Help, College opinions

[greenday-rulz21 4]

I would really like to hear your opinions on this.

I'm finishing up Form 6 (Year 12) this year. Deciding whether to go onto Form 7 (Year 13). I've completely lost interest this year, sick of homework, sick of people's immaturity, etc. Just want to get out into the workforce. have time to do the sh*t I want to do.

If I did leave I would no question about it have a gap year at least, definitely work.

But to be really unhelpful, I don't really no what direction I want to go in regards to a career. I know for sure I have no interest in doing a 4 year uni course atm, haven't discounted unitec or any institutions like that.

I am really looking for peoples experiences, If you did leave at the end of 6th form, if you stayed, if staying was neccessary for your career choice. Would like to know if leaving would be a big mistake.

Appreciate your time.

[Forrest 35]

If you do have a gap year and go work, make sure you do SAVE, I know tons of people that have worked in a gap year, full time and saved F.A, so make sure you have self control, and these people have been left back at square one when they decide to go to uni the year after back with no savings.

IMO stay for seventh form, was my 'easiest' year allround, plenty of fun to be had and you will gain U.E which if you don't get pretty much means you have to wait till your 21 to get into uni if you can handle that. Potential employers who were looking for people with uni degrees/graduates are more than likely looking for the fresh faced enthusiastic type as opposed to someone who f**ked around for 4 years after leaving school early then went and got a degree...so bascially if you want to go to uni, get it out of the way as soon as you can.

But if you don't know if you don't want to go to uni atm, there is no point wasting $1000's a year on something you won't enjoy/unsure of, so wait till you do

Hope that helps, ultimately it is your future and your decision

Edited October 29, 2009 by Forrest

[mark247 38]

I finished 7th form and didn't want to go to Uni. So i went to Polytech first and did a two year Diploma in Business ( few of the papers were through waikato uni. ) After finishing that I realised "right i have an advantage over people with no qualifications, but im still miles behind anyone with a degree." Because I didnt really enjoy business I decided to go do a degree in something maybe not as helpful, but a lot more interesting.

Now im at Uni, doing political science.. two years to go..

If you think you can keep your momentum and have a year off then go back to studym do it. But i have seen a number of people do that and never go back. But if you have enough will to go back, you will.

Perhaps instead of getting average job in NZ straight out of 6th form, why dont you consider going overseas and getting a job? There are a few around, dont pay well.. but you get the experience and that's worth heaps. I know a fair few people who have worked in the UK for a year before studying and they all found it absolutely fantastic.

Oh and if you think school is immature, wait until you get into a good Uni flat.... muhahahaha.

But if you don't know if you don't want to go to uni atm, there is no point wasting $1000's a year on something you won't enjoy/unsure of, so wait till you do

I agree and disagree..

I'd hate anyon to do an entire degree on something they dont give a crap about... but if you have no idea what you want to do a great idea is to just start a degree ( say you want to do a BA, for arguments sake ) and do 4 subjects first semester ( you could do economics, philosophy, politics, history ) that are all totally different.. you may find you are interested in something you had never thought about before. I found this with philosophy.. im not going to major in it but im certainly going to do more papers in it.. and they all go towards my degree as electives.

Edited October 29, 2009 by Mark247

[Mark 178]

What do you like to do? Hobbies? Interests?

I stayed until the end of 7th form because I knew what I wanted to do when I left school and I knew that Bursary levels were necessary for me to get into my chosen tertiary study.

I guess you need to have a vague idea of what sorts of courses you eventually want to do in order to make a decision on whether to stay at school or not. Lasting one more year (even if it sucks) may be beneficial in the long run and save you having to take pre-cursor catch-up courses etc.

[CamB 48]

I don't really no what direction I want to go in regards to a career.

It's not the greatest economy for a year 12 leaver to find a job. Do year 13, and figure out what you wanna do.

[Guest Simon*]

Do year 13. I go out with a high school teacher and the attitude they have to year 13's is different to 12 and below. You get a bit more autonomy and given the responsibility for your own fcuk-ups, more like a tertiary institute. Looks good on a CV to say you can finish something too.

After that what about taking your automotive/mechanical interest and join the air force? It's always a good option. Mech/tech trades will payoff bigtime if you decide to leave after a few years. They pay you WHILE you study and you get well taken care of.

E: on second thoughts ....

Edited October 29, 2009 by Simon*

[Braeden320 0]

It's not the greatest economy for a year 12 leaver to find a job. Do year 13, and figure out what you wanna do.

+1.

Do some work experience etc in a feild you think you may enjoy. Go and talk to people you no about what they do etc.

Don't just leave school for the sake of it, I left school halfway through 6th form and although im doing very well now its taken 4 1/2 Years of really, really hard work and study to get into a job/feild with decent earning potentiol and a future.

School is f*&king easy compared to the real world.

Looking back I wish I had stayed in school at least till the end of 7th form and then looked at more training after that.It is certainly the easier path to a decent job IMO.

[westy 614]

Hated school.

Left halfway through 6th form and never looked back.

[laadeelaa 0]

What!! You're only 6th form this year! Geezus!

I barely passed 6th form last year. I hardly went to school, and I got sick of the immaturity too.

I ended up applying for the Certificate of University Preparation at the University of Waikato.

It was piss easy, it only went for one semester, and it teaches you a sh*t load more than all of my high school years put together.

I paid two and a half grand for it, but it gave me the same nzqa qualification as nzqa level 3, but it spared me half a year to do something else, like work.

It really depends on you as a person, what your interests are, and where you are aiming to be in however many years time.

Good luck man. The world is your oyster.

[Apex 693]

Im in Westy's boat only that doesn’t work for everyone.

If you do have the potential to go on and be a professional in an academic world and can’t see yourself running a business in a "laymen" trade getting University qualifications is the only way to go.

I envy the likes of my missus who went through university and who now is moving up in the world and having a ball whist doing it.

As said first things first decide what you want to do for the rest of your life.

[Wom 0]

Do year 13. I go out with a high school teacher and the attitude they have to year 13's is different to 12 and below. You get a bit more autonomy and given the responsibility for your own fcuk-ups, more like a tertiary institute. Looks good on a CV to say you can finish something too.

yea when going over CV's I always look to see if they have completed 7th form ... shows that they can stick around and give something a go

it all depends on what kind of work you want to get into

almost all my mates that do a trade left after 6th and are all fully qualified in their fields and have no trouble getting work .. well except for my builder mate, but that's because there aint much work out there

but if you're looking more towards office type jobs, or are looking at doing some uni degree, definitely stick it out for the last year

plus, 7th form high school was the most fun I had, lots more parties, lots more mucking around and skipping class, you rule the school as 7th formers, and you don't have to worry about crap like sick leave, annual leave etc

kids have it so easy

oh and 7th form at my old high school was mufti

[Cale 36]

I stayed for Form 7 for two reasons. Firstly, it is fun, rediculously easy and relaxed and as Simon* says, the teachers are more your friends, not your teachers as such. Secondly, I needed UE.

But I did not know what I wanted to do at uni, so I went and did commerce. Now I am majoring in finance and economics and I am not sure whether I will continue or transfer to law and do an LLB.

I say stay for Year 7. If you don't enjoy it then leave and do what you were going to do. If you do like it then complete it and edit your CV. It could give you an idea on what area you would like a career in. It didn't for me but I am just enjoying being a student right now because like it has been said also, its not a good time to be unemployed and searching for jobs.

Now more than ever is when you need the qualifications for a decent job, even if your qual doesn't relate to your aspired career choice. Someone in my family graduated with a Zoology degree and is now on a huge 6 figure salary doing advertising.

[DRTDVL 0]

As someone who's start 3 degrees (2 Engineering and 1 IT/Business) and left them because i got bored with Uni. Me and exams = not good... Me and Assignments = legend...

Spend the time in 7th form, have a look through the Uni/Polytech/etc... course lists for all subjects - if you don't know what you want to do you might get some inspiration from the listed papers as it might spark the whooo that sounds interesting.

GET 7TH form! and work hard at it... 7th form is your key to get into some of the degree's you might want to do... Waiting till your 21 to apply as a mature student sucks and leaves you very very much behind others when you want develop your carrer. In saying that tho, should you have life experances (i.e. exposer to business/field specific operations vs fresh out of uni with no experance) not fresh out of uni head high in the sky.... blah blah blah... employers will look at that espically the field specific experance.

I'm 29 - still don't know what i really want to do... I do IT because it's easy for me at the moment, and i get paid ok.... Would love to go and do what i really wanted to do which was industrial design/product development, but lack of drawing skills kills that...

[martyyn 2]

I failed sixth form miserably, but then I was only 15! Failed 7th just as badly which was no surprise and left not knowing what to do. Meet my 'wife to be' on my last day of school and as she was going to do law I signed up for a few uni courses (whatever I could get in to) on the first day and failed all of that aswell!

Gave up at the end of that year, got a job and just worked while she did the law degree. Once finished she looked at me and said 'what are you going to do now?' and so I went back and did a BSc in Comp Sci as a mature student of 23.

Failing at school made it very hard to get into Comp Sci (I was initially refused entry) but I was several years wiser and actually wanted to learn. I had no idea about how to program or anything and it was hard but a great couple of years and its meant I can (and have) worked all over the world for good money.

Looking back, Im surprised more people arent encouraged to take a break. If you have no idea what to do, and lets face it thats 90% of 17 year olds, have a year or two off and get into the real world for a bit.

So I say give 7th form a go. You may not want to do university now or in another year but finishing school will make it alot easier for you should you want to go back in the future. See if you can use this year to get an idea of what you might be interested in, or what your natural skills are and go from there.

If you have any teachers you can relate too, have a chat with them. I assume you'll stay at the same school and no-one is going to know more about what its like than them.

[Apex 693]

Now more than ever is when you need the qualifications for a decent job, even if your qual doesn't relate to your aspired career choice. Someone in my family graduated with a Zoology degree and is now on a huge 6 figure salary doing advertising.

Yes yes yes. Don’t feel you have to pick a course that will decide what you will end up doing for the rest of your life, my missus like Cale did more business degrees and mastered in accounting and is now a brand manager in a marketing department.

In saying that you don’t want to do what my cousin did and spend seven years studying a bullshit subject and them come out with no employment prospects due to the niche of her qualifications, she is now paying off over $100,000 in student loans decorating windows at Briscoe’s.

[deane30 30]

If you want to have a gap year, you should have it after 7th form. My gap year working was just what I needed before starting Uni. As Nathan said MAKE SURE YOU SAVE!!!

If you do 7th form you will have so many more options and it will give you more time to decide what you really want to do. try looking at kiwicareers for ideas

My 2c

[simke 0]

I went to 7th form only because I wanted to go to uni. It actually was a complete waste of time because 10 years ago none of the subjects offered in 7th form had any relevance to what I did at uni (computer science). Maybe you could use 7th form to try out a few different subjects that you haven't done before (if possible) so that you may get an idea of what you want to do afterwards.

[Cale 36]

Maybe you could use 7th form to try out a few different subjects that you haven't done before (if possible) so that you may get an idea of what you want to do afterwards.

In my experience, thats made difficult though because they begin channeling students into subjects as early as Year 11/5th form. Although you can beg the teachers - I was doing 6th form physics, biology and chemistry, then asked nicely to swap biology for economics and it was up to me to make it work.

Do that as long as you are capable of picking up the new subject and in the very least, passing it.

[|ncary 0]

I was in the same boat at the end of 6th form. I was the first year with the godforsaken mess that is NCEA, and having assessments every 3 days, and things weren't looking good going into 7th form. However I did 7th form, best high school year EVA, and did the original plan of taking a gap year.

Well that one gap year turned into 4, worked so many jobs, even in the mines over in Aus, and now have great life experience to show for it. This year I have started an mech engineering degree at Canterbury and wish to carl sagen that I could have gone into uni straight after high school. Cause I'd be finishing up the 4 year degree this year and heading straight for massive money and mid-engine tube frame e30's, and would have had an amazing time in hall life and uni life with people my own age. But oh well. The life experience really puts it in perspective. And I look around at uni and see all these 18 year olds wasting hundreds of dollars on beer and maccas, failing simple assignments and generally just being cocks, which is what probably would have happened to me. And I know now that when I finish this course I'll have the mega CV which will stand out from the crowd, and the life experience to climb corporate ladders faster and retire early and have mid-mounted e30's to drive on a daily basis.

Well that turned into a novel. I can recommend taking a gap year next year and starting uni after that with a bit of life under your belt, and still with people the same age as you. And spend the next year going around different industries and companies (or art galleries (BA)) and finding out what you want.

Because you'll get to 22 years old and it seems like 30 is just around the corner. Argh.

Edited October 29, 2009 by Incary

[paulieboi 0]

i went through 7th form with no real motivation skipped classes etc cause i was just over everything your over but didnt know what i wanted to do, in the end failed 7th form got asked to move to napier for soccer.

took the chance experience time away from what i grew up with, worked with a mechanic, became an apple picker, worked at farmers, got a job at westpac as a teller, and now im an insurance broker back in hamilton.

in total you get the rewards you reap what you sow, and youll get as far as you want to on what you have.

you can get far with nothing, and you can get nowhere with alot, its all the way you use what you have.

in the end follow what you think you want to do, thats what i did and i have no regrets on it

[oscar90 0]

i'd have to agree with whats been said basicly and im 19 on Monday so im not someone whos had afew years to go over their mistakes,

IMO if you want a gap year do it, don't let anyone force you into something your not sure off, study or job wise, spent all this year in an apprenticeship I didn't like in the end, and it cost me money to leave due to a wonderful piece of paper with "contract" written all over it LOL, and it will no doubt look as if I dont finish things on my CV unfortunetly, but I didnt like it at all, im young enough to try again, i got some experience in the workfore, found out more of what i didnt want to get into, so i got something out of it really,

So I am going into ICT/electical or something similar, still unsure which sucks, as its one of the few things I did well at in school, just so i can get a Qualification and work somewhere I will partcially enjoy, i think its normal for most not to know what you want to do, as shown by many replies here!, so you may aswell do something you enjoy a little and get qualified while you try to find what your after

7th form FTW , it was awesome, i'd do it again in a heart beat! like many have said its different from 6th form

[Sammy J 1]

Doing 7th form this year and its awesome! best school year of my life.

[Allah 0]

Did well in engineering and automotive in school, left at the end of 6th form and was welding and doing bits and pieces at a big engineering shop.

School said I failed NCEA level2, so I went back to school in term 2 to finish NCEA 2, tho I was lucky enough to be put in 7th form. So I was enrolled to finish level 2, a few weeks later I find out I did pass level 2 (certifcates etc arrived), too late to change to level 3 classes (have too much to catch up on).

So spent the rest of the year in 7th form skipping shitty level 2 classes and spending most my time in the metal work room and automotive work shop.

Wasnt sure what I wanted to after that, decided engineering isnt what I wanted to do. Im good with computers so decided to go to wintec and do IT & communication. Failed all the academic bullshit (i suck at / hate academic type sh*t, I can pass the tests, just writing essays isnt my thing).

Started merchandising for a about a year, crap job, supermarkets are sh*t etc. I quit before I went insane.

Still dont know what I want to do, Ive been working here and there, working on boats and bits of IT work here and there. I need to find a real job...

[CamB 48]

when I finish this course I'll have the mega CV which will stand out from the crowd, and the life experience to climb corporate ladders faster and retire early and have mid-mounted e30's to drive on a daily basis.

If only it was that easy.

[Mikal 4]

Hey man, do 7th form, it's actually really easy. I passed last year on only four subjects and got U.E... was definately the best year of my schooling life.

I took a half gap year this year to work, then started at unitech in July... was good to work out most jobs that don't require tertiary education suck... made me motivated to learn again

Edited October 29, 2009 by ///MICHAEL