Useless Degrees

Tar.Aldarion · 12-05-2007 03:30PM

A-Trak wrote:

While studying in Uni, I had call to vist the gents.

Next to the toilet paper dispenser was the graffiti ;

Arts Degrees dispensed here ->

Yeah it says that in NUIG, along with the line 'please take one'
A sports coach in nuig told my friend at training that he had an arts degree and it isn't even worth wiping his arse with.

So all crap course are arts or subsections of arts.

InFront · 12-05-2007 03:40PM

IRLConor wrote:

Corollary C: Steer clear of the degrees that try and make you think that they are vocational training, as far as I can tell they're not as good.

What do you mean not as good? As well as being useful, degrees in disciplines like medicine, dentistry, or teaching are intended as vocational training, they are perfectly good degrees, and offer great employment opportunities. By and large they tend to be very popular degrees among school leavers.

IRLConor · 12-05-2007 07:50PM

I guess you're right in those cases, although degrees in medicine and teaching cover both the vocational and non-vocational aspects of their respective fields. They weren't quite what I had in mind.

I was thinking more about degrees where there is a wide variance between approaches in different universities. For example, I did Computer Science and some universities try to push their courses as "we give you a good grounding in the fundamentals and the science[sic] of computers" and others advertise their courses as "practical" or "industry-focused". In my experience, I have found that the latter turns out poorer graduates on average. This appeared to be particularly true for the people I met in the US where the differences between styles of course (and indeed university) are more pronounced.

Now, before people jump down my throat, I'd like to qualify that the preceding comments are generalisations and my impressions based on the graduates I have met in the last 4-5 years. I've met a good few people that buck the trend that I see, but they were the exceptions rather than the rule.

roberta c · 12-05-2007 08:05PM

I was under the impression an arts degree was for an education(you dont really get this from the leaving!) and to learn reseach skills etc. not for a career..

thats why I'm doing it anyway!

12-05-2007 08:07PM

Anything over 30C?

J.S. Pill · 13-05-2007 01:12AM

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

Yeah it says that in NUIG, along with the line 'please take one'
A sports coach in nuig told my friend at training that he had an arts degree and it isn't even worth wiping his arse with.

So all crap course are arts or subsections of arts.

UCD library toilets??

I've a string of letters after my name but I'm still doing the call centre circut 2 years after graduating...but hey, I get to hang out, get wasted and listen to the floyd while my the rest of my mates work 60 hours weeks - life's a beach baby:cool:

stepbar · 13-05-2007 01:24AM

Just goes to prove that in secondary school, career guidance teachers are crap. By now I should be a millionaire, but I got lost in computing for 5 years instead....

cson · 13-05-2007 07:17PM

Rhyme wrote:

Business Studies was 50 points in Roscommon the year i sent in my CAO... i'm pretty sure they do a basket weaving diploma too.

As far as im aware, on the CAO, courses marked AQA mean 'All Qualified Applicants' - In other words all you have to do is get the requirements for the course, so if all they required was a D3 in ordinary maths, english and irish, you could get into college with 15 points.

jellie · 13-05-2007 10:56PM

Webmonkey wrote:

Didn't see it that way. Guess tired

Edit - but i still stand by my points that a lot of idiots coming out of courses not known crap. Amazing how much you can pass by just learning definitions and not being able to program etc.

Ive a computer science degree, 2.1, and i will admit i must be the worst computer scientist ever. I know the stuff they taught us in the courses, but beyond that ive no clue. i certainly couldnt go messing about with my computer without managing to break it.. Although in saying all that, im pretty good at programming so maybe that makes up for it?

Even with the 2.1 i just didnt feel confident enough in my computer science, so now im doing a masters with a mix of business & computers, and its making me feel much better about job prospects!

flossie · 14-05-2007 12:17AM

Don't agree with science degrees being the way forward. I studied for my degree in forensic chemistry (got 1st class honour btw

), went travelling and now about to drop out of my postgrad (well, transferring college). Some of my frieds from my degree are working for the forensic science service in the UK and with 3 years experience on DNA analysis earn stg£13000:eek: so less than €20,000. Very poor money and job satisfaction in the world of science. I'm heading more down the engineering role:rolleyes:

Mellor · 14-05-2007 01:07AM

flossie wrote:

Don't agree with science degrees being the way forward. I studied for my degree in forensic chemistry (got 1st class honour btw ), went travelling and now about to drop out of my postgrad (well, transferring college). Some of my frieds from my degree are working for the forensic science service in the UK and with 3 years experience on DNA analysis earn stg£13000:eek: so less than €20,000. Very poor money and job satisfaction in the world of science. I'm heading more down the engineering role:rolleyes:

Yeah but Horatio Caine makes like a million and drives a hummer

Tar.Aldarion · 14-05-2007 08:16AM

J.S. Pill wrote:

UCD library toilets??

NUIG toilets...

flossie · 14-05-2007 09:48AM

Mellor wrote:

Yeah but Horatio Caine makes like a million and drives a hummer

:mad: :mad: Greedy gas-guzzling nowhere like real-life ***** "goes off on a rant and yelling at Mellor for ruining her day":D

You'd be lucky to get a Combi van in most cases!

Hail 2 Da Chimp · 14-05-2007 01:20PM

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

Yeah it says that in NUIG, along with the line 'please take one'
A sports coach in nuig told my friend at training that he had an arts degree and it isn't even worth wiping his arse with.

So all crap course are arts or subsections of arts.

Although all the hot girls doing arts and the lack of guys doing it kind of makes up for this

I have an Electronics degree and myself and one other lad from college are the only 2 working in our field...

Saint_Mel · 14-05-2007 01:38PM

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote:

I have an Electronics degree and myself and one other lad from college are the only 2 working in our field...

A mate of mine did Agricultural Science ... he's always working in his field

aidan24326 · 14-05-2007 01:52PM

flossie wrote:

Don't agree with science degrees being the way forward. I studied for my degree in forensic chemistry (got 1st class honour btw ), went travelling and now about to drop out of my postgrad (well, transferring college). Some of my frieds from my degree are working for the forensic science service in the UK and with 3 years experience on DNA analysis earn stg£13000:eek: so less than €20,000. Very poor money and job satisfaction in the world of science. I'm heading more down the engineering role:rolleyes:

Yeah surveys consistently show that science graduates are, on average, poorly paid compared to graduates in business and engineering. Especially in the first few years. This is particularly true in England, where they're paid really badly, which perhaps explains why your friends are on such sh1t money for what is a pretty skilled job.

Hail 2 Da Chimp · 14-05-2007 02:11PM

Saint_Mel wrote:

A mate of mine did Agricultural Science ... he's always working in his field

Booo-earns!!!

aidan24326 · 14-05-2007 02:36PM

Isn't it All Hallows College where you can do a BA in Theology? Now there's one completely useless degree.

flossie · 14-05-2007 02:52PM

aidan24326 wrote:

Yeah surveys consistently show that science graduates are, on average, poorly paid compared to graduates in business and engineering. Especially in the first few years. This is particularly true in England, where they're paid really badly, which perhaps explains why your friends are on such sh1t money for what is a pretty skilled job.

Not actually sure its that skilled anymore, everything in a lab is done by machine now, so a science degree basically trains you up to be a lab monkey. I did work as a forensic microscopist, and luckily that was hands on, but i'd say 90% science jobs are mind-numbing,:(

Marksie · 14-05-2007 02:59PM

flossie wrote:

Don't agree with science degrees being the way forward. I studied for my degree in forensic chemistry (got 1st class honour btw ), went travelling and now about to drop out of my postgrad (well, transferring college). Some of my frieds from my degree are working for the forensic science service in the UK and with 3 years experience on DNA analysis earn stg£13000:eek: so less than €20,000. Very poor money and job satisfaction in the world of science. I'm heading more down the engineering role:rolleyes:

Thats true enough unless you spot a gap in the field which can be exploited, forget altruism and doing what you enjoy.

For Example: I did a degree in micro, then research in london and into DNA fingerprinting (1988). Things hadn't really got going then in molecular, but the gap was there if you saw it coming.
I took the chance and left for dublin 1995 where i got my masters by research (Irish Greyhound). Then on til i am here at 60K and no Phd!).

Thinking of moving out of science though and doing something else.
Remember that a good science degree indicates to employers quite a bit outside of the scisnce field.

Oh except environmental science masters (its good money but teh field is..or was... stitched up): I was talking to one student i had trained and she didn't have a job after 18 months. She couldn't even get one working in a shop as the title "environmental scientist" made the employers think she would report them.
In the end she stopped putting the degree on her CV.

cooperguy · 14-05-2007 03:26PM

Any degree with "Batchelor of Arts in" at the start of the title

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 14-05-2007 03:36PM

this thread is giving me great hope for the future if I happen to get into the philosophy course I appied for later this year

0ubliette · 14-05-2007 04:24PM

Arts degrees
philosophy degrees
ancient history degrees
anything to do with sound engineering

May as well just spend a year or 3 in bed for all the good they'll do you ing ettin a job

Ishmael · 14-05-2007 04:31PM

Any Degree that you not willing to work for to achieve.

Or any Degree where you can't see a value in learning (all)some of the content.

i.e.

Either you've no interest or you're missing the point in learning the stuff in the first place in which case, the course is probably not for you.

Then again,

College does have a few students who aren't interested cause they're there to doss.

DemonOfTheFall · 14-05-2007 04:47PM

I've never heard anything positive from people in the industry about diplomas etc. in Sound Engineering whatsoever. Better off staying at home in the bedroom messing about on the stuff and teaching yourself is what they all said, cos in the end you'll learn more than you would in a course.

aidan24326 · 14-05-2007 05:02PM

DemonOfTheFall wrote:

I've never heard anything positive from people in the industry about diplomas etc. in Sound Engineering whatsoever. Better off staying at home in the bedroom messing about on the stuff and teaching yourself is what they all said, cos in the end you'll learn more than you would in a course.

Not to mention the fact that there's absolutely no jobs. I know a few people who've done them over the years and they mostly ended up working in factories,call centres etc., basically anywhere but in a sound studio. But I think alot of the people who do them are just doing it out of personal interest, and are well aware that they're not going to be getting a job as U2's sound engineer any time soon.

With courses like Arts, which haven't much in the way of immediate job prospects, there's still a value in getting an education for it's own sake. It doesn't always have to be about training for a specific job. Too many college courses nowadays have moved away from the traditional ideal of 3rd level education which was to broaden people's minds and to educate in the wider sense. Alot of courses gone very industry focused, basically churning out a conveyor belt of trained clones for the corporate sector.

Lots of people now coming out of college with a degree who not only have limited knowledge of their own subject but know fcuk all about anything else either.

flossie · 14-05-2007 05:10PM

Generally, i think that if you want to do a degree, no matter what the title is, go for it. If you have an interest in it, that is all that matters. You pick up a lot of skills doing a degree, whether it be BA, BSc, BEng etc. Communication skills (group working, lecturers), presentation skills, timekeeping (getting those deadlines in on time huh!:D), prioritising, IT skills (who takes hand-written work these days?), decision-making, responsibility (from different societies, course reps), commitment (if you stick it out obviously), and all of these skills are transferrable . For example, i called up about a senior risk consultant job today in an insurance firm, told them that although i didn't have the required specs for the actual job i had gained valuable experience from blah blah blah. They listened, i have been invited to apply for an up and coming position instead (fingers crossed!)

Also, remember that experience is valuable, even if it means volunteering for a couple of hours somewhere now and then. Provides you with a reference, application of skills, etc.

Anybopdy agree with what i've written?

Overheal · 14-05-2007 05:12PM

You can get a degree but you'll only ever get so much if you fall in line behind someone else. For example if I take my games development degree and go work for EA I can only expect so much - then compare that to what can happen if I make My own development brand...

You gotta think about it that way.

Time Magazine · 14-05-2007 05:45PM

cooperguy wrote:

Any degree with "Batchelor of Arts in" at the start of the title

Bullshit tbh.

Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Business* from the University of Dublin** will get you a good job.

*Officially called Bachelor of Arts (Mod) in Economic and Social Studies
**Otherwise known as Trinity College, Dublin

connundrum · 14-05-2007 06:18PM

My qualification is in radio broadcasting.. and I've been involved in property for about 2 years at this stage. (Having completed the diploma in 2005)

I'll never say that my time was wasted thought, learned so much about life bla bla bla. But I did. Oh and if I hadn't done that course I wouldn't have met my missus, bonus

Thinking about doing a degree relevant to my line of work now, maybe maybe maybe.

Useless Degrees

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