Did you make the right choice with regards to college?

dr gonzo

longhalloween wrote: »

"Upper Paleolithic art is best interpreted in terms of shamanic trances. Discuss"

I got an A in that

Niles wrote: »

Did Arts so, em, yeh... that's all I need to say really.

Is it...?

christmas2012

Its hard to know if you picked the right college course,as things in job sectors can change well before the 4 year mark,better to do up to dip level for year or so and forget the four year degree as things can change pretty fast,you wanna be in quick with work exp..

a lot can change in four years

FizzleSticks

This post has been deleted.

longhalloween

dr gonzo wrote: »

I got an A in that

i hate you.

forevertwisted

Completely made the wrong choice and went to the wrong uni. It completely opened my mind and the experiences will stay with me for life but in hindsight, like most others, I wish i'd taken a gap year to try and explore what I really wanted to do, maybe got some experience in the field. Although in saying that, there is a good chance I would have taken a year doing minimum paid work and then still not being 100% sure what I wanted to do.

Currently in a job that I love that relates to my field, so I should be thankful that I did the course in many ways. But the pay could be better and the possibility of progression without further training in uni is minimal, if at all. At the stage now of deciding to go back and study something that I can make money from or try and persue a passion.

Sleepy

I did what I was good at rather than finding something I was genuinely interested in so ended up with a B. Comm. I was able to do a H.Dip in Systems Analysis which got me enough technical skills to get into the I.T. industry but I'd have been far better off with a "pure" IT degree as I think I'd enjoy a development role far more than the implementation / pre-sales side of the business I'm in.

There seems to be little on offer in terms of courses to upskill into programming. Yes, there's hundreds of MS / Oracle courses I could do to learn specific languages and I could quite easily teach myself any one of dozens of languages but there's very little out there in respect of "good practice" courses to teach one to develop well (algorithms, development practice etc.).

I'd love to be able to develop but I've no interest in putting a lot of effort into learning a language or two and being a crap developer, knowledge of a coding language is a completely different thing to being a good developer.

cournioni

I didn't originally, I am now doing a part time course with the IPA which has earned me NUI BBS Diploma so far.

17/18 is far too young to go into college. There definitely should be some work experience between leaving secondary school and starting college. It would help most college students gain a certain level of maturity before going in to study. A lot of students at 17/18 think its a easy ride and a big piss up, which usually causes people to drop out. I know, because it happened to me too.

Odysseus

flutterflye wrote: »

No, I was implying that you need to gain a grasp of the written word, because your post is written in gibberish!

TBH, it was readable. In my application for my degree as a 27 year old out of school since I was 15 with no qualifications; I had to look up how to spell most of it, especially the words psychotherapy, psychology and psychoanalysis. I go my degree was wrote 55,000 words for my Research MA, have punlished etc. We all need to learn, for some it takes longer. I only up writing this so there are more than likely typos in, but's that ok. I'm not writing a court report or anything offical

flutterflye

Odysseus wrote: »

TBH, it was readable. In my application for my degree as a 27 year old out of school since I was 15 with no qualifications; I had to look up how to spell most of it, especially the words psychotherapy, psychology and psychoanalysis. I go my degree was wrote 55,000 words for my Research MA, have punlished etc. We all need to learn, for some it takes longer. I only up writing this so there are more than likely typos in, but's that ok. I'm not writing a court report or anything offical

I already said that I myself couldn't spell to save my life.
I have mild dyslexia, and depend completely on spellcheck.
There is a massive difference between having issues with spelling etc... and being a lazy teenager - they all speak like that.
I have a teenage brother and sister, and their facebooks are full of that gibberish.
You say it was readable - well it was - but I had to read it about 3 times to understand what she was saying.
Anyway, this is all completely off topic.
I said I'd leave it, and I did, but I have this stupid need to reply to anyone who quotes me!!!
I'll have to work on that!

hairyprincess

Didn't have a clue at 17 what I wanted to do. It's only now fifteen years later that I decided to go back to college. I done an Access course last year and loved every minute of it, it's extremely worthwhile for any matures.

I just got offered a place earlier this week, not my first choice but I'm very happy with it. It's a subject that interests me and hopefully I will make good use of it.

It's never too late to go back, the eldest in my class on the Access course was 46, he got on brilliantly and got his first choice :pac:

PharmNS

The_Dazzler wrote: »

I am doing Pharmacy at the moment. I really enjoy it. I don't know if I will sell out and do community or just do hospital though.

How exactly is it selling out to work in Community Pharmacy?

af_thefragile

Now that I'm just one year away from graduating, I don't care. I'll probably also leave this country not too long after I graduate. Shouldn't have much trouble finding a job although finding a job of my choice in a place of my choice is gonna be more difficult but not impossible.

sadiesway

Definitely not , got an A2 in business studies in the leaving and applied to do a a business studies degree in UL, obvious choice right ? Unfortunately I didn't do so well with 300 people in a lecture. Couldn't take anything in , hated the course and hated the college. Dropped out in year 2 after spending the first year in denial. Am degreeless many years later but still bragging bout that A in the leaving , O Yea :-)

Coeurdepirate

I'm just after finishing the leaving cert and I want to do Arts with French and German in September as I really enjoy learning different languages (I'm learning Swedish and Latin in my free time) and honestly, I'm good at them. I'd like to be a translator or something in the future, at least that's what I think now. After reading this thread however, I'm not so sure. Nobody seems to be happy with their choices. I hope I won't regret my choices a few years down the line.

Bubbleope

why did i look at this thread. i feel like i'm going to fail at life now. :L
my CAO course choices are just lying on my desk staring at me now. aaah i dunno anymore now!

books4sale

Coeurdepirate wrote: »

After reading this thread however, I'm not so sure. Nobody seems to be happy with their choices. I hope I won't regret my choices a few years down the line.

Yeah, it seems like many people made bad choices but over a number of years people change and with that so do your interests, beliefs and ambitions.

In other words, don't expect to be the same person now as you will be in 10-15 years still wanting to do the same thing.

Its said that our generation can change careers up to five times as opposed to our parents who had the 'job for life'. This is understandable considering everything is now moving faster and turning over quicker.

I don't know anyone who doesn't have regrets about one thing or another, its easy to look back and say 'I could have done it differently'.

Na, pretty poor choice for me.. But at the time, I loved Economics and Business Studies and wanted to be Patrick Bateman so I went for Commerce. I hated university, loved university life, went to less that 15 lectures in each of second and third year, crammed each subject the night before the exam, came onto boards pretending I knew stuff about economics, didn't want to do a Masters and went to work as a Hedge Fund Accountant for 2 years.

Now I've no interest in the Hedge Fund Industry anymore and have no desire to ever go up the ladder or further my education there.. I'd try and work at it again in Oz if I ever make it down that far but that's it. My housemate is getting me interested in php and websites so I might do a distance course to get started in that.. Computers is definitely what I should have done in Uni and for now, teaching English suits me well.

Felexicon

No......Didn't go to college.
Instead I put my future happiness in the lap of the construction industry as a spark.
Good move.

brownlad

cade wrote: »

I studied Architectural Technology, had great fun during my time in the college though the work load was ridiculous so I'd very few nights out; Anyhow I got a well paying job straight out of college, loved my job and got as much overtime as I wanted.

So I made the right choice for me but the wrong choice for the future; how was I to know that the building industry would collapse :rolleyes:

Second time round I made the right choice for me again. I studied Computing and now I'm back in a job that I love. I just hope this industries future is secure.

did arcitecture for 1 semester in ucd last year..... biggest regret ever... going back in september for law

Remmy

I still didn't know what I wanted to do on the final day of the CAO application. I happened to turn on a movie called 'fracture' :rolleyes:. A 2:1 in Law later and I'm trying to figure out my next move.:pac:.

mattjack

Felexicon wrote: »

No......Didn't go to college.
Instead I put my future happiness in the lap of the construction industry as a spark.
Good move.

So did I, but went back to UCD last year .

books4sale

brownlad wrote: »

did arcitecture for 1 semester in ucd last year..... biggest regret ever... going back in september for law

Yeah, no jobs in architecture or law. Try computers / science

guitarzero

Nope, all mistakes and it seems this is a common theme here and amongst people I know. When I look back at my 18yr old self it bewilders me that I was given this much responsibility in such major decisions despite school or life having never endorsed this thing of 'responsibility' before.

It's such a ridiculous set up and a waste of time and tax payers money.

x43r0

Yes I think so. Saying that though, where I am now is nowhere near where I thought I'd be when I chose to do a computer science degree.

Thought I'd be in an IT company doing programming or something whereas I ended up emigrating and working in an investment bank so I guess it worked out better than I expected

up for anything

Coeurdepirate wrote: »

I'm just after finishing the leaving cert and I want to do Arts with French and German in September as I really enjoy learning different languages (I'm learning Swedish and Latin in my free time) and honestly, I'm good at them. I'd like to be a translator or something in the future, at least that's what I think now. After reading this thread however, I'm not so sure. Nobody seems to be happy with their choices. I hope I won't regret my choices a few years down the line.

Don't overthink it or begin your degree course with expectations of regret in a few years. It's good that you enjoy what you will be doing for the next few years and even if you end up not wanting to a translator in five or six years time then you will have useful and wonderful skills on which to base your next career choice.

ETA: It might be an idea to add a signed language or two to your quiver.

akura

No!!
i was to young and stupid, i picked a course not really knowing what to expect from it and only picked it because a few of my friends were going to do it , failed most of the summmer exams and left after the year

But i had only just turned 17 after my leaving cert so i was really to young to be going to college and making such big decision's.

christmas2012

you can be four years in college doing a course where in four years the jobs market for that course could have changed significantly ie youre ****ed..better to do it to diploma level as opposed to degree that way you give yourself a chance in the jobs market..

OneOfThem Stumbled

brownlad wrote: »

did arcitecture for 1 semester in ucd last year..... biggest regret ever... going back in september for law

fwiw, what did you dislike about it?

flyswatter

Deleted User wrote: »

But at the time, I loved Economics and Business Studies and wanted to be Patrick Bateman so I went for Commerce.

Who wouldn't?

Corkfeen

When I chose my degree, I was rather idealistic. I enjoyed studying English and History for a few months but I'll be honest I was in a bit of a daze during my first 2 years of college, not alcohol related :P . Only realised in March of this year that I didn't like the course in the slightest. I achieve high marks on a regular basis but it never seems to be worth it at the very same time. I contemplated dropping out but I really don't have much time left in my course so it'd have been a waste of 2 year.

But I decided to avoid being negative about it and have every intention of doing a masters in the area i'm particularly good at next year, plus I enjoy the area I would be training in. It really isn't ever too late to change ones skil lset if you really want to.

Deleted User wrote: »

Na, pretty poor choice for me.. But at the time, I loved Economics and Business Studies and wanted to be Patrick Bateman so I went for Commerce. I hated university, loved university life, went to less that 15 lectures in each of second and third year, crammed each subject the night before the exam, came onto boards pretending I knew stuff about economics, didn't want to do a Masters and went to work as a Hedge Fund Accountant for 2 years.

Now I've no interest in the Hedge Fund Industry anymore and have no desire to ever go up the ladder or further my education there.. I'd try and work at it again in Oz if I ever make it down that far but that's it. My housemate is getting me interested in php and websites so I might do a distance course to get started in that.. Computers is definitely what I should have done in Uni and for now, teaching English suits me well.

You wanted to be Patrick Bateman! :eek: What sort of business card did you have?