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Are you glad or do you regret your higher studies?
- Thread starter Nothing Loud
- Start date
I (eventually) got a job with my degree that I've been really lucky to have and have done well with it, so I can't regret things too much. I would still probably have done a lot of things different if I could go back and do it all over again. I was pretty burnt out of the whole thing by the end of it, and pretty jaded with the experience.
I don't regret what I am doing for my Masters, but I wish I would have done something else for my undergrad and not Information Systems. Towards the latter half of my undergrad I became more interested in marketing, public relations, and social media so I wish I would have gone the route of some sort of communications degree.
I got a bachelors and masters in accounting because I went back to school in 2008 and needed something employable when the economy was in shambles.
I don't regret it but I had zero desire to be a CPA about 3-4 years into the program when I heard what the work-life balance was like. That kinda put me in an awkward place career wise where I tend to do roles that are closer to finance than anything else.
Accounting and finance also suck because the experience required for different subcategories are highly specialized. You can't switch from audit to tax to general accounting to underwriting to budgeting without a whole lot of difficulty and raised eyebrows despite having the basic skill set to do any of them.
I don't regret it but I had zero desire to be a CPA about 3-4 years into the program when I heard what the work-life balance was like. That kinda put me in an awkward place career wise where I tend to do roles that are closer to finance than anything else.
Accounting and finance also suck because the experience required for different subcategories are highly specialized. You can't switch from audit to tax to general accounting to underwriting to budgeting without a whole lot of difficulty and raised eyebrows despite having the basic skill set to do any of them.
I loved all of my studies.
I finished undergrad in 2006 with a degree in finance and economics; had a very successful financial career. Went to graduate school in 2017 because I wanted to use my love of logic to transition to machine learning/ai, and I'm loving it even more than finance (pay continues to be excellent as well.) No complaints. Graduate school was expensive but absolutely loved it; I made some life long friends there as well - we're all basically family.
My true love is science - particularly physics and astronomy - but it's too late for that now. I do study physics for fun, and am considering doing a PhD where I apply an algorithm that I came up with in graduate school into discovering new elementary particles.
I finished undergrad in 2006 with a degree in finance and economics; had a very successful financial career. Went to graduate school in 2017 because I wanted to use my love of logic to transition to machine learning/ai, and I'm loving it even more than finance (pay continues to be excellent as well.) No complaints. Graduate school was expensive but absolutely loved it; I made some life long friends there as well - we're all basically family.
My true love is science - particularly physics and astronomy - but it's too late for that now. I do study physics for fun, and am considering doing a PhD where I apply an algorithm that I came up with in graduate school into discovering new elementary particles.
Both glad and regretful.
In hindsight I think I could've done something that benefits society more, as well as something that genuinely interests me. But on the other hand I can easily pierce through branding, PR, and other forms of marketing now, as well as seeing very clearly the dangers of mass consumerism that comes with that.
In hindsight I think I could've done something that benefits society more, as well as something that genuinely interests me. But on the other hand I can easily pierce through branding, PR, and other forms of marketing now, as well as seeing very clearly the dangers of mass consumerism that comes with that.
Same here lol. Used so many possibilities to travel, even though my study has nothing to do with it. Enjoy life now, routine later.
It opened doors for me because I had a degree on my resume. That's about it.
What I do for a living (web dev) I learned as a hobby in my downtime in college, though my newfound interest for it sprung off of a suuuper intro-level HTML section of a 101 New Media course I had to take as part of my degree; I have a degree in digital video that I basically never use. Idk, I guess I'm thankful for that too? But I also could have just plopped a couple thousand down from what I spent on tuition on a bootcamp course and been where I am (or even further honestly) in terms of practical knowledge, but I probably would have a much harder time finding a job without a degree.
Shit's weird.
The college experience was cool though, I liked that.
What I do for a living (web dev) I learned as a hobby in my downtime in college, though my newfound interest for it sprung off of a suuuper intro-level HTML section of a 101 New Media course I had to take as part of my degree; I have a degree in digital video that I basically never use. Idk, I guess I'm thankful for that too? But I also could have just plopped a couple thousand down from what I spent on tuition on a bootcamp course and been where I am (or even further honestly) in terms of practical knowledge, but I probably would have a much harder time finding a job without a degree.
Shit's weird.
The college experience was cool though, I liked that.
I got a bachelor's in Mining Engineering which was a bit of a leap at the time because I didn't know anything about mining but 10 years after graduation I'm very happy with my choice. It's a fun, challenging field with a lot of variety and a good balance of office and field work which is just what I was hoping for. I changed jobs after 5 years and felt a bit of regret at that time because it was fairly tough to find another job but my new job has been great and it worked out for me for the most part.
I got a bio degree which has proved absolutely useless this far. Been out of school for 3 years and it hasn't helped me land one job, everything I've since done has not required a degree.
If I could do it again I would definitely go for computer science
If I could do it again I would definitely go for computer science
BA, History. I don't use it in my work, but appreciated my time there and the skills I gained. Everything worked out.
I got an art degree. The fact that my art is terrible sorta makes it a waste by default.
That being said, I don't regret it at all. What else was I gonna do? It was a good stepping stone from school life to the "real" world and there were plenty of good experiences there. I don't regret the school I regret being me.
That being said, I don't regret it at all. What else was I gonna do? It was a good stepping stone from school life to the "real" world and there were plenty of good experiences there. I don't regret the school I regret being me.
The best advice I can give you and others who are going through or looking to go through university is go with whatever degree you're interested in but only if you're sure on what career paths that may come from it; do research, thoroughly. I wanted to do an English degree initially but shied away from it for Computer Science because I didn't do research on what an English degree would get me beyond teaching. It was only through going to job fairs hosted in campus during my junior/3rd year did I realize that the teaching abroad option was a career path all along I could've taken.
Grateful for my MS and PhD as I'm now a tenured professor in a doctoral-granting department in my field and mostly love my job. Post-tenure there's few things that can beat the flexibility in schedule and work focus (research topics etc.). It is well worth the trade off of a lower salary ceiling (superstars who continually land big grants aside) from private or government research jobs. Working with students, especially graduate students, is very rewarding as well.
You should try volunteer opportunities with whatever population you're trying to serve first
Familiar with it? I was going to focus on mental health, and then possibly work for DVR to help the disabled get jobs or go to school. They did that for me and it inspired me.
I love my field, but there's so much uncertainty about whether I'll really be able to make a career out of it. I'm currently in that waiting period period where I've submitted applications to a few doctoral programs, and I'm checking my email constantly as I anxiously hope to hear back. And even if I make it in somewhere, there's the whole needing to produce good research and finding a job after I graduate thing, neither of which are sure bets.
So yeah, I guess I'm happy about my choices currently, although I suppose there's a dark timeline where it could become a source of massive regret and heartache for me if I hit a wall along the way.
So yeah, I guess I'm happy about my choices currently, although I suppose there's a dark timeline where it could become a source of massive regret and heartache for me if I hit a wall along the way.
Grateful, even if only like two of the classes I took actually contribute to the work I'm doing right now (maybe three because you really can't go wrong with Public Policy Analysis for a basic grounding in analytical thinking). I lament the decline of liberal arts education, you lead a richer existence for it.
Very much so. I have a Bachelors in Social Work, and Masters in Public Administration. I worked closely with the Department of Rehabilitation, which is the State of California equivalent of DVR. I worked with at-risk populations, mostly foster and gang impacted youth. I did a lot of work in workforce development though, and worked closely with organizations working with mental health and developmental disabilities - literally doing what you're hoping to do. I've since pivoted to policy and oversight, and don't do a whole lot of direct services these days. I absolutely love the line of work though, but I will admit, there's A LOT of people who ultimately burn out.
Non-profits are always on the lookout for volunteers, and while you won't be doing exactly what you're hoping to do career wise down the road, you can at least begin to feel out whether the career and population you're hoping to serve are a good fit for you by proxy.
Having said that, props on the career choice! I have unlimited respect for anyone who pursues a career in the service others, and I'm glad that you found inspiration to move in that direction :)
This is incredibly helpful insight, thank you. I was dreading you saying "It was the worst experience of my life" at the end of that first sentence, haha.
I'm terrified about going back to school, and how late of a start I'm getting. But I think I had to be at this point in my life to realize having an impact on others lives is going to be infinitely rewarding.
I went to DVR thinking I'd get a customer service job somewhere, and do that for the rest of my life. I first went to school for networking, but became legally blind post Associate's degree. I went for that because I like computers and figured it was good money. But I look back now and realize I probably would have hated it.
Thinking about it, counseling, therapy, and social work would work well with my vision loss. I can record everything, and any writing I'd need to do I could do on the computer with my screen reader. And changing people's lives for the better is something the world needs right now.
Threads old but *Shrug*. I was placed on the Alternate list at the University of Washington's Social Work program. Not sure what to do now, as the deadline for my chances of getting a spot is September.
I studied English, and I really appreciate the knowledge and perspective I feel like I gained out of it, and don't feel like I would've gotten to it without formal education and some of the linguistics theory that I gained out of it.
It's also helped me fast track in some careers, and made me a more attractive candidate generally. But I've not worked in a field where English language is necessarily the primary focus, nor have I really landed a career that grants a huge amount of wealth. Currently, the job I possess is the most comfortable I've ever been and I don't regret the economic stature I currently possess, but it's nowhere near as much as I could be making in a more desirable career path.
So I don't regret it. I hate the student loans and do harbor some regret about not going into a field that's more lucrative, especially since I spent 2 years as an accounting major and really excelled at it (only time in college I got straight A's), but I had NEGATIVE passion toward it.
It's also helped me fast track in some careers, and made me a more attractive candidate generally. But I've not worked in a field where English language is necessarily the primary focus, nor have I really landed a career that grants a huge amount of wealth. Currently, the job I possess is the most comfortable I've ever been and I don't regret the economic stature I currently possess, but it's nowhere near as much as I could be making in a more desirable career path.
So I don't regret it. I hate the student loans and do harbor some regret about not going into a field that's more lucrative, especially since I spent 2 years as an accounting major and really excelled at it (only time in college I got straight A's), but I had NEGATIVE passion toward it.
I think I could have saved money and headache going for a different related degree, but I don't really regret it. It still helped me get into a career that has turned out to be very fortunate for me, even if it probably took me a few more years to pay off the student loans.
I did a three year degree for TV production. It's now my profession, but nobody's ever asked about my education, so I could have taken a one year certificate course instead.
It was definitely useful, though. I don't think I would have learned how to use an Avid by myself back in 2003.
edit: My parent did pay for it, which I'm totally fortunate for.
It was definitely useful, though. I don't think I would have learned how to use an Avid by myself back in 2003.
edit: My parent did pay for it, which I'm totally fortunate for.
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Sort of. I went back for a second degree in computer science because I couldn't get a job with my chemistry degree. Though I probably could have gotten some boring office job that pays enough to live. Instead I spend a lot of money and took years getting my CS degree, and am currently unemployed because I never put in the effort to get good.
I regret giving up after 2 semesters. I've been stuck in retail hell ever since quitting college.
I got my masters degree from a well-known school in my field, and having that on my resume has definitely helped me land jobs. What's more, the graduate degree was essentially free (no tuition) thanks to me being a TA while there. Totally worth it in my case.
Yes and no. My BS is in criminal justice, which isn't the most useful degree. I mainly pursued it because I had a background in it (military police), so that meant some of my training counted towards some credits. So I could finish the program faster than if I picked something else. Getting a job in my career field hasn't been difficult for me. Being a vet and having a degree is almost a gimme.
Right now I'm working on my MSc in emergency management. It mostly came down to what was going to help me professionally. I'm probably going to stay federal because at this point I don't see any reason ever to go private, I'm already too invested. So EM made the most sense. I was thinking about a MBA or accounting, but none of those really interest me. I find EM interesting enough and it pertains to my career field.
If I could go back, I would probably change, but hindsight is 20/20. I feel I made the most logical choices given my situation. Overall, I'm content with it. The money is fine, the benefits are good, and the job security is great.
Right now I'm working on my MSc in emergency management. It mostly came down to what was going to help me professionally. I'm probably going to stay federal because at this point I don't see any reason ever to go private, I'm already too invested. So EM made the most sense. I was thinking about a MBA or accounting, but none of those really interest me. I find EM interesting enough and it pertains to my career field.
If I could go back, I would probably change, but hindsight is 20/20. I feel I made the most logical choices given my situation. Overall, I'm content with it. The money is fine, the benefits are good, and the job security is great.
