Undecided whether to study for a degree?

There comes a time in most young peoples lives to decide whether to pursue further education by enroling at university and doing a degree course or, to go into employment after high school or college education.

This is by no means an easy decision for some and there are lots of factors that need weighing up before deciding to enrol on an appropriate university degree. While many students make their minds up about going to university long before they are due to go, some remain undecided until it is time to start the application process for university courses.

A lot of publicity, sometimes bad, regarding the huge debts that many students accrue during the course of their university education can scare off some potential undergraduates from pursuing a degree. However this should not necessarily be the only factor that determines whether you should or should not go to university.

The advantages of getting a degree

A degree is a pass to better jobs. There is no doubt that when people contemplate doing a degree, they think of the better opportunities that will be afforded to them by getting a degree. This is one of the main motivational factors that persuade people to go ahead with a degree course.

A person with a degree earns more during their working life

There is lot of research showing the earning differentials between people with degrees and those without through the course of their working lives. There is a significant difference. According to some researches, a graduate (Bachelors Degree) earns more than non- degree holders. Those who do not finish even high school, earn less.

People with degree in managerial position

There is evidence that there a lot more people in managerial positions in most industries that hold a degree than those without. This would indicate that a person with a degree has more chance of getting promoted and hold positions in organizations with more authority.

Many jobs have degree prerequisites

There are lots of jobs, especially the more technical like those in the computer industry, engineering, stock broking, investment banking to name a few that require a degree in appropriate courses.

Prestige associated with holding a degree - A degree provides a person with a lot of pride and has a good deal of prestige associated with holding it. In a competitive job market, a degree can hold a lot of value.

You are sure to gain some advantage over people that do not hold a degree or have any other higher educational qualifications.

Disadvantages of doing a degree

Possibility of accruing large student debts

Unfortunately, this is one of the main factors that often dissuades potential undergraduates from going on further education. The worries about accruing big debts and then taking years after starting work to pay off debts can be off-putting. This is regard to private sector institution. Sri Lankan students who get through their exams will not have to face such big financial problems.

Getting a head start in working life

Many see themselves as being better off by going to work sooner rather than later. They see that, instead of studying for 3 or 4 or even longer, they can earn a lot of money and gain experience in work during this time.

A degree may not get you a job

Unfortunately, in a very competitive job market, a degree may not necessarily get you the job that you had been planning. You may have to settle for a job that pays a lot less and isn’t at all what you had in mind when undertaking your undergraduate study.

Some jobs do not require a degree

It is true that some jobs do not require a degree. A person may be better off getting training, either on the job or working part time while receiving training. There are many jobs that are more ideally suited to people with technical knowledge gained through actual experience of work rather than all the theoretical knowledge that an education mostly provides.

How to pass an exam

Passing an examination isn’t really as difficult a most people blow it up to be.Like everything else, there’s an easy semantics behind the ordeal and it doesn’t include losing six hours of precious sleep or killing a week’s worth of recreation, nor does it entail you to spend whooping amount of your parents’ hard earned money on tutorials and useless review text books, it does however require tremendous amount of discipline on your part if you want to pull an A plus without breaking much of a sweat.

Here are some sure fired proven ways on how to survive any examination.

Rule of thumb

Thou shall not cram

Cramming is a common mistake among students. When you cram you tend to stock in all the information in one go and end up retaining virtually nothing at all. Remember that our brain is only capable of digesting seven minutes worth of unadulterated facts per hour-that’s our attention span. So forcing yourself to study a 100 page textbook in three hours would just render your efforts useless.

Rule number two

Get enough sleep

Yes you hear it right, sleep! Your body needs to be in top shape to refresh all that brain cells. Studies has proven that people who lost so much sleep before an examination has a higher probability of getting lower scores than those who didn’t review at all but slept well.

Rule number three

Avoid Strabucks

Because caffeine will not help stimulate your brain. It may prevent you from sleeping, but it will not keep you from being drowsy, and the latter will prevent you from retaining any information you might have wanted to. If you feel sleepy, get an apple instead, and if that still doesn’t work, break a sweat!

Rule number four

Take short-cuts

Like it or not, you will only retain information you deem important and interesting, unfortunately there is no way you can get across information over load. So SUMMARIZE and HIGHLIGHT important facts, then make a framework out of them.

Rule number five

Don’t just memorize,

emphasize!

You will learn that you will be able to comprehend and retain information faster if you actually read it thoroughly than just reading through it.

Rule number six

Turn on your I-pod

Studies show that music helps the brain work, especially classical instrumental music. However, different strokes work for different folks so why don’t you try out which genre works best for you when you’re trying to study.

Rule number seven

Have study breaks

You’re not a machine, and even if you are, you will still need a few minutes off the hook to cool down and refresh.

Rule number eight

Study alone

Study groups wont work unless you’re in a library. You’ll probably just end up chatting your precious study hours away with your friends.

These are just some of the few quintessential tips made to boost your grades. But the really clincher is this, the moment class starts, pay actual attention and take down notes, be genuinely interested in your lessons and you’ll never have to review for a test again.

Students who actually get the best grades don’t study as much as the average student because they have fun digesting their lessons. So secret is to find interesting ways to enjoy your class, it might save a lot of reviewing trouble in the long run.