Douglas Said:

Should I go to uni or vocational school?

We Answered:

Well I'm biased because I worked at a vocational school. The fact is though is that university teaches you through textbooks and vocational school is more practical (there is also reading and studying etc, but you are taught by actually doing -- at least that's the way they do things in my country). Another fact is that we have seen plenty of university students come to us, because they are looking for the practical side -- of how to actually 'do' the job that their degree has lead them to, rather than simply reading about the subject. Yes there are a lot of opinions out there about how vocational school is for the 'dumber' people and university is for people that will 'actually go places in life'. But you could end up with just as good a job going to vocational school as you would if you went to university. That's up to you -- how much effort you make and drive you have will determine whether you end up with a great job you love in the end, it doesn't rest on whether you went to vocational school or university. And you could also make contacts at vocational school.

I'm just trying to answer all the pros and cons you said...

Yes vocational school is a lot cheaper. At uni yes, you will have more of a chance to study abroad, which would be a fantastic opportunity, however you have to think about whether you would take up that opportunity if it was offered to you. Uni is more respected that trade schools -- well as I said there is that opinion out there, but for example where I used to work we got a lot of phone calls from employers looking to hire recent graduates. There are some people who don't think that way, that uni is more prestigious -- in fact some people find the uni culture a bit too snobby and think that the courses are a waste of time, again because of the 'theory' (reading) not actually practically learning your chosen subject.

And you must have some motivation, because it looks like from your lists you've taken the time to really think about this. I think a careers advisor would help and over here you can get that help for free. If you just go in and say that you're thinking of doing some study but you're just not certain of what to do they can put you in touch with someone that can help you. I don't know what it's like in your country though. But worth checking out, call a couple of places and ask if they have those services. And there would be plenty of support to cover all sorts of problems if you did undertake study, you would never be left to suffer alone. I couldn't help but notice that you have more pros and less cons in the vocational school section that you did in the uni section. Perhaps vocational school is the answer? But as I said, I'm a bit biased. I've never studied at uni. I don't look down on unis really, I just haven't studied there. I wouldn't know what to study and I'm now too used to the whole vocational environment because like you, I know it. I don't want to start completely new with uni. And I kind of can't really be bothered, I'm happy with working now. But those are my reasons. It wouldn't be horrible if you did go to uni. And by the way, the party culture -- that can happen at vocational school, too. Depends on who you hang around with. That's your decision to make, if you want to be part of that culture. It's probably not as common as it would be at uni, but it would be there.

I wish you the best of luck, you've made a great decision into doing something with your life (although I'm sure you haven't wasted it as much as you think you have) and I really hope you continue to pursue what you want to do.