Do you have a degree?

[Waspy]

i have two degrees...  
 
...a crap job and a c*nt of a senior manager. 
If I'd just done plumbing I'd be better off than I am now and also be dodging tax... 

^^^This.

[banana]

BSc, have used the content of the degree to a certain extent, but like others have said having any degree is a door opener.

7 hours ago, The_Kincardine said:

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.

To keep up to date with research bullshit hilarity in the social sciences, I highly recommend following https://www.twitter.com/RealPeerReview on Twitter, or reading their greatest hits at http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/peerreviewedgarbage/real_peerreview.html.

[pandarilla]

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.

I'm OK with the student loan system actually. I left uni with 18 grand of debt and for 4 or 5 years I paid back 1 or 2 pounds per week. Absolute minimum stuff.

The last 10 years it's came off at a much bigger lick but it's before tax so I don't really think about it. I got a letter last year saying it would be paid off next year. Happy days, a nice wee increase in my monthly income.

Tuition fees are a different ball game but I have to say the student loan element has worked very well in my situation.

[statts1976uk]

Got a B.Eng in Structural Engineering and have never really used it for construction as I joined the RAF straight after finishing. Then many years later I finished my M.Sc in Air Transport Management.

[Carl Cort's Hamstring]

MSci Biochemistry from Aberdeen, and a PGCE from the Institute of Education.

Spent a year on placement at a drug company to get the masters, and absolutely hated it. After I left uni I spent 6 months working for glaxo to earn a bit of money, and then applied for the PGCE.

The only thing my degree gets used for nowadays is answering the odd question on university challenge, and conning other primary teachers into thinking I'm intelligent.

[The DA]

BSc (Hons) in Computer Science from Edinburgh in 1982.  

[sugna]

11 hours ago, renton said:

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

... and a Comp-O in Spelling.

[WILLIEA]

9 hours ago, Suspect Device said:

. I did alright without it but might go and study for one when I retire.Something useless like philosophy.

Strathclyde do a thing ( I think it's called Future Learn ) It's all online, no fees involved and of course there is no degree at the end of it. It's for interest and seeking of new knowledge only. They have courses in a host of different fields. As i say there is no formal qualification at the end but it is fairly rigorous non the less.

Maybe worth a look

[rainbowrising]

2:1 Hons in Mathematics and Engineering

[Afro]

10 hours ago, fanny paddery said:

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.

 

10 hours 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.

 

 

Cheers guys. The one that's particularly caught my attention is related to my dissertation subject, and the supervisor for it was also my dissertation supervisor. So, no issues there. Just trying to weigh up if it will be truly worth it as opposed to 3 years' worth of experience in industry.

[mps02]

I have two degrees, BSc in marine biology and BSC in occupational safety and health. I also have postgraduate diplomas in IT and environmental and Waste management. I support Ayr so qualifications does not correlate to intelligence!

[Black and White Tragic]

Ive got an Ma hons (2:1) in geography from dundee uni and it's about as much use as tits on a fish if I'm being honest

 
Cheers guys. The one that's particularly caught my attention is related to my dissertation subject, and the supervisor for it was also my dissertation supervisor. So, no issues there. Just trying to weigh up if it will be truly worth it as opposed to 3 years' worth of experience in industry.

Really?

[ICTChris]

Is a mermaid a fish or a mammal?

[I'm Brian]

Left school at sixteen straight into work and 25 years on have an ONC and an HND and 25 years experience in my field, having learned from some of the best, and also more importantly qualifications that are relevant to my job. Don't think that's too bad for someone who hadn't a Scooby what to do at that age.

I've done alright. Probably would have gone further with a degree, but I doubt I would have been financially better off.
 Did contemplate doing OU about ten years ago, but came to the conclusion enjoying myself was more appealing.

If I was sixteen again however, I'd be preparing to go to uni

 

[Boghead ranter]

1 minute ago, I'm Brian said:

If I was sixteen again however, I'd be preparing to go to uni

This.  

I went to Paisley (when it was a college not a uni) to do Industrial Engineering, but realised within 4 months that it wasn't for me, so got a job and left.

Perfectly happy with the way my life has panned out, but, still have that nagging feeling that I should have done a course and got a higher qualification.  However when I left school after 6th year, I still had no clue what I wanted to do with my life (still don't really, beyond being happy).

[sjc]

I have a BEng degree in Civil Engineering. Really wish I'd gone back down the Consultancy route after graduating instead of getting into Contracting. It's relevance is now even more irrelevant in my current line of work.

[ilostmyself]

Got a 1st for Maths at Strathclyde and I'm just about to hand in my PhD thesis for Chemical Engineering at Strathclyde too.

I work in finance at the moment and I saw it written down in my managers form for a recent promotion that i was "PhD level" as the main point so it must be useful for something. To echo what others have said about PhD's, if you have the right topic and possibly more importantly the right supervisor then I think it's a great experience. It's certainly increased my smugness levels which was worth the effort alone.

[Dindeleux]

6 Highers (all A or B) and one of these..
 

6 highers and a Dunfermline mug? Winning.

Anyway I've got a degree in being a legend from the University of Life.

Soz bbe xx

[Ranaldo Bairn]

Loving all the Uni of Life posts. I'm in kinks here.

 

With regards to PhD's, my uni flatmate did his BSc Hons in Astronomy and Mathematics. He then went on to become Dr <Surname> by spending three years working on solutions to some of the most fiendish equations related to Einstein and De Sitter's (among others) model of General Relativity.

After that, with a career in astronomy for life beckoning, he went and worked for Strathclyde Uni in their property department!

[Gordon EF]

I've got an MChem in Chemistry with Environmental Chemistry from Edinburgh and then did a PhD more in the area of Chemical Physics.

I'd agree with others about doing a PhD. It can seem like a bit of a skive to start with - choosing when and how you work. But if you're going to get through it, it's going to take a serious amount of slogging away at some point. Not entirely sure whether it's really "worth it" unless you're set on going into academia. I'm certain it was a significant factor in helping me get the job I have now but there's other things I could obviously have done in that 4 years. I'd say what it is good for is really showing up to yourself what your strengths and weaknesses are and what you actually enjoy and don't enjoy doing, in a way that an undergraduate degree can't. You've got the ultimate responsibility for getting your project done so you do learn a lot about yourself.