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Do you have a degree?


DA Baracus

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First class Batchelors in Electrical engineering, Msc in Micro-Electro-Mechanics, and a PhD in the same.

Completely fucked up high school and got into it via a an HND at college.

Actually work in the semiconductor industry so it all worked out pretty neatly.

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Undergrad (Edinburgh) and PhD (St Andrews) in physics. Best thing I ever did. Opened up all kinds of doors and now I have a job I love in California. 

Higher education is not for everyone, and I strongly support emphasis on vocational and STEM subjects. The Scottish education system worked extremely well for me and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

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A 2.1 in criminology, graduated in 2015. Regret picking the course and did consider switching courses more than once.

I'll probably never directly use it and my current job is completely unrelated although I've got a new job I start soon which required any sort of degree so it's been useful in that way

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3 hours ago, Thistle_do_nicely said:

Went the HNC/HND route after deciding to get something resembling an act together as it would then be in stages rather than running the risk of going for a degree and ending up with nothing, now hold an HND in Accountancy... and every single job I could realistically apply for requires either a degree and/or 12 months practice experience,

My eldest will do A Levels this year and me/her maw have been with her to see various Yoonis and I'll take her to Aberdeen at the end of March.  The point I'm making to her is that an undergraduate degree isn't enough in many disciplines these days.  She (and her siblings) need to be looking at a first degree plus a year's post-grad as a minimum.

It will (has) f**k(ed) my pension as I don't want them to start working life in debt...and this is a sea-change from when I went to Uni.  I worked for 4 years and did an HNC in Metallurgy at Bell College.  I then came to London and did a degree in Theology (2.1) but had my fees paid by the then Scottish Department of Education and had a mature student grant inc. London weighting which was enough to pay my digs.  What I'd saved when I was working combined with holiday jobs and weekend bar shifts meant I graduated debt-free.

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35 minutes ago, The_Kincardine said:

My eldest will do A Levels this year and me/her maw have been with her to see various Yoonis and I'll take her to Aberdeen at the end of March.  The point I'm making to her is that an undergraduate degree isn't enough in many disciplines these days.  She (and her siblings) need to be looking at a first degree plus a year's post-grad as a minimum.

It will (has) f**k(ed) my pension as I don't want them to start working life in debt...and this is a sea-change from when I went to Uni.  I worked for 4 years and did an HNC in Metallurgy at Bell College.  I then came to London and did a degree in Theology (2.1) but had my fees paid by the then Scottish Department of Education and had a mature student grant inc. London weighting which was enough to pay my digs.  What I'd saved when I was working combined with holiday jobs and weekend bar shifts meant I graduated debt-free.

God works in mysterious ways.

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I have a Computing degree.

I don't really like IT but it allowed me to earn a pretty good wage back home and eventually move to California.
I was probably lucky that I graduated when it was still fairly in demand and got the breaks to build up good work experience.
IT back in Scotland looks fairly bleak for folk leaving Uni at the moment.

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BSc with Honours in Psychology; ended up with a 2:1 (Bawhair from a first with a GPA of 3.63, the cutoff was 3.7). 4th year dissertation examined the links between personality and addiction, specifically gambling addiction. 

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Bit of a long shot, and slightly off-topic, but has anyone done a post-grad course relating to Civil Engineering? Obviously applying for grad jobs at the moment but there's a couple of PhDs which I think would be very interesting.

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No degree. I got an unconditional at Aberdeen uni to study computing but I got offered an apprenticeship as well and chose the money.

Did 2 ONCs and 2 HNCs while I we working.

It's not really blighted my life. I did alright without it but might go and study for one when I retire.Something useless like philosophy.

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1 hour ago, Afro said:

Bit of a long shot, and slightly off-topic, but has anyone done a post-grad course relating to Civil Engineering? Obviously applying for grad jobs at the moment but there's a couple of PhDs which I think would be very interesting.

I have a PhD in mechanical so kind of related. You need to make sure you are 100% committed as it is a long hard slog. Also make sure the supervisor isnt a space cadet and has the tome to help you at the start, as it is quite a steep learning curve.

However, the end result is definitely worthwhile. With more and more people going to uni now, BEng and MEng is becoming devalued. While more people are probably doing PhDs, it is still the top of the tree. I managed to use the experience and skills gained from my PhD to get my CEng just as I graduated too. Now living and working in Australia, so it does certainly open doors.

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Bit of a long shot, and slightly off-topic, but has anyone done a post-grad course relating to Civil Engineering? Obviously applying for grad jobs at the moment but there's a couple of PhDs which I think would be very interesting.


I have an EngD in Civil Engineering - typically even longer than a PhD to study for. Working for a consultancy (the same one that sponsored me) I can honestly say it has made f**k all difference to either getting my CEng or the speed of my career development. It has, however, given me a cooler email signature than my colleagues.

It is a long hard slog - I would admit to being burnt out after it - but definitely worth it if you are interested in the research topic. You have to remember you will look at a tiny area of interest for 3/4 years, you will know more about it than anyone else in the world, and you will have to be able to explain it to those who know much less (but are still examining you). As I say, it made no difference to the speed of my career development, but from it I have developed a niche in the division whereby I end up involved in all the research type studies. CEng is the bit most employers are interested in.
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9 minutes ago, Furious George said:

 


I have an EngD in Civil Engineering - typically even longer than a PhD to study for. Working for a consultancy (the same one that sponsored me) I can honestly say it has made f**k all difference to either getting my CEng or the speed of my career development. It has, however, given me a cooler email signature than my colleagues.

It is a long hard slog - I would admit to being burnt out after it - but definitely worth it if you are interested in the research topic. You have to remember you will look at a tiny area of interest for 3/4 years, you will know more about it than anyone else in the world, and you will have to be able to explain it to those who know much less (but are still examining you). As I say, it made no difference to the speed of my career development, but from it I have developed a niche in the division whereby I end up involved in all the research type studies. CEng is the bit most employers are interested in.

 

Isn't this what PhDs have become -certainly in science/medicine?  20ish years ago I was shagging a girl doing a DPhil in some reaction to some chemical in some muscle in a rabbit's foot.  apparently it was ground-breaking.

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