Uni Choices - HELP!!

Hi all,

I'm currently a year 12 going to sixth form and I study Computer Science, Maths & Economics. I'd be lying if I told you I was passionate about computing, it was a job pathway that was very much forced upon me by my father. He's made it very clear he dislikes economics and does not want me pursuing it. However, I simply do not have passion for computer science. I sit in most lessons and hate every aspect of it - whilst it does earn more money on average than economics, I don't think pursuing a career I hate would he worth the extra £5-10k+ a year.

Meanwhile with economics, I've developed so much passion for it. I'm just confused on where to head though. Computer science allows me to go into more potential fields like AI, Nanotechnology, Cyber Security, etc. Whilst economics almost just limits me to the finance sector. I'm quite stuck and I'm not sure what to do.

It's also always been a dream of mine to go to Oxford/Cambridge since i was little, but to do computer science there you need to have Further Maths A Level - which I dropped due to the difficulty. However for economics there are various courses that do not require further maths to attend Cambridge/Oxford.

I'm honestly quite stuck and I would like some advice. Do I just continue computer science and hope for the best or do I pursue my passion in economics and earn less alongside the disapproval of my father.

Thank you.

Reply 1

The :3

bluntly, computer-science is a fairly unhelpful A-level. Almost no university degrees require. So I'd recommend switching it for literally anything else (I'd say chemistry but I'm a chemistry nut so don't take it as advice). As for uni choices, do what you like. If you go to uni for a degree you dislike:
1) there's a good chance you'll do badly
2) there's a chance you just won't finish it at all
studying something you dislike is hard and doing it for 3-4 years for a degree is not realistic. Besides that, you can go into comp-sci without a degree, since most of what people want are programming skills, and that's better demonstrated by a github portfolio than by a degree, same for cybersec, you'll get more mileage from a training program like the ones GCHQ runs than by a uni degree in comp-sci (although I think cybersecurity is offered by some unis as an option, so that may be better). AI stuff is massively overhyped and there really isn't much in it in my personal opinion (not to be taken as fact).

not taking comp-sci doesn't really close any doors for you (perhaps a few, but it's one of those fields you can just respec into after the fact), so I'd say take what you like, realistically your not going to be destitute after an economics degree and generally finance pays well. You'll also definitely do much better studying something you enjoy

hope this helps :smile:

Reply 2

DerDracologe

Study Forum Helper

Original post

by Heuebsjdj

Hi all,
I'm currently a year 12 going to sixth form and I study Computer Science, Maths & Economics. I'd be lying if I told you I was passionate about computing, it was a job pathway that was very much forced upon me by my father. He's made it very clear he dislikes economics and does not want me pursuing it. However, I simply do not have passion for computer science. I sit in most lessons and hate every aspect of it - whilst it does earn more money on average than economics, I don't think pursuing a career I hate would he worth the extra £5-10k+ a year.
Meanwhile with economics, I've developed so much passion for it. I'm just confused on where to head though. Computer science allows me to go into more potential fields like AI, Nanotechnology, Cyber Security, etc. Whilst economics almost just limits me to the finance sector. I'm quite stuck and I'm not sure what to do.
It's also always been a dream of mine to go to Oxford/Cambridge since i was little, but to do computer science there you need to have Further Maths A Level - which I dropped due to the difficulty. However for economics there are various courses that do not require further maths to attend Cambridge/Oxford.
I'm honestly quite stuck and I would like some advice. Do I just continue computer science and hope for the best or do I pursue my passion in economics and earn less alongside the disapproval of my father.
Thank you.

Go with economics, its you who has to live with this choice for the rest of your life so its your own interests and aspirations you need to be pursuing. With a lot of degrees, econ included, you will get a heck of a lot of valuable transferrable skills which mean you can go into many different sectors, not just finance.

Reply 3

Heuebsjdj

Original post

by The :3

bluntly, computer-science is a fairly unhelpful A-level. Almost no university degrees require. So I'd recommend switching it for literally anything else (I'd say chemistry but I'm a chemistry nut so don't take it as advice). As for uni choices, do what you like. If you go to uni for a degree you dislike:
1) there's a good chance you'll do badly
2) there's a chance you just won't finish it at all
studying something you dislike is hard and doing it for 3-4 years for a degree is not realistic. Besides that, you can go into comp-sci without a degree, since most of what people want are programming skills, and that's better demonstrated by a github portfolio than by a degree, same for cybersec, you'll get more mileage from a training program like the ones GCHQ runs than by a uni degree in comp-sci (although I think cybersecurity is offered by some unis as an option, so that may be better). AI stuff is massively overhyped and there really isn't much in it in my personal opinion (not to be taken as fact).
not taking comp-sci doesn't really close any doors for you (perhaps a few, but it's one of those fields you can just respec into after the fact), so I'd say take what you like, realistically your not going to be destitute after an economics degree and generally finance pays well. You'll also definitely do much better studying something you enjoy
hope this helps :smile:

I really appreciate your advice truly.

Unfortunately I am too deep in to switch a levels I'm pretty sure, so that's unfortunate but I do think I'll pursue economics/finance. Both fields pay roughly the same too and I think a big part of the reason I was so "interested" in computing was because of my dad. I know he won't approve of me doing finance so I'll have to apply before I tell him anything. I'm just scared of the opportunities and career paths that economics can lead me to. My whole plan was based off Computing but now I feel like I have to start from scratch and learn which careers, etc econ can lead me to.

I'm also not sure how much you know of the topic but would not having further maths put me at a disadvantage if I wanted to apply for oxbridge or UCL, etc? ( For econ ). I got decent GCSE grades from a state school (999999988) and I'm currently predicted A*s in all my subjects too. I'm just a bit lost on if unis will take me onto their courses, as on their websites they often say they "prefer further maths".

Thank you truly.

Reply 4

The :3

Original post

by Heuebsjdj

I really appreciate your advice truly.
Unfortunately I am too deep in to switch a levels I'm pretty sure, so that's unfortunate but I do think I'll pursue economics/finance. Both fields pay roughly the same too and I think a big part of the reason I was so "interested" in computing was because of my dad. I know he won't approve of me doing finance so I'll have to apply before I tell him anything. I'm just scared of the opportunities and career paths that economics can lead me to. My whole plan was based off Computing but now I feel like I have to start from scratch and learn which careers, etc econ can lead me to.
I'm also not sure how much you know of the topic but would not having further maths put me at a disadvantage if I wanted to apply for oxbridge or UCL, etc? ( For econ ). I got decent GCSE grades from a state school (999999988) and I'm currently predicted A*s in all my subjects too. I'm just a bit lost on if unis will take me onto their courses, as on their websites they often say they "prefer further maths".
Thank you truly.

unfortunately I don't know exactly how much them preferring FM matters, but it'll likely differ by institution and (at oxbridge) by college. Some admissions tutors will treat preferred as required, while some won't pay much mind to it. My best advice for this is to go to the open days, I was applying Cambridge Nat-Sci biological route and wanted to know how much not having biology matters, so I went around the Cambridge colleges and the head of nat-sci admissions at Girton told me (not in literal terms, but reading between the lines) that I basically needed Biology, while at Clare, they told me that while it is useful, it is not strictly necessary and what's most important is that I'm willing to learn. Clare college in particular had gathered most of their admissions tutors on the open day so you could talk to whichever one was relevant.

Another important thing (particularly for Cambridge, don't know about Oxford) is admissions tests, I had to sit the NSAA (the ESAT for nat-sci) and badly bungled it, so while I had a very competitive application in all other aspects, I didn't get through. For Cambridge economics, they want you to sit the TMUA, so have a look at the past papers for it, bearing in mind they weight admissions heavily to entrance exams. As for your predicted grades and results, I don't see them being any sort of problems, you'll be above most applicants with them.

hope this helps :smile: