So, you’re thinking about university and you’re 16 years old. You have no idea where to go, how to apply, and how to finalize what you’re supposed to do with the rest of your life.
What Am I Supposed to Do First?
The first thing you do is figure out how your university will be paid for. Most universities throughout the world cost anywhere from 5,000 THB per semester to 1.7m THB per year. Therefore, it’s best to know what tuition is comfortable for you, your family, or your benefactor. Do you plan on working while studying? If so, you can consider a more expensive school.
After you know how it’s paid
I tend to suggest the geography category to come next.
What kind of weather do you want the next four years to be like?
You may be asking yourself: isn’t what I plan to study the first question?
(laughs). Um, not for me. I think that the way you want to live the next four years is very important. The culture you choose, the geographic location, access to amenities/experiences, population factors, and the climate are all very critical factors in a person’s preferences and stable life.
Because, this is a GIANT transition.
On academics, please understand that if you have already filtered out developing countries, there is a program of choice at a top university waiting for you. You just have to find it. Imagine that you have chosen Japan; the best of the best exists there already, in any discipline you may choose.
It’s true that perhaps some countries are better for others, but we think the first filter is where you want to be.
After you’ve chosen your hemisphere, continent, country, and/or city
Now, the fun part. What in the world do you want to study? First, please understand the differences between a college and a university.
A university is called a university because of the pure range of programs and degrees it offers.
A college has a limited range of classes and courses, built from local community resources and municipal departments.
What Should I Study?
For this one, you should keep in mind that once you start your first year, in most programs, you have at least two years to figure out what you want to do, and what kind of degree you want. For example, take a look at Brown’s Open Curriculum, an Ivy League School.
So, pick a program that’s good, that’s in the area you want to be, and offers a high-quality education in the areas you’re interested in.
Start at the End
Go to monsterjobs.com and take a look at the job listings in industries you’re interested in, or not interested in.
Check to see what kind of bachelor’s or master’s degree is required. That’s your definitive example on what might be good to try out as a class, a selection, or a course elective.
How Do I Select An Area/Category/Discipline/Career?
This is actually simpler than you think.
It starts with answering the following question in the most detail you can, from the past, with the present, and into the future:
What do you like to make?
What do you like to create?
What, when you’ve finished it, after you’ve stepped back and taken a look at your work, makes you feel that satisfying tingly feeling that, “Yes, I made something good.”
Because, everyone likes making something different in their own way, on their own, on their own terms, paid fairly for their efforts, blood, love, sweat…and even pain that goes into the creation.
It happens on a microscale with a janitor in a lonely, dark corridor of a university, mopping floors
or
it happens on a macro level when a 35-year-old programmer creates something that impacts billions of lives.
or
when a person plants and plants, wipes the sweat off their forehead, and their dinner just tastes that much better.
Conclusion
So, while there are so many external opinions on what you should study in the future, i.e. your “career path” of 40 years (which, by the way, is thinking from a hundred years ago. Nowadays, you should work at a place that improves your skills and *other, and then move on for a higher monthly income. #ifyou’rebuildingfromthegroundup.)
Question 1: Where do you want to be in the next four years?
In terms of climate, culture, society, and their impacts on your daily life?
Question 2: What makes you happy you’ve made it?
These perspective switches are indeed valuable, because of the simple following logic:
You have the best evidence on how feel about something straight from the source.
All the other influences on what you should study are missing a critical set of data:
You.
Now, go make a shortlist.