It's been a long time since I published my last university tips/advice post and so I thought It was time to round all my posts up (just in case this helps some of you!)
There was a recent survey by my voucher codes which tugged on a few heart strings of mine as I was that person in the same situation only a couple of years ago. My voucher codes found that almost a third of first-year students have either already dropped out or they're thinking about dropping out in the summer.
About a year and a half ago I wrote this post 'Is University right for me? Decisions and options' as I myself had dropped out of university after my 1st year and I wanted to share my experience with you all. A brief overview is that I had just turned 18 when I decided to go to university in Birmingham to study Fashion Retail Management (it's now called Fashion Business and Promotion) and I was 100% sure this was the right decision but once I'd spent a few months there, I decided it wasn't for me. I loved living there, I had a great social life and great friends around me but I just wasn't enjoying my degree.
I'm sure some of you will know that after your first term of university you all come home meet up with friends and they were all loving there courses and I just wasn't feeling it with mine, I always thought did I make the right decision? With my school year being the first to pay the £9,000 degree fees I knew I needed to take some time away from education as I wasn't enjoying my course.
This article which I read on the Independent just reminded me of how I was feeling two short years ago, and so I thought I'd write a couple of tips and bits of advice just in case any of you reading this post aren't enjoying your degree.
1. Does your degree make you happy? - I've had friends drop out of university, reapply, swap courses all sorts. I think it's important to think are you enjoying your course? Do you see a future with your degree? Do you feel like you're getting good value for what you're paying in tuition fees?
2. Really think about it (before you make a decision) - Do you have a back up plan? Do you have a job to go to back home? If you're thinking about leaving I'd start applying to jobs and so when you find a job you can start earning money as soon as you leave.
3. Does your ideal career need a degree? - There's a lot of jobs which you don't need a degree for, you can do courses at college, you can learn on the job or you can get an apprenticeship. Personally I think I'm one of those people who prefers working as I like knowing I'm doing something useful with my time.
4. Take some time out - It's okay to take a year out to figure out what you want to do, who knows what they want to do when they're 18? I'm 21 now and I know I want to work in marketing once I graduate but I have no idea what area of marketing.
5. Do you want to do another course? - I ended up going to join the 2nd year of the degree which was my second choice and I enjoy my course. It's difficult and a challenge but It makes me work a lot harder then I would have done in my last degree. In my 2nd year I had so many hours of contact time which made me feel like I was getting great value for the tuition fees I will have to pay. When looking at other universities look at the degree specifications, contact hours and reputation of the university.
You can read my other posts about university here, here, here and here.
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2 comments
I love doing my degree and I feel like I made the right decision but I wish I had more advice from my sixth form before I applied, they were a bit clueless, didn't understand the course, told me I didn't have the right qualifications (I did) etc. Love these pieces of advice you've written about, I know lots of people who could have done with this when they were applying ! Glad your now enjoying university!!!
Distant Dreamer
Great post Becca! I definitely don't regret going to University but I think at 18 it can be so hard to know what you want to do that you end up going without really thinking through your options
Bry x
www.bryonylaura.com
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