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  • EADD Moderators: Shambles

race to the bottom

Hmm... I left school at 14 with (obviously) no qualifications. Did a few GCSEs at college but you can only do five in a year so I only did five. Not even sure of what grades I got now. Nowt spectacular. Was too busy discovering the joys of drugs. Same goes for the next four years at college. I had fun, I learnt some stuffs, I didn't collect any exciting pieces of paper. Although there were quite specific reasons for that other than me being not there most of the time.

"Such a bright boy, if only he'd apply himself." - school reports from age five til present.
 
While we're at it, my advice to anyone still in school: learn French, German, Mandarin and Spanish; study maths at undergraduate level and do a masters in something practical. Then you might have a chance of getting a job.
 
Shambles said:
Hmm... I left school at 14 with (obviously) no qualifications. Did a few GCSEs at college but you can only do five in a year so I only did five. Not even sure of what grades I got now. Nowt spectacular. Was too busy discovering the joys of drugs. Same goes for the next four years at college. I had fun, I learnt some stuffs, I didn't collect any exciting pieces of paper. Although there were quite specific reasons for that other than me being not there most of the time.

"Such a bright boy, if only he'd apply himself." - school reports from age five til present.
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Snap, had the exact sentence repeated yearly till i left

I escaped highschool with 3 C's in english maths n biology
failed engineering at college due to love of drugs,
Went bk few years later n passed music tech with a distinction n 2 merits (only as we had the most corrupt tutor who never turned up n gave us all sick grades)
This was enough for me to get into uni, so did music tech n sound engineering n then failed after the 1st yr as i had spent all my loan n grants on drugs n could no longer live up there nor catch a train daily.. so yeah, fucked up many a chance!
 
Portuguese is a useful language to learn too, the Brazilian economy is booming and so are Angola and Mozambique, I personally know a couple of Portuguese lads who have moved down to Africa to work there, there's a reverse emigration pattern emerging between Portugal and the former colonies, as the economies of the latter are experiencing a boom and have been steadily growing.

Practical subjects are always good, but fields like Economics or Political Sciences can still land you jobs, I've graduated in 2008 and worked graduate jobs pretty much since, yep now I'm out of work, but there's much worst subjects you can study in uni in terms of job chances. I have a mate who graduated in Philosophy, he's sort of desperate.
 
knock said:
While we're at it, my advice to anyone still in school: learn French, German, Mandarin and Spanish; study maths at undergraduate level and do a masters in something practical. Then you might have a chance of getting a job.
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helps to actually BE good at something, too.
 
Very good advice, knock, to future students. I'd add Russian to that language list, though. Especially for those interested in engineering.

Most of my education is American, but I spent a year at age 12 in Rudolf Steiner school in the German part of Switzerland. The next year I spent at a German-funded Gymnasium (highest tier in the German system) in Montreal.

Years 14-18 was at Phillips Academy Andover (a private prepatory boarding school) I graduated Cum Laude (no Magna possible; CL consisted of the top dozen students out of about 350 total, basically perfect marks for all 4 years needed). I consider my time there the best part of my life so far & definitely the pinnacle of my academic achievement.

Years 18-23 (with a break year in the middle; 3 months of which I was at NYU studying Neuroscience) was at Stanford University, where I fucked around a lot and couldn't figure out what I wanted to do. I changed majors three times and ended up with a BSc in Biology, with Minors in English Literature and Chemistry. No honours because my marks were all over the place. :(

After Stanford I wanted to go to med school but after taking (& aceing) the MCAT and spending time teaching organic chem to post-Bacc premed students I realised how much I hated most of the people going into medicine and how health insurance was handicapping doctors. I was married and wanted children badly, too, and 8-12 years of schooling interfered with that goal. I started studying Pharmacy a few years later but dropped out a few months before certification due to my health issues.

If I'm ever well enough I'd like to go back to get a PhD in Physics/Maths and teach at the collegiate level. Maybe one day. I'm certainly happiest in a rigorous academic environment, but it has to be the right one. Other than meeting my husband, I consider Stanford a massive mistake. I really hated it there.

Edit: does cooking school in Italy count? :D
 
Studied international banking in Switzerland for three years. Discovered rock 'n' roll during that period.

It was never going to work...
 
knock said:
Hard to prove that until you're in the job though. Unless you do what I did and start your own business. Thatcher child, you see.
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it depends what field you want to work in, how independant you are, and how passionate you are about what you want to do. A lot of higher education and qualifications just demonstrate that you know how to pass exams and have some degree of self discipline.

looking at education as being about getting a job isn't a great attitude in general.

fairynymph said:
Most of my education is American, but I spent a year at age 12 in Rudolf Steiner school in the German part of Switzerland.
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interesting, what did you think of it?
 
BlindHelperMonkey said:
fourteen gcse's is pretty impressive in of itself, shambles
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I'm sure it is. I wouldn't know as I only have five (the most you can do in a year at college). Actually only four cos I got a D in one of 'em. Which was actually the highest grade anyone in the class got. Bloody tutor decided to teach purely for the exam and none of what he taught us turned out to be on the exam that year.

Not sure where you got the fourteen from but presumably from the bit about me leaving school at fourteen. Aged fourteen not fourteen exams passed. As far as education goes I mostly agree with...

Ceres said:
it depends what field you want to work in, how independant you are, and how passionate you are about what you want to do. A lot of higher education and qualifications just demonstrate that you know how to pass exams and have some degree of self discipline.

looking at education as being about getting a job isn't a great attitude in general.
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I could happily spend my life in one or another form of education. I <3 learning stuff. I have zero interest in exams though. It's all about the enjoyment of learning new things.
 
fairnymph said:
I graduated Cum Laude (no Magna possible; CL consisted of the top dozen students out of about 350 total, basically perfect marks for all 4 years needed). I consider my time there the best part of my life so far & definitely the pinnacle of my academic achievement.
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Im too immature.

Theres a severe shortage of Engineering jobs anyway, and they are very highly paid. I started doing a course on Mech Eng and failed after a few months, advanced science and maths not my thing really.
 
Ceres said:
looking at education as being about getting a job isn't a great attitude in general.
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I agree, but most people need to find work in order to earn money to eat, buy drugs and live in some degree of comfort. Their employment opportunities, particularly at the start of their working life, but also if they want to do something different, will be dictated to a large extent by their education. It's how the world works, not how it should work.

I'm speaking from experience. I am pretty fucking good at what I've been doing for the last 20 years and have found getting work fairly easy. But I'm sick of it, and it's very difficult to get into something else, because I don't have qualifications. I wish I had qualifications in something as generally applicable as maths, because my options would be much broader.

But no-one learns from other people's mistakes, so I'm wasting my time talking about it :)
 
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9 GCSEs (2 As, 5 Bs, 2Cs). I had Shambles' line constantly too, as in the potential was there but too busy daydreaming or whatever.

A levels I only passed one of them English at grade C and failed the others. English was because I could make it all up on the spot, the others required actually learning things so no chance.

Then they let me into uni with one A-level for some reason, screwed around for 2 years taking lots of drugs and got fairly average grades like 2:2 ish level. Then halfway through the 3rd year in 2009 came down really ill and was out of action until about a year ago.

Now I'm in a decent-looking career which has nothing whatsoever to do with my degree, so am not bothering going back to uni, simply through having the mindset of working hard at something and seeing it through. Something I could never do when I was younger sadly. Goes to show though that one can have all the IQ or ability in the world, but without determination and effort nothing will ever happen with it.
 
knock said:
I agree, but most people need to find work in order to earn money to eat, buy drugs and live in some degree of comfort. Their employment opportunities, particularly at the start of their working life, but also if they want to do something different, will be dictated to a large extent by their education. It's how the world works, not how it should work.

I'm speaking from experience. I am pretty fucking good at what I've been doing for the last 20 years and have found getting work fairly easy. But I'm sick of it, and it's very difficult to get into something else, because I don't have qualifications. I wish I had qualifications in something as generally applicable as maths, because my options would be much broader.
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well...everyone has different opinions on 'how the world works', I'm speaking from experience too.
 
Ceres said:
well...everyone has different opinions on 'how the world works', I'm speaking from experience too.
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I have more experience than you :p probably.

EDIT

OK that was a poor comeback. But I've told you how I think the world works. You haven't told me. So I don't have any material to work with in a discussion about it.
 
I thought I had 12 GCSEs A*-C, but can only remember 10.
About to finish college with A*/A BB in Sciences with an A and a D in AS Maths and Sport respectively.
Providing I get the grades, off to study Chemistry at a top university, and if I don't I'm off to study Chemistry at my favourite (and cheapest!) accommodation I've been to, in my bestest city. Basically, I'm loving life.
 
Mendo_K said:
Im too immature.

Theres a severe shortage of Engineering jobs anyway, and they are very highly paid. I started doing a course on Mech Eng and failed after a few months, advanced science and maths not my thing really.
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Engineering uni courses are hefty. For me physics first year consists of about 14 hours a week (not that I make it to all of them) but engineering (chemical and aero) are doing about 25 hours a week, they get a lot more work in the form of laboratory reports as well.

I'm only doing physics for my cv as well tbh, not planning on doing anything physics related when I leave uni unless Australia only give me a work holiday visa if I do. Got told that employers like physics degrees. A friend is doing a placement with Goldman Sachs and he said at the interview there were about 8 undergrads there, and around 3 of those were doing physics and not accounting and finance/business/economics etc
 
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