Not sure you picked the right uni or TAFE course? 6 ways to help you think it through
- Written by Andrew J. Martin, Scientia Professor and Professor of Educational Psychology, UNSW Sydney
For the class of 2025, exams are done and results are coming in. Attention is turning to plans for next year.
With the benefit of a bit more free time and brain space, some students might be wondering if they have made the right decisions about courses. Perhaps your results have made you reconsider your preferences.
Keeping in mind the last date to change your preferences differs between states and territories and offer rounds, how do you know if you picked the right course?
I research educational psychology, with a focus on student motivation and engagement at school and in post-school life.
Here are six ways to help guide your thinking about course choice. Three of them fall under a nuts and bolts approach to decision-making and three are more big-picture considerations.
The nuts and bolts approach
This refers to the specific, practical “thinking through” process of course selection. There are various parts. Three especially important ones involve asking yourself these questions.
What do I like? This seems simple, but can get lost in other considerations. So go back to basics and list the subjects, topics and areas you enjoy. These might be subjects or topics at school where – relative to other subjects and topics – you thought the lessons, activities and assignments were pretty good. Or, it might be an area that wasn’t covered at school, but where you have demonstrated interest in learning about outside school.
What am I good at? List the subjects, topics and skills you are good at. These might be subjects or topics at school where – relative to other subjects and topics – you were able to do what was asked of you, you were able to complete tasks and assignments, and did OK in them. Or, it might be something that wasn’t covered at school, but you have clearly shown you have that skill set.
What are the opportunities for future pathways? Look at the subjects, topics, areas and skills in your two lists – especially the ones in both. Order them in terms of what you think has the most opportunity and viability in terms of further study, work, advancement or income – including how they may be positively or adversely affected by artificial intelligence (if it is possible to find out). What you have listed doesn’t have to rank highly on all these things, but it is helpful to have an eye to the future. The point of this part of the exercise is to consider what you like and what you are good at in practical, realistic and sustainable ways.
This ordered list puts you in the ballpark of what course is likely a good fit for you and offers personal potential.
The big-picture approach
This involves bigger, broader questions to keep in mind as you develop your ordered list. There are also numerous parts to this. Here are three key ones.
Life is not a perfect sequence of events. For you to be successful in five, ten or 20 years from now, you don’t have to get everything absolutely right, right now. You make the best decision you can and if a more viable path presents itself or if the path you chose is genuinely not the one for you, you will deal with it then.
Life is not linear. We don’t go straight as an arrow from school to retirement. There can be winding paths, dead ends and wrong turns. This is the nature of human development and how we can grow and learn about ourselves. Make your decision, start this next chapter and see where it takes you.
This is just the start. The course you choose now defines the start of your journey after school. It does not define the destination. Yes, what you choose now matters – but not because it will dictate your entire life. Rather, because it places you on a starting block and all the possibilities and insights this starting block affords you.
Authors: Andrew J. Martin, Scientia Professor and Professor of Educational Psychology, UNSW Sydney
