Life Decision Time

mf

mf

formerly monkfish
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnus
I'm in my first year of university, doing a degree in Computer Science and my god is it boring. At first I was really into it but as I've grown up and begun to see more of the world my enthusiasm died and I stopped going to lectures and doing the work.

I have a written assessment due in a few weeks' time that I have barely started and can't motivate myself to do. I don't want to quit uni, I have an awesome time there and have already sorted myself out a house for next year. I just wish I was still interested in my course, but I really can't see myself as a software engineer any more. Ideally, I'd like to just quit my current degree and do something along the lines of Philosophy or English Literature. But I've already built up roughly £3000 debt for my first year, and due to my absences have received a formal warning, which the admin don't look kindly on.

Do any of you have experience of this kind of thing? I could really use some advice right now.
 
I don't have any first hand experience as I'm going to start Uni this year on a chemistry course. Out of interest which Uni are you at?

In my opinion you really have to look at the bigger picture and see what you want to do with your life. If you really aren't into the computer stuff at Uni and are getting bored with it etc, you probably aren't going to want to spend your career doing the same thing. If you think you can get into it again and can see yourself doing it you have to pursue it because as you say you have already mounted up some debt there. Have you discussed any of this with any of the staff at the Uni perhaps they could offer advice about changing course etc.
 
im finding 1st year university to be pertty boring shit mainly because its so general. I'm kind of in the same boat motivation wise..

If it's your entire major that's getting you down, switch majors for sure, you dont want 3 more years of that shit, and chances are if you dont like te shit you're paying to learn, yo wont like getting payed o do it.

if it's the classes that are lame and you want to get closer to the shit that actually intrests you, do the paper, get the credit and get smashed afterwards imo
 
You only start learning useful things in college after a few years. My degree really only started getting interesting on the third/fourth year. Before that, I had ass subjects. Like Gormenghast says, the first years are pretty generic.
My advice is do some investigation and see if any future subjects interest you or what the outcome of this degree is so you can make one final decision.

Philosophy, English Literature and Com Science are kinda different from eachother, so maybe your issue is not knowing what to do with your life at all, which is a common issue. You COULD try experimenting different degrees, but then you'd only get older and probably lose in the job market (the sooner you finish your degrees the better).

Maybe you shouldn't choose a degree on what you'll learn but instead on what you'll do with it. What's five years compared to the rest of your life until you retire?
 
Whatever you do, find some motivation to do well in whatever classes you have right now. For my university to take the upper level classes of almost anything you have to be registered in a major that allows you to take it. This doesn't mean much for the intro classes yes, but if you want to get in the upper level classes here you have to apply to get into that specific college. To get in you need to meet the GPA requirements. If you're not doing so hot now what does that say to another department other than "if he's not trying now what's stopping him from not trying in our field."

To your benefit it's only your first year and you have loads of time still. You realized early you didn't want to do what you're doing and are already willing to make the change. Took me 3 years to do that.
 
There has been a failing somewhere, either by you or by the system, though you are at least partly to blame in both instances. Consider now why you went to university in the first place. If it was "for a good time", then fair enough, retake another degree if you are certain that you will enjoy it. However, the opportunity cost of another 3 years and the financial cost of at least 9k of extra debt should be taken very seriously.

The problem lies in the alternative subjects that you are considering. If you had said physics, engineering or maths etc, there is no problem here; but psychology and english lit are an excellent route to unemployment. You would simply not be very employable after graduation (so the 12k debt total will be an even greater burden). That said, if you continue your computer science course without motivation, chances are that you will underachieve. This would be extremely harmful because the IT sector is so very competitive.

If you went to university as an investment to improve future earnings, you really NEED a 2:1 at least. In that case, your options are clearcut: sort out your motivation and your learning, or cut your losses, quit university and find a job with some career prospects. A 3rd class degree gets you nowhere.

---

On a side note, you can blame the government (after blaming yourself for not researching your course/taking it seriously). They are going about increasing higher education applicant numbers in the wrong way. Students lose out, institutions lose out and in the long run, graduates get worse, university reputations will be tarnished and the whole country loses out. Damn Labour, makes me angry =(
 
I have a lot of trouble with motivation myself, I'm currently in chemistry (probably going to focus on chemical engineering), and what keeps me going right now is the fact that when I complete this, I know I'll be eligible for a good amount of jobs. Chemists and also technical engineers are going to be very necessary for society in the coming years. So I'm trying to overcome my doubts by reassuring myself I'm going to beat out the rest in the long run. Still insecure, but yeah.

I don't know if that'd work for you though. I considered studying English as well, but as McGraw said, it leaves you a lot less open with job choices and especially since you have to retake the funding may be way too costly. I like English a lot, but you just don't earn your bread with that. I could become a translator, since my native language is Dutch, but so many people have a grasp of English here these days it's becoming more and more obsolete by the minute.

I guess Graw gave the best advice, sort out what you want exactly, make sure you know what your priorities are, and work from there to determine the actions you need to take to get your life back on track. After all, it's what you choose to make of your life that will determine in the end how succesful you are.
 
What was wrong with the computer science course, just out of interest?
It would be one of the options I'm considering and part of me is tempted to go and choose some sort of computer-based design course. :/
 
I was in this same situation my first year, EXACTLY. My GPA hovered slightly above a 2.0 thanks to a 1.0 my first quarter; I failed CompSci I, retook and got an A... then promptly failed CompSci II. Over the summer after that first year, I switched from Software Engineering into Criminal Justice, which was my 2nd choice for majors when first choosing my college, and also a completely different program area altogether (Liberal Arts). My main reasons for doing it were to stay at the school, because I was in a fraternity and I didn't want to leave. Not the greatest of reasons to do something so important, because I went to an ungodly expensive college and racked up loads of debt, but I am starting a brand new job next Wednesday at the biggest US national law firm making way more money than I ever have.

Things have a way of working themselves out, just make the decisions that feel right and follow your gut.
 
I fucked around last semester and did terribly, started worrying about not getting a degree at all and being stuck in debt and the such.
This semester I just redoubled by efforts and am getting B's with a damn good chance of getting a good degree.

Look around for motivation, it doesn't just come to you by osmosis. Your family and friends can help you a lot.


EDIT: Yeah, it's pretty obvious that we've all done this, looks like. @_@
 
I got lucky, I went from Computer Engineering to Computer Science and the transition was minimal. ;[ On the other hand, I switched before my junior year, so I certainly took an unnecessary semester's worth of classes (which, given all the costs, amounts to about $5000 USD down the drain). Hopefully you've mostly done "core" classes, so if you switch now, the cost will be minimal.
 
Vidd said:
What was wrong with the computer science course, just out of interest?
It would be one of the options I'm considering and part of me is tempted to go and choose some sort of computer-based design course. :/
Click to expand...

Actually, it's mainly the people. I could handle the work and the course if I got on with my fellow CompScis but I really can't stand them, there are around 3 in my class that I actually get on with. There's just a huge stereotype of a Computer Science student being an antisocial geek with long hair who plays various MMORPGs and D&D card games and listens only to metal and watches Star Trek etc... The worst part is it is true, and I just don't like those kind of people. Makes it hard to believe I am going to enjoy any sort of career in a field which is just crawling with 'em.

However, I have decided to give it another shot and really try hard this term to get my course back on track. In the second and third years, I will have more freedom in the modules that I choose and should therefore find more likeminded people. I think I will cover my craving for culture by taking some extra classes and getting my Philosophy student friends to recommend some literature. Seems like the right thing to do eh?
 
Sounds good, Im sure alot of people will agree that thats the right descision.

Sidenote: actually if everyone could wish me luck for this calc exam Ive been halfassedly cramming for that starts in 1.5 hours, that would be nice!
 
Basically, just persevere. You don't want to be in debt for all your life so just 2-3 years more of sitting through boring shit will be worth it.
 
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