Picking a course to study at university

Before picking a university, the harder choice for me was actually deciding what I wanted to study. Over my penultimate year of high school, there were quite a few times where I was set on one subject, only to rethink it weeks or months later, and then be completely undecided again. I alternated between Liberal Arts, Politics, or PPE. I actually made my final decision to study Law the last week of the summer before starting my final year of school. Needless to say, it can feel quite overwhelming to hesitate over different courses when it seems like everyone else around you has had it all figured out for quite a bit. As I was in a French school studying for my Science Baccalauréat (and so spending a lot of my time doing Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology), it was also a bit daunting to veer away from these types of courses, because I really had no idea what Law would be like, or if I would be good at it.

 So, for all of you struggling with the same decision, here is what I did to choose my subject!

 First thing I did was make a lot of lists. I had lists for things I enjoyed doing, for things I was interested it, for things I couldn’t imagine myself doing, for things I was good at, and so forth. Not having a dream job in mind can make it difficult to pick a course, but I told myself that if the course I chose had all of the things I enjoyed doing, then I would most likely end up in a career I enjoyed afterwards. Once I had all of these lists written down, I was able to narrow the number of subjects that would interest me. I liked reading, debating, writing, and I was interested in human rights, international matters, in having a job where I could personally help people and where I would have the opportunity to travel a lot.

 If it helps, think about the subjects you enjoy studying at school now. Your school might not have the exact course you’ll end up studying at uni, but if there are specific aspects to the subjects you’re studying now that you like, that could point you in the right direction. I loved English, writing essays and analyzing texts. I enjoyed Maths, because it was logical and I liked working through problems. While I had never studied Law, these are some of the skills that are really important there, so I felt it was a good place to look.

 Then for me, it was about deciding whether I would actually enjoy studying Law. I’ve written about this in previous blogs ( https://our.warwick.ac.uk/is-law-boring-and-other-pre-uni-worries/ ), but it really is hard picturing yourself studying something you’ve never done before and (in my case back then) know very little about! So I read a lot of student blogs, watched videos and vlogs from people studying Law and talks about Law in general, and that helped make me feel more confident that I would like it. If you’re lucky and know someone who’s done the course you’re interested in or who is currently studying it, definitely take advantage of that and see what their experience has been like, and how they’ve found the subject!

 As a bonus, doing all of this research into the course you like also means that when it’s time to write your personal statement for UCAS, it will be simpler to write about your motivations and your interest in that specific subject!

 I hope this helps, and feel free to ask me any questions you might have about university, or about studying Law! 🙂