Normally when someone mentions University, you don't immediately think of a soul-sucking existence. But that's the case right now. It's pure tedium, mixed with increasing cynicism year-by-year.
I don't really enjoy my course anymore. I'm very sure I want to drop out at this point, or at least suspend it if possible. I wouldn't really care about a later graduation - I care more about my sanity, just like Notch did when he sold Minecraft. Kudos to him by the way, 2.5 billion's a lot of money. Case on point though, tediously writing a bibliography and being told you've done it wrongly (despite following what a recommended book said to do, or having too many or too few items - apparently 18 is too few, but 15 is too many - and no, that wasn't a typo. The work is incredibly subjective, and who is going to be asked to write essays when they're in a proper job?
I get the point of Uni is to actually learn stuff, but employers these days care more about skills that you obtain, given that the knowledge you require for your job will either be provided to you or it can be looked up and obtained relatively easily. Writing essays isn't really a skill you can apply to a practical job, unless you emphasize the critical-thinking aspect of it. But even then, it's like trying to compare the theory with the action. No model - or essay - is perfect.
Additionally, there's the aspect of exams. If you're poor at coursework and rely on exams to get you through, you'd likely be better off than someone who is good at coursework but poor at exams. It's not the pressure that exams put you under - I can cope with that. What I hate is the knowledge that your entire life is being judged on one or two hours (multiplied by the number of exams you have) worth of exams. If you write something wrongly, that's it. Even if you justify your point, you could still be marked down for explaining things in an unclear way, or vice-versa. In the business world, you likely wouldn't be working for two hours sat at a desk with no reference material, including no way to check your spelling or knowledge accuracy. It boils down to a pure memory test. Additionally, you wouldn't have an examiner (unless you have some clients that you're doing this work for - maybe a business plan?) - but you would likely have someone else checking what you've done, or working together, or collaborating on ideas.
University is just such a poor representation of reality. All it gets you is a degree that most businesses don't even care about (though it does show you're willing to stick with something... but that's a story for another day) - and nearly £50,000 of debt.
I really want to leave.
I get the point of Uni is to actually learn stuff, but employers these days care more about skills that you obtain, given that the knowledge you require for your job will either be provided to you or it can be looked up and obtained relatively easily. Writing essays isn't really a skill you can apply to a practical job, unless you emphasize the critical-thinking aspect of it. But even then, it's like trying to compare the theory with the action. No model - or essay - is perfect.
Additionally, there's the aspect of exams. If you're poor at coursework and rely on exams to get you through, you'd likely be better off than someone who is good at coursework but poor at exams. It's not the pressure that exams put you under - I can cope with that. What I hate is the knowledge that your entire life is being judged on one or two hours (multiplied by the number of exams you have) worth of exams. If you write something wrongly, that's it. Even if you justify your point, you could still be marked down for explaining things in an unclear way, or vice-versa. In the business world, you likely wouldn't be working for two hours sat at a desk with no reference material, including no way to check your spelling or knowledge accuracy. It boils down to a pure memory test. Additionally, you wouldn't have an examiner (unless you have some clients that you're doing this work for - maybe a business plan?) - but you would likely have someone else checking what you've done, or working together, or collaborating on ideas.
University is just such a poor representation of reality. All it gets you is a degree that most businesses don't even care about (though it does show you're willing to stick with something... but that's a story for another day) - and nearly £50,000 of debt.
I really want to leave.