I really dont know what to study at university

Hello! Im currently a year 12 student about to sit my AS levels in History, Sociology and Biology. For a long time I've been aiming to study law at university but i feel as though im only choosing it because its a safe option that will get me a well paid job. However, deep down i know that i want to do something more exciting with my life and feel as though i want to do something that i am truely passionate about but i have no idea what that is yet and am now starting to feel the pressure of choosing it. My biggest fear is that i am going to end up choosing a course that i will either end up hating and dropping out of leaving me at a standstill in terms of what to do or end up completing the degree and end up in a completly different career meaning i will have wasted over £30,000. Ive thought about taking a gap year but my family are heavily agaisnt it and so im now at a loss of what to do. Has anyone else been in this position before and know of any advice? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Hello! Im currently a year 12 student about to sit my AS levels in History, Sociology and Biology. For a long time I've been aiming to study law at university but i feel as though im only choosing it because its a safe option that will get me a well paid job. However, deep down i know that i want to do something more exciting with my life and feel as though i want to do something that i am truely passionate about but i have no idea what that is yet and am now starting to feel the pressure of choosing it. My biggest fear is that i am going to end up choosing a course that i will either end up hating and dropping out of leaving me at a standstill in terms of what to do or end up completing the degree and end up in a completly different career meaning i will have wasted over £30,000. Ive thought about taking a gap year but my family are heavily agaisnt it and so im now at a loss of what to do. Has anyone else been in this position before and know of any advice? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!

HI, I'm in year 13 and having applied to uni for politics I have now decided I want to do Japanese so I am taking a gap year. But I always knew I would pick either politics or languages.
Do you have any idea of what subjects are potential options for you?
Think about what subject you would rather do hw for an spend 3 or 4 years of your life on. No one burn you can make the decision but a gap year could be could good for you as long as you do something with it.
Also, have you thought about applying to a liberal arts degree, there are some really good Ines at kings college London an Durham for example where you can pick modules from a range of subjects. For example, at Durham you can do history and politics mixed with economics and Chinese and many more combinations.

Hi Eleanor 😊 I’m a law student nearing the end of my third year. I never really thought about doing law until about two months before applications closed in January. I had a lot of interests back then - and still do today! My favourite subjects in school were English, History, Geography and Music. I just love learning about the world; and my childhood dream was(is?) to be a teacher – and because of that, I love education, and am interested in politics…. Choosing to do a law degree wasn’t straightforward!

I chose to do law partly because as you said, law is a ‘safe’ subject. However, I learned that doing law did not mean that I needed to sacrifice the subjects I enjoy doing – in fact, law incorporates all the subjects I love into one degree! English (reading, writing, speaking and listening are integral to become a lawyer); History (the context of cases is historical); Geography (law is international, I learn a lot about the world); Music (for example, contracts and agents in the music business; cuts to arts funding)

In your situation, if you love doing Biology, there are laws governing the NHS, legality of euthanasia, reproductive technologies, climate change, and many more. Indeed, cases explore the minute details of the biological sciences, as medical & environmental professionals attend court to testify! Law cannot be separated from Sociology either as the behaviour of society shapes the law.

The law concerns almost every aspect of society, therefore you do not need to be passionate about a certain subject. A passion for something (or many things!) will suffice. You can always take modules that you like, and do a postgraduate degree in a subject that interests you more after your first degree (note you would have to do a postgraduate to be a lawyer anyway)

It’s okay if you end up in different careers after your law degree; many graduates don’t go on to practice law anyway – John Cleese, Andrea Bocelli, Gandhi to name a few! I would suggest you go for it! Good luck on your exams – you’ll smash it! : D

Thank you so much for the reply! I wasnt aware that liberal art degrees existed but now tht you mention it i will definitly look into it. Defintly sounds like something that could suit me!

Wow thank you so much or the great relpy its really useful to know of someones experience in a law degree. Its really interesting that law can cover so many different subjects i wasnt actually aware of that before. Its so hard to know the depth to which the subjects go as they only really give a brief module summary on university websites so thats really helpful to know! My exams start next week so i can defintly do with all the luck i can get so thank you again!