Hmm... Decisions...

nesf

Not 100% sure if this belongs here but...


I'm looking at returning to college. I originally was doing Physics in UCC and got three years into the programme before health issues forced me out of college. I've been out of college for two years, and even though I managed to do some research work in the labs for some of the lecturers, certain issues made the sitting of exams not possible.

The thing is, I've made a lot of progress over the past year, the past 6-8 months specifically. In short I'm putting my life back together slowly. It's not exactly an easy or quick process. But then, few things are when you get down to it really.

I toyed with the idea of leaving college behind me and not finishing my degree but after much thought it was clear that going back would be the better option. The problem is, even though I love physics, am good in a lab doing experiments etc. I'm not happy studying it. I'm not going to get into why, but I basically decided to start over as a mature student, with a clear slate etc.

I want to do what I wanted to do originally. Which is Arts.

I'm just interested in hearing opinions, good and bad, on returning to college into such a different degree type. I'd also like to know whether people know if it's possible to transfer within the college as a student or whether I'd have to go back through the CAO (or iow the difference between starting in October this year or next year).

embraer170

You like the subject and you've done three years which leaves you with one (or a maximum of two). Why not just go for it.

Very rare to be able to transfer between courses within Irish universities. Give the UCC careers office a call (they are down near Castlewhite) and they'll point you in the right direction (a really nice bunch).

nesf

embraer170 wrote:

You like the subject and you've done three years which leaves you with one (or a maximum of two). Why not just go for it.

Very rare to be able to transfer between courses within Irish universities. Give the UCC careers office a call (they are down near Castlewhite) and they'll point you in the right direction (a really nice bunch).

I was going to talk to the Physics Department about it on Monday/Tuesday. They have been fantastic to me for the past 5 years and they really went above and beyond to try and help me.

It wasn't a spur of the moment decision to decide to try and move out of Physics. I've one year off a General in Science, or two years of an Honours Degree in Physics, but to be honest about it, I know it was the wrong choice for me. I am not well suited to the degree.

I would prefer to work in English rather than just mathematics you know. Maths really isn't something I'm comfortable with. It was never an understanding problem but a fleuncy problem. I just couldn't "think in maths" and that makes life difficult in physics.

simu

nesf wrote:

It wasn't a spur of the moment decision to decide to try and move out of Physics. I've one year off a General in Science, or two years of an Honours Degree in Physics, but to be honest about it, I know it was the wrong choice for me. I am not well suited to the degree.

I would prefer to work in English rather than just mathematics you know. Maths really isn't something I'm comfortable with. It was never an understanding problem but a fleuncy problem. I just couldn't "think in maths" and that makes life difficult in physics.

Well, ultimately it's your own decision but looking at your words there, it sounds like you'd be happier doing Arts. It might take a bit longer but it doesn't matter unless you're in a rush to be able to say you have a degree in something or other.

nesf

simu wrote:

Well, ultimately it's your own decision but looking at your words there, it sounds like you'd be happier doing Arts. It might take a bit longer but it doesn't matter unless you're in a rush to be able to say you have a degree in something or other.

That was pretty much my thinking too.

I'm not in a rush about getting the label to put on my CV and a physics degree could potentially pigeonhole me in the technical half of the world when I really don't want to be there.

I'm not under any pressure to "get qualified" and into the workforce asap. I'm lucky in that I'm not under a lot of pressure money wise, and I don't have issues with living as a student.

Money really isn't a big issue for me. I've been happy when I had it, but I was equally happy when I didn't. I had this whole rethink on my life and decided to do what I wanted to do rather than what people always told me I should do. I've always been "classed" as a tech head.

I just stopped listening to other people and took a long look at myself and stopped lying to myself. I don't regret the time I spent in Physics, I learned a lot of humility by doing it (not that that shows!!) and I wouldn't trade the life experience I got for anything.

dudara

You've got to do what you truly want to. It will not matter how long it takes in the end, because it will all have been worth it.

If you're over 23 now, I don't think that you need go through the CAO process, but I'm not sure.

The very best of luck, you'll need it now that you'll be an arts student

nesf

dudara wrote:

The very best of luck, you'll need it now that you'll be an arts student

Has physics become employable or something? It's the art's degree of science subjects in this country...

RicardoSmith

I think you should be thinking of what you want to do when you leave college and be working toward that.

CathyMoran

I did not like my primary degree (Genetics) but I finished my degree. I realised that my heart was in Electronic Engineering (I chose not to do it at my parents wish) - however, there seemed no way to get into it so I did a Masters in Food Science. Elec Eng was still on my mind though so I did a Grad Dip in IT and Business which enabled me to beg to get onto an Elec Eng Masters. Sorry for the long story but the point is that you can do whatever you want in college - personally I regret wasting all those years when I always knew what I wanted to do - you could finish your Physics Degree just for the sake of completion (you are nearly there), but in the end it is delaying you from doing what you really love.

nesf

CathyMoran wrote:

I did not like my primary degree (Genetics) but I finished my degree. I realised that my heart was in Electronic Engineering (I chose not to do it at my parents wish) - however, there seemed no way to get into it so I did a Masters in Food Science. Elec Eng was still on my mind though so I did a Grad Dip in IT and Business which enabled me to beg to get onto an Elec Eng Masters. Sorry for the long story but the point is that you can do whatever you want in college - personally I regret wasting all those years when I always knew what I wanted to do - you could finish your Physics Degree just for the sake of completion (you are nearly there), but in the end it is delaying you from doing what you really love.

Going from Physics to Arts would be an interesting trick...

I do appreciate what you are saying. You are not tied to the subject that your primary is in, but you are tied to an extent to the area.

Plus, there is nothing stopping me returning in a few years and finishing the degree.

On the otherhand, two degrees.... Hmmm....

claire h

Not so much personal experience, but from knowing people in both arts and science degrees... arts will probably leave you with more free time and more reading and self-discipline than science, which is more structured (at the beginning, at least) so I'd say to be prepared to be self-motivated and not leave everything 'til the last minute. Though if you do leave everything to the last minute, you'll fit in wonderfully with your fellow arts students, so...

nesf wrote:

I'm just interested in hearing opinions, good and bad, on returning to college into such a different degree type. I'd also like to know whether people know if it's possible to transfer within the college as a student or whether I'd have to go back through the CAO (or iow the difference between starting in October this year or next year).

CAO deadlines have closed for this year. If you're still registered a student at UCC then you might be able to transfer into Arts for this autumn, otherwise it's reapplying through the CAO next year. (Unless of course there are vacant spaces available in Arts after the CAO offers go out this year, but it's unlikely.)

cuckoo

If you do decide to go back to college to do Arts, will you go back to UCC or will you take the complete clean slate and go elsewhere?

I started college at 22, so if you decide to do a different course one word of warning - for the first month or so the ppl in your course could do your head in. In my case they were mostly lovely people, and i made some great friends - but the freedom of being out of school went a little to my classes heads and once they realised that lecturers wouldn't give out to them for talking in lectures there was no shutting them up. After a few weeks the amazing realisation that they didn't have to go to lectures and could just go get coffee and have a chat meant that the noise level dropped.

If you can't stomach the thought of studying physics, then going back to that would be a very tough, exhausting year. From talking to ppl i know who've been through final year it's a head wreck of a time, and in most colleges in the sciences there's less marks to be scooped up from practicals. Also, if you're not loving it the final year project would be no fun.

Hmmm, me typing away here is 'blind leading blind' when i consider my own college career, but by making a mess of things a few times people started telling me about everyone else they knew who wasn't 'straight through in four years'. I've heard of people who switched from medicine to arts, all very happy - one of them ended up going back to medicine after arts and is still very happy. People who've switched from science to engineering, and then changed courses a couple of times within engineering.

Maybe try the students union in UCC as well for information? What's the situation with getting a CAO in for next year?

I'm hazarding a guess here, but based on the posts above i'm thinking you're swaying towards the arts option...

nesf

cuckoo wrote:

If you do decide to go back to college to do Arts, will you go back to UCC or will you take the complete clean slate and go elsewhere?

I started college at 22, so if you decide to do a different course one word of warning - for the first month or so the ppl in your course could do your head in. In my case they were mostly lovely people, and i made some great friends - but the freedom of being out of school went a little to my classes heads and once they realised that lecturers wouldn't give out to them for talking in lectures there was no shutting them up. After a few weeks the amazing realisation that they didn't have to go to lectures and could just go get coffee and have a chat meant that the noise level dropped.

If you can't stomach the thought of studying physics, then going back to that would be a very tough, exhausting year. From talking to ppl i know who've been through final year it's a head wreck of a time, and in most colleges in the sciences there's less marks to be scooped up from practicals. Also, if you're not loving it the final year project would be no fun.

Hmmm, me typing away here is 'blind leading blind' when i consider my own college career, but by making a mess of things a few times people started telling me about everyone else they knew who wasn't 'straight through in four years'. I've heard of people who switched from medicine to arts, all very happy - one of them ended up going back to medicine after arts and is still very happy. People who've switched from science to engineering, and then changed courses a couple of times within engineering.

Maybe try the students union in UCC as well for information? What's the situation with getting a CAO in for next year?

I'm hazarding a guess here, but based on the posts above i'm thinking you're swaying towards the arts option...

I've given it a lot of thought, because let's face it, this isn't exactly a minor decision.

Points of note are as follows:

• Final year physics in UCC is hell. I know this because I've had a lot of friends of mine do it. Even the ones who were well suited to the course and who loved it found it very stressful and tough. If I'm going back into it when I know I don't want to be there, then final year could break me. The marks for practical work would be in a seperate module, and they could give me a double weighted project and I could just use the work I've researched for the past 2 years to fill it. But I would still be faced with 40 credits of hell. There are no easy options or easy modules in final year Physics in UCC, it's very much a make or break year.

• I'm naturally more orientated towards discussion and argument than science and "technical material". I've a good understanding of technical matters and they do interest me but they aren't where my best skills are focussed. It's not so much that I'm bad at the subjects it's more that I'm unhappy not playing to my strenghts. I'm not the kind of person who is happy to be scraping a 2H from a degree. That could be considered egotistical or it could be me refusing to sell myself short. Either way, I know that if I stay in physics/technical I'm not going to excel in it, I'll be at best a good average.

• I've the backing and background to allow me quite a bit of freedom in going back to college. I've the experience workwise in sales and sales management that I can return to said career if I wish and I can continue to work in it during college. I've already got a well developed skillset with regard sales so I do have a fall back option there. I can also just go the whole teaching route from Arts if I wish. Or I can get my final 60 credits for physics through the OU or similar if needs be. I'm not burning bridges here, I've plenty of options that will still be open to me if I return to do Arts. It's not like I'm going in there at the age of 18 with no life experience to fall back on if it goes wrong.

• One of my main problems with physics came from it's structured nature. I as a person am most comfortable and efficient if I'm let alone to learn myself rather than be expected to absorb word for word (or symbol for symbol in this case) material from lectures. I've always performed better when "left to my own devices". Even in Physics I got a lot of leeway in this regard. But the subject doesn't lend itself well to this kind of study at undergrad level.

• The other main subject that interested me was some form of Business Degree. I gave this option quite a bit of thought and settled on the idea of taking economics in arts and balancing it with a more liberal subject. The best of both worlds imo.

• If I go back, I'll not be just doing what I want to do. I'll be doing what makes me happy. This means quite a lot to me. I've ignored my own happiness for the sake of my education/career/future too much over the past 5 years. I've no wish to be putting myself in a position of stress and pressure when I really don't have to.

• I should probably add that it's feasible for me to spend the next 10 years in education if that was my wish. I'm lucky when it comes to money etc and can support myself through working part time. So it's not like it's a "I only have time to get a degree" thing, I could pursue M.A.'s, H.Dip's, PhD's or whatever afterwards.

There's more stuff, but the above is a brief look at some of my thinking on this. Any opinions?

Sleepy

I know a friend who has made the transition from having completed 2 years of Physics to going back to do Arts. Financially it's been tough for him but at the end of the day, most of his friends are still around the college so he gets along fine. As Cuckoo pointed out, you will have to get used to being around a lot of people that are far less mature than you but if you reckon you can deal with that, go for it.

nesf

Sleepy wrote:

I know a friend who has made the transition from having completed 2 years of Physics to going back to do Arts. Financially it's been tough for him but at the end of the day, most of his friends are still around the college so he gets along fine. As Cuckoo pointed out, you will have to get used to being around a lot of people that are far less mature than you but if you reckon you can deal with that, go for it.

I'm good at blocking out people that annoy me.


Most of my friends from my original course are in their PhD's so yeah, they are still around and such. My friends from the societies I was/am in (for some reason I was still involved even when I was working) are spread across all years, faculties and levels.

So yeah, it's not going to be me going back as a stranger. I'm thinking of staying in UCC because, well, as much as I've problems with Cork etc, I've made some very good friends here and I'm happy here.

chump

Hmm... Decisions...

Two conficting thoughts:

1.
I think you're mad going back to college to do something that isn't going to make you more valuable as an employee... ie. the majority of Arts degrees IMO. Even if you choose a valuable one, say Economics, you'll need to do a Masters and work to gain experience in it for a few years before it pays off.

2.
You seemingly don't have to worry too much about money. You want to experience what it's like to do an enjoyable course (which physics to a large part isn't , I know) and why shouldn't you? If it's something that you'll enjoy and can afford to spend a few years on, it could be fun.

Now personally if I had enough money to do something like this at the age of 25, if I had an itch. I'd be more interested in fecking off for a year or 2 and travelling the world. That I think would be a more fulfilling education.

My advice to you, if you really do want to do it as much as you say you do, is to just go for it and quit mulling over it.
If you get bored after a year and realise you made a bad decision, no real loss...

And if you're a mature student you apply to the courses directly I think, not 100% but I did spend some time looking this up about a year ago...
Mature studentship works in that you have to be 23 by roughly February of the year you apply. In reality the minimum age you'll be when you start the course is 23 and a half... Oh ye, I'm pretty sure you missed the deadlines to enter as a mature student this september.

nesf

chump wrote:

Hmm... Decisions...

Two conficting thoughts:

1.
I think you're mad going back to college to do something that isn't going to make you more valuable as an employee... ie. the majority of Arts degrees IMO. Even if you choose a valuable one, say Economics, you'll need to do a Masters and work to gain experience in it for a few years before it pays off.

2.
You seemingly don't have to worry too much about money. You want to experience what it's like to do an enjoyable course (which physics to a large part isn't , I know) and why shouldn't you? If it's something that you'll enjoy and can afford to spend a few years on, it could be fun.

Now personally if I had enough money to do something like this at the age of 25, if I had an itch. I'd be more interested in fecking off for a year or 2 and travelling the world. That I think would be a more fulfilling education.

My advice to you, if you really do want to do it as much as you say you do, is to just go for it and quit mulling over it.
If you get bored after a year and realise you made a bad decision, no real loss...

I'm not really mulling about it. I'm not looking for advice, I'm looking for opinions. I already know what I want to do, it's just that I wanted to bounce a few ideas off people.

Fecking off for a year and going travelling isn't feasible for me because I'm tied to this country for medical reasons. I need to get check ups done twice a month or so and that isn't likely to change for at least 12-24 months. Possibly longer. I'm also not really meant to work fulltime. So a bit of a bind. Returning to a low stress degree in an area that really interests me seems like a good compromise between my need to be doing something worthwhile and the limitations put on me for various reasons.

Otherwise I'd be on a plane right now on my way to see the Far East. Probably TEFL for 12 months or something

Or the other thing I've really wanted to do is volunteer abroad for 6 months or so. Again, I can't do this in the immediate future.

I just have to delay such plans for a bit. I don't mind, I just want to make use out of the time I have available to me, if you know what I mean.

Quantum

Well I want to congratulate you for getting your life back together and dealing with what are clearly very tough challenges in your life.
What I would say is this - don't look back, but forward.....

Look at how you would like your life to be in ten years or fifteen. What do you want to be doing ? what will your health allow you to do ? What are your personal talents best suited to doing ? Would being self employed be a better route for you considering your health issues ?

Only after looking at these questins would I advise you to make your choice. If you make the wrong choice it will lock you into a wrong path for a hell of a long time.

Best of luck.

cuckoo

nesf wrote:

Returning to a low stress degree in an area that really interests me seems like a good compromise between my need to be doing something worthwhile and the limitations put on me for various reasons.

learning new stuff is cool and stimulating, so if you're going to be hanging around Cork go for it and do the arts degree. as you already have the work experience thing you might as well do something different with your time. stress yourself to bits in physics, or explore your 'arts side'?!? you like self directed learning and reading around things, so sounds like arts could work out.

cliche alert: regret the things you do, not the ones you don't.

secret_squirrel

Go with your heart - I changed from Comp Sci to Physics and never regretted a second of it - well maybe Quantum Mechanics )

rainbow kirby

Funnily enough, I'm going the other way: maths physics to CS.

nesf

secret_squirrel wrote:

Go with your heart - I changed from Comp Sci to Physics and never regretted a second of it - well maybe Quantum Mechanics )

Quantum sounds really interesting then you see the maths.

Nuff said.