Are some Degree's overrated?

Jimoslimos · 08-03-2012 10:33PM

lividduck wrote: »

It depends, one supposes, on whether it has been conferred by a College of some repute , TCD for example , or a factory, UCD for example!:D

Indeed, tell us about Trinity's well-renowned MA degree......

TPD · 08-03-2012 10:34PM

SeaFields wrote: »

Problem is the jobs market is a dynamic thing. What is in demand now may not be in demand by the time you finish your degree or masters.

I'd say there are a fair few courses which will never be in demand though.

lividduck · 08-03-2012 10:36PM

Jimoslimos wrote: »

Indeed, tell us about Trinity's well-renowned MA degree......

It is similar in every respect to Cambridge's M.A. , of course you need to have commenced with honours to recieve it. (Oh and a hard neck to actually use it):D

yosser hughes · 08-03-2012 10:42PM

Education is never a bad thing. Of course some degrees are more useful than others when it comes to gaining employment.However people should not denigrate certain degrees. For some people it is a great achievement to graduate.There are all sorts of obstacles in place for some people and for others it's plain sailing.One size does not fit all.
Some people have to work to pay their way as well as study,some people may have had no formal education or have had learning difficulties and are returning to education as mature students.
For others they may not have those worries/setbacks/obstacles and good for them.

Jimoslimos · 08-03-2012 10:51PM

I'm as guilty as most at having a pop at those with Arts degrees but I do think it would be a shame if our universities were only a tool for churning out graduates trained for work with multinationals.

vamos! · 08-03-2012 10:57PM

Jimoslimos wrote: »

I'm as guilty as most at having a pop at those with Arts degrees but I do think it would be a shame if our universities were only a tool for churning out graduates trained for work with multinationals.

And Arts never work for multinationals? What about the language graduates and the economics graduates... both BAs in some unis

08-03-2012 11:13PM

I believe no undergraduate course should be taxpayer funded.

And making funded courses available only to those with specific jobs? Ridiculous idea. Look at the many diverse degree backgrounds of Graduate Entry Medicine students, Professional Accountancy Exam candidates, etc. Google don't give a damn what your degree discipline is for some of their graduateships.

With regards the Arts dissing - I am certain that a BA degree is a just as good as any other degree. Only in Ireland do people take the piss out of it. You don't see that sort of behavior in the USA, UK, etc.

I do a BA in Economics and I think its a far more useful degree than many at my university. It's 100% continuous assessment; constant stream of assessments with small exam components. We have presentations every second week, certain degree of freedom in assignments as to what we want to investigate, teamwork, close contact with lecturers, mentoring, small classes, online tutorials, etc.

mconigol · 08-03-2012 11:18PM

TPD wrote: »

A lot of degrees seem to be done as an academic exercise rather than as a means to an end - getting a job. I think if the student grant was only to be given to students entering courses which the job market demands, we'd see a lot less useless degrees being attained.

Define a useless degree? The focus is too much on producing "useful" degrees in my opinion, we should encourage people to study the lesser know fields and topics otherwise we will have a deficit in our knowledge as a society. Some guy studying butterflies for 20 years might not increase the GDP but it is still relevant knowledge that the human race should have.

happyman81 · 08-03-2012 11:27PM

lividduck wrote: »

It depends, one supposes, on whether it has been conferred by a College of some repute , TCD for example , or a factory, UCD for example!:D

A stereotype driven by ignorance, mainly. In reality, it depends on what you are studying, and the reputation of the department. For example, Economics is my field and UCD is by far the best in the country for Economics. UCC has the best Microbiology department in Ireland, perhaps Europe, and on and on.

Dudess · 08-03-2012 11:43PM

Any degree is a good thing to have.

paky · 08-03-2012 11:50PM

college is an absolute joke and a waste of time. i study law and have on average 3 hours of lectures a day. we get very little continuous assessment, 1 assignment per module averaging at 1500 words or so. the only time i pick up a book or read a case is two weeks before an exam. theres absolutely no incentive to learn whatsoever. you would be better off staying at home

thee glitz · 08-03-2012 11:54PM

MisterEpicurus wrote: »

Are some Degrees overrated?

fyt

GombeanMan · 08-03-2012 11:54PM

Unless it's in a STEM related area and not some micky mouse course, College is a scam. This devaluation of college has been going on ever since access to education was widened. Widen the access, introduce the riff raff. Quality declines. It's a money spinner really.

dirtyden · 08-03-2012 11:57PM

MisterEpicurus wrote: »

In my view, the 3rd level system of education is a farce. Not only the methods by which you gain entry, but also the actual education process itself. For example, it appears most courses require you to attain 40% to pass, when it should be at least 50%. It almost appears that a lot of courses are dedicated to throwing the information out there and then basically inform students to recite it from memory. While this is appropriate for factual information, it seems totally useless to actually applying what you learn in a real life environment. For example, most students I know would be satisfied with 'scraping 40%' and then return to the bars and clubs to celebrate.

I think University should be about teaching people not only what to think, but how to think and apply what is learned. The process seems lazy and the people lazier. All too often you find idiots with degrees wondering how on Earth someone as dumb as that could attain one. Of course, a lot of courses are more challenging and actually test the student. But too many courses and students just do it for the sake of it and will probably forget the vast majority of stuff anyway.

I remember one particular student whom I was living with who was doing a Masters in Music. For literally the whole year he did the minimum, which usually entailed one to two hours over two weeks. He admitted it was easy and anyone could pass it even without an undergraduate degree in the area. So at the end of the process, he managed to get a 1st.

I'm also in education but try to get more out of it than simply "scraping a pass". It seems a waste of time and you're left with a student with letters but could never form a coherent and logical sentence.

Am I the only one who appears to think that degrees these days are overrated?????

Your post is a jumbled mess. What third level qualifications are pointless? Your post above suggests that you feel all are? Surely you don't believe lets for example suggest a surgeon could just pick it up 'on the job' (or an engineer, scientist, doctor etc)? The basis of almost all professional careers is first learning by attending lectures etc with some appropriate practical work and passing exams to show that you understand the subject. What are your alternatives.

You suggest that courses are just throwing the information out there. what do you mean by that, and what is your alternative. Do you suggest that perhaps a physicist should just go straight out and build a super hadron collider before opening a book. I am not sure that will work.

Is that sentence highlighted in bold supposed to be ironic?

happyman81 · 08-03-2012 11:57PM

paky wrote: »

college is an absolute joke and a waste of time. i study law and have on average 3 hours of lectures a day. we get very little continuous assessment, 1 assignment per module averaging at 1500 words or so. the only time i pick up a book or read a case is two weeks before an exam. theres absolutely no incentive to learn whatsoever. you would be better off staying at home

Yeah, the only incentive to learn is for hope of reward in assignments and exams. I totally agree. I'm glad to see that the taxes I pay are going to good use.

Dudess · 09-03-2012 12:01AM

paky wrote: »

college is an absolute joke and a waste of time. i study law and have on average 3 hours of lectures a day. we get very little continuous assessment, 1 assignment per module averaging at 1500 words or so. the only time i pick up a book or read a case is two weeks before an exam. theres absolutely no incentive to learn whatsoever. you would be better off staying at home

It'll be better to have that law degree than not to have it.

paky · 09-03-2012 12:01AM

happyman81 wrote: »

I'm glad to see that the taxes I pay are going to good use.

what can i say, you're a total ass wipe :rolleyes:

Mod Note: Poster Banned.

Sonnenblumen · 09-03-2012 12:26AM

ejmaztec wrote: »

fyp Ignore

FYP they're still touring.

Capt'n Midnight · 09-03-2012 12:26AM

What about McDonalds university of hamburgerology ?

TPD · 09-03-2012 12:35AM

mconigol wrote: »

Define a useless degree? The focus is too much on producing "useful" degrees in my opinion, we should encourage people to study the lesser know fields and topics otherwise we will have a deficit in our knowledge as a society. Some guy studying butterflies for 20 years might not increase the GDP but it is still relevant knowledge that the human race should have.

Well, a degree subject in which the only directly related career is teaching said subject, I'd class as useless.

I'm not saying the colleges shouldn't teach these types of classes, just that they shouldn't be taxpayer funded. People passionate enough about the subject matter can work part time / for a few years after school and pay their way through the class, and will more than likely end up being a better teacher of the subject for having the passion.

Not to turn the thread recession-ey, but the more spent on putting people through college the less spent on healthcare etc. I think there's a balance to be reached between the money put in to colleges and the money put into the economy as a result of those courses - and by cutting government funding from some less employable degrees, we would get more out of the money put into colleges.

Dudess · 09-03-2012 12:37AM

There's nothing wrong with education for education's sake. Or just studying something you like. I don't understand viewing universities as preparation grounds for the workplace across the board - they're not, and they don't claim to be. If you view a degree as purely a means of getting a job, do engineering or business instead of doing arts and then moaning about not being able to get a job. Arts is an education, which is hardly a bad thing, it doesn't purport to be a training course.

And if a person does engineering and hates it, drops out to do arts, and enjoys the arts course, then surely the latter is more valuable to them as an individual than the practical course they despised.

If you find fault with college or see it as a scam or whatever other hyperbole, drop out. If you have a degree and view it as a waste of time, perhaps view it differently - as something it's better to have than not to have. And do a training course or practical postgrad or an internship instead of blaming the degree for not getting you the job.

pragmatic1 · 09-03-2012 12:37AM

Depends on the degree. If its a technical degree like one of the science disciplines, good luck trying to get by with rote learning.

Oh and your degree will get harder each year. My last year was infinitely more difficult than anything I've experienced in the workplace.

milehip1 · 09-03-2012 12:39AM

MisterEpicurus wrote: »

Am I the only one who appears to think that degrees these days are overrated?????

I don't know about overrated, but I've met quite a few graduates with an overrated opinion of themselves and their ideals.

Dudess · 09-03-2012 12:40AM

GombeanMan wrote: »

Unless it's in a STEM related area and not some micky mouse course, College is a scam. This devaluation of college has been going on ever since access to education was widened. Widen the access, introduce the riff raff. Quality declines. It's a money spinner really.

If by riff-raff you mean spoilt kids with an inflated sense of entitlement who take college completely for granted, I'm with ya there.

I've a degree, cert and postgrad and I worked jobs afterwards for which I didn't need those qualifications - but so what? I enjoyed what I studied and I had a great time. Now I'm in a job I love which doesn't require them, but having them definitely increased my chances of getting the job as they have a good deal of relevance to it.
Some organisations pay according to qualifications too, and they don't have to be quals in a specific discipline.

Stavro Mueller · 09-03-2012 12:40AM

Yes. Especially if you emerge from college unable to tell the difference between degrees and and degree's.

Herb Powell · 09-03-2012 12:43AM

There are no shiit degrees, just shiit people
/controversial

GombeanMan · 09-03-2012 12:46AM

Dudess wrote: »

If by riff-raff you mean spoilt kids with an inflated sense of entitlement who take college completely for granted, I'm with ya there.

I forgot to add traditional subjects like Arts, Lit, the classical subjects. There are too many BS courses out there though. A degree in Breastfeeding for instance. http://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/courses/undergraduate/breastfeeding-counselling2

Jess16 · 09-03-2012 12:47AM

The only people who usually knock degrees are those who don't have one

Agricola · 09-03-2012 12:51AM

Dudess wrote: »

There's nothing wrong with education for education's sake. Or just studying something you like. I don't understand viewing universities as preparation grounds for the workplace across the board - they're not, and they don't claim to be. If you view a degree as purely a means of getting a job, do engineering or business instead of doing arts and then moaning about not being able to get a job. Arts is an education, which is hardly a bad thing, it doesn't purport to be a training course.

Exactly. The Times had a postgrad supplement the other day which gave mini-bios of a few students in different colleges around the country. One guy said he went straight into a job after the leaving and then a decade later regretted it. He decided to do Spanish and....I forgot what it was, but the thing was he had to choose a 3rd subject so chose classical civilisation. After getting his degree, he liked the classics so much he went onto to do a masters in it and if he gets on ok, will attempt a phd. He doesnt view any of this as a means to a job (hes probably comfortable) he just loves the subject matter and learning for its own sake. If he got the Phd, he could take on a lecturing position obviously.

Of course, relatively few people are in such a privileged position, but its nice to dream of doing something like that I think.

Sindri · 09-03-2012 12:52AM

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

What about McDonalds university of hamburgerology ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bps-xbo8wnA

http://www.simpsoncrazy.com/content/wallpapers/characters/Classic-Ralph_1024.jpg

Are some Degree's overrated?

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