Choosing A Course
How do I choose which subject to study?
How important are my career aspirations, when choosing a subject?
Career aspirations can be quite important when choosing a course, especially if the student wants to study something at university which is clearly vocational, which is clearly going to lead to a particular career. For example, law, potentially, or medicine. But the career aspirations are not the be-all and end-all because many undergraduate programs can be studied, and then a conversion course can be taken after that to allow the student to study a non-vocational course at university and then go on to a more vocational career path. I think a student should bear it in mind, especially if they're passionate about becoming some particular… for example, lawyer, or doctor or architect. Yes, that will influence their chosen path at university, but it isn't the be-all and end-all. Enjoying your subjects is more important.
How can I find out what will be covered in a course?
Well the most obvious way to find out what will be covered in a course is the university prospectus and the website. In fact websites these days usually contain more information than the prospectus do. So the first port of call for any perspective student is to take a look at websites and prospectus and course handbooks as well, which are often, again, downloadable from a website. And also visit on open days and speak to students, perhaps in the year above who have already gone on to that particular university and studied in that course.
Should I find out what current students think of a course?
It is important to find out what current students think of a course. This can be done quite easily these days, either through the university website, which may have "email-a-student" facilities on there, or by visiting the Open Day at the university and speaking to students who are either just around on campus or students who actually help out at the open days by being student ambassadors. So there are many, many opportunities to find out what current students think.
