Are DBS (Dublin Business School) degrees worth nothing?

psycho-hope

im a student in dbs at the mo studying psychology. The psychology degrees are accredited by the Irish psychology society and as a result by the british one they have an agreement between each other.As other people have said you get back what you put into your course, Two of my friends graduated last year and have both found jobs that will give them the work experience that they need for there masters, it seems that employers are starting to realise just because you have paid to attend college it dosent mean your degree is worth as much as one form the likes of TCD/UCD etc, the only problem might be european companies who would only have heard of the main universities here

randylonghorn

Gordon Gecko wrote: »

Employer is faced with two candidates for a job: Mr. A has 2.1H Degree X from Trinity, Mr. B has 1H degree X from DBS. Mr. A gets the job 100% of the time. You can debate whether or not that's fair etc. but it's reality so deal with it.

You can also debate whether it's reality.

For example, I sat on an interview panel fairly recently which chose an Irish Institute of Technology graduate over graduates from Trinity, UCD, St. Andrew's and a host of other universities, despite what would probably be the perception of 'reality' out there.

Yes, some colleges might be seen to have a slight edge over others, depending on the discipline, and some colleges have a certain snob factor associated with them, but there are a large number of factors which influence employers' decisions, and tbh "which college" is usually pretty far down the line these days. The candidate, their relevant experience, and the impression they leave with the interviewers on issues like commitment, interest, competence, flexibility, communication skills, etc. etc. certainly count for a hell of a lot more in 99% of cases.

randylonghorn wrote: »

Have you contacted DBS directly about this as previously advised?

What did they say?

I'm still hoping for an answer from Muse007 re: this ... *something* about this isn't adding up correctly.

Muse007

Hi,
that's what they said..

"I can confirm that your award from Dublin Business School attracts 180 ECTS credits at level 8 in the Irish Framework of Qualifications. The reason that it shows as 90 credits in your Diploma Supplement is that the award is from a UK university that uses the UK system of credits.

The following link shows the comparison between the UK and Ireland.

http://www.qualificationsrecognition.ie/recognition/int_qual_databse/uk/documents/CrossBoundaries.pdf"


I have contacted the uni in Liverpool, they said I have to talk to DBS (which is pretty lame, since it is a LJMU accreditation)


Then I contacted the NARIC in UK:
"UK NARIC is the National Agency responsible for providing information and advice about vocational, academic and professional skills and qualifications from all over the world. We provide information about the equivalency of qualifications and skills from overseas to the UK's national qualifications frameworks.

Unfortunately we are unable to assist with your query below."

They advised to contact the Country NARIC I want to my master in.

Well basically I already know the answer.


I need a comparison of Irish/UK and the rest of the EU.
Anyway... 90 CP (or ECTS) is 90 CP on the transcript of the result ! You can say whatever you want, as long there are no 180 CP in total the degree is not valid... or you guys have other information?


So back to where I was.


Any suggestions?


@Gordon
I am not looking for a job, but you might be right that the reputation is not the best in Ireland. However in other markets work experience counts more and often (if it is not in a scientific degree such as in medicine, chemistry or law) a degree with a good result just shows that you are smart enough to start and finish a degree and adapt theory into a realistic context.

randylonghorn

Aaaaahhhh ... I think I'm beginning to suspect what has gone wrong!

DBS *have* I suspect made an error in your documentation ... but by the looks of it your degree is valid, it's simply that someone in there has the ECTS / CATS (UK credit system) conversion backwards.

Muse, long boring post to follow when I get a chance!

(p.s. I now suspect that the 90 credits figure is applicable ONLY to your final year results!)

Muse007

Well we'll see about that :P

Tbh I don't think it's that simple... but I will let you know what kind of document I will end up with :-)

Funny enough the NQAI (National Qualifications Authority of Ireland) told me that I only have 45 ECTS thus 2 credit points are equal to 1 ECTS.

Isn't that great how competent every one is in their subject matter?!

---> RE p.s. NO ! Honestly I can count all my CPs together and trust me, it's 90 !

rainbowtrout

crayolastereo wrote: »

I would get onto DBS and see what they have to say very quickly, it may just be a misunderstanding but I would hope they haven't misrepresented the course to you.

In terms of the private degrees in general, the only thing my teacher said to watch out for is that they don't come from University of Dublin, they can come from University of Middle of Nowhere in England and sometimes employers can question what kind of qualification you have.

I get the point your teacher was trying to make, 'don't get a degree from a makey-up college'....but.... The University of Dublin is the proper name of Trinity College.....

Look at the banner

http://psychology.tcd.ie/

randylonghorn

Muse007 wrote: »

Hi,
that's what they said..

"I can confirm that your award from Dublin Business School attracts 180 ECTS credits at level 8 in the Irish Framework of Qualifications.

This is the bit you need to know for your own peace of mind. If they're making this statement, they must be prepared to stand over it.

The problem is with the documentation somewhere.

Muse007 wrote: »

(quoting DBS)The reason that it shows as 90 credits in your Diploma Supplement is that the award is from a UK university that uses the UK system of credits.

This does not make sense.

The UK uses CATS credits ... to convert from CATS to ECTS divide by 2 (as the NQAI are doing).

So a UK degree is 360 CATS credits, equivalent to 180 ECTS credits here (and in much of Europe).

A full degree can not be 90 credits in either system.

If they are "confirming that your award from DBS attracts 180 ECTS credits at level 8 in the Irish Framework of Qualifications" then something is wrong in the documentation somewhere.

Either the 90 credits represents the final year result of a 4 year part-time degree (which you seem to be saying is not the case) ...

... or it represents a top-up of 90 (CATS) credits to reach degree level, perhaps on the basis of entering the course at advanced standing due to either transfer of credits from a previous (lower-level) award or / and Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning

... or LJMU have a system of their own of "Credit Points" which is different again from CATS

... or DBS are just lying through their teeth to you, and to be honest I really doubt that, because you could take them to the cleaners, and they're not that stupid!!


NARIC are irrelevant to your core issue ... though I'm surprised LJMU weren't more helpful, tbh.

Chuchoter

rainbowtrout wrote: »

I get the point your teacher was trying to make, 'don't get a degree from a makey-up college'....but.... The University of Dublin is the proper name of Trinity College.....

Look at the banner

http://psychology.tcd.ie/

I thought it was like, all the universities are from University of Dublin, then UCD and TCD are colleges...or something? I could be completely wrong now but thats what I got from what she was saying, but she's been known to be wrong.

Edit: Nevermind, wikipedia says you're right :P

rainbowtrout

crayolastereo wrote: »

I thought it was like, all the universities are from University of Dublin, then UCD and TCD are colleges...or something? I could be completely wrong now but thats what I got from what she was saying, but she's been known to be wrong.

Edit: Nevermind, wikipedia says you're right :P

University of Dublin only has one college, Trinity College.
University of Limerick and Dublin City University are also stand alone universities.

National University of Ireland has four colleges, Cork, Galway, Maynooth and Dublin.

Hence the old names UCC, UCG, UCD, Maynooth College. The name was changed from University College...... about 15 years ago and NUIG and NUIM changed their names accordingly, but UCC and UCD retained their old names.

Edit: God bless Wikipedia, where would we be without it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_University_of_Ireland

randylonghorn

Randy says she's right too!!!! :P

Joking aside, the University of Dublin is TCD for all practical purposes ... it's a slightly strange paradox which has its roots in history. Theoretically, the University of Dublin could one day have other colleges, just as the University of Oxford (on which its modeled) has a number of colleges, but practically it will probably never happen now.

UCD, UCC, UCG / NUIG and NUIM were / are part of the National University of Ireland (hence the NUI in some of the names), but this is more a loose federal arrangement since 1997 than anything else.

theowen

TCD loves refering to itself as The University...

Also, LOVES referring to itself as College. Not even the college, or TCD college. Just College. Narcissistic much?

rainbowtrout

randylonghorn wrote: »

Randy says she's right too!!!! :P

Joking aside, the University of Dublin is TCD for all practical purposes ... it's a slightly strange paradox which has its roots in history. Theoretically, the University of Dublin could one day have other colleges, just as the University of Oxford (on which its modeled) has a number of colleges, but practically it will probably never happen now.

UCD, UCC, UCG / NUIG and NUIM were / are part of the National University of Ireland (hence the NUI in some of the names), but this is more a loose federal arrangement since 1997 than anything else.

I'm glad to see that bloody 'History of Education' module I had to study 13 years ago has finally had some use!!!

Edit: I referred to NUIG as UCG last week in class when one of my students asked about a course there - he interrupted me to ask me what UCG was! Felt very old having to explain the name change!

theowen wrote: »

TCD loves refering to itself as The University...

Also, LOVES referring to itself as College. Not even the college, or TCD college. Just College. Narcissistic much?

That 'The' just screams out to be put in italics :pac:

Michelle_H

hi Muse 007 did you get your credits sorted in the end? I was thinking of doing the same course in DBS & came across your posts here. How many modules is there per year? Would you reccomend the school?

randylonghorn

Michelle_H wrote: »

hi Muse 007 did you get your credits sorted in the end? I was thinking of doing the same course in DBS & came across your posts here. How many modules is there per year? Would you reccomend the school?

Hi Michelle,

I don't think Muse has been on Boards in a long time, but I can confirm that she did get her credits sorted ... as I suspected, it was a combination of confusion between CATS / ECTS credits, getting all the information on the one document, and general lack of clarity.

I can't speak to your other questions though; I'm totally unfamiliar with DBS courses.

Muse007

Michelle_H wrote: »

hi Muse 007 did you get your credits sorted in the end? I was thinking of doing the same course in DBS & came across your posts here. How many modules is there per year? Would you reccomend the school?

Hi Michelle,

I was running after the correction of my CP/ECTS more than 3 months.
Studying part-time for a bachelor entitles you for 180 CP/ECTS. So make sure that you get the correct amount, better talk to the registrar office.
My problem was solved thanks to 'randylonghorn', he helped me with a convincing note.
Apart from that the organisation of DBS is sometimes a bit confusing. However the lectures were most of the time very interesting and I enjoyed it, most of the lecturer worked in the private or public sector so it was not all grey theory.
DBS will tell you to complete 4 courses in a year because of the workload you are facing. Depending on how good you are on your time management I'd stick to that if I were you. The first courses are mandatory and focus on theory retrieval. If you go further the demand of theory application into real life scenario will increase. Business & Psychology was quite a new course and the modules business and psy were taught separately except organizational behaviour. I know though that DBS has changed some of the courses so both areas interlink better with each other
I'd recommend the Bachelor especially if you have an affinity for both areas. I have just started my Master in Busi.Psy now.
For more information check their website or visit one of their 'open door' nights. You will get most of your questions answered there.
Good Luck !

learnado99

hi muse,first of all congratulations on starting your masters.i am new here and am very intrigued with the honors degree in psychology but my problem is i don't know what doors it will open in the future. does it depend on results in final exam? also i could possibly pay myself which is about 5200 but if i was to apply for a student grant how much would they give? thanks in advance i am limited with information about this subject

Muse007

Hi Learnado, sorry for the late reply. I didn't receive the follow thread notification...
If you mean Business Psy your specialization could be Industrial+Organizational Psy, or advertising and marketing psy. That all depends on the college or university. IO Psy will open the door to all HR and Union related jobs as well as Training and Coaching ...just check for example "jobs.ie" and choose HR or Marketing - there are different job directions to choose from. Can't tell you anything about for a student grant, I was working full-time and financed it that way.
I'd say the final result is not that important... relevant is that you get work experience asap.

Here is a good overview for I/O
http://books.google.de/books?id=TgE7zklRjHgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=organizational+psychology&hl=de&sa=X&ei=F78YT63MH8PAtAavpbypDA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=organizational%20psychology&f=false

BOHtox

A level 6/7/8 degree is recognised all over Europe. It's only education snobs who belittle them. So yeah they are worth getting if there is a course there that you really like. However, there are the same courses in non-fee paying colleges. I'd say take these ones instead purely because they're cheaper