Where should I consider and what shall I start doing now?

GCSE: 9987777666 from non-comprehensive state school average 5
A-Level: A*AA- 3A*s (obviously hypothetically)(Maths, Lit, Econ)
Super curricular I’ve made a list of things to read/listen and watch but genuinely what am I supposed to do with it? Do I just write it down? I’m really confused.
Course: Pure Econ, Econ joint degree, law?(I feel like I would hate it), Accounting&Finance (everyone says it’s bad but safe)
I know I still have ages away and I should focus on my A-Levels primarily but I want to start thinking now to reduce stress, I’ve just realised I truly don’t know what to do with my life.

Reply 1

nwar

Study Forum Helper

The point of supercurriculars is to explore possible degree options so you can get a bit of a flavour of what it would be like to study it at university. Websites like this are pretty good for that: https://myheplus.com
Scroll down to the different subject options and go to subject resources, where you can see if it's the sort of thing that interests you.

When thinking about what degree you want to do (if you want to go to university at all - remember that there are other perfectly good options, e.g. degree apprenticeships, work, etc.), start with what you enjoy most. This can be academics-based (e.g. if you're really interested in your economics A level content and want to explore it further) or skills-based (e.g. you really enjoy solving numerical problems/reading, sort of thing).

You don't need to know what to do with your life. Most people don't really know what to do with their lives, especially not at the start of Y12. My plan then was to join the army (I am not in the army but doing a law degree now, so yay).

Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post

by Toomanyenny

I mean there's a lot of degrees out there which have no connection to any A-level subjects or specific industries - they're still as employable as any other degree in general, because your degree subject by and large does not determine your career path (and hence, neither do your A-levels). Most graduate employers do not care what your degree subject was in and all they care about is whether you have a degree at 2:1 or above.

Unless you're aiming either for a specific regulated professional career like in the healthcare sector, teaching, social work (and to a lesser extent legal or engineering careers), you don't normally need a specific degree. And unless you're aiming for a career which requires a specific skillset e.g. degree level quantitative skills (I'm talking differential equations and up - not "basic GCSE maths done via spreadsheet" as in most corporate type jobs including investment banking and also in accountancy and similar), you don't need to tie yourself to specific subject areas or A-levels to focus on doing a quantitative degree (e.g. maths, CS, physics, engineering).

Honestly to follow from the above - if you're purely doing a degree as a means to get a job and don't have specific academic, intellectual interests in pursuing one - the best route to get into substantive paid employment on a career track role is to look at apprenticeships (degree apprenticeships or otherwise). Don't do a degree just because you think you need it to get a job. You won't get much out of the experience, you'll delay actually being able to make income and there's no guarantee the piece of paper will get you the high flying job you're imagining anyway. Unless you're getting something out of the degree as well as potential employment prospects I actually do believe now an apprenticeship is the best route.

A degree is no longer a ticket to a "middle class" life, and apprenticeships are no longer only for vocational roles (although vocational opportunities do still exist via apprenticeship, there are also plenty that serve as entry points to white collar jobs).