One of the most important decisions you’ll ever make is to choose a university. It will have a massive impact on the next 3-4 (or even more) years of your life while you’re studying for your degree, and even beyond. It may seem like an incredibly scary decision to make, but there are some things you can do to help alleviate that stress. So, here are some of our top tips on how to choose a university.
Do your research:
This may seem obvious, but one of the most important (and most simple) things you can do to choose a university is to do your research. While your options will have a lot of similarities, there will be some small, key differences, and those differences are what make each option unique. If you know what degree you want to study but are stuck between two or more universities, then making a comparison chart and looking at the pros and cons of each option will help. You will be doing this degree for at least three years, so you’ll want to make sure you pick the one that sounds the best to you.
Look at life outside of the course:
While choosing the right course is an important thing, you will be living in your uni town for at least 3 years, so you need to make sure you look at things outside of academics. Accommodation options, whether it’s a city or campus uni, public transport options, nightlife, among other things, whatever interests you. There’s so much to consider. If you’re gonna be living somewhere for at least 3 years, then you should make sure you like it. Perhaps you could try one of the 4 UK cities that have been voted as the best student cities in the world!
Visit if possible:
While this may not be logistically/financially possible for everyone. However, if you’re able to, you should try and visit your final choices. Whether this is on an open day, an offer holder day or even by yourself, getting to see the university itself in person will help you to make the final decision. It can help you to picture yourself living there and it provides a different perspective from looking at online, as you get to see it in person. Read out tips for offer holder and applicant days here.
Talk to people:
Talk to people; It sounds simple enough. Whether you reach out to people online, or a friend may have a sibling that went to the uni, if you can talk to people and ask them questions, your decision will definitely be made easier. Something to remember know though is that if you ask a parent may not necessarily have the most recent experience at the university, so their experience won’t be the same as yours could be. It’s still important though, you can get a more honest experience of life at the university than someone at an open day will tell you. To help you out, we’ve ranked the universities with the best reputation in the UK.
…But trust your gut:
Your opinion matters most when it comes to choosing a university. No matter what anyone says, the only person’s opinion that truly matters when deciding to choose a university is yours, because you’re the one that will be attending. That’s why it’s so important to trust your gut. Trust me, it definitely helped me make my choice. If one of your options makes you have a gut feeling, then trust that gut feeling. Only you know what’s best for yourself.
There you have it. It can be very difficult to choose a university, there’s no doubt about that. So, take some steps to alleviate the stress. Do your research, visit if possible, and ask around. But, most importantly, trust yourself. If you feel like one option is the perfect option, then go with it, no matter what anyone else has to say. You never know where it may lead you.
Last Updated on June 29, 2022
Published on April 11, 2022
