The college epidemic of the last 15 years?

SamAK

Why so many dropouts?

Perhaps because people enroll into any old course and by year two realise that they have absolutely no interest in it at all.

gramar

Bubbaclaus wrote: »

Why so? Going to college should be encouraged.

Doing something useful should be encouraged. College is only one option.

DyldeBrill

Yup times have definitely changed. In my last year now after a loooong 4 years but I'm still fairly confident about getting a job. It all goes down to how much someone wants a job. If you put the time and effort into applying and asserting yourself then there's no reason a job won't come your way, and that goes for people with or without a degree.

College does not suit everyone thats for for sure, was close to dropping out myself but its not the be all and end all. People usually drop out because they realise that they've picked the wrong course and lose all interest in it, which usually results in a doss year of drinking and whatever else

bodhrandude

Thomas D wrote: »

The amount of dole wasters I know in their 30s going to college is pathetic.

WELL! How the hell do you up skill, qualifications are changing all the time and in case you haven't noticed there ain't much jobs here, at least you are feeding your brain a bit and some of these courses will have work experience too, what do you suggest?

ClovenHoof

littleblackDRS wrote: »

Now you need at least a Masters to get many entry level jobs.

WTF! LOL...:rolleyes:

Priceless.

previous user

Tooooo wrote: »

It should be encouraged only if it suits the aptitude of the individual.

A very valid point.

ClovenHoof

Going to college is the new version of making yer mammy proud by rotting away in the Civil Service to get a pension.

The only thing is, with more Irish people in college, we have never been a more idiotic society than now.

Tiddlypeeps

ClovenHoof wrote: »

The only thing is, with more Irish people in college, we have never been a more idiotic society than now.

Care to elaborate?

ClovenHoof

Tiddlypeeps wrote: »

Care to elaborate?

This country produces nothing of worth compared to the past. Look at the artists, musicians, poets, film makers, bands and actors we once produced.

SamAK

I do wonder....how many posters here that seem to have a bee in their bonnet about going to college have actually experienced it for themselves?

Cosmo K

It's near impossible to find a decent and fully qualified plumber, yet we have an army of people with arts degrees.

Adamantium

Colleges are there to make money ultimately, and therefore you need to make your money out of them, accordingly. ****in hate the glossy over produced videos advertising the very basic, flashy parts of the course. I did an Earth and Ocean Science course in NUIG, they'd have you beliving at 17, 18 years old you'd bungee jumping into volcanic cones with a Lord of the Rings backdrop and working at the cutting edge of science.

If they straight uptold you have a 95% chance (and I'm probably off by only a few percent there) will be working a 9-5 "meh" job with this particular, students would be forced to look at reality head on and actually source areas of genuine interests. Once they have you, they frankly don't give two hoots.

At 17,18 everybody wants to put the stars in your eyes, and you'll believe it gladly, because what else you've been hearing your hole life from everybody? Nobody tells the truth anymore, maybe parents and even they are clueless. Hell it didn't even occur to me as an 18 year old that most academics have never worked in the real world!

eviltwin

I dropped out of my first college course. I remember applying for everything that I felt I could get points for out of fear of being left with nothing, when I got my first offer I took it. 6 months in I knew I had made the wrong choice, dropped out and went back the following year and did a course that I managed to get a job out of. Again it wasn't something that was a passion but it paid the bills. Its only in my early 30's that I have found the area I really have a love for and please god one day I'll have the money to go back to college and study it as a way of advancing my career.

I think there is far too much pressure on school leavers to get into college. I would love there to be a system where you could take a year or two off after the Leaving without having to decide what courses you want to put on your CAO, you could go do a gap year, work or just get a bit more maturity and then decide where your interests lie. The drop out rates are nearly 20% in some institutions, that is just crazy.

SamAK

Adamantium wrote: »

Hell it didn't even occur to me as an 18 year old that most academics have never worked in the real world!

I heard a good saying once -

"Those that can't, teach"

:rolleyes:

thegreatgonzo

Cosmo K wrote: »

It's near impossible to find a decent and fully qualified plumber, yet we have an army of people with arts degrees.

I don't see what one has to do with the other.
I've never had any trouble finding a plumber btw. Try tradesman.ie

Tiddlypeeps

ClovenHoof wrote: »

This country produces nothing of worth compared to the past. Look at the artists, musicians, poets, film makers, bands and actors we once produced.

You have a very strange definition of idiocy

Plus it's also not true.

Tiddlypeeps

eviltwin wrote: »

I would love there to be a system where you could take a year or two off after the Leaving without having to decide what courses you want to put on your CAO.

There is nothing stopping people doing this now (bar social pressure). The CAO is still open to people who have finished school for a couple of years.

eviltwin

Tiddlypeeps wrote: »

There is nothing stopping people doing this now (bar social pressure). The CAO is still open to people who have finished school for a couple of years.

But don't you lose your right to a grant if you don't at least accept and defer a place the year you leave school?

padd b1975

MadYaker wrote: »

Theres a push towards going to 3rd level in Ireland because its pretty much impossible to get anything other than a minimum wage job if you don't have a good degree.

Complete and utter crap.

Femme_Fatale

SamAK wrote: »

I heard a good saying once -

"Those that can't, teach"

:rolleyes:

I hate that saying. It's terrible! (Not a teacher btw).

Adamantium

Old, but gold. This may have been the first youtube video I ever watched! Nostalgic.

LOL:

It's a ****ing ghost town!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbsdlSpA2GU

c68zapdsm5i1ru

ClovenHoof wrote: »

[]Going to college is the new version of making yer mammy proud by rotting away in the Civil Service to get a pension.

The only thing is, with more Irish people in college, we have never been a more idiotic society than now.

Pretty stupid remark!


College no longer just means University and a very academic type course. There are myriad things you can study now after leaving school. Yes, there are some ridiculous sounding courses but the general idea of continuing with your education and trying to narrow it down after you leave school is a good one. I think previously kids were coming straight out of school and into permanent jobs with no time to draw breath or think about what they really wanted to do, and a lot of people did get stuck in jobs they hated but couldn't see a way out of - whether it was the civil service, the bank, secretarial work or any other areas which tended to employ large groups of school leavers. But it was a different world then, third level education cost a fortune and even getting a leaving certificate was a step up from the previous generation.

Tiddlypeeps

eviltwin wrote: »

But don't you lose your right to a grant if you don't at least accept and defer a place the year you leave school?

Nope. If you know you are going to be taking a year out then you don't fill in the CAO form at all and you don't apply for a grant. You can then apply for the grant whenever you do get awarded your place.

I'm not sure how it works for mature students but for everyone else you can fill in the CAO form anytime after the leaving cert.

This is advisable if you don't know what you want to do. Something that isn't made clear to a lot of leaving cert students is that you only get 1 run at college paid for you. So if you fail first year or drop out half way through then you will have to pay for any other course you want to do.

If you do fill in the CAO and get offered your course then you can ask them if you can defer it, but they may not allow this. However this does not mean that you can't apply again next year (or whenever you want), it just means that you aren't guaranteed a place if the points go up for example since you have to go through the standard CAO procedure.

Taco Chips

Not everyone belongs in college certainly but the fact the every school leaver in the country is encouraged to attain higher levels of education is something that this country can be very proud of. It is of huge benefit for the country that the majority of the population are well educated, even if the drop out rates end up being higher than normal because there are a few casualties on the way.

Just to add also that I think 17/18 is absolutely an appropriate age for young people to start making decisions about their career. There has to be a time to screw your head on and start shaping your adult life, why baby young adults further by postponing their decision for them? There are plenty of options available to kids who are not yet sure of their path at that stage but the vast majority are capable. The important point is to keep standards high and give people the tools to reach them rather than drop the bar to allow everyone to jump over.

flas

Stained Class wrote: »

A lot of the jobs for life that existed in the semi-state industries don't exist anymore.

There used to be loads. Telecom, ESB, Bord na Mona, etc.

No such thing as Leaving Cert needed. Just do the Group Cert, sign up & do your apprenteship on the job. Sorted!

Tis a pity there's not all that much manufacturing, but a lot of what existed before was artificial or subsidised anyway.

Televisions, Cars, etc used to be assembled here for tax reasons. All that's gone now.

Not everyone is geared for Uni, but most can do further education of some sort.

a lot of the major employers in the country are only here for tax reasons now,that has not changed,the type of job has,and it will change again. I'm not knocking college/uni, I myself went for 3 years,my brother has a degree from ait,ul and also studied in dit while my sister went to maynooth and tcd,the point I was making earlier was that it is a shame the way it is made out to be college or bum.

shruikan2553

Adamantium wrote: »

Colleges are there to make money ultimately, and therefore you need to make your money out of them, accordingly. ****in hate the glossy over produced videos advertising the very basic, flashy parts of the course. I did an Earth and Ocean Science course in NUIG, they'd have you beliving at 17, 18 years old you'd bungee jumping into volcanic cones with a Lord of the Rings backdrop and working at the cutting edge of science.

If they straight uptold you have a 95% chance (and I'm probably off by only a few percent there) will be working a 9-5 "meh" job with this particular, students would be forced to look at reality head on and actually source areas of genuine interests. Once they have you, they frankly don't give two hoots.

At 17,18 everybody wants to put the stars in your eyes, and you'll believe it gladly, because what else you've been hearing your hole life from everybody? Nobody tells the truth anymore, maybe parents and even they are clueless. Hell it didn't even occur to me as an 18 year old that most academics have never worked in the real world!

Try ads for engineering courses. You can build cylons and Iron Man suits! What you actually do is learn how to integrate first year, learn fourier series second year, learn that fourier series is used in signals in third year. ta da, now your an engineer! What that jimmy? Youre wondering where those cool robots we showed you on the open day are? Theyre half assed projects that only work it specific circumstances!* Electromagnets are cool though, hope you enjoy triple ****ing integration.

Note: Robots may not work for random reasons that you cannot work out.

I come across really negative in that, I actually do enjoy what Im doing but I have helped in the promoting and it is nothing like what they show you.

SamAK wrote: »

Why so many dropouts?

Perhaps because people enroll into any old course and by year two realise that they have absolutely no interest in it at all.

For some reason people think programming is guaranteed a job, they then find out they dont like programming and drop out.