UniWHAT?!

Beginning university is a super fun experience, as long as you like the course you're doing and the country you're staying in! This blog post is going to bring out my struggle of choosing the right university (hopefully!) for myself and even more than that, the course that I wanted to do.

Selecting the University

Personally, I struggled a lot choosing my college. I was always faced with the dilemma of whether I should stay in Singapore and be dependent on my parents or if I should move out and be completely independent. I wanted to start a new phase of my life in a new country, but the feeling of being responsible for myself daunted me.

Few points that helped me in selecting which university I wanted to go to are listed below, and I hope they turn out to be useful for those who are applying soon. For those who are already in uni, let's relive some of those daunting memories we faced when choosing where to go to after high school!

1. Which uni has the activities that are deemed fit for me? - Cliche question? I know, but this is what I heard throughout my two years of IB. How was I supposed to know if a uni was right for me? It always felt the other way, if I was right for them, and whether they would take me in or not! Nonetheless, extensive research on the uni does help a lot. I spent a lot of my time figuring out which campus seemed like the best fit for me - the sports I liked and the activities I enjoyed. Honestly, one of the most important aspects that I paid attention to was the food. Being a vegetarian, it's not that easy to get the food, and it's sometimes necessary to cook.

2. Going to the university physically, at least once! - Personally, I consider this as a necessity; I would never be comfortable living in a university that was completely unknown to me. I only applied to unis that I had been to, or had relatives visit it for me because they lived in the same city. For those who have gone to completely new places, I admire you because that's something I would never be able to do!

Anyway, I finally decided that I would stay in Singapore for my undergraduate study. The best thing that I realized is that I get my form of independence, living in a hostel during the week, but I get overly pampered during the weekend when I go back home. It's sort of the best of both worlds, which makes me realize that I have, indeed, made the right decision about the university itself. Furthermore, the people I've met over the past one month in uni have always made me feel like I'm home, making me further realize that my decision was right!

Selecting the course

Okay, this is something that is super challenging to talk about because I still don't know if the course I'm doing is what I have been made for. But if I were to give advice on which course to take after high school, I would follow guidelines as shown

1. Take your undergrad course in a subject that interests you - I know this is fairly obvious, but the number of people I've met in my course who do not like what they are doing has amazed me quite a bit. They seem as though they have been forced into it, which is pretty funny because you apply for courses in a uni. SO BASICALLY, PLEASE CHOOSE SOMETHING THAT INTERESTS YOU, NOT YOUR PARENTS, NOT YOUR RELATIVES BUT YOU. BECAUSE YOU WILL BE THE ONE STUDYING IT AT THE END OF THE DAY!!

2. Grades aren't the only things that matter - If you like a course but are not able to score well in it, it shouldn't affect your dream or aspiration of taking it up in uni. Of course, grades play a part, but make sure that you still try your best in that particular subject. I still remember when I used to struggle with HL math in IB after applying for engineering, which made me stress out so much because I didn't know if I would be able to do it. But eventually, it worked out so yay (i guess?)

OKAY, SO I would want to conclude by saying selecting uni and the right course is probably one of the biggest turning points of your lives ( no pressure guys ). In fact, I don't know about the other freshies, but I'm still confused about the course I've taken and whether it is the right one for me (I hope other people are in the same situation). However, unis are usually flexible with changing the major of your faculty after joining, so hey, maybe it isn't THAT bad!!

I just wanted to share my personal experience, and I hope that it ends up helping someone.

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