Should I go to university?
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- rounce
Dear QBN,
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I was round my mums for tea yesterday, and she was going on about how my youngest cousin in Nigeria has got a place at Kings College. Then the conversation drifted into some guilt trip shit about how I should go to uni, and some of it must have gotten through because it's gotten me thinking all day about whether I should go to univeristy or not.
// END SKIPPABLE BITI've been doing bits and bobs of freelance work (some print but mainly web design and development sorta stuff) since I was about 13 and I dropped out after my first year of A-levels as I couldn't deal with getting good grades for doing the work exactly as the tutor said and as soon as a hint of creativity was shown getting slapped with an F; and pretty much being part of an ego masturbation exercise for them. I've got a pretty good gig going now as the sole developer and part time designer in a small but busy studio on quite a bit more than a Junior would be on straight out of university.
I'd like to move up in the would at some point in the future though and I'm pretty much at the highest point I could be where I am now unless I staged a mutiny; which would be highly impractical. So lets get hypothetical...
If say, in 5 years or so I wanted to go for a job at a THEORETICAL BIG AGENCY INC. would I be at a disadvantage to those with less industry experience and a smaller body of (the same quality) work but hold a relavant degree?
So, in a nutshell, would going back to working my way towards a degree be a good idea, or should I carry on my current path with my GCSEs (mostly A's and B's)?
- doesnotexist0
i'm of the opinion that a piece of paper (your degree) won't get you as far as your talent could get you in the art & design world.
- Agreed.
That being said I'm going back for my degree and I'm in programming. :Xflavorful - yupJaline
- nicedoesnotexist
- Agreed.
- flavorful0
May I suggest going to the Little Ilford School.
- Jaline0
Agree with doesnotexist, primarily when it comes to the design world. Personally, I prefer to learn in a university environment, but people learn in different ways. I do think there are certain things you learn in school that you may not learn elsewhere without someone else showing you a path first.
(There are many threads similar to this one. Perhaps you could "filter" for more opinions.)
- al_la0
You should go to university only if you are not good at learning by yourself. There, you could learn theory that could help improve your visual/ conceptual vocabulary and thus and tell credible BS about the work you present in order to justify your design decisions.
hope that helps :c)
- doctor0
University is usually lots of fun.
- emukid0
yes
- Jaline0
al_la: "You should go to university only if you are not good at learning by yourself."
:/
- It's true, but not entirely true. A lot of people (such as myself) will be going to college right after.Jaline
- college here = more practical work.Jaline
- Totally agree with you.
But university is still the place for learning theoretical stuff and get a paper in order to get a higher position IMHO.al_la - a higher positional_la
- yeah, for sure.Jaline
- cramdesign0
Beyond the books and fun, don't undervalue the connections you make while there. Can you learn as much on your own? Sure, maybe... probably. Can is the operative word though. But you go to school for more than just knowing X much more than you did when you started. Go to school for the whole experience.
There are three big life questions, most people address those while they are in that 18 - 24 range and school is a good place to be for that. Good luck.
- TheBlueOne0
Yes. If not, you better commit to working hard and being unfuckingbelievably awesome from this moment on. If you go, be more so.
- philipdrumman0
i was *just* talking to a good com-patriot friend of mine on this yest.
Now get this:
im in no way an advocate of the system
but theres too ways...talent/experience or talent/exp merged with paper dictatorship. so im actualy setting up for the grad program in a year and a half, as much as i dont want to...and who does??
You either make keys or buy someone else's as far as finances and scholastics. Those big money making universities arent so large because of independance.....
- honest0
uni is an experience, you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll make friends for life, you'll puke (many times), you'll get food poisoning, you'll have crazy sex, you'll get shot down during group crits, you'll stay up all night working on your final projects, you'll grow white hair writing your thesis, you'll get in debt, you'll gain valuable skills (depending on your commitment), you'll...
- MSTRPLN0
Get a University degree, at the very least, to look down on others that do not have one.