Any mature students?
04-09-2009, 01:31 PM
#42
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Hi dan
im just about to turn 22 myself and am doin a similar course at oxford brookes university. am just starting my second year doing motorsport engineering Beng. very similar to motorsport tech but with alot more maths!
id recomend it to any one! university is quality but as some one else mentioned its just a pain living off loans.
noticed u said that the halls you want are full (brimming). u can always see if there are any private halls close by. This is what my girlfriend is having to do at manchester as the university shes going to dont own halls. dont know what it will be like where your going but at manchester there are a supprising amount of privatly owned halls.
your other choice is to find something temporary and wait for someone to leave halls. loads of people leave halls before christmas when uni doesnt work out for them. its usually the responsibility of the person leaving to find a new tenant so at uni there are loads of notice boards with private adverts from students trying to get someone to take their room.
another option is to live with some second or third year students. often when people fail their first year they choose not to return, leaving an empty room vacant in a house they where more often than not planning on living in with friends. again people often advertise these rooms at the university on notice boards. i wouldnt recomend this tho as halls is definatly the thing to do in your first year. you'll meet so many people and make loads of new friends.
good luck with it fella and i hope it works out for ya!
luke
im just about to turn 22 myself and am doin a similar course at oxford brookes university. am just starting my second year doing motorsport engineering Beng. very similar to motorsport tech but with alot more maths!
id recomend it to any one! university is quality but as some one else mentioned its just a pain living off loans.
noticed u said that the halls you want are full (brimming). u can always see if there are any private halls close by. This is what my girlfriend is having to do at manchester as the university shes going to dont own halls. dont know what it will be like where your going but at manchester there are a supprising amount of privatly owned halls.
your other choice is to find something temporary and wait for someone to leave halls. loads of people leave halls before christmas when uni doesnt work out for them. its usually the responsibility of the person leaving to find a new tenant so at uni there are loads of notice boards with private adverts from students trying to get someone to take their room.
another option is to live with some second or third year students. often when people fail their first year they choose not to return, leaving an empty room vacant in a house they where more often than not planning on living in with friends. again people often advertise these rooms at the university on notice boards. i wouldnt recomend this tho as halls is definatly the thing to do in your first year. you'll meet so many people and make loads of new friends.
good luck with it fella and i hope it works out for ya!
luke
05-09-2009, 09:53 PM
#45
Advanced PassionFord User
I started a Motorsport course in NEWI (wrexham). I dropped out towards the end of the 1st year. They started the course with A-level revision for Maths, i'd just got a C at GCSE level and hadn't done an A-level. I struggled like hell and the guy teaching wasn't very good at explaining stuff.
The main reason I dropped out though is because how often do you see jobs advertised? They are few and far between and the type of jobs you are likely to find (F1 teams, etc) are going to go to people with the highest degrees. The fact you can pass the course without stepping foot in a garage or picking up a spanner also put me off.
I noticed that the people telling you it's great haven't completed the course and are working within motorsport.
The main reason I dropped out though is because how often do you see jobs advertised? They are few and far between and the type of jobs you are likely to find (F1 teams, etc) are going to go to people with the highest degrees. The fact you can pass the course without stepping foot in a garage or picking up a spanner also put me off.
I noticed that the people telling you it's great haven't completed the course and are working within motorsport.
05-09-2009, 10:11 PM
#46
There's a shed load more to motorsport than F1 and all the high level stuff. Club racing is prolific and there are any number of single make series and formula championships to get involved in. Jobs are out there. Yes it's a competitive market, but what isn't?
There's people on my course that are being offered jobs already, and they've only just finished the first year. There is a shortage of engineers in this country, so the opportunities are there. Motorsport is also a good stepping stone into the aftermarket industry, there are a lot of people out there with a lot of money to spend on road/track cars, so there's money to be made.
I'm not saying it's for everyone, but there are definately possibilities.
There's people on my course that are being offered jobs already, and they've only just finished the first year. There is a shortage of engineers in this country, so the opportunities are there. Motorsport is also a good stepping stone into the aftermarket industry, there are a lot of people out there with a lot of money to spend on road/track cars, so there's money to be made.
I'm not saying it's for everyone, but there are definately possibilities.
05-09-2009, 10:34 PM
#47
Advanced PassionFord User
I know there is more than F1, but only the high end level stuff pays the wages to make it worth while getting a degree. (you won't find many club level jobs paying well and needing a fully qualified engineer thats never picked up a spanner).
I found that plenty of people on my course were really good in the class room but clueless around cars. I would be in the student accommodation car park fixing things on my Mk1 Escort and they'd all be coming out to watch me to learn stuff.
I don't want to put a downer on it all but I know so many people with degrees working in shops all their lives, it's due to the lack of practical experience.
I recently did an apprenticship in dental technology, did one day a week in uni over 3 years to get a (foundation) degree. I've now got 4 years experience of actually working rather than learning and people who I studied with (that were doing the full degree) have slim chance of getting a job. My lab employed one person with a full degree and no experience recently and they are on 4k a year less than me (and i'm due a payrise soon
) and doing basic work (badly) within the lab.
All that said, the student debts I built up while in NEWI doing the motorsport course was worth it. I had the best 8 months of my life ever, totally care free, pissed up all the time.
I found that plenty of people on my course were really good in the class room but clueless around cars. I would be in the student accommodation car park fixing things on my Mk1 Escort and they'd all be coming out to watch me to learn stuff.
I don't want to put a downer on it all but I know so many people with degrees working in shops all their lives, it's due to the lack of practical experience.
I recently did an apprenticship in dental technology, did one day a week in uni over 3 years to get a (foundation) degree. I've now got 4 years experience of actually working rather than learning and people who I studied with (that were doing the full degree) have slim chance of getting a job. My lab employed one person with a full degree and no experience recently and they are on 4k a year less than me (and i'm due a payrise soon
) and doing basic work (badly) within the lab. All that said, the student debts I built up while in NEWI doing the motorsport course was worth it. I had the best 8 months of my life ever, totally care free, pissed up all the time.
05-09-2009, 10:58 PM
#48
I do see what you're saying, and there are certainly some clueless people on my course, but more fool them really. It's up to you to get experience.
The course Dan has been accepted to has a nine month placement included, so he'd be doing at least two days a week working for a race team getting practical experience, and there are opportunities to do more too, so it's not all bad
The course Dan has been accepted to has a nine month placement included, so he'd be doing at least two days a week working for a race team getting practical experience, and there are opportunities to do more too, so it's not all bad
05-09-2009, 11:15 PM
#49
Wahay!! I've lost my Virginity!!
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Hey i'm 21 and now going into my 3rd year of automotive and motorsport engineering (Beng) might be planning to do a masters as well, if the job situation doesn't get any better.
Before this i had to do a foundation course in engineering since i didn't do maths at a-levels.
The foundation year was a walk in the park the maths really wasnt that bad and the physics was easy.
But the degree i'm doing now at uni is bloody hard, several people from first year dropped out of engineering because you need to put in a lot of effort.
The first two years have been generalised to all aspects of engineering be it automotive, mechanical or aeronautical.
Subjects i have covered:
Fluid Dynamics
Thermodynamics
Maths
Material Engineering
Computing (using Auto CAD and CATIA)
Mechanics of solids
Mechatronics
Management
All very interesting subjects and this year my 3rd year is when all subjects branch of into their own topics so mine will be more automotive based.
We also participate in the formula student competition between uni's which i am looking forward too!
I'm sure you'll like the subjecy your doing
Cheers
Before this i had to do a foundation course in engineering since i didn't do maths at a-levels.
The foundation year was a walk in the park the maths really wasnt that bad and the physics was easy.
But the degree i'm doing now at uni is bloody hard, several people from first year dropped out of engineering because you need to put in a lot of effort.
The first two years have been generalised to all aspects of engineering be it automotive, mechanical or aeronautical.
Subjects i have covered:
Fluid Dynamics
Thermodynamics
Maths
Material Engineering
Computing (using Auto CAD and CATIA)
Mechanics of solids
Mechatronics
Management
All very interesting subjects and this year my 3rd year is when all subjects branch of into their own topics so mine will be more automotive based.
We also participate in the formula student competition between uni's which i am looking forward too!
I'm sure you'll like the subjecy your doing
Cheers
06-09-2009, 12:06 PM
#50
Too many posts.. I need a life!!
Im 24 and started an electrical engineering degree through open university. I chose this because I`m a fully qualified electrician and wanted to continue to work and do my degree. Just a shame we hit a recession and I`ve been unemployed for basically a year. Really brroke at the minute and being married and my own house has made it difficult but I`m looking to the future of big wages that will make up for this small slump in my life.
06-09-2009, 04:47 PM
#51
PassionFord Post Whore!!
Thread Starter
Just say - I've been doing practical stuff for the past three years, full engine rebuilds etc etc so I've got a fair amount of experience in that - I'd like theory now more than practical knowledge!
(Not finished reading the thread just yet! lol)
(Not finished reading the thread just yet! lol)
06-09-2009, 07:21 PM
#52
BANNED
BANNED
Just seen this thread...
I'm starting Motorsport Engineering post-grad at Cranfield Uni in a couple weeks has been stupidly hard work to get there though tbh.
I did a FdEng course at Kingston three years ago, was going on to Brunel for full Motorsport degree but got offered an great job in the trade and went fishing for money like a mug (paid for it now
)
You need a 2:1 at least on an enginering degree usually, that or adequate experience so have been from the parts game, to techy (doing last month at Audi at the moment), to private tuners proving experience last few years and submitting projects with my app. and got the place
Only a year intensive course but finally on my way...still a bit surreal with all the reading/work this summer but I'm properly excited now.
I'm starting Motorsport Engineering post-grad at Cranfield Uni in a couple weeks has been stupidly hard work to get there though tbh.
I did a FdEng course at Kingston three years ago, was going on to Brunel for full Motorsport degree but got offered an great job in the trade and went fishing for money like a mug (paid for it now
)You need a 2:1 at least on an enginering degree usually, that or adequate experience so have been from the parts game, to techy (doing last month at Audi at the moment), to private tuners proving experience last few years and submitting projects with my app. and got the place
Only a year intensive course but finally on my way...still a bit surreal with all the reading/work this summer but I'm properly excited now.
06-09-2009, 07:56 PM
#53
500bhp saff cossie
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I gave up my job teaching in 2001, when I was 21, and I returned to college to do a Higher National Diploma in Playwork. It was the best thing I ever did.
As I was slightly older, I decided I was at College to study not for the social life, boring I know!!, but it meant I came out with only a £4,000 student loan and the prize of student of the year. I worked hard and it paid off when I walked into the job I have know, advising teachers!!!!
Good luck with it mate x
As I was slightly older, I decided I was at College to study not for the social life, boring I know!!, but it meant I came out with only a £4,000 student loan and the prize of student of the year. I worked hard and it paid off when I walked into the job I have know, advising teachers!!!!
Good luck with it mate x
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