's oversold to people who wouldn't do their best there, you're doing it from a position of arrogance and condescension which you really haven't displayed that you've earned (not that anyone should be stubborn enough to assume the can "earn" the right to be arrogant) by any metric.
Original post by JB2001
University is worthless in the real world if you do not study one of the following:
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GO TO UNIVERSITY. DO NOT GO TO UNIVERSITY IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.
Other options:
NOTE: ALL JOBS ARE HARD. HIGH PAYING JOBS ARE HIGH PAYING BECAUSE THEY ARE DIFFICULT. MOST PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE THEIR JOB.
'I made a poor choice of A levels,what do I do now?'
If you took A levels that did not include at least two of: Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Further maths – then do not worry! You can do a foundation year! Foundation years involve completing 1 year of the maths and sciences that you should have done at A level, and moving on to a degree in engineering, computer science etc. They DO COST MONEY. However, many good universities like Durham, Southampton, Manchester, Loughborough etc do offer them – so they are legit.
NOTE: UNIVERSITIES ARE BUSINESSES, THEY WANT YOUR MONEY. YOU NEED TO DECIDE IF THEY ARE WORTH THE INVESTMENT.
Anyway, that is about it, I hope I have helped you all invest into your future. If you disagree with me, feel free to babble on about how ‘passionate’ you are about your history degree which you could have learnt in any library anywhere.
•
- Engineering (mechanical, electric & electronic, aerospace, civil, chemical or computer)
•
- Medicine (nursing and doctors)
•
- Computer science or IT
•
- Pure sciences including geology, physics, maths and chemistry (NOT BIOLOGY OR PSYCHOLOGY).
•
- Law (Probably do not study it though – oversaturated af)
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GO TO UNIVERSITY. DO NOT GO TO UNIVERSITY IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.
Other options:
•
- Military – You can learn trades in the military, the military will fund your degree, you will mature.
•
- Apprenticeships
•
- Trade school – trades are always going to be in demand and are a safer economic bet than university. You can always go to university later in life.
•
- Travel, read and take online courses – You have to decide what you are going to do for the rest of your life before you get in £40,000 of debt, so take your goddamn time. There is no hurry. Seriously. No hurry. 1 year 2 years 5 years. You will be better off long term if you just work part time while deciding what you want to do.
NOTE: ALL JOBS ARE HARD. HIGH PAYING JOBS ARE HIGH PAYING BECAUSE THEY ARE DIFFICULT. MOST PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE THEIR JOB.
'I made a poor choice of A levels,what do I do now?'
If you took A levels that did not include at least two of: Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Further maths – then do not worry! You can do a foundation year! Foundation years involve completing 1 year of the maths and sciences that you should have done at A level, and moving on to a degree in engineering, computer science etc. They DO COST MONEY. However, many good universities like Durham, Southampton, Manchester, Loughborough etc do offer them – so they are legit.
NOTE: UNIVERSITIES ARE BUSINESSES, THEY WANT YOUR MONEY. YOU NEED TO DECIDE IF THEY ARE WORTH THE INVESTMENT.
Anyway, that is about it, I hope I have helped you all invest into your future. If you disagree with me, feel free to babble on about how ‘passionate’ you are about your history degree which you could have learnt in any library anywhere.
1. If Geophysics is a "pure science" how is Biology not? What does "pure science" even mean? You do only study science in a Biology degree anyway. Please realise it was a Biologist that led the way to Ebola crisis being diverted, to learning more about cell division (which paved the way for cancer research). You do you think teaches medics medicine? BIOLOGISTS. You are ignorant as hell. Biology has more research dedicated to it then Maths and Physics combined. So please, explain clearly how a biology degree is useless. The only "pure science" really is maths.
2. LSE grads in Geography can enter IB and make more than every profession you just named, sometimes 3 fold higher. So perhaps add worthwhile universities to your list instead of just subjects.
3. Any entertainment you consume is designed by people with a background in arts, if you consider them useless, why do you bother watching any YouTube, TV or films? Surely they can't be useless if you spend half your life using them? This website was created in part by designers and here you are using it lol.
4. Apprenticeships are trash right now, many are just minimum wage jobs redesigned as apprenticeships so companies can pay less to workers and make a greater profit.
5. I don't want to be the ***** of a military and have to move constantly and work with them - and you'll mature in life just by going about things in the mainstream way. You think people are the same before entering university versus after?
6. Trade school? Don't feel like being paid like crap for years
7. No employer puts online courses on the same footing as a degree (unless its an open university degree as that is an online programme).
8. Foundation years are redundant if you are capable of self-studying A Levels - much cheaper too.
You are worse at advice than the typical careers advisors in schools smh.
You mention medicine but appear to have not included dentistry, and veterinary medicine & sciences. Is there a reason for not including these subjects?
Interesting you say biology shouldn't be studied as it's not important, considering we need the help of biologists to take ideas and mechanisms from nature in order to advance and try to improve our healthcare. We'd essentially be going backwards without biology.
Not to mention biology was behind the new design for Japanese trains as birds' aerodynamics were used. Where, again, biology was needed.
Probably the same could be done to exemplify why all the subjects you consider useless are actually useful. And this is coming from someone who, according to you, is doing a "useful" degree.
But hey, what do I know.
Not to mention biology was behind the new design for Japanese trains as birds' aerodynamics were used. Where, again, biology was needed.
Probably the same could be done to exemplify why all the subjects you consider useless are actually useful. And this is coming from someone who, according to you, is doing a "useful" degree.
But hey, what do I know.
University is what you make of it- there are plenty of people who will do degrees that people on this thread think are "great" who will struggle to get employment because the rest of their CV is weak. There are plenty of people who do degrees that a lot of people write off who go on to get great, well paying jobs and/or make an important contribution to society. Having a degree is just one part of your CV, but often without it 5-10 years into your career, you will hit a ceiling which is hard to progress past without a degree. Equally, having a degree can help you fast track your career.
Employers like you to have pieces of paper from an accredited institution to back up your skills. Up thread, people are talking about languages. Most employers will prefer a candidate with a degree over one who's lived in a country (unless they have an employment track record of doing exactly what the employer wants) as they know a degree will give a candidate a certain set of skills. People who live in a particular country for a year or two will often be wildly varying in their skillsets- so more of a risk for an employer.
There are lots of roles that are essential to society that require a degree- e.g. teaching, social work, healthcare professions and so on.
I do agree with some of OP's points, in that it's not a good idea to go to uni straight away if you're not sure about what you want to do, you do only really get one shot at it. However, it's not worth thinking about it in terms of costs- if you are eligible for a loan, chances are you will never pay it back, and you don't miss the "grad tax" from your income as you've never had that money, same as paying income tax and national insurance.
WRT OPs suggestions, none of them are equivalent to a degree:
Military- great if that's what you want to do, but it doesn't suit everyone. Risk of being sent to war and killed/maimed is very real. People often struggle to transfer their skills outside of the army. Also, if you want to progress your career i.e. become an officer, a degree will help.
Apprenticeships- these are great in some fields and exploitative in others. Do your research before signing up as to what qualifications you will finish with and if they are valued in the industry. Often, you will still hit a point in your career where you may find you need a degree or a higher level qualification to progress.
Trade schools- not really sure what OP means by this- I guess they mean learning a trade at college. Again, this is fine if that's what you want to do, but it's quite limiting (you're qualified to do one thing and that's it). Often you'll end up working as a sole trader or as part of a small business, with limited opportunities to progress. You can make good money, but being self-employed also comes with it's difficulties. Many trades are physically demanding and people struggle to work in them until retirement age.
Travel, read, take online courses- I agree these things are great, for you. But most employers won't see the value in them- an online course is not comparable to a degree in their eyes.
As you get older, and have worked for 5-10 years, you'll find that careers work very differently to how you have imagined.
Employers like you to have pieces of paper from an accredited institution to back up your skills. Up thread, people are talking about languages. Most employers will prefer a candidate with a degree over one who's lived in a country (unless they have an employment track record of doing exactly what the employer wants) as they know a degree will give a candidate a certain set of skills. People who live in a particular country for a year or two will often be wildly varying in their skillsets- so more of a risk for an employer.
There are lots of roles that are essential to society that require a degree- e.g. teaching, social work, healthcare professions and so on.
I do agree with some of OP's points, in that it's not a good idea to go to uni straight away if you're not sure about what you want to do, you do only really get one shot at it. However, it's not worth thinking about it in terms of costs- if you are eligible for a loan, chances are you will never pay it back, and you don't miss the "grad tax" from your income as you've never had that money, same as paying income tax and national insurance.
WRT OPs suggestions, none of them are equivalent to a degree:
Military- great if that's what you want to do, but it doesn't suit everyone. Risk of being sent to war and killed/maimed is very real. People often struggle to transfer their skills outside of the army. Also, if you want to progress your career i.e. become an officer, a degree will help.
Apprenticeships- these are great in some fields and exploitative in others. Do your research before signing up as to what qualifications you will finish with and if they are valued in the industry. Often, you will still hit a point in your career where you may find you need a degree or a higher level qualification to progress.
Trade schools- not really sure what OP means by this- I guess they mean learning a trade at college. Again, this is fine if that's what you want to do, but it's quite limiting (you're qualified to do one thing and that's it). Often you'll end up working as a sole trader or as part of a small business, with limited opportunities to progress. You can make good money, but being self-employed also comes with it's difficulties. Many trades are physically demanding and people struggle to work in them until retirement age.
Travel, read, take online courses- I agree these things are great, for you. But most employers won't see the value in them- an online course is not comparable to a degree in their eyes.
As you get older, and have worked for 5-10 years, you'll find that careers work very differently to how you have imagined.
Original post by Duncan2012
How old are you OP? You sound like an overexcited, immature 14 year old.
If their username is anything to go off, they are about 17 which makes it even more concerning...
Original post by CTLeafez
If their username is anything to go off, they are about 17 which makes it even more concerning...
He is 17 - see post 7.
To add to the idea that apprenticeships are not always the way to go - I know someone who did an apprenticeship in engineering instead of A-Levels, hit the roof of his career within five years (in his view) and then went to university to get a degree. Went on to be incredibly successful in electrical engineering, none of which he could have done without a degree.
Funny, I don't remember Theresa May or David Cameron studying any of the sciences at university and look where they got to. I think you'll soon realise that the university you study at matters far more than your degree subject (excepting medical subjects like nursing, medicine)
Biology is oversaturated - not completely worthless, just no job oppotunities, stop sperging out on me guys. Theresa May and David Cameron got a free ride through life with daddy's money - they could afford to take worthless crap and had no intention of working in the first place. Most government workers and 'important people' some of you have mentioned have not worked in the private sector once, they are leaches who steal from taxpayers. As for languages I can't imagine employers would really be too fussed if you have a degree in it or not, but yeah it doesn't seem like the worst degree. Generally, most famous artists actually have a skill or profession, or just work part time and draw/write/perform on the side. A piece of paper doesn't make you a good artist. Also the fact that people are saying it is more important which university you go to rather than what you study simply proves how worthless humanities is. It is not a skill and the only way you can be successful in it is if you can get in a top 20 uni? Sounds like a load of crap to me. Criticism about apprenticeships is valid, be careful of the ones you apply to. Sorry for sounding so arrogant and cocky btw guys, but it's hard not to when you are right about everything.
Original post by Liv2109
well you're fun at parties
I don't associate myself with retards who take dumb subjects so this generally isn't a problem.
Original post by Liv2109
"Sorry for sounding so arrogant and cocky btw guys, but it's hard not to when you are right about everything."
What an ironic sentence. I love it.
What an ironic sentence. I love it.
It was a joke...
Original post by JB2001
I don't associate myself with retards who take dumb subjects so this generally isn't a problem.
It was a joke...
It was a joke...
Yep, I know. I was being sarcastic. I'm not that dumb.
So what's your definition of a 'dumb subject'?
Original post by JB2001
Biology is oversaturated - not completely worthless, just no job oppotunities, stop sperging out on me guys. Theresa May and David Cameron got a free ride through life with daddy's money - they could afford to take worthless crap and had no intention of working in the first place. Most government workers and 'important people' some of you have mentioned have not worked in the private sector once, they are leaches who steal from taxpayers. As for languages I can't imagine employers would really be too fussed if you have a degree in it or not, but yeah it doesn't seem like the worst degree. Generally, most famous artists actually have a skill or profession, or just work part time and draw/write/perform on the side. A piece of paper doesn't make you a good artist. Also the fact that people are saying it is more important which university you go to rather than what you study simply proves how worthless humanities is. It is not a skill and the only way you can be successful in it is if you can get in a top 20 uni? Sounds like a load of crap to me. Criticism about apprenticeships is valid, be careful of the ones you apply to. Sorry for sounding so arrogant and cocky btw guys, but it's hard not to when you are right about everything.
If you don’t think the university you go to is important try getting into investment banking with a degree from Bolton or Manchester Met, they’ll laugh you out the building
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