Help!!

[Bushcraftsman]

Ok I really need help! I don't know whether or not to go to university or to get an apprenticeship. Before everyone says... I have absolutely no idea what I want to do in later life because up until about 4 months ago I was convinced I was going to be a fighter pilot.. Howeer I have now changed my mind and don't know what I want any more. In my gcse's I got 2 A* 7A 3B and a C, in my A/S levels I got 3A's (design media and biology) and a B in physics. I am predicted 3As in my A-levels (biology media and design) so I am quite academically gifted. I have one parent that thinks I should go to uni because it will lead to a better job + more money. And the other thinks that unless I have a profession in mind or something I know i want to do, that there is no point in going to uni. Obviously if I did go to uni I would only be able to do something related to the subjects I am currently taking as starting something new would be an immense work load. One final factor to take into consideration is that I am finding it harder and harder to motivate myself at school, I don't know why.. Maybe it's boredom? I don't know. But I sit there with my work and just think... Can't Be arsed!

Any advice is welcome because I really don't know what to think. Thanks in advance
Jordan

 

[Barn Owl]

I think we all know what it's like not to arsed mate.

BUT get all the paper qualifications you can whilst young, if you can.

Hopefully without taking out loans and having to pay too much for them.

You can use your spare time to pursue other avenues esp' voluntary which will fulfill both you and your cv.

It's so much easier than trying to go back for them when your older.

Hth,
Tom.

 

[Harvestman]

I'd personally recommend Uni, because I enjoyed it so much, and because having a degree in anything is good on a cv as it shows you have ability and can work at something. I think most people with degrees end up doing something not related to their degree anyway.

When I was in school (over 20 years ago now) I topo had lost interest in the work by the end, so I took a year out to get some skills and experience. I did factory work for a while, earned some money, then took a long walking holiday in Wales (start of my love for the outdoors, really), and then did work experience at minimal wages until my degree started. By the time I went to Uni I was refreshed, keen, and much more rounded as a person than those who went straight from school. All the same, whatever you do, large parts of it will be boring as hell. If you choose uni, do something that you enjoy or are genuinely interested in, and don't be too hung up on the idea that your choice will dictate your future for the rest of your life. It won't.

Hope that helps. It worked for me, but that proves nothing.

 

[JonathanD]

Go to Uni, even if you don't do what you study for, it looks good on your CV. I did Law and when I left didn't want anything to do with it. It has served no other purpose in my future jobs than pointing out to potential employees that I might be above average intelligence. No job experience or past employment record can quite do that.

 

[Crazivan]

And the other thinks that unless I have a profession in mind or something I know i want to do, that there is no point in going to uni.

I disagree with that. A good university course will teach you many skills (not least of which is how to find things out for yourself), not simply teach you a subject. Having a good degree (from a good university) says a lot about you, regardless of the topic.

Obviously if I did go to uni I would only be able to do something related to the subjects I am currently taking as starting something new would be an immense work load.

I'm not sure what you're getting at here. If you can find a university to accept you based on your A level results, it doesn't necessarily have to be in a related subject; the workload isn't the issue, getting a university to accept you is.

One final factor to take into consideration is that I am finding it harder and harder to motivate myself at school, I don't know why.. Maybe it's boredom? I don't know. But I sit there with my work and just think... Can't Be arsed!

I don't actually have much advice here, but ask yourself what you enjoy doing, or what interests you (perhaps what fascinates you might be a better word for it). Boredom happens when you don't enjoy the things you do. Even the best job in the world will have some boring bits; the trick is to learn to motivate yourself to get it done anyway. A good work ethic will get you far; much further than simply being clever -- "genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration".

 

[Toddy]

You mentioned your ambition to be a fighter pilot ?
Why not ? Go and see the RAF recruiters. They might well suggest that you sign up but the service will help you through a relevant degree and in the interim make use of you while they train you too.
Lot less boring than sitting on your backside mind in neutral and cannae be bothered doing anything.

Best of luck with it.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Trev]

Hi ,
Friends of mine did their apprentiships first so they had a trade ( and some cash behind them and a better real world view )and then went to Uni . They left with Uni with little debt as they managed to do foreigners during term and jobbed through the breaks .
Cheers , Trev .

 

[v-ness]

This is a very difficult question to ask, we're all so different. Well done on getting 3 A's!! My take on this (flavoured by my own experience) is there arent a lot of apprenticeship places nowadays, so unless you are really keen on a particular area then leave those places for someone who really wants to learn that particular skill/job. There is a far greater number of Uni courses on offer, giving you more choice. You havent said if there is anything else that interests you, hobbies etc that could lead you to another career choice. Like many others I too was a bit burned out after my A-levels and took a year off. Personally that was the best thing I could have done for myself, I met some fabulous people, worked some, volunteered some and like harvestman said: By the time I went to Uni I was refreshed, keen, and much more rounded as a person than those who went straight from school. Many folks I know arent in the job they studied for at Uni- if you're not sure go for something that will open doors in several industries. This way you'll have a few years to grow and mature until you have to make a decision. But dont waste your A-levels please, and good luck with your future!!

Cheers
Ness

 

[BorderReiver]

You mentioned your ambition to be a fighter pilot ?
Why not ? Go and see the RAF recruiters. They might well suggest that you sign up but the service will help you through a relevant degree and in the interim make use of you while they train you too.
Lot less boring than sitting on your backside mind in neutral and cannae be bothered doing anything.

Best of luck with it.



cheers,
Toddy

Good advice. Any flying will set you up for life, C30, C17, helicopters, all will guarantee a job after your service. All air ambulance pilots are ex services due to the 2000 air hours required to get the job. Conversion training to civilian aircraft is financed (at present) by the RAF before your discharge, and air travel is growing all the time

 

[British Red]

Me? If you don't know why you want to go...don't go. No point saddling yourself with debt (soon to be much larger debt - and quite right too) for no clear reason. People make a very good living without degrees - indeed many of the most successful business people did not see academic study as important. My father - who spent a lifetime lecturing in universities believes that the idea of 50% of the population going to university is stupid. Particularly in subject that bear no resemblance to their career. Why do we as a society pay to educate people in facts and skills they will never need or use?

So, in short, if it serves your plan for your life, go. If it doesn't, or you are not sure, go later if at all.

Remember, in many careers, a university education is pointless.

Red

 

[wanderingblade]

It's understandable to feel unmotivated - ships without rudders tend to drift like people without direction.

What sort of apprenticeship are you thinking of?
If it is in an area that you have a real interest in then I'd lean towards the apprenticeship - mainly because it is far easier to return to uni in later life than it is to get on an apprenticeship scheme (most have a max. age restriction)

 

[naefearjustbeer]

I did ok at school and teachers wanted (expected) me to go to university. I didnt so I didnt and got an apprenticeship. Had I wished I am sure at the end of my apprenticeship my employers may of sponsored me to do a degree. But I didn't. I do not regret not going in fact I am positively delighted that I didnt go. But I would say from my experience in my area that it is easier to get into uni than it is to pick up a decent trade apprenticeship. There are not many apprenticeships on the go these days. If you were to get the chance of a trade then reach out and grab it. Uni can be done at a later date and you will always have a trade behind you. I also see engineers that have gone straight to uni and are very highly qualified but do not have the benefit of a trade behind them. What use is a mechanical engineer that cannot use a spanner properly?? Or an electrical engineer that doesn't know how to wire up a 3 phase motor.

 

[No Idea]

Hmmmm. Difficult.

Cant advise as I made such a hash of it.

Decided at 5 years old I would be a mechanic.

Geared the whole of my school life to this end.

Left with 12 CSEs and GCEs, and walked into an apprenticship.

Had visions of souping up Ferraris and buying my first Lambourgini and having my first blond adoring seat cover.....

Dragging a rotted smoking old mini through another MOT for a grumpy old granny with no teeth and blue hair.....

At the time a fully quallified mechanic got £74 a week after 4 years training. I was getting £12.

Disgruntled, I messed up and was sacked, mainly over stupidity.

I had no degree to prove I could learn at a higher level and couldnt get any other good job as I had failed my apprenticship.

Ive never made any decent money, although I am very good at a dozen or more trades after years of 6 months in each proffession I ran into.....

I understand that the degree courses also teach you more about how to network, socialise and not to get stressed.

I really could have done with some of that.

With kids, there is now no way I could possibly go to Uni now.

But if I had....

Where would I be now?

 

[durulz]

I'm a university lecturer. I see LOADS of students who don't really want to be in university - either parents or society have forced them there. Invariably, because they aren't that into it, they never do as well as they could if they were. In today's climate, where just about everything from a nursery up calls itself a university and just about every 18 year old goes, if all you come out of university with is a third then you've had an expensive waste of time. And a 2:2 isn't much better. Harsh, but true - whether you like it or not.
There's nothing stopping you going to university later in life, if that's what you want to do. I did. I was in my mid-twenties before I went.
Allternatively, why not apply to university now and see how you feel later. You may as well go through the motions, since if you suddenly decide it's the right thing for you come March (or whenever) time but haven't applied you'll be stuffed. Now is the time for UCAS applications, so make you application now and make the decision whether to go or not when you have to (not until Spring time 2011). And if you get an offer, but decide you still don't want to go, then you can delay your entry for a year, buying you more time to see how other options pan out.
Don't close off options until you have to. You can do both - apply to university and seek an apprenticeship. When you get offered something make the choice then.

 

[Bush Matt]

Go to uni, maybe take a year out first. Choose a subject you enjoy, go to the best uni possible and make sure you come out with a 2.1.

The policy of 50% of students going into Uni means a degree has become the norm, without one you won't even be considered for many jobs. In fact for the most competitive jobs you will find a degree (possibly with the exception of science at Oxbridge) is becoming irrelevant, its all about the Masters or Doctorate you have.

I felt exactly as you describe when I finished A levels - spent a year as assistant manager in a pub, it made a difference. There are a lot of interesting degrees out there. Most sciences will stand you in good stead, out of interest I have recently been looking at ethnobotany and pharmacognosy - check them out.

Cheers, matt.

 

[_mark_]

Why not the RAF Officer Training?

As you get older apprenticeship become impossible to get, they are aimed at teens; whereas you can start a degree at any age! I started mine at 31. A degree has no guarantee of a job at the end of it but you are guaranteed a huge debt, if I'm honest I regret mine.

 

[Tengu]

That was what I was going to say.

Id love an apprenticeship but at 37 Im way too old.

Im currently in College studying for Uni.

I have no job in mind; with Aspergers your pretty much doomed to unemployment...I want to have fun.

So, take the apprentceship first THEN go to Uni.

But theres no reason why you couldnt look into the flying...at the very least, it will pull women.

 

[BorderReiver]

Apprenticeships are available to any age.

There was a R4 documentary on the subject recently, and a chap who used to work in the works dept. of the local hospital had his picture in the local rag as one of a bunch of new apprentices and he is over 50.

 

[Tengu]

Try telling that to my local vocational college

I asked for one.

 

[_mark_]

Apprenticeships are available to any age.

That has not been my experience.