i cannot decide on a course - advice needed!

hello,

here’s some background information on me:
i am currently in year 12, and since i was in year 9, i have always wanted to be an architect. recently, that career path dream has fallen apart for me because i stopped liking the idea of becoming an architect.
i chose my a levels based on architecture - i started off with maths, physics, art and biology, but dropped maths ever since i realised i don’t need it anymore and am not very good at it.

current issue:
i have been struggling to figure out what i like (instead of architecture) for a while now. i’ve looked at so many different courses, related to biology, physics and art but i cannot seem to find anything that fulfils me. i don’t like the idea of any of them, and i’m worried that i won’t be able to complete a shortlist of courses by the time i have to apply to unis (december 2023- january 2024). i am incredibly indecisive and change my mind on what course i want to do frequently, and i’m not quite sure why this keeps happening.

could someone please give me some advice, other than “do what you like” (i’ve heard this one quite a few times before) because this is something i have been struggling with for a while now…

thanks :smile:

Reply 1

pangolin :)

13

think about what's important to you in a career (pay, flexibility, creativity etc), and what degrees might fulfill that. I'd say go to open days so you can actually experience some different courses, it might make things a bit clearer. would you consider a gap year? it would give you more time to consider what you want to do in the future. If your school has any sort of careers meetings, I'd try and arrange one - talking through your options can often clarify what your thinking.

Reply 2

normaw

Clearing and Applications Advisor, Universities Forum Helper

19

The poster above has given you some good advice, especially to take a gap year if you are undecided. One of the best things to do is attend some open days and go to as many subject talks as you can - even if it is to your nearest uni that you don't intend applying to. My daughter started out with four possible degree options, but had picked her favourite after attending a couple of open days.

https://www.opendays.com/

Go to the websites of several unis and scroll through the undergraduate course lists to see what grabs your interest. You will find courses that you might not have considered before but might pique your interest, such as Environmental/earth science, landscape architecture, natural sciences, film practices, urban planning:

https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/earth-and-environmental-science-bsc-hons-ff68/
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/2024/landscape-architecture-ba
https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studywithus/ugstudy/courses/UG/Natural-Sciences-BSc-Hons-U6UNATRS.html
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/undergraduate/degrees/p313/
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/2024/urban-studies-ba

Your A levels suit some of the Allied Health Professional roles, such as diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/ahp/role/

There are many degrees that don't require specific A level subjects - law, politics, international relations, archaeology, etc, etc. Most grad schemes don't care what you study in uni so if you get a good degree and relevant work experience through internships and placements, you will be in good position to apply for most grad schemes.

Some resources that might help:

https://www.theuniguide.co.uk/a-level-explorer

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/ - career guide listing 100s of job profiles

Reply 3

Emmanuel AA

2

It's a tricky position to be in especially once you've locked yourself in with the subjects you've picked for Sixth Form. However, what many people learn is that it's never too late to make a change, go down a new path, and try something new if your mind changes. Well done for making that self-realization and acknowledging it now! In terms of moving forward, booking appointments with Careers' staff/teachers at your school because they've been there before and might be able to help you talk through things you're considering in your head. In terms of what you wish to do specifically, I guess the big sticking point is figuring out why you haven't found someone you like. Is it because you've got a completely different set of interests (e.g. I know someone who studied Chemistry and is now doing Philosophy & Politics; it happens but can be problematic)? Is it because you're not sure whether your current subjects would facilitate studying something else at uni (often less of a problem than people first think and I would encourage going to Open Days, contacting departments etc. to find out about requirements)? Is it because you're not sure if uni more generally is the right option for you? I think once you lay out what's stopping you from being happy with your search to this point, you can figure out a plan of action rather than assuming the right answer is waiting for you on the path you're currently going down. I hope this helps; it's a struggle of a period but making the right decision for you can lead to some of the most fun and rewarding years of your life. Best of luck with it all!

Reply 4

Anonymous #2

Original post by Anonymous

hello,

here’s some background information on me:
i am currently in year 12, and since i was in year 9, i have always wanted to be an architect. recently, that career path dream has fallen apart for me because i stopped liking the idea of becoming an architect.
i chose my a levels based on architecture - i started off with maths, physics, art and biology, but dropped maths ever since i realised i don’t need it anymore and am not very good at it.

current issue:
i have been struggling to figure out what i like (instead of architecture) for a while now. i’ve looked at so many different courses, related to biology, physics and art but i cannot seem to find anything that fulfils me. i don’t like the idea of any of them, and i’m worried that i won’t be able to complete a shortlist of courses by the time i have to apply to unis (december 2023- january 2024). i am incredibly indecisive and change my mind on what course i want to do frequently, and i’m not quite sure why this keeps happening.

could someone please give me some advice, other than “do what you like” (i’ve heard this one quite a few times before) because this is something i have been struggling with for a while now…

thanks :smile:

Honestly, I’d just choose a generic subject degree that enjoy. For example, I chose to study Biological Sciences at undergraduate because I knew I liked biology (I was doing Biology, Physics and Business Studies at A-level) but had no idea what I was going to do next with it. During my Biological Science degree, I took a wide variety of units and discovered forensic science was not for me. However, I did find a passion for genetics and medicine and now I’m studying for a more specific MSc in reproductive medicine. So maybe just look at some subject degrees that aren’t really specific (e.g. BSc Biology, BSc Biological Sciences, BSc Environmental Science (for context, I know someone who has done a landscape architecture MSc to follow this), BSc Physics, BSc Physics with Medical Physics (maybe combining your interest in physics and biology) or BA Fine Art). That way, you can either graduate with a really flexible core degree that’s given you a range of skills (this is very employable) or, if you really fall in love with something on the course, you could pursue further postgraduate education in that area. Hope this helps!

Reply 5

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

15

Original post by Anonymous

hello,

here’s some background information on me:
i am currently in year 12, and since i was in year 9, i have always wanted to be an architect. recently, that career path dream has fallen apart for me because i stopped liking the idea of becoming an architect.
i chose my a levels based on architecture - i started off with maths, physics, art and biology, but dropped maths ever since i realised i don’t need it anymore and am not very good at it.

current issue:
i have been struggling to figure out what i like (instead of architecture) for a while now. i’ve looked at so many different courses, related to biology, physics and art but i cannot seem to find anything that fulfils me. i don’t like the idea of any of them, and i’m worried that i won’t be able to complete a shortlist of courses by the time i have to apply to unis (december 2023- january 2024). i am incredibly indecisive and change my mind on what course i want to do frequently, and i’m not quite sure why this keeps happening.

could someone please give me some advice, other than “do what you like” (i’ve heard this one quite a few times before) because this is something i have been struggling with for a while now…

thanks :smile:

Hi there!

I have just graduated from Lancaster University with a Natural Sciences BSc so thought I could give my experience with the degree as it sounds like it could be something that would work well with your A-Level choices. Natural Sciences degrees tend to vary by university, so it's definitely worth having a look around to see what course is right for you. At Lancaster, the degree is very flexible, you can choose 3 pathways out of a possible 21. The subjects range from physics, biology, maths, computer science, engineering, earth sciences, and more, so there are many different possible combinations! The complete list of different pathways is in the brochure which can be found here - https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/natural-sciences/ . You can also study a subject outside of the sciences as one of your pathways, so could continue with art if that was something that you were passionate about.

It's really hard to figure out what you are passionate about at an early stage so the best advice I can give would be to keep your options open as long as you can before you figure out what you are passionate about to narrow it down. It's really natural to keep changing your mind at such an early stage! I'm doing my masters in Mechanical Engineering now but I originally wanted to do a maths degree. That'y why I chose natural sciences, I studied Maths, Mechanical Engineering, and Physical Geography as my three pathways. Studying those gave me the time to figure out what I am passionate about, namely renewable energies and climate change! I ended up dropping the maths pathway after my first year as it wasn't as applied as I wanted.

Best of luck with all of your decisions, if you have any further questions, feel free to let me know :smile:

- Bethan (Lancaster University Student Ambassador)

Reply 6

glyoung

5

Hi! I'm a current third-year history student at Lancaster University and I thought I might be able to help you.

Although I did very different A-levels to you (history, geography, philosophy, geology AS), I was also very indecisive and had no idea what I wanted to do. What helped me decide was open days at universities. At Lancaster, the open days have subject talks throughout the day, so I decided to pick as many as I could which vaguely linked to my a-levels and went to the subject talks: I went to ones for international relations, history, earth and environmental science, and did the same at other universities. This was so helpful to me, because I knew when those lecturers were introducing the courses and giving sample talks, which ones I didn't want to do a degree in, and which I could do a degree in.

Please feel free to reach out with any questions!
~ Georgia

i cannot decide on a course - advice needed!

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