Ordinary Degree v Honours Degree

Flunch · 09-01-2012 7:13pm #1

Hi guys,
I am currently undergoing an ordinary degree in management and am due to finish in May. I have the option to go on and do an honours degree but I am not sure if I want to. Will having an honours degree be much more of an advantage than simply having an ordinary degree? What are you thoughts on this for getting jobs etc? Anyone who has been in a similar situation?
Thanks

prettygurrly · 09-01-2012 7:18pm

well yes i suppose so. what degree are you doing. it's always better to be better educated. if you can afford it and you have the want to do it then why not...
a lot of people with honours degrees are heading into masters because they cant find a job, I think that says a lot!

Gavin "shels" · 10-01-2012 12:32am

Same situation as you. Supposedly to get from Level 7 though into Level 8 you need a B average btw.

Tom Dunne · 12-01-2012 8:37pm

Flunch wrote: »

Will having an honours degree be much more of an advantage than simply having an ordinary degree? )

In short, yes. A lot of companies specify a minimum of an honours degree. Plus, if you wanted to go on and do a Masters, you would need an honours degree.

For the sake of a year, it is worth it.

gnfnrhead · 13-01-2012 7:48pm

If you can afford it, do it. It wont hurt you to have that little bit extra. I'd love to do it for mine right now, but I doubt Ill be able to afford anything past the Ordinary degree.

Sykk · 16-01-2012 5:29pm

Tom Dunne wrote: »

In short, yes. A lot of companies specify a minimum of an honours degree. Plus, if you wanted to go on and do a Masters, you would need an honours degree.

Incorrect. About 10 people I know went from their normal degree to their Masters.

It depends on the field you're covering, how good your results are and your experience.

Tom Dunne · 18-01-2012 7:33pm

Sykk wrote: »

Incorrect. About 10 people I know went from their normal degree to their Masters.

It depends on the field you're covering, how good your results are and your experience.

Can you give me examples of such masters?

Sykk · 18-01-2012 11:46pm

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Can you give me examples of such masters?

Well if you do a degree in most other European countries it lasts 3 years. From there you go and do a 2 year Masters in Ireland.

I can find out what normal degrees the Irish people I know have done to move to their masters.. One went from doing an English BA to Business Masters. The field wasn't even related. Was in decent Dublin University also.

Will find out and get back to you

davey101 · 21-01-2012 1:06am

Sykk wrote: »

One went from doing an English BA to Business Masters.

Wouldn't happen with a real degree...*Cough* I mean science/engineering degree.

Unless you have a job your happy with for the foreseeable future do the honors degree, either way you will be competing against honor degree students for the same job in which case you wont have a chance without doing it. Also I dont know how an ordinary would stand for you if you wanted to go abroad versus an honors.

Anyway good luck with your decision.

donegal11 · 21-01-2012 4:32am

An english BA is a level 8 course is it not ?

cade · 30-01-2012 3:00pm

Any rise in Education level will always stand to you in my opinion; well as long as the industry it's aimed at isn't dead such as my Lvl 7 Architectural Technology degree that I was thinking of Levelling up :rolleyes:

Once you've reached the Degree point you're somewhat sorted for many employers as a lot list a minimum requirement of a Degree. However as Tom said above some would indeed look for you to have a Masters Degree to even consider you, so you should do some research into the main employers in your field before deciding.

This all covers the getting them to interview you part and also a bit of your worth in the interview. However in the interview it all comes down to your abilities, what knowledge you've retained from your college work, character, and whether you've worked to further your knowledge/abilities outside of the college.

For example, In my current profession I finished in college last June with a level 6 simply as I didn't have the funding to pay tuition fees for another year; anyhow simply getting an interview took months of applying to companies. Though once I got an interview I was able to show that I had retained everything I'd been taught and had in my own time learnt the subjects I would've been taught had I continued in the course.

Dhoff · 19-09-2012 9:26pm

Hi

I have a query relating to whether I can go straight from a level 7 (Civil Engineering) ordinary degree to a Research Masters degree level 9.

Currently I am at Trinity college Dublin undertaking a 9 month Internship which is coming to an end next month. The research that we have been carrying out for the last 9 months has uncovered a lot of interesting results which have opened an opportunity for further investigation and research. From talking to my supervisor who is a senior lecturer at Trinity he thinks there would be between 2-3years further research to be carried out on this project.

Anyway, I finished my degree in 2007 and have worked at engineering since then and had previous experience before my studies.

Would it be possible in this case to participate if the University itself was willing to accept you as an applicant for a Research masters?

smcgiff · 19-09-2012 9:39pm

For certain master degrees you may not even need a degree, if you can prove certain experience. So, i'd imagine level 7 degrees plus work experience would be enough for some, limited masters.

However, ordinary degrees are the same as the old diploma qualification - and would be lower than what some would consider as a basic requirement. There will of course be exceptions.

prettygurrly · 19-09-2012 9:59pm

best to email the course administrator or if its a research masters then the supervisor who would be taking you on. You might be able to get into final year to do level 8 and do the research at the same time maybe? You have to do a final project of some sort in level 8 anyway. For the sake of 9 months it would be good to get the degree. Then do two more years for the masters...

Dhoff · 19-09-2012 10:22pm

prettygurrly wrote: »

thanks for the advice, much appreciated ))))

fasttalkerchat · 19-09-2012 10:25pm

Employers up north expect honours but will take an ordinary degree if you have experience.

T-K-O · 19-09-2012 10:29pm

Isn't the ordinary degree just a diploma?? Stay on a get your degree

Flunch · 25-09-2012 11:58pm

Got a first in my ordinary degree.
Have decided to do the honours and started last week.
Not too bad so far

Thanks for all the help!

prettygurrly · 26-09-2012 10:12pm

Delighted for you. Would be a shame to waste a first! Best of luck...

fasttalkerchat · 26-09-2012 10:31pm

Flunch wrote: »

Got a first in my ordinary degree.
Have decided to do the honours and started last week.
Not too bad so far Thanks for all the help!

Did you check what your final grade will be? On my course its the average from final year modules only. So you're cashing in your first and could drop a classification.

AppleBottle · 28-09-2012 10:28pm

Gavin shels wrote: »

Same situation as you. Supposedly to get from Level 7 though into Level 8 you need a B average btw.

You don't need a B average - just to pass with a GPA of at least 2.

Having a higher degree is always an advantage in my opinion. I've gone from a Ordinary to Honours and started my Honours year last week. Hope the rest of your year goes well!

ted1 · 17-10-2012 10:57pm

Any masters that take level 7 wouldn't be rated by employers.

Ordinary Degree v Honours Degree

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