I know how difficult it is to pick what subject you want to study at university.
When I finally had to apply I had a lot of personal stuff on my plate, and yet no-one would take no for an answer and there was no Plan B in my life. In the end, I opted for, too put it bluntly, the subject I had the most to write on my personal statement about.
Surprisingly enough, I ended up ridiculously unhappy, and, through a year of blunders I finally managed to figure out what I wanted to do at university. If you are curious to know how to do it from someone who is (finally) truly happy on their course, I have summed up a how-to down here. Just in case you were wondering, what did I change to and from: I used to be Italian with International Studies, which changed to Italian with French Studies, which has now finally, and happily, settled to Sociology.
Now, to get some advice on how to pick your perfect degree course, keep on reading!
- Don’t take anybody else’s advice (too seriously)
The first thing is not to take anybody else’s advice than your own. Sure you can listen to people, but make your word the bottom line. My older sister once said to me “nah, sociology is boring!” when I told her I wanted to study it at 16. I do not blame my sister because I made the decision to listen to her, but, had I taken her less seriously, I might have saved myself a year’s time!
- What do you enjoy?
Another thing is: what do you enjoy at school? It might sound really obvious, but, as well as enjoying sociology, I really enjoyed ‘moral’, a semi-pointless ethics class at my school for people who didn’t want to do Religious Studies. We talked about social and political problems there, and I couldn’t get enough of those classes. Ultimately, I looked back to the time when I heard my mate call sociology “advanced moral” when I was deciding to change course.
- Theory or practise?
Ask yourself: do I want a more practical or theoretical course? I chose Sociology because the theory of Italian bored me to death, and Sociology has a practical element to it, going out into the field, conducting interviews, etc. Some courses you expect to have a practical side to them, e.g. fashion design, film-making, art, and some courses have a more hidden practical side, like Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Theatre and Performance Studies.
- The same course can vary at different universities
A word of caution: when you do decide upon your final course, have a look at all of the different universities that do it. I want you to search the website/prospectus for information as if you were mining for gold. I want you to look, not only at the first year modules, but at the modules on offer for later years. Look at the titles of those modules, and see if they really are something you are interested in, because you can have very different approaches to the same course at different universities.
- Don’t be afraid of making mistakes
Finally, don’t be afraid of making a big mistake. As you can see, it is possible to change, and it doesn’t have to be a year onwards. Most universities will let you change within the first three weeks of study, and that will save you thousands of pounds if you are going to change anyway! While I have advised all of this, the course changes may not apply to Oxbridge and universities that you get into by interview, so please don’t be misled by this advice.
Do you have any more tips for students trying to pick the perfect university course for them? Let us know in the comments below.
Photo: Tulane Public Relations / Flickr
I am a first year Sociology student at Warwick University, and in my free time I like to sing operatically, dance hip-hop and to perform with my beloved Improvised Theatre Society. University is an important topic to me as I appreciate how hard it can be to make the right decisions when faced with so many new challenges at once. I hope my articles can make a difference.
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