Leaving course

leesmom

Hi,

I'm contemplating leaving my course at present. I'm in my final year of 4 years and wondering does anyone know would I get any certificate or credits if I do leave at this point?

Any advice appreciated

medic087

my only advice is don't do it !! You've done three years now it'd be an awful waste of hard work. Maybe see if you can defer the rest of this semester or something to that accord.

leesmom

Thanks I know it'd be a silly move but at the same time trying to figure out if I'll get any kind of cert if I leave now.

keelanj69

Surely youve only a few weeks left until you finish? Are you afraid youll do poorly?

leesmom

keelanj69 wrote: »

Surely youve only a few weeks left until you finish? Are you afraid youll do poorly?

I don't finish until mid September, it's not your usual course where you finish in may.
Anyway if anyone can advise as to whether I would walk away with nothing or at least some sort of certificate I would really appreciate it

Sugar Free

Best to contact your programme office, it can vary.

I know in the general science stream - at least when I was there - you'd leave with an ordinary degree after 3 of the 4 years. That said, it's next to useless except for telling people you have a degree!

ironclaw

leesmom wrote: »

I don't finish until mid September, it's not your usual course where you finish in may.
Anyway if anyone can advise as to whether I would walk away with nothing or at least some sort of certificate I would really appreciate it

Contact your program office. You may be able to get a BSc or a Level 7 in some cases. They will of course issue you with the usual statement of results. This sort of say's "I studied this" but compared to someone with a full degree, its utterly worthless.

But frankly you'd be mad to leave a course in March unless you had a good job lined up.

*Hank Scorpio*

Sugar Free wrote: »

Best to contact your programme office, it can vary.

I know in the general science stream - at least when I was there - you'd leave with an ordinary degree after 3 of the 4 years. That said, it's next to useless except for telling people you have a degree!

Why is the 3 year option 'useless' compared to finishing the final year? Completing the final year you'd still have a general science degree rather than something specialised, right?

the evil lime

True, but after three years it's an ordinary degree - a level 7 qualification that until a few years ago was called a diploma. Four years is the level 8 honours degree - what most people mean when they say "degree".

Sugar Free

*Hank Scorpio* wrote: »

Why is the 3 year option 'useless' compared to finishing the final year? Completing the final year you'd still have a general science degree rather than something specialised, right?

It's true that a B.Sc, whether ordinary or honours (I'm referring to the biological sciences) will only really give you a good grounding in a fairly broad area but I'm speaking from an employment perspective rather than purely a knowledge one.

I've see my own friends who only had ordinary degrees struggle to get any relevant or decent job. Additionally, my own company pre-screens out any ordinary degree holders (and most of those with an IT rather than a university degree but that's a whole other thread!).

Additionally they are hiring M.Sc. and even PhD's for graduate/junior positions as well as those with prior experience. From speaking to other people, this is a common occurrence within their companies also. So graduating with an ordinary degree will prevent them even getting to the first interview for an awful lot of cases.

So I would still say it's of little practical use, either as a means to get employment or for pursuing a postgraduate path.

Jizzear

After 3 years in science you can leave with a level 8 in general science, same with engineering i think! I hear ppl say all the time its only a level 7 but thats just plain untrue! And this degree is worth probably less to a potential employer than a 4 year specialised science degree unless the employer was in the field you could have specialisied in! BAsically if you were to continue with anything science related probably better with the 4 year degree but otherwise 3 year is the same

Source: Talked to head of one of the science streams and some1 from the program office!

Raphael

Completely wrong. Ordinary degree is 7, Honours is 8. Check this link to the nfqbwebsite - seeing as how they define the levels, I think they know them.

Having an ordinary degree from a university tells the employer "I couldn't finish my degree." Most cases, in the sciences, one graduates with am ordinary degree if one gets worse than a 2h2 for 3rd year and isn't allowed continue to fourth.

OP, what course are you in?

beardedmaster

As presently a Science student, I've to say, there's an awful lot of misconceptions with the whole 3-year-degree thing.

If you do four years, you gain an honours degree in your particular field e.g. BSc (Hons) in Chemistry.
If you do three years, and a) want to leave or b) don't get a GPA above 2.48 (a 2:2), then you get a BSc in General Science.

All this BSc (Ord), or ordinary degree stuff isn't true it all. Both degrees are Level 8. The 3-year degree is not an "honours" degree nominally, but it is a Level 8. UCD don't do Level 7 degrees. They do some diplomas and certificates, but all degrees are Level 8 minimum.

http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/progsnfq.htm

Students who do not progress to Stage 4 of the BSc programme but who have achieved 180 ECTS credits with a minimum of 100 ECTS credits at level 2 or above and a minimum of 40 ECTS credits at level 3 or above will be awarded a BSc (General Science) Level 8

OP, if I was in your position, I'd just stick out the few months and finish your degree. Regardless of whether or not you can get a three-year one, I'd finish this one out fully, especially seeing the time you've put into it already.

ironclaw

Jizzear wrote: »

After 3 years in science you can leave with a level 8 in general science, same with engineering i think! I hear ppl say all the time its only a level 7 but thats just plain untrue! And this degree is worth probably less to a potential employer than a 4 year specialised science degree unless the employer was in the field you could have specialisied in! BAsically if you were to continue with anything science related probably better with the 4 year degree but otherwise 3 year is the same

Engineering is abit of a red herring at the moment. Its changing to be in line with the European standard which is a 5 year course. At the moment, you can leave after 3 years with a BSc Eng (A Level 8 qualification) However most people continue for the last 2 years and then you leave with a specific Masters (i.e. Masters in Electronic Eng. etc)

Of course there is the other option of doing 4 years of Engineering (I think its being slowly phased out, may no longer be an option) and you leave with a Level 8 with a Degree in Engineering (Normally denominated i.e. Electrical, Mechanical etc)

The reason for the Masters option now is that most Engineer's worldwide have Masters and its becoming the minimum standard to be a chartered Engineer. In a nutshell if you want to be a professional Engineer you need to have a Masters.

However at the end of the day, it entirely depends what you want to do. To some people a 3 year Eng course is all they need (and what their employers needs) However you would be foolish to do that in such a climate given the current competition for jobs. You'd really want as high a degree as you can achieve and equally some real world experience. You can get jobs on experience / outside qualifications alone.

Raphael

beardedmaster wrote: »

As presently a Science student, I've to say, there's an awful lot of misconceptions with the whole 3-year-degree thing.

If you do four years, you gain an honours degree in your particular field e.g. BSc (Hons) in Chemistry.
If you do three years, and a) want to leave or b) don't get a GPA above 2.48 (a 2:2), then you get a BSc in General Science.

All this BSc (Ord), or ordinary degree stuff isn't true it all. Both degrees are Level 8. The 3-year degree is not an "honours" degree nominally, but it is a Level 8. UCD don't do Level 7 degrees. They do some diplomas and certificates, but all degrees are Level 8 minimum.

http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/progsnfq.htm

Huh, my bad - I was told it was an Ordinary degree a few years ago when I was in 3rd year. My point about people assuming you couldn't hack it stands though.

Sugar Free

Raphael wrote: »

Huh, my bad - I was told it was an Ordinary degree a few years ago when I was in 3rd year. My point about people assuming you couldn't hack it stands though.

+1 showing my age! Back in 'my day' it was called an ordinary degree and was a level 7.

Happy to have been corrected though.

beardedmaster

For those curious, the 3-year BSc has been a Level 8 degree since 1998, it's in that link I put up.

Medme

OP - finish the degree. If your stressed/hating it/whatever go talk to someone about deferring or getting support or whatever. It doesn't matter if you don't want to practice/do the job, a degree is a degree at the end of the day. I only finished mine in the last year because I thought my mother would murder/disown me if I didn't and ive never regretted finishing it. I'm assuming your a vet or nursing student or something?