Any science nerds on here? Degree related.

Post by **Merlin** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 9:38 am

tramroadmotors wrote:bloody hell merlin you could finance an early 90's nsx for that, how long were you studying for? is that a choice to pay so much off or is that how its been set?

7 years at uni

Its a set percentage of gross pay. The interest on my student loan is £400 a year so if you dont earn enough to repay more than that you'll never repay it.

Post by **Vtecmec** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 9:39 am

Merlin wrote:If my student loan repayments disappeared right now the money it would free up would equal a £3000 a year pay rise . Based on my current monthly repayments.

Same here, they take 12% off my gross, straight out of my paypacket. No choice in the matter.

The thought that you pay off little over time is a myth.

Ted · Post by **Ted** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 11:14 am

not having been a student since i was 15 i don't know that much about it, i didn't have to pay my parents back my dinner money when i got a job, bloody goverment aye

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 8:33 pm

Sailor wrote:As to the engineering discussion: I've hired graduates who've done loads of theory, and I've hired those who did sandwich courses. The latter win every time.

I could definitely see the difference at assessment centre (group interviews) between myself having done a sandwich year and those that had gone straight through...

Depends what the job role is though I guess. If it's something like pure analytical engineering (sat there at a computer modelling stress/strain etc) I can't imagine it makes much difference?

Post by **Vtecmec** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 9:25 pm

I'd recommend a course with a sandwich year.

I did a sandwich and ended up getting sponsored by the company in my last year, with a guaranteed job once the degree was finished. It removed a lot of stress from the third year about finding a job, etc.

BigTom · Post by **BigTom** » Thu Oct 04, 2012 2:03 pm

I did Biology at Edinburgh (Zoology Honours), followed by an MSc in Biological Photography and am now in the last 6 months of my ecology PhD. The latter has been extremely field work heavy and made me realise that I'm much happier being outdoors getting my hands dirty than sitting in an office taxing whats left of my brain, so not sure what I'll be doing this time next year.

I would definitely recommend going to a university which has a large science department. The beauty with Edinburgh was that the first couple of years were very broad, allowing you time to figure out what you were interested in before specialising in a particular honours. Have a good look at the programme structure for the universities you're interested in. Most places will provide you with a pretty good amount of leeway for switching courses as well.

Post by **Donald** » Thu Jan 10, 2013 7:58 pm

Major bump.

Application finally all done and sent today.

Applied for:

Molecular Biology and Genetics
Biological and Medicinal Chemistry

And to be on the safe side I have BSc Science with a foundation year as a back up, so if I get declined for the other two I can do the foundation and then transfer to one of the two above. My days as a home chemist will come in handy.

@4thgenphil, you all sorted now?

Post by **4thgenphil** » Thu Jan 10, 2013 8:18 pm

no mate, going to have a year off it, long complicated story, basically if i do it next year i should be able to wangle my leave so i can do it full time, 2 days a week. fingers crossed anyways

nitin_s1 · Post by **nitin_s1** » Thu Jan 10, 2013 8:58 pm

I've nearly paid of my student loans thanks to owning a prelude and not a twin turbo Awd GTR that I always wanted. Lol

Angus · Post by **Angus** » Thu Jan 10, 2013 9:23 pm

Might as well keep this resurrection going ...

I got a First in Zoology from Aberdeen, then went on to do a PhD in Marine Science at St Andrews/Aberdeen Marine Lab. Now I know lots about zooplankton.

It was all great fun, and really quite easy because I was interested. Once you get to postgrad you can help out in undergrad practical classes and make a good few quid.

I was offered a job at the Marine Lab, but it was a very dull one. I found that the actual work was based on statistical modelling sitting in front of a computer screen most of the year, with maybe a couple months total at sea doing sampling and surveys. Biology had turned into statistics, and I was never interested in maths.

And you find that once you get involved in a subject, you end up studying only a tiny part of it, getting more and more detailed. Like why one species of copepod has four hairs on its back leg and another has five. You can write papers about that sort of crap. It gets ridiculous and so easy to lose sight of the bigger picture.

So I jacked it and went to work as a Fishery Officer instead. Out in the fresh air at all hours of the day monitoring boats landing all sorts of fish, checking net sizes, measuring boats - brilliant.

Now I protect the environment. Which means lots of visits to scrappies, as well as other waste facilities. Most interesting, but much more enforcement than science. Which is fine, because I'm far more interested in ancient history now.

Most science-based Uni courses will be broad for the first one/two years, and you have a lot of movement. My lot all started as "Biology" really, and some folk went off to do geology, others did plant science and so on. I even managed a bit of Celtic history to fill up my timetable.

If you need any help with marine biology, give us a shout. Also, anyone that wants to silence the local Jehovahs when they start going on about how it's impossible that the eye could have evolved, I'm your man for the lowdown.

Student loans? Last I looked it's nearly 10 years later and I still owe about £15K. The payments that come off my wages seem to pay off the interest, but that's about it. Not forgiven the SNP for reneging on their election promise to cancel student loans yet ...