How diffficult is it to become a Uni student at 22?

Former Member

Title says it all, is it hard? And is it worth it??

Will a degree get me further than I would get myself anyway?

Former Member

Any ideas of what you want to do long term?

There's more to the question than just any old degree.

Olly_B

Hi z0ma,

It's a myth that your average university student is 18 and straight out of A Levels. There are an awful lot of mature students at university... I think nearly 50% of students at university start their degree after their 21st birthday.

However, I think your second question is more relevant. Just having a piece of paper that says you have a degree is unlikely to improve your career, but the opportunity to go to university and spend time thinking analytically and challenging what you already thought you knew can really benefit some people.

It might be worth going to a local university and meeting either a lecturer in a subject you are looking to pursue, and/or someone from the mature students society (the students union should be able to help). Or the university careers service. They'll all be able to advise on what benefits there are, and some of the practicalities.

There are access courses that will give you a flavour of university life without having to commit to a degree. Or consider something like the Open University.

Good luck...


Olly

Former Member

I agree i was one of the youngest on my course when i started university and i was 20 (september birthday + gap year).

However it definately depends on what you want to do at university and afterwards as to whether its worth it or not

Former Member

If you are thinking of doing Classics or Theology then I doubt it will massively increase your career, but if you wanted to do something like Engineering or computer science then its pretty likely to help in the long run.

Former Member

Really, really does depend on what you want to do; I know chefs who never went to Uni and are doing fantastically for themselves, guys who've been to uni and are now working office jobs, and people like myself who've done a degree and are now having to go back to retrain as their first degree wasn't quite good enough

Think about the skills you'll get out of it; are they practical? There's a lot of transferable skills e.g. presentation giving, writing reports etc. that can also be gained.
Check this site out, it really helped me: www.prospects.ac.uk it gives really good advice with regards uni etc.

Hope this helps