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Did you make the right choice with regards to college?

_Bella_

A lot of Leaving Cert students are making their CAO choices this week. Like a lot of them I am wondering if I am making the right choice both with regards to course and college. So I am wondering do you feel you made the right choice the first time around or not, and if not why. Also if not, where you able to transfer/ change the direction of your career and do you have any regrets?

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Ficheall

WhiteRoses wrote: »

The only reason I didn't drop out in 1st year was because I couldn't bear the thought of wasting so much money on fees and I didn't want to disappoint my parents.

Yon stubbornness is dodgy. I wanted to drop out in first year, but here I am, seven years later, still working on the same aul' ****e...

Jester252

College the place you go to find out what you really what to do

Odysseus

College was spot on for me, though I did'nt get there until I was 27.

Big Nasty

Yeah but the point is you're sat down at 15/16 and made fill out CAO / CAS forms and there's a good chance you won't have a whole lot of interest in the choices you're making.

Wouldn't it be a whole lot better if you were sat down when you begin secondary and asked 'what do you want to do when you grow up'? I'm not saying an 11/12 year old can possibly know what they want to do with the rest of their life but there's a strong chance they will have already developed passions that they will persue for much of their life.

For example if the 11/12 year old answered 'I want to be a race car driver' they're obviously in to cars. Even though that would be a very difficult career to persue a good guidance counsellor would (IMO) advise that they take metalwork and woodwork as opposed to geography and French or whatever. They should also advise the child to look forward to getting a part time / summer job at the nearest karting track (karting is where many race drivers begin their careers). The kid is now persuing their current passion and has a much better chance of following their chosen or at least related career. By the time the kid hits 15/16 and it's CAO / CAS time they might realise that racing driving is a bit of a long shot but mechanical engineering or automotive design would enable them to work in an industry they are passionate about.

This is not what's happening in this country IMO. Instead it appears there's a lot of people out there doing jobs they don't relate to in order to cover the bills. Has to be more to life than that.

dyl10

Yes, I suppose. I went into UCD and jumped around a lot of things before I stumbled on to what I liked and now I'm happy with where I am today.

Most of us don't really know what we're getting into when we pick our CAO.

panda100

I definitely didn't do the right course for me. Studied medicine in UCD,dropped out after four years.
I chose the course because my brother was on it at the time, and he was having a great craic. I also knew I'd get the points, and medicine was the course everyone wanted to get into. Absolutely terrible reasons for choosing a course. I wish I had done sociology or social science.

It is not fair to make 17 year olds choose what they want to do for the rest of their lives. If I have kids I will tell them to leave college until they have some life experience under their belts.

tatabubbly

Not happy at all with my career choices, did a general science degree and then a masters but i still aren't skilled enough in my area. I would have loved to be a gp but i would have never got 600 points in my leaving cert

Mars Bar

Schwiiing wrote: »

I went to LIT.

I always laughed when UL people called us Losers In Training.

I'm not laughing anymore.

That's what they called us? I did not know that!

Answering the question, no I don't think I did. Well, I'm glad I got to try and find out and it seemed like the right thing until the final year.

_Bella_

Thanks for all your replies. Surprised (and worried!) to see how many of you have made the wrong choice. What factors do you think lead to this wrong decision? Was it because you didn't really know what your course entailed, or did you feel pressure to do a certain course? Whatever your reasons are I would be really grateful if you could share your experiences.

eth0

Not too bad so far. Glad I didn't get my first choice though (social studies)

mackg

I did Chemistry because I enjoyed the subject, a lot of that was down to having a really good teacher in school. Course turned out to be different in a lot of ways to what I expected, but it was unexpectedly good! Considering a phd at the moment although trying to find work or going abroad are tempting options also. If I ever bump into that teacher I'm going to say thanks.

orchidsrpretty

Although I was pretty old leaving school(19, nearly 20) I still didn't pick the right course. I studied photonics in tralee IT. After that I studied media and cultural studies in DKIT, which was also ****.
Went back to college as a mature student and studied accountancy and HR, which I enjoyed but still didn't get me a 'proper' job. I am now 28 and still have no clue what I want to do.
I also think there should be a mandatory 1 year break between finishing school and starting college, as for some people who make the wrong choice in first year may not be able to afford to drop out and start again. It is such a waste of money for the government.

Mr. CooL ICE

No. When I was younger, i loved working with/fixing/modifying computers and chose computer engineering but seriously struggled my way through it. Afterwards, I really wish I had done law or business which is weird considering the idea of those to a 16/17 year old me was too boring to fathom.

When people find out what I did in college, the conversation usually leads towards something like "oh, my laptop is making funny noises recently. whats causing it?" :mad:

[Deleted User]

Nope. I should have gone to college and done mechanical engineering, but life had other plans and I ended up doing IT. I'm seriously considering going to do it at night.

babyfratelli_x

I am actually very happy with my course choice, although I have only just finished up my postgrad, so I may look back in ten years and wish I'd done something else but I really dont think so.

I done an Arts degree in NUIG. Legal Science (Law) and Irish and studied Geography and Soc and Pol in 1st year too. I loved it, and the choice of subjects helped because I wasnt exactly sure what I wanted to do but I had a rough idea.

First year was pretty easy so I went out a lot and had a lot of fun while still gettin good marks. Good bit harder in 2nd and 3rd year but still went out a lot and done well enough in exams.

Done a postgrad in Law then (LLB) and Im now eligible to take the entrance exams for the Kings Inns so I can train as a barrister which is pretty much the only thing I can see me doing with my life.

However I want to do a Masters in Criminology first, and think I have the results to get into the course. We shall see soon enough

Im glad I went down the Arts route as opposeed to BCL, and although many people may think an Irish degree is a bit useless, particularly if I dont want to be a teacher, I got 2 really good part time jobs from the Irish part of my degree so Im glad to have done it, although there were times that I really hated it.

Lustrum

I wanted to get into the Air Corps and had absolutely no intention of ever going to college. However the Air Corps didn't work out, and at the request of the mammy I had Arts in UCD down on my CAO as my only choice, so I ended up in UCD. Had a rubbish year, passed my 1st year exams and just didn't go back. After a few years in employment I ended up going back to college and did something related to what I was working at, so maybe the 2nd time around I got it right.

From my experience, if college is what you want then go for it, otherwise it would be worth waiting a few years to figure out what you want to do, then go back to college and enjoy it. Also, don't be afraid to look abroad - we're not adventurous enough if you ask me, there's very few Irish that go abroad for their full degrees and it should be considered more as an option

meabhaline

Shryke wrote: »

God No! I'm looking at going back as a mature student. I won't find out until July 4th. I'm very unsure as to whether I'll place so if not this year then next year. If I had the cash reserves to make a proper go at emigrating I'd probably do that but I fancy getting qualified in a field I like.
College is wasted on people leaving secondary. There should be mandatory labor schemes in between secondary and third level to give people a taste of the real world. :pac:

I'm going back as a mature student in September, I've gotten word back from some of the colleges I have applied for (got a place in my first choice so JOY) Give the admission office a buzz and they might tell you if you've been offered a place rather than waiting.

Andy-Pandy

I only went to college when i was 32, going into 4th year now and i can honestly say it is the single best decision that i have ever made. I love what im studying (horticulture), i love the job opportunity's that will be available once i finish, and i love being a student. I'm going to do a master's once I finish my degree, and after my master's i am going to move to some place beautiful that's beside the ocean and spend my days working with flowers and tree's.

So yes, it's been the right choice.

Tigger

If I knew then I'd have become a pilot it costed about 70 grand punt back then
Great job to have had and I could have become senior before it became less great

But if I knew then I'd have bought property in 93 like some of my mates and sold portfolios 10 years later for millions like they did

Fecking carpenters with one years training and a couple of mill clear by 30

Or business I should have done business

If a person wants to do a technical course they should
Be warned that it will lad to a factory job

Fluorescence

Like lots of people here, I made a bad choice with my course. At 17, I decided to study what I liked and enjoyed which is Music and Literature. So I went to UCD and did 2 years of that before realising that while I love both subjects, studying them is absolutely pants. Academia is terribly dry. I don't regret it though.

Now I'm in Comp Sci, with an eye towards becoming a software developer, and I'm happy with my lot. Yeah, sure, I have to pay higher fees for fucking up, and I'll be in my mid-twenties by the time I graduate, but it's ok. Life doesn't need to be perfect

So don't stress too much about whether or not you made the right choices. Go to college, have a good time, study hard and if you think you wanna change to something else, have the courage to do so. It'll all work out in the end

expectationlost

college is really over sold, even to those with decent-good grades like me, being expected to choose a 4 year stint at 17 is madness

no matter what points you have, don't rush into a degree course, choose a 1 year course, or a diploma, you can still get a degree even if it takes longer.

bee_keeper

Fluorescence wrote: »

Like lots of people here, I made a bad choice with my course. At 17, I decided to study what I liked and enjoyed which is Music and Literature. So I went to UCD and did 2 years of that before realising that while I love both subjects, studying them is absolutely pants. Academia is terribly dry. I don't regret it though.

Now I'm in Comp Sci, with an eye towards becoming a software developer, and I'm happy with my lot. Yeah, sure, I have to pay higher fees for fucking up, and I'll be in my mid-twenties by the time I graduate, but it's ok. Life doesn't need to be perfect

So don't stress too much about whether or not you made the right choices. Go to college, have a good time, study hard and if you think you wanna change to something else, have the courage to do so. It'll all work out in the end

a close relative of mine is a very talented singer , she done music in trinity after her leaving , hated it , then went to a duff college to do some other form of music , done three years there and left with a worthless diploma of some kind , then went to england and paid handsomely for a year at some trendy arty - music school

she,s presently working in a piza parlour

why anyone needs to go to college in order to further their career as a singer - musican is beyond me

chosing a practical course which maximises ones chances of secure solid employment is vital yet so many seem to ignore this reality

Fluorescence

There's more to music than just a bit of singing you know, Irishh_bob. The theory of music is quite complex and endlessly fascinating. It's very practical.

bee_keeper

Fluorescence wrote: »

There's more to music than just a bit of singing you know, Irishh_bob. The theory of music is quite complex and endlessly fascinating. It's very practical.

oh , i love people who deliver knowing rubs

longhalloween

I did an arts degree.

Even my mother called it a degree for wasters.

I should have listened.

later12

What a lot of people seem to be ignoring is that a University education equips the student with more than just practical knowledge for the allocation of employment prospects.

I was lucky enough to know exactly what I wanted to study after leaving school, and I found work doing something that I loved. However, at a guess, I would say only 50% of my University experience was about information attainment. The other 50% was an invaluable lesson in personal, psychological and social development.

I changed entirely as a person as a result of the experiences I had and the great people I met at University and it was an experience upon which which I still place an enormous value quite apart from the employment prospects it gave me.

Sarn

Eighteen years on after making my CAO choice and I can say it was the right one for me. I'm still working in the same area and enjoy it.

Just because someone gets a degree/diploma in a particular field it doesn't mean they're stuck in it forever. A lot of people end up doing something unrelated.

[Deleted User]

i did make the right choice

Piste

I'm in 3rd year and still trying to figure out if I made the right decision. College is pretty fun but hard work at times. At least I've two more years before having to face the real world and get a job.

Sugar Free

Didn't make the right choice but things worked out well anyway.

I'll be going back in September to begin a masters in the evening while working full time. Best way to do it if circumstances allow.