uni

[FlyingJesus]

I'm really intellectual and all that but I've actually decided not to go. I've finished college now and I'm having a year of just general work but long term I'm looking to join the police and get right into a career that way. The mix of tuition fees, a massively growing number of people with degrees (making them less important) and a lack of any idea what else I might do helped with that decision lol

[Barmi]

Going to university really is worth it. It's expensive (trust me), but I don't care how much debt I will have upon graduation (I guess anywhere between £12,000 and £20,000). It is paid off in a very manageable way, and graduate salaries are appealing. In the line of work I am looking at, training salaries are between £30,000 and £38,000 in the first year, up to £35,000 to £45,000 in second year of training, and ~£60,000 thereafter. See, 20k of debt can pay itself off many times over in a matter of years.

Your education is an investment.

[JackBuddy]

Hoping to go next year to do an Advertising/ Marketing course.

[Soka]

sent off application 2 weeks ago

Applied for MMaths (4 Year masters in mathematics degree)

Applied to: Oxford, Durham, Wawrick, Nottingham, Sheffield
If Oxford consider me i'll have interview, and have to pass their admissions test, and Wawrick require me to pass a STEP paper.

I am not going to think about the debt, Ramone made a good post - you don't have to pay it until your earning above a certain level, and then its paid off gradually - Barmi has phrased it well - education is an investment :eusa_clap

I am not sure where i am going 100% , but I have applied so that i can either get an apprenticeship in accountancy and defer entry at Uni for a year (if allowed) - or go straight to Uni, or stay in the apprenticeship.

[Barmi]

sent off application 2 weeks ago

Applied for MMaths (4 Year masters in mathematics degree)

Applied to: Oxford, Durham, Wawrick, Nottingham, Sheffield
If Oxford consider me i'll have interview, and have to pass their admissions test, and Wawrick require me to pass a STEP paper.

I am not going to think about the debt, Ramone made a good post - you don't have to pay it until your earning above a certain level, and then its paid off gradually - Barmi has phrased it well - education is an investment :eusa_clap

I am not sure where i am going 100% , but I have applied so that i can either get an apprenticeship in accountancy and defer entry at Uni for a year (if allowed) - or go straight to Uni, or stay in the apprenticeship.

Your post just motivated me to have a flick around the University of Oxford's website. I thought it curious that it doesn't list sitting the STEP as an entrance requirement, but merely encourage candidates to take the papers if available to them.

Good luck with your application! I hope you get a chance to shine at interview. (Oh, and two of the universities I applied to (this time last year??) were Durham and Nottingham... my second and third choice places respectively.)

[Soka]

Your post just motivated me to have a flick around the University of Oxford's website. I thought it curious that it doesn't list sitting the STEP as an entrance requirement, but merely encourage candidates to take the papers if available to them.

Good luck with your application! I hope you get a chance to shine at interview. (Oh, and two of the universities I applied to (this time last year??) were Durham and Nottingham... my second and third choice places respectively.)

Yeah your right about that - oxford have their own entrance exam not STEP - but having spoke to my maths tutor about it he says that for oxford i'll be required to take their entrance exam due to only doing an AS in Further Maths (this year) - and not an A2 in Further maths - regret doing so, so i'll be at a disadvantage without it thus need to sit entrance at oxford, only Cambridge and Wawrick use STEP i believe. Wawrick will most likely require a II in Step I and Step II as i'm not doing A2 in Further Maths. He said at oxford its like a 1:2 tutor to student tuition - how good is that.. And thanks

What uni you at & what you studing?

[Barmi]

Yeah your right about that - oxford have their own entrance exam not STEP - but having spoke to my maths tutor about it he says that for oxford i'll be required to take their entrance exam due to only doing an AS in Further Maths (this year) - and not an A2 in Further maths - regret doing so, so i'll be at a disadvantage without it thus need to sit entrance at oxford, only Cambridge and Wawrick use STEP i believe. Wawrick will most likely require a II in Step I and Step II as i'm not doing A2 in Further Maths. He said at oxford its like a 1:2 tutor to student tuition - how good is that.. And thanks

What uni you at & what you studing?

I'm at "the other one", studying law. Yeah, the bulk of your quality learning will be through tutorials where you have two or three people per tutor(?). (I think that's what they get called? We have supervisions with supervisors, which are essentially are the same. It just gets really confusing because we have tutors as well!) A really intense learning experience when you are sat learning from experts in the subject, the people who write the textbooks... and you probably will feel like your head is going to burst sometimes. They are fellows, doctors and professors, not teachers... you will go through some material you have already prepared and go through anything you have difficulty with... and your knowledge and understanding will feel like it has been lifted about 10 floors higher when you leave the room an hour later. But it's exciting!

Lectures give you the course material, but you are expected to do a lot of preparation for your tutorials. I have to spend at least 20 hours preparing for each supervision... of which I have four a fortnight, on top of the 22 hours of lectures a fortnight I have, and any essays I may be given. Then when you factor in any extra-curricular activities or societies you want to join (and the number of events that take place!!), you will soon want more time, and want to cut into your sleep.

Some Cam colleges require potential mathmos (in addition to their STEP) answer some maths questions an hour or so before their subject interview, on which you then get grilled. Just a note on the further maths thing though: the first week of lectures will basically recap the whole of the A-level Maths and Further Maths courses.

I think all of your choices are excellent ones. I have friends at each of those institutions. Best of luck.

If you don't mind me asking, which Oxford and Durham colleges did you apply to? Or did you do an open application?

[lastbreath]

You need the correct amount of 'ucas' points to go. My uni asked for 280 (if you don't get the right amount of points, its ok, sometimes they still offer you the place, more likely that they don't though). The 'ucas' points are different for every uni. 280 is a ABB i think or something along those lines.

You don't necessarily need the dosh, but its good if you have it. tbh i don't have the dosh, and many of my friends don't either, but obviouslky thats why the loans are there. I have a loan for fee's and i'm about to take another out to get a matinence loan. I chose to live at home, good idea as its £90 a week less than some of my uni mates have to pay, but i've got to pay about £50 a week in petrol, so it all adds up. The big reccomended thing is to get a job whilst your at Uni. Fee loans go straight to uni, matinanece is used on travel/accomodation for most people at uni. Food is another thing though?.. Job is always good.

I can tell you, that if you live in a small town. Everyone else goes to uni, and your left on your own
I mean i go to uni, but its 50 miles away, so i live at home still, for my age, my town is like a ghost town.

[Abbie.]

if get 280 - 300 ucas points - yes lol

primary school teaching course i think

idk.. i cant stay in northern ireland, because its too competitive to get into stranmillis, but its alot easier to get into unis in england

and 280 ucas points is BBC

OMG. thought it was 3 Cs :| LOL.

[GommeInc]

I'm doing a foundation degree course with the open university, which looks pretty good from all the documents, guides and booklets I've read through. Not too expensive either. It's more of a personal challenge than a means to get a job, but I will use it to get one after the course is over