Top Tips For Choosing Your Optional Modules
Whether you are a first-year student, or in your final year of study at Warwick, choosing modules is an important (but sometimes stressful) part of university life! For most students, it is the one of the first times where you can refine your studies to a particular focus on what you enjoy. So, naturally, the pressure is on to make sure you pick modules that are both engaging and fit in well together as a whole.
In this blog post, I’ll be going through some tips to help make the process of module selection a lot more streamlined. I study English Literature and Creative Writing, but these tips are applicable to any module selection process.
- Plan ahead
Make sure to leave plenty of time to plan out your module choices! The process can be quite lengthy, especially in my experience of English and Creative Writing (as there are so many modules available!). Therefore, I would advise reading through as many modules descriptions as you can – even if it only piques your interest slightly, find out more about the module! Even if the module title sounds unappealing to you, it can be a good idea to click on it and find out more. After all, you might be surprised by how much it further interests you.
Once you’ve looked through all of the modules, make a note of all of the modules that you like, too, so that it’s easier to come back to and refine over the course of your selection period. You can even rank them as you go along, or annotate brief comments alongside each name that you note down. This makes it a lot easier to finalise your choices, especially after viewing modules for so long that it becomes difficult to remember what each one is offering!
2. Think carefully about your reserves
Whilst the process of module selection can be arduous, it’s so important to give your full attention to what you pick as your reserves. Make sure to go into full detail about the course outline and assessment criteria, as you would with your top choices. There is a likelihood that these could become the modules that you study in the upcoming year, so be sure that they still fulfil your interests.
3. Think about the assessment criteria
Are you someone who works better when revising for a set of exams at the end of the year? Or do you prefer to have multiple pieces of coursework spread out across several months? With a vast variety of assessment methods at Warwick, it’s important to make sure that you consider how each of your module choices are assessed and what methods suit you best.
4. Don’t be afraid to go out of your comfort zone
One of the most important tips is to not be afraid of trying out something that you have never studied before. University is the time to try out new areas of study, and to dip your toes into subjects that you may never have heard of by exploring modules outside of your department.
Don’t be put off if you don’t feel completely versed in a particular module. The most important criteria to look for when choosing your modules is interest. If you’re interested in a module, even if that module becomes challenging, your motivation to perservere will be a lot higher.
Module selection can be a daunting, but exciting time for students. There are so many options to navigate through, but by taking the time to throughly study and plan, you can make the most informed decision about the modules that best suit you. Good luck during your module selection!
