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Do you have a degree?

No degree here (or anything beyond some rather uninspiring high school). Did my work via the experience and proving my worth (and a few lucky right-place/right-time spots).

However I have always wanted a degree to be able to prove what I can do but have always suffered from issues being in educational situations.

I am getting a handle on these and am proudly starting the open university (for real this time) in February 2014. Studying for an Open Degree in Science. Maths for the first few modules and then who knows - i am planning to most likey follow the computing route as its what I know and is a subject for which I still have a lot of passion. I may mix it up with some physics modules as that too holds an interest for me.

So. No degree.....yet ;)

( and i am extremely lucky to have a fantastic partner who is 100% behind me and also shares some of my passions, so I am really looking forward to my university level journey).

I will book mark this thread and one day in years to some, i will ressurect it with my graduation.
 
mobilehaathi said:
Squilly, don't worry about the degree. Worry about getting an education. Learn to think, and learn to be thoughtful. Learn to analyze, and learn to criticize.

Mind you, learning takes work. It takes lots of work, and sometimes it is hard.
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J.F.K. writes:
J.F.K. said:
Source:
http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm


Dear Mr. Retrofire,

we choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.
Click to expand...
 
About half way through mine! I'm doing an LLB law degree here in the UK. I started when I was 23 though after crashing out of my undergraduate biomedical degree in spectacular style.

My advice:just go for it and have it under your wing. It's never too late but the sooner the better. If I'd done this degree at 18 like I should have, at 21 I could have started working towards my LPC or bar training and be working already. Or even further education abroad, the thought of a JD at Colombia is becoming more of a dream.
 
Tsuchiya said:
About half way through mine! I'm doing an LLB law degree here in the UK. I started when I was 23 though after crashing out of my undergraduate biomedical degree in spectacular style.

My advice:just go for it and have it under your wing. It's never too late but the sooner the better. If I'd done this degree at 18 like I should have, at 21 I could have started working towards my LPC or bar training and be working already. Or even further education abroad, the thought of a JD at Colombia is becoming more of a dream.
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The LLB and JD are the same degree. While called a Juris Doctorate, the JD is not an actual doctorate degree in the educational sense and there is no dissertation. However, due to many schools not paying law professors the same as PhDs, it became necessary to make it a "doctorate" degree for employment purposes and equity. It is fair to pay a person with 7 or 8 years of study with a JD the same as the PhD with 8 years of study.

For some schools it seemed unfair that to enter an LLB programme you had to have a bachelor's degree first while other schools allowed entry directly into the LLB after high school.

One of my old professors got both the LLB in Australia and JD in the USA only to find it was the same.

What you need to do is go for an advanced law degree when you finish your LLB if that's still in your plans, which for a non American lawyer would be something like an LLM in international law. The LLM carries far more currency on a resume than a JD, because the JD in the USA is the basic law degree where the LLM is the advanced law degree.

And this leads us to the actual doctorate degree of law which is the educational PhD equivalent which is called the JSD or SJD. The doctor of juridical science is a true graduate degree in that it requires original research much the way most master's degrees do and all PhDs do. There is no formal, original research in an JD just as there is none in an associate's or bachelor's degree. While some undergraduate degrees let you have original research, even an LLB programme, it doesn't count like a master's thesis or doctorate dissertation.

The JD as the first law degree took a long time to get accepted over what had long been the first law degree in the LLB, but before that there was no officially recognized law degree used as a common entry into the practice of law:

http://asklib.law.harvard.edu/a.php?qid=37309
 
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I dropped out of University after a year because I decided I'd had enough of education: For a couple of years, it was difficult to get a job, but since then I've not really found the lack of a degree to be a hindrance (after a while, experience counts for at least as much as a degree).

However, it's nearly 30 years since I was at University and the job market has changed dramatically for the worse since then: I'd definitely recommend getting a degree if possible simply because there are so few jobs out there and so many people who do have degrees chasing them.
 
I got my B.F.A. in Theatre Production and Design. While I would probably be in the same place without it, I wouldn't have given up the four years I spent in college for anything. My career is fully in line with my degree, but the degree didn't further it. College is about more than the degree.
 
63dot said:
You have to be either extremely rich or extremely lazy to say I won't get into the work force because I don't have a degree.
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I said nothing of the sort. I just feel you need a degree to help you get a good job, especially an office job.

There are lots of jobs for people without degrees, such as building trades (which can pay quite well).
 
old-wiz said:
I said nothing of the sort. I just feel you need a degree to help you get a good job, especially an office job.

There are lots of jobs for people without degrees, such as building trades (which can pay quite well).
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I hear you. ;)

Some of those trades jobs that don't require a degree with good pay often take a person who has a degree away from their profession which pays less. I got my HR bachelor's and was working in the field but the trade I had before paid quite a bit more. Four year degree Personnel management/HR grads made very, very little back when I finished (approx. $9.20 an hour for GS-5 civil servant or Navy Ensign) and the average landscape gardener made $20-25 dollars an hour. The GS-5/O-1 certainly had more respect since beginning at that title for initial job entry required a 4 year degree but then there are bills to pay.

The craziest pay I have ever heard of are those camera operators who do sewer in my area and they can get close to a grand for an hour of work, paid in full a lot of the time. I know a guy who went from hs teacher to that camera job but found the latter far too difficult. If somebody makes more in a week than you do in a year, there's usually a damn good reason.
 
Nope, I'm even a few credits shy of HS.

School and I didn't see eye-to-eye, it seems. I was able to earn my way up the ladder while working, as I could see a point in it.

I did OK. ;)

Caveat: You cannot do what I did in today's World.
 
63dot said:
The LLB and JD are the same degree. While called a Juris Doctorate, the JD is not an actual doctorate degree in the educational sense and there is no dissertation. However, due to many schools not paying law professors the same as PhDs, it became necessary to make it a "doctorate" degree for employment purposes and equity. It is fair to pay a person with 7 or 8 years of study with a JD the same as the PhD with 8 years of study.

For some schools it seemed unfair that to enter an LLB programme you had to have a bachelor's degree first while other schools allowed entry directly into the LLB after high school.

One of my old professors got both the LLB in Australia and JD in the USA only to find it was the same.

What you need to do is go for an advanced law degree when you finish your LLB if that's still in your plans, which for a non American lawyer would be something like an LLM in international law. The LLM carries far more currency on a resume than a JD, because the JD in the USA is the basic law degree where the LLM is the advanced law degree.

And this leads us to the actual doctorate degree of law which is the educational PhD equivalent which is called the JSD or SJD. The doctor of juridical science is a true graduate degree in that it requires original research much the way most master's degrees do and all PhDs do. There is no formal, original research in an JD just as there is none in an associate's or bachelor's degree. While some undergraduate degrees let you have original research, even an LLB programme, it doesn't count like a master's thesis or doctorate dissertation.

The JD as the first law degree took a long time to get accepted over what had long been the first law degree in the LLB, but before that there was no officially recognized law degree used as a common entry into the practice of law:

http://asklib.law.harvard.edu/a.php?qid=37309
Click to expand...

Ah that's interesting, thanks for the heads up. TBH I'm not entirely sure where my career is heading just yet, but I've entertained the thought of looking into American based firms (hence the JD). Attending an American university would be an added bonus :p
 
Don't panic said:
there is a very clear and simple direct correlation between level of education and income. so on average yes, it helps. A lot.
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Correlation, yes, but if this poster's education had included a decent statistics course, he or she would know that correlation does not imply cause and effect. People who have college degrees are, as a group and with many exceptions in both directions, more intelligent, more motivated, from higher economic backgrounds, etc., etc., than those who don't. In other words, they're the people who'd be expected to earn more anyhow. How much their college education contributed to making this happen - assuming it wasn't used to qualify them for a specific high-paying profession such as medicine - and whether any real effect is enough to offset four years of outlay instead of gaining experience and earning money, is an open question which nobody has yet answered conclusively.

That said, employers often use a college degree as a quick screening tool to ensure a minimum level of motivation and intelligence. Someone without a degree may have them too, but in an era when employers can pick and choose, that person won't get a chance to show it.
 
Tsuchiya said:
Ah that's interesting, thanks for the heads up. TBH I'm not entirely sure where my career is heading just yet, but I've entertained the thought of looking into American based firms (hence the JD). Attending an American university would be an added bonus :p
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The firm will care that you are a lawyer in that state. The JD only allows entry to bar, much like the LLB. Once you are eligible for bar, with a degree or sometimes with apprenticeship and not a degree as is case in some states like California, you try to pass it. When you do, if there's education left, it's the LLM, and if you want to teach and have a leg up, then there's JSD or SJD.

By the time you are a lawyer you want to move forward and have the strongest letters behind your name which is by far the LLM, not the basic JD. If you don't want to study law anymore and you are a lawyer but want some financial credibility (many lawyers couldn't do math for medical school or MBA entrance), then it certainly can't hurt to become a CPA. For lawyers in the social work field, the MSW isn't bad.

Anyway:

http://law.ggu.edu/law/academics/degree-programs/master-of-laws-in-international-legal-studies
 
iJohnHenry said:
Nope, I'm even a few credits shy of HS.

School and I didn't see eye-to-eye, it seems. I was able to earn my way up the ladder while working, as I could see a point in it.

I did OK. ;)

Caveat: You cannot do what I did in today's World.
Click to expand...

Off Topic: Hey...good to see you back!:D
 
I just made junior this semester (65 credits)

Majoring in Kinesiology with a minor in Bio

Going the athletic training route and then perhaps physical therapy school afterwards.
3.30 gpa currently.
 
RiddlaBronc said:
I just made junior this semester (65 credits)

Majoring in Kinesiology with a minor in Bio

Going the athletic training route and then perhaps physical therapy school afterwards.
3.30 gpa currently.
Click to expand...

Congrats on junior and good GPA. Finish up quickly though because the baby boomers will need you.
 
Do you have a degree?

Lots of talk about how hard it is to get a job. It's pretty easy actually. But you can't simply just go to class and hope it all works out later. You have to plan. Network. Become involved in academic groups. Intern early and often. Find a mentor. And get a degree in something that has demand.

Colleges do a poor job of leading you by the hand or actually teaching you how to navigate the real world.

If not starting a business it's best to do something that requires a license. CPA. Lawyer. Teacher. Nurse. Etc. This further separates you from the bigger pools of competitors or others looking for a job.
 
I have a B.A. (Hons) and PhD in History. I work in computing.

I decided that it would be better to be unemployed with a doctorate than without. In reality, I began working as I started my postgraduate to pay for my studies, part time employment became full time and I've moved upwards and onwards, since then.

It's nice to have my bank manager call me Doctor, though! :D
 
I just earned my Associates in Arts - Social Science and I'm transferring to The University of Illinois at Chicago to complete my BA. Afterwards I'll start my Masters. A college degree is no longer a ticket to achieving the American Dream, but it's better than nothing. Employers are increasingly wanting a Masters degree. And like what has already been said: a bachelors degree is quickly becoming the new High School diploma.
 
Of the ones that didn't get a degree in anything, do you regret it or have plans to go back? I hear that once people decide not to get a degree right after high school ultimately never get a degree. True? Of course, it depends on scenario.
 
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