I think now there is so much pressure to do uni because "everyone" does it. You do gcse's and they get you to A levels, then no one cares what you got at gcse. You do A levels, get to uni and no one cares what you got at 18, just what you got at 21/22.
I think trades are definate important, yes the money starts crap but you will always need plumbers, chippies, sparkies and so on. When I was a surveyor out on building sites, I met quite a few builders who started at 16, worked their way up and now earn a good few quid.
I remember doing work experience in a solicitors office when I was 16, bloke came into the office driving a brand new Ferrari. Spoke to the solicitor after the meeting, turns out the guy had started hodding bricks at 16, worked his way up, turned out he had a flair for design and so got into architecture. He now/then designs the most sought after houses on Sandbanks in Poole.
But I digress. I ended up doing law for a year at uni but it was tediously dull, nothing like a John Grisham novel so I left. Ended up doing International Relations - basically history, politics, strategic studies, all that kind of stuff which I am really into. Of course it was all based on the post cold war world the 9/11 happened and all the ideas changed!
Before you choose, these days you have to be sure, a) It's costly, but B) can you study it exclusively for 3 years?
Also, gap years, hit and miss. I did Australia for a year. Great fun, lots of laughs and beer. Did I grow as a person, develop and challenge myself? In a job interview, yes of course I did, in reality, did I bollocks, I spent too much cash, shaved off my hair grew a goatee and apparently developed a bit of an Australian accent. Be very sure you know what you will do with it? Are you just working to save cash or are you challenging yourself, building mud huts in Africa or some such thing
