Question For The Students

[Tegan]

Just a bit curious about how students manage in money terms

- As im thinking of going to uni full-time but this would surely mean giving up my fairly well paid job and sacrificing one of the cars (i can live with this for the betterment of my career)

Do you manage okay for money and do you all have part-time/wekend jobs etc?

Im already doing a distance learning course with the OU but its gonna take six years to complete and i cant wait that long! :(

T x

[Demonic Angel]

I'm doing a degree with the OU too Teegs and its very frustrating that I wont graduate til 2010, but for me its inconceiveable to go to university, I simply could not afford to live in this house on a part time student salary, so its out of the question for me...

You could always up your OU learning by doing two modules at once and get it finished sooner?

[Tegan]

What you studying for Em?

Im glad there is somebody else who feels like this - everyone in my year at school is just graduating and its really annoying that i wont be done for six years! :(

I live with my parents still so i dont have the worry of rent or mortgage thank goodness - i think this is the reason i have been putting off buying a house - because i want my career sorted first -dont want to be tied into anything that i cant get out of

[Demonic Angel]

I'm doing BSc Hons Psychology, which isnt the easiest subject - but heck, I enjoy it! Its something I only very recently (like 2 years ago) got into and realised I liked.... if I'd have realised I liked it so much earlier I would have done it at A Level and everything too!

Like you say, you dont have the commitments (unlike moi! lol) so you can do this if you really want to - and there are some really good universities out there - what are you currently studying with the OU?

Basically if you really want to do it, theres nothing stopping you, not even money because 100% of graduates have managed!

[Tegan]

Im doing a degree in molecular chemistry at the moment but im only on my first course

i have been wanting to change it though to a degree it dietetics and nutrition, i dont think the OU has this course that im looking for though- hence the reason for wanting to go to uni,

yes im sure i could manage i am very good with my money, i just really wanted to hear if people can really manage with all the course fees to pay etc

I will have to have a serious think about it

[DaveSR]

Well i've just graduated and im in total £3500 in debt.....nothing compared to others!

What I did was applied for a place at a local university, and lived at home with my parents. This saved me lots of money such as accommodation and living costs. I did not need to have a part time job as I could use the money from my student loan to pay for the things that I needed such as books and other equipment. I also had to pay my student fees of around £500 for the whole three years because my parents didn't earn enough and my local LEA helped to pay the fees of £1100 a year.

Also I have been looking for a job for 3 weeks now and I am finding it very hard to find a job, as there all asking for 2-5 years experiance. So don't forget that just because you have a degree your not guarenteed a job!

So now I am on Job Seekers Allowence looking for a job.....getting my money back from the government for my tuition fees ha ha!

So for those of you that wonder what qualification I got its.....

BEng Computers, Networking, and Communications Technology - Incorperated Engineer

Not bad for being 21 hey!

[Tegan]

I would be looking to live at home still and travel to a local uni

Well im 22 and I have four years of work experience (not in the field that i want to go into) but in the general working world, also the course i am looking at has lots of work placements and experience built it - thats what i like about it

I think i would get a part-time job so that i could have petrol money for the car etc

[Ryan1985]

Well I'm goin into 3rd year of my course Tegan and so far I'm £2k in debt which is nothing really beacause you only start paying it back when you make over 12k a year when you have a full time job after your course. You won't even noitce its gone really.

I live in the house with my mum, dad and brother and I have my OWN car I bought myself and still manage to spend silly amounts of money on it. I also manage to go out most weekends and get s**tfaced! :D

I have a part time job in my local Morrisons and do 16 hours a week and get paid around £300+ a month and manage fine on it.

The big bonus of studying in Scotland, of course, is that we don't need to pay tuition fee's which would probably kill me in monetary terms.

I'd say go for it though!

Hope that helps somehow!

[Fidgits]

When I was at uni - it was funded by summer jobs, evening jobs, and these wonderful things called student loans and overdrafts...

If you have your accomodation sorted, then that is probably the biggest financial burdens out of the way - and you'll still be well fed...

However, you'll still need to watch the money - its a balancing act, if you want to keep a car, dont spend a fortune on beer - but you probably will need to make sacrifices.

If its something you want to do, then do it, if you worry about the money side of things, you will end up never doing anything...

[nrgizerbunny]

I have a 12k debt, 4 years at 3k ish + interest.

On reflection I would definitely encourage people to go to University. I took the option of doing a middle placement year, so that money was saved for my final 2 years ( I did 2 years at Uni, 1 year at Rolls-Royce and then 2 years at uni).

At the end of it, its a relief but it was difficult at times. Its short term pain versus long term gain.

Having said that my mate did a HND (apprentiship) and was paid by an employer at the same time. His total earnings in 5 years will be equivalent to what I will earn in 2 years so i suppose thats a good advert for university. Although the wages in grimsby aren't that high!

[Calisto]

Tegs, it was one factor as to why I didnt accept my placement at Teesside Uni , to understand anything on the course I chose I would off have to have spent most of my time swatting books just to make sure the info sank in and I understood it, wouldnt have time for a part time job.

When I was a student at college, I had to get a night job as a carer in a nursing home it was hard work studying and trying to keep awake at the same time (but I did it).

[System~G]

I went to uni in South Africa and whilst I paid my entire three year tuition upfront from inheritence, I still could not get help with accomodation, food and the the other necesities of life.

I invested the balance of my inheritance in a nightclub venture where I was managing the bands booked and looking after the sound and lighting kit and DJing. I also worked in a burger place and did bodypiercing in a tattoo studio whilst being a full time student.

My day looked like this:

07:00 Get up and got to uni

14:00 - 16:00 Go to burger bar and do a couple of hours (starting time depended on when classes ended).

20:00 Tattoo studion if piercings were booked.

21:00 Night club

04:00 - 06:00 Bed (time depended on how busy the club was)

I averaged 2 hours of sleep a night for three years and lived off two or three bottles of tonic and a box of ProPlus a day. I still managed to get one of the highest pass rates in my group and am now one of the only people from my group still working in the industry.

Ironically I still find myself working silly hours to afford the lifestyle I want. Managed 87 hours last week

A lot of hard work can pay off, but don't kill yourself doing it.

My brother did his Chartered Accounting degree through something similar to OU whilst working in IT. He has never used his degree and is firmly established in IT and earning over 40k a year through experience alone.

[Tegan]

When I was at uni - it was funded by summer jobs, evening jobs, and these wonderful things called student loans and overdrafts...

If you have your accomodation sorted, then that is probably the biggest financial burdens out of the way - and you'll still be well fed...

However, you'll still need to watch the money - its a balancing act, if you want to keep a car, dont spend a fortune on beer - but you probably will need to make sacrifices.

If its something you want to do, then do it, if you worry about the money side of things, you will end up never doing anything...

←

I hardly drink anyway so beer money is not a problem, and yes i think if i keep worrying about the money i will put myself off doing it and still be stuck in a job i dont like for few more years <_<

ive been looking around and some uni's are starting to do flexible learning programs where they offer the degree part-time , this maybe an option worth looking at :)

[JustJJ]

In the UK you now only start paying back your student loan if you earn over 15k a year...

I went to Uni and I heartily recommend going, its good for the experience as well as picking up your degree.

I have come out of Uni on a 3 year course with about 10k worth of debt, which to be honest, Im not bothered about cause it gets taken out of my salary before i even know its there (and even then only small amount)

Good Luck hon :)

[sotal]

I didn't find it too bad, I lived with my parents and worked 18 hours a week, I took as much student loan as possible (about £8500 in total over 3 years) and put all the student loan into an ISA to save for a deposit on a house. I also managed to do a 4 year course in 3 years which saved a fair bit of expense. Then in my final year I bought a house with by girlfriend and then we got married and I quit my 18 hours a week job to set up my own company. I'm still surving (just ;) )

My girlfriend was doing a college course at the same time and got a full time job at the same time as I set my own company up.

During that whole time we have had and run 3 vehicles

[Tegan]

So can you take whatever loan you decide? or do they decide how much you can have?

[mikeb]

From what you say (living with parents, not a heavy drinker etc), I think you should be able to afford to study at university quite comfortably. My advice would be try and avoid part time jobs during term, but work full time over the summer if you can. This is what I did, and I always managed to find work during the Christmas, Easter and summer breaks (but then I was prepared to do just about anything).

I moved away from home, studied for five years and still graduated with a positive bank balance, although this was in the days before tuition fees (but then I didn't get a grant either).

Also, I'm not sure what age you need to be to be classed as a 'mature' student (it might be 21?). Sometimes you can get extra financial assistance from this, if you claim you are self supported (i.e. your parents aren't funding you).

[Tegan]

My parents wouldnt be supporting me - i never let them give me any money for anything :)

I am finding it hard to find a reason not to go, i think i may have finally decided what direction im heading! lol

[Avensis wagon]

I know it seems strange at the mo, but six years isn't really that long. It's true that at your age I couldn't see six months ahead, yet nearly twenty years later time goes faster and there are so many commitments that I'm thinking 'maybe I could do this or finish that in five or ten years' time'.

You'll still be young and handsome in your mid-twenties, you'll have a degree and loads of work experience -- no matter what work it is you'll have proven yourself reliable, hardworking and be somewhat wiser of life at work. You'll have money in the bank and no chain around your neck. How long would it normally take to save up £15,000 plus interest and how much cheaper would your mortgage with compound interest be if you put that money there instead?

Maybe you feel that you're missing out on the student scene. It may look as if everyone's having a great time and all your mates have gone on to study together and share an experience from which you are excluded, but you do have a car and you can afford to run it to visit them.

Frankly I'm not sure whether to shout 'God that's boring, get your ***** to uni' or 'you're doing the right thing mate, much respect to you, stick with it.'

I'd end by saying that the grass isn't laways greener, that you're not necessarily missing an experience, you won't have a huge debt that could take years to clear, and in 15 years' time it will look like a short time. It's that versus short and maybe more exciting, new surroundings, like-minded friends around you and perhaps higher chances of meeting your soulmate of the opposite s*x. Do you feel ostracised with your friends gone to uni and making new, like-minded friends there? If you recognize that feeling in yourself, I think perhaps you should go.

[Tegan]

Although i do feel that ive been left behind this is not the reason for going, i have been debating what i want to do with my life since i was 16 - i didnt go to uni the first time round because i had no clue what i wanted to do.

I started my A levels with the firm idea that i was going to become part of the space program but my dream got took away when i was the only girl in my physics class , my teacher was quite frankly a **** and i hated it - so i did badly.

I dont want to go to make new friends - i have loads of good friends anyway and if i went i wouldnt be out partying all the time either.

The main reason for me wanting to go is to be in an atmosphere that supports my skills and level of intelligence - im not challenged in anyway by my job and i feel i am wasted (im not being big headed but i did extremely well at school and i need to be constantly entertained because i get bored very easily!)

[DaveSR]

The amount of your loan is assessed -

If your younger than 21? they look at your parents income and if they earn more than 30k together you have to pay the full amount of your tuition fees (£1100....still going up I think) anythink below 30k and your local LEA will pay some or all of the fees dpending on how much they earn!

If your older than 21 you are classed as being independant and im not really sure what happens to be truthfull, all I know that a freind of mine was over 21 and didn't have to pay a penny, but if I was you just give your local LEA (Local Education Authority) a call and ask them, they should give you a rough estimate.

Also the new thing now is that students don't have to pay their fees upfront anymore, you pay them back after your degree. However I still believe that you can still pay for them straight away or in monthly installments but this is different to every university!

You also get the option to get a loan once every year, this is to cover living costs etc. Again this is assessed to how much money they will give you but for example I was allowed 3k every year. You dont have to take the full amount but I did. Most people stick the money in ISA's account and earn lots of interest, and you only pay this back when you start earning over a certain amount of money. I was told you have to start paying back your loan after earning 10k per year, but other people have said different things.

Anyway the decision is yours

Hope this helps!

[Tegan]

Ive been away and done some serious thinking and after chatting to some of my mates who went to uni and some of my mates that didnt, i have decided on a plan of action:

I think ive left it a bit late this year to apply for a course as most start in about two weeks and i need to give at least a months notice at work, soooooo im gonna aim for applying next year :D

Going to save really well until that time,

Carry on with my first course with the open university (which ends in October)

Take another course with the open uni (which will start in january) - this is a course which relates to nutrition and dietetics (this will give me a bit of background knowledge before i start)

Im going to try and get a volunteer position for say one day a week at a hospital (to shadow a dietitican) so that ive got some experience- hopefully the university will look more favourable on me with this experience behind me :)

and carry on working full time for the other four days :D

You know that moment when you finally figure out what your supposed to be doing with your life - well i just had mine AND IT FEELS AMAZING! :hokus-pokus:

It took me four/five years and in that time ive been a little stressed and felt a bit down about it sometimes but now its like a weight has been lifted! :D

[Ryan1985]

Glad you've made your mind up Tegan, if its what you really want to do I doubt you'll regret it!

[Fidgits]

are you sure you'll feel the same in 6 months? or will the doubt creep in?

There is clearing you know - but i always believe in striking when the iron is hot...

[Tegan]

Im so sure this is what i want, i like to have things planned so i dont want to rush around trying to scrape a place this year - i would rather get some experience and have everything sorted for next september :)

When i want something i dont stop until i get it so after all this time of not knowing im not going to stop until i do this ;)

I cant believe how sure i am now! Its like a lightning bolt went off inside my head and everything clicked into place! :D