Katie
Starting to look for a university as well as a course can seem like a very daunting task to begin with however I am going to offer you some advice to help you on your way to finding the course of your dreams!1. To begin with, I suggest thinking about what interests you – business, maths, science, law? Having a broad subject area is fine to begin with! Once you’ve done this you can start thinking about which areas of these subjects you enjoy the most: for example in business it could be marketing, accounting or human resources. This is the point where you should start to look at which universities offer the course that you want to study.
2. UCAS.com – UCAS will become your best friend whilst you are looking for university courses! Not only does it have a wide range of information on there about each course but it also gives entry grades and links to the university websites. All you have to do is type in a key word in the course you want to study - for example marketing – and it will bring up all the courses that have marketing in the title. There is a map option which is also very helpful when you want to see how far these universities are. From this I would suggest reading through the course content of the universities that are within the distance that you are willing to travel. Then any courses that interest you, write down a list with their names and entry grades!
3. League tables are also a good thing to look at once you know what it is that you want to study. The universities at the top of the league tables are worth a research into because there’s a reason they are at the top!
4. Once you’ve done this, order some prospectuses of from the universities that sound most interesting to you. They are free and you can easily order them from the university’s website and there is often an online version! This prospectus will offer more information on the course and the university as well as showing open day dates – which I will be writing about in my next blog post.
I hope that these steps help you to start the mountain that is looking for the right university for you! Don’t worry if you can’t make a decision straight away – I have a pile of about 15 prospectuses under my desk all of universities I was considering!
To find out a little bit more about me and to come along on the route with me to university, follow me @katieharcourt on Instagram!