Choosing a university course is one of the most important decisions that you will ever make. If you are lucky enough to be someone who is – and has been for a long time – absolutely certain of the correct course and career choice for you – then that is fantastic! But, for the vast majority of school leavers and prospective students, the possibilities seem endless and this can be a bit of an onerous task.

Spending time thinking about your skills and talents and researching various courses is absolutely essential in order to make the right decision – and a decision that you don’t live to regret. Thankfully, universities spend a lot of time and resources ensuring that applicants have a vast amount of information available to them to aid their search. You can download prospectuses, visit university open days and speak to current or previous students about the course/s that you are interested in applying for.

Looking at the module breakdowns for each course will likely help you ‘hone in’ on the correct university course for you – does one university offer modules that appeal to your specific interests? If so, the chances are you have found a good fit. Arm yourself with the knowledge to make an informed decision – rather than panicking and selecting courses at random on applications! Remember that your first year at university gives you some flexibility (dependent on the institution) so you might find that you are able to mix different disciplines before specialising at a later stage. All of the information about this will be in university guides and it is therefore vital that you familiarise yourself with these. Whatever you do – don’t lose sight of the fact that this is your degree and that it has to be enjoyable and targeted towards a career path to set you up for the future.

How to choose a course that fits you

First of all, think about what your interests are aka. what have you been studying at school, and what did you enjoy the most? These questions are vital to consider when choosing the right university course. Here are some questions to ask yourself;

• What are you good at doing – in or outside of school?
• What subjects did you enjoy the most during high school?
• In which subjects did you achieve the best grades?
• Where do your interests lie? Do you find theory appealing (a more academic approach to studying) or do you enjoy practical learning (more clearly focused on a specific job role)

Once you have identified these things, you will then be in a better position to find a university course that fits you. If you are interested and passionate about something, this tends to correspond to being quite good at it because you will typically apply yourself with more enthusiasm! This is critical because you will be immersed in the subject for at least three years during your undergraduate programme, so it is important that you are enthusiastic about it to help you in your studies. When you are writing your application for your course of choice, admissions teams will want to know why you care about the subject and what makes you a suitable candidate – thinking about this at an early stage will stand you in good stead!

People often ask, ‘Should I choose a subject with an obvious career path?’ and the answer is simple: Don’t be afraid or unwilling to pick a course that does not have an obvious career path … over the course of your study, various career routes will be identified – some, perhaps, that you had not even thought about or that seem related to your course of choice! For most people, this is the reality of university and employers are more interested in the skills that you have picked up along the way such as researching, writing, communicating your ideas and working collaboratively with other people towards a shared objective. With this in mind, don’t spend too long stressing about what career you may have. Instead, concern yourself with the task of choosing the right course that you think you will do well in and will play to your strengths.

Best courses to study at university

The following are considered the best courses to study at university in terms of securing employment:

• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Marketing / Business Studies
• Law
• Accounting
• Architecture
• Medicine
• History/Politics

This list is not exhaustive and is not designed to make people outside of those disciplines panic – these are, quite simply, the most ‘vocational’ options that translate to jobs that are readily available. There are a plethora of jobs and industries out there – some of which you may not even have heard of or considered before. At this stage, it is simply a task of identifying your strengths and the course that best suits your interests and skills. The rest will follow.

Joint honours options give you the flexibility of studying different disciplines as well as opening up the job market in terms of the scope of opportunities available to you. It is well worthwhile looking at university prospectuses or speaking to alumni to give you some idea of the types of jobs that graduates have secured upon completing their degree (this would be most helpful for those applying to courses that do not have a clear ‘job’ at the end). Remember that everyone is in the same boat – even medical students are faced with the dilemma of what area to specialise in, and this is a daunting prospect before you even begin!

Consider this phase of research a fact-finding exercise to give you the knowledge and information that you need to help you choose the right university course and make the best decision for yourself. This is a highly exciting time in your life and you will meet people and experience things that will set you up for the future – making sure that you are positive about it and excited to begin is absolutely critical so try not to lose sight of that in your search!