University: The Pros and Cons

Recently, I have been weighing up the pros and cons of spending 4 years of my life at University. I will never regret having gone to university, and the day I received my honours degree the sense of achievement I felt will be something I will always remember, but I have been thinking about whether obtaining a degree was completely necessary.

The triggering moment was when I tried to remember the name of a theory I had been familiar with since first year, and try as hard as I could, I couldn’t recall the name. A theory that had been so essential throughout my degree and a few months after graduation I couldn’t remember it? The theory isn’t even applicable to my current role or working environment, and upon further thought, neither are a lot of the models and theories that I had spent hours reading about in the library.

Putting the actual learning and workplace aside, I have also been thinking about the implications university has had on my life. The majority of my friends from school did not complete degrees or left school before 6^th year and have been working for a number of years. They have worked their way up the career ladder within the companies they work at, gaining hands on experience and building fundamental relationships of trust and approval with their colleagues. Graduates joining the workplace cannot be treated the same as had they gained employment after 4^th year of school at the age of 16, as they are now adults, but effectively, for some students who never worked in part-time jobsor completed placements, are they of the same mentality having never worked before and having to start at the bottom? As well as this, there are financial consequences to consider. My friends are at the stage where they have saved for a number of years and are buying flats and nice cars. Graduates are faced with debt in the form of student loans, overdrafts and I just discovered you can’t get a mortgage till you have been in full time employment for at least 2 years.

University is, however, some of the best years you will experience. From a social aspect, you will make some amazing friends for life. You also meet a lot of like minded people, as well as people from various different courses who have completely different perspectives and ways of thinking to yourself. There is the opportunity to get involved in extra- curricular activities, to invest time in hobbies and perhaps try activities you wouldn’t have had the chance to otherwise. Even some of the part-time roles you work whilst studying, as odd and as much as you may not enjoy them, are a learning curve.

A sense of ambition is injected into students throughout their time at university. Ambition to have a successful career and to know exactly how far they want to go, ambition to travel, to experience and appreciate different cultures and people with different backgrounds and ambition to grab opportunities when they are presented to them. The culture of university allows you to meet a diverse range of people and presents you with options you may not have considered previously. Going straight from school to employment eliminates that time where you are truly able to consider and pursue all the different opportunities out there, and you become very restricted in what you can do. As well as ambition you are also inspired. You may be inspired to take that to take that internship in London for the summer, to volunteer, to save up and travel, to blog, to put that entrepreneurial ideas into practice and even start your own business. The list is endless.

Sometimes the degree that you study won’t always be completely essential when you leave university. For roles such as engineering, accountants, law, science etc, of course university is the right path. However, sometimes a degree just provides a platform for your knowledge, giving you the opportunity and the time to sit back and actually think, come up with your own innovative ideas whilst utilising the concepts, theories and models that you have been taught in class. Whilst conducting research for projects you will encounter many different authors’ perspectives as well as opinions, and in your final year whilst you complete your dissertation, something just suddenly clicks and you see all the textbook theories link with all the different journal and article publishing, and you are able to add your own examples and opinions to the subject. You’re quality of writing improves, and you’re ability to discuss and debate is also greatly enhanced.

University is not for everyone. Sometimes the cons will outweigh the pros, and either route into employment has its own advantages. University will only appeal to people dependent on the type of person they are, and the results will depend on what the person is looking to gain from their time at university. If you’re ever bored, read the annual reports produced by Prospects, which gives some interesting figures and research into graduates vs. non graduates in the workplace.