STRESSED!! What do i want to do after school?? leaving cert in 9 days

life_is_music

Hey
Leaving cert is almost here and I still can't decide on my first choice for CAO!!

I'm caught between 2 very different choice:
Energy Engineering
Applied Psychology

Anyone have any advice on trying to decide??

I want all the usuals: happiness, money, travel oppurtunites etc....

Also any general advice on life after school????

Mods please don't move this to lc forum......I don't want 18 yr olds advice
Thanks!

AlmightyCushion

Become a pirate. All the rum you could want plus you get to talk funny.

Yaaarrrrr

life_is_music

thanks!! my problem is solved

KnifeWRENCH

I was gonna give a fantastic reply with great advice, but then you said this:

life_is_music wrote:

Mods please don't move this to lc forum......I don't want 18 yr olds advice

Humph! :mad:

life_is_music

square_igloo wrote: »

I was gonna give a fantastic reply with great advice, but then you said this:


Humph! :mad:

whoops did i say don't???:p

anyway any advice is welcome....I didnt want my replies confined to students

daisy123

I don't know a lot about either subject, but I would imagine Energy Engineering has more job prospects, as well as being better paid with better travel opportunities.

keen

The only person that can decide is you as you know what you like dis like, I wouldn't take on board what people you don't know on an internet forum say.

Parsley

Technically ten days. I'll see you in UCC! :pac:

AlmightyCushion

daisy123 wrote: »

I don't know a lot about either subject, but I would imagine Energy Engineering has more job prospects, as well as being better paid with better travel opportunities.

Better pay and better travel opertunities? Wft are you talking about? Pirates sail the seven seas and have loads of treasure plus the aforementioned rum.

KnifeWRENCH

OK then: If I know you, which I don't, I would say you'd be better suited to Energy Engineering.
Much better job prospects: there's enough bloody psychologists as it is.
Oh and I lied about the great advice part

I will say this though: don't get stressed about the Leaving. If you've done any bit of study at all, you'll be grand.
Also, AFAIK the final deadline for CAO isn't until July, so you still have plenty of time to decide.
Whatever course you go with, just make sure you enjoy the college experience. And there's no shame in dropping out if you pick the wrong one.

Time Magazine

Do Engineering in UL or Trinity/UCD. Leave the country when you graduate and work on cooler projects than Ireland has to offer.

KERPAL

Im in a position like yours, I have potential to do well in the LC but i think i want to just give it all up and start working nice and early.

Is college a must? is it really?

King John V

Psychology is a good subject although Almighty Cushion's suggestion is top notch. Sailing + all the fish you can eat...great stuff.

Time Magazine

KERPAL wrote: »

Is college a must? is it really?

No. But it's a very good idea if you're smart. If you're not so smart, less so.

KnifeWRENCH

KERPAL wrote: »

Im in a position like yours, I have potential to do well in the LC but i think i want to just give it all up and start working nice and early.

It would be pointless giving up now tbh. Do the exams at least: then you can do whatever you want with your life and at least have your Leaving Cert as a "safety net" as such.

KERPAL wrote:

Is college a must? is it really?

No but it's a lot more fun than just going out and working! :cool:

KERPAL

Antithetic wrote: »

No. But it's a very good idea if you're smart. If you're not so smart, less so.

I am, but i feel like im wasting 4 years going to college to get a degree!!

Agent Smith

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLsJyfN0ICU

/me cant wait for talk like a pirate day

Rb

KERPAL wrote: »

I am, but i feel like im wasting 4 years going to college to get a degree!!

I did two years of college, dropped out and went into full time work for two years. It's bollocks tbh, 9-5 is a nightmare and considering it will be your life for 40 odd years, you may as well prolong the care free days of college and the life that comes with it.

The work you'll get without a degree will be soul destroying shíte and you'll have much less prospects than those with a degree in the same company.

Firetrap

Don't pick a job solely on what money you're going to earn. When you start working, you'll spend large chunks of your day in work so it'd better be something you like. Of course, it's nice to have money but it isn't everything.

Also, if you've any sort of semi-decent job at all, you'll get to travel. They're called holidays! All that stuff about having a job which involves travel is a load of bullocks. I know people whose jobs involve travelling but the snag is they don't get to see a lot of the places they're sent to.

It's hard to know which course to go for. Only you know which course you'd like better. They're very different career paths! Is there anyone you can talk to who works in either field? The thing too is that if you realise a few years down the line that you've gone for the wrong one, you can still achieve the qualification by studying part-time, going back to college as a mature student. That sort of thing.

TestTransmission

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Better pay and better travel opertunities? Wft are you talking about? Pirates sail the seven seas and have loads of treasure plus the aforementioned rum.

Been at it 3 years now and no regrets,lack of ladies can be a sore problem tho

Time Magazine

KERPAL wrote: »

I am, but i feel like im wasting 4 years going to college to get a degree!!

You only waste the four years if you spend them stupidly. Do a good course in a good college. Work hard, play hard.

KERPAL

Antithetic wrote: »

You only waste the four years if you spend them stupidly. Do a good course in a good college. Work hard, play hard.

Ok so would you recomend me doing Biz and Chinese(current cao choice) over Arts?


sorry if im hijacking the thread a bit OP

shane86

life_is_music wrote: »

Anyone have any advice on trying to decide??


Also any general advice on life after school????

I drank alot of beer and stayed out aaaaalllllll night.

Time Magazine

Take it you're considering Business and Chinese in TCD? Do BESS instead.

If you're not interested/any good at Business don't do it. At the moment I'm doing finals (and am currently rather insane) so the only things I'm living for are employment prospects and money, which thankfully are quite good. So I might be biased when I say this, but choose something that's employable.

KERPAL

Antithetic wrote: »

Take it you're considering Business and Chinese in TCD? Do BESS instead.

If you're not interested/any good at Business don't do it. At the moment I'm doing finals (and am currently rather insane) so the only things I'm living for are employment prospects and money, which thankfully are quite good. So I might be biased when I say this, but choose something that's employable.

I am prob doin it in DIT, but dont think its available in TCD???

KnifeWRENCH

@ KERPAL : I've heard that languages at any college involve a lot of work. If you're not really sure you wanna do Chinese, maybe you could do a straight business degree.
As for Arts, well it has a "waster" reputation so if you don't want to actally do any work for 3/4 years you should do that. (I'm a science nerd and we look down on Arts types! )

Fremen

OP, take energy engineering if you're in any way numerate. Applied psychology is a pretty wishy-washy specialty. Unless you know EXACTLY what you want to do with an applied psychology degree, I'd recommend against it.

I was in much the same position as you are now when I finished school, so I chose science in UCD, since it's incredibly broad and you don't have to specialise until later years. Eng in Trinners is much the same, as far as I know.

Square igloo: I'm also a science nerd, and I happen to know that you can get through the first few years of science being a massive waster if you're in any way smart.

Time Magazine

KERPAL wrote: »

I am prob doin it in DIT, but dont think its available in TCD???

Maybe I'm wrong. Used to be or something.

kmart6

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Become a pirate. All the rum you could want plus you get to talk funny.

Yaaarrrrr

AlmightyCushion wrote:

Better pay and better travel opertunities? Wft are you talking about? Pirates sail the seven seas and have loads of treasure plus the aforementioned rum.

How much rum have you had Almighty?!

flanum

Whats the panic?

take a year out, go to Oz or Israel or Europe for a year, travel around pick up casual work (and wimmins) be young!! discover yourself, decide on that year out what you want to do. Why rush into things?

zero19

Yaarrr! What say ye landlubbers, many an adventure to be had on the seven seas!

KnifeWRENCH

flanum wrote: »

Whats the panic?

take a year out, go to Oz or Israel or Europe for a year, travel around pick up casual work (and wimmins) be young!! discover yourself, decide on that year out what you want to do. Why rush into things?

I gotta ask - why Israel, specifically?

Dudess

KERPAL, imagine all your mates having a laugh at college and you stuck at work. **** that!

OP, Applied Psychology would be fantastically interesting and a job would be excellently paid, but it could take years and years. You'd need an absolutely superb final grade and I'd say it's a very tough course, then you'd need to go on and do a postgrad - again, high marks would only do. You'd have to do tons of work/voluntary work on the side... and even after all that, you might not land the job. Plus, apparently youth isn't to one's advantage when going for psychologist/counsellor jobs (you'd have to work for an organisation for a while before branching out on your own). I've heard that companies prefer to take on people well into their 30s/early 40s. I suppose it makes sense: a 50-year-old patient may not be able to take a 25-year-old counsellor seriously considering they have twice as much life experience.
Student counsellor would be pretty sweet though, and less dependent on a more mature age, but how easy would it be to land a job like that?

Dave!

Whatever you decide to do in college, do not go straight into it.

Take a year out after you finish school and work, relax, travel, think.......

There really is no rush to get straight into and out of college. Maybe if more people took a year to think about their future, there wouldn't be such high drop-out rates in universities.

I went straight into college and struggled in first year. Took a year out before going into second year and it was the best academic decision I've made.

Definitely take a break from the stress of exams, assignments, etc.

Fast_Mover

I was on placement for the 1st semester of my final year in college and found coming back in 2nd semester to lectures/studying/doing assigments dreadfully hard..as did all my friends. We said we couldn't imagine taking a year out and then going back to college. But I suppose it works for some people.

flanum

square_igloo wrote: »

I gotta ask - why Israel, specifically?

Its the old Hippy trail, before Oz became an affordable place for students to go to. ive done it myself, sign up for a few months volunteering on a kibbutz, then spend the rest of the year travelling round israel,egypt,sinae.. tis a good life.

Also jerusalem is bizarre, i used to spend every weekend in the old city, its the melting pot of all major western religions (islam,christianity and judaism) all within a few square miles, seriously great party town, its like the end of the world is always around the corner.

KnifeWRENCH

flanum wrote: »

Its the old Hippy trail, before Oz became an affordable place for students to go to. ive done it myself, sign up for a few months volunteering on a kibbutz, then spend the rest of the year travelling round israel,egypt,sinae.. tis a good life.

Also jerusalem is bizarre, i used to spend every weekend in the old city, its the melting pot of all major western religions (islam,christianity and judaism) all within a few square miles, seriously great party town, its like the end of the world is always around the corner.

Oh OK, I never would have associated Israel with student life. Thanks for enlightening me!

Dave!

Fast_Mover wrote: »

I was on placement for the 1st semester of my final year in college and found coming back in 2nd semester to lectures/studying/doing assigments dreadfully hard..as did all my friends. We said we couldn't imagine taking a year out and then going back to college. But I suppose it works for some people.

It wasn't easy coming back, but I felt I benefitted from it mentally. It's just too much to be studying from childhood to 22 yrs old.

Rb

DaveMcG wrote: »

Whatever you decide to do in college, do not go straight into it.

Take a year out after you finish school and work, relax, travel, think.......

There really is no rush to get straight into and out of college. Maybe if more people took a year to think about their future, there wouldn't be such high drop-out rates in universities.

I went straight into college and struggled in first year. Took a year out before going into second year and it was the best academic decision I've made.

Definitely take a break from the stress of exams, assignments, etc.

Yeah I'd agree with this.

The time off college has given me a bit of an opportunity to try and find out what I really want to do, however unfortunately I'm still undecided. Could care less though, will work it out sooner or later and end up in a job I love for life, rather than hitting 30 and realising that I'm doing something I'm not enjoying and then having to try and figure out how to switch careers.

Dudess

Tis true. I did two years of my BA straight out school - well, failed second year. Enjoyed college life a bit too much, hence my crap results. I just knew I was gonna wind up with a lousy degree and no hope of getting into a postgrad course, so I went working for a couple of years and went back with far more interest in it than the first time round. And I got my 2.1 and then did a postgrad.

Red Hand

Well, as many said in this thread, I'd take a year off before taking up your course (you can change your choice later, can't you?) and just take some low responsibility job and get a bit of travel under your belt? Even if it's just a few days to the UK eating sardines out of a backpack!:)

You might have a better idea what to do then. I went straight into a college course after school and hated it, but still stuck with it, thinking that this was what I was supposed to do and I'd be seen as a failure by family otherwise. Foolish thinking. It was just like leaving cert every year (stress/study/part time work/nothing else), and after 3-4 years of college, I don't have anything to show for my time there.

Other than landing a job I'm not interested in, earning money with nothing to spend it on. Ha-this thread has cheered me up!:pac:

This thread makes me sad.It will be another 6 years before I fully qualify at what I want to do.

JC 2K3

Why isn't there a poll?

Plug

KERPAL wrote: »

Im in a position like yours, I have potential to do well in the LC but i think i want to just give it all up and start working nice and early.

Is college a must? is it really?

I was exactly like you, I didn't bother turning up for 2 of the LC exams. Now I'm an apprentice mechanic, nothing wrong with that plus you get to go to something similar to college with no need to study.
Your better off to just get the leaving out of the way and do what you like. A pass is a pass to me;)

Dudess

Jeremiah 16:1 wrote: »

I went straight into a college course after school and hated it, but still stuck with it, thinking that this was what I was supposed to do and I'd be seen as a failure by family otherwise. Foolish thinking. It was just like leaving cert every year (stress/study/part time work/nothing else), and after 3-4 years of college, I don't have anything to show for my time there.

Other than landing a job I'm not interested in, earning money with nothing to spend it on. Ha-this thread has cheered me up!:pac:

Seems like it's really worked out for ya!

0ubliette

Antithetic wrote: »

No. But it's a very good idea if you're smart. If you're not so smart, less so.

And thats why i spent 8 months doing the N+ and A+ in Fas, and ended up on more money than the 4 year college graduate in my last job. So yeah, you heard it here first, college is for smrt people only, everyone else goes to work in mcdonalds.

Sherifu

0ubliette wrote: »

And thats why i spent 8 months doing the N+ and A+ in Fas, and ended up on more money than the 4 year college graduate in my last job. So yeah, you heard it here first, college is for smrt people only, everyone else goes to work in mcdonalds.

Sounds about right to me.

zuutroy

College is a good laugh...better than working anyways...I'm so afraid of work I did a PhD afterwards, and doin postdocs now. Chief Wiggum was right...It's getting harder and harder to make it in by 10.

Time Magazine

0ubliette wrote: »

And thats why i spent 8 months doing the N+ and A+ in Fas, and ended up on more money than the 4 year college graduate in my last job. So yeah, you heard it here first, college is for smrt people only, everyone else goes to work in mcdonalds.

That's not what I suggested. If you're a dunce but capable of playing for Manchester United, don't go to university. If you're a dunce and you go to university, you probably won't get as rewarded for a crap degree as for four years' experience.

Also there are other factors to consider. I'm pretty entrepreneurial and reckon I'd be capable of making good money if I set up a Spar. Possibly even better money than I'll make being an economist for quite a few years. Running a Spar is a shit job compared to being an economist (given my preferences) though.

And for what it's worth, university graduates earn 60% more than non-graduates over the course of their lifetime. Of course there are non-graduates who earn more than some graduates (those that play for Man Utd) but that's not true on average.

Fair play to you for earning good money but you're the exception to the rule.

It wasn't me!

Jeremiah 16:1 wrote: »

Other than landing a job I'm not interested in, earning money with nothing to spend it on. Ha-this thread has cheered me up!:pac:

I'll take your money if you don't want it.

life_is_music

Thanks for all the replies! I'm not really that worried about the lc.......I plan on getting over 500 points, its just the career choice that's worrying me!

As for taking a year out, I'm completely broke so travel isn't an option. I'm going to Crete for a week with my friends so maybe that might give me an insight lol

Another question:

Should I go to my local uni (UCC) where all my friends are going or go out on my own (NUIG)??