Did You Make the Wrong University Choices?

Now that you’re settling in to the new academic year... well, it’s still early so you may have those rose-tinted glasses still on… but in case reality is setting in, now might be the time to ask yourself if you made the right university choices.

I think there’s something to be said for giving new experiences a chance but it seems like there’s always going to be the couple of stray students here and there that genuinely shouldn’t be at the university they’ve picked. How can you tell if you’ve made a potentially life-path-altering and expensive university choices?

• You didn’t care what major you picked, so you did what your parents told you to do or joined your friends.

Be honest, did you actually put thought into what you were going to be doing at university or did you just let your parents pick something? Or worse, did you just do whatever your friends were doing? There’s no telling what talents or passions you can develop unless you tell someone what they are. If you’re treating yourself like a sheep, then you may end up down a path that leads to a job that you don’t really want… think about it while you still have time to change your mind.

• Coursework isn’t challenging.

Sometimes the types of courses will be different from university to university. For example, a psyc course can be research-based at one and theory-filled at another. Did you do the research and find the one that will challenge you and properly prepare you for the type of degree you actually wanted?

Alternatively, did you end up somewhere that was just easy to get into because you didn’t think you could make the cut at somewhere tougher? If you’re floating through life without a challenge, maybe you should have pushed yourself harder to go the tier up… Maybe you still should.

• Wrong Location.

Are you from Alaska and went to school in New Zealand to ‘get away from it all’? Yeah escaping your home is fun, but if your days are filled with skype calls and stress about how you can’t go home for weddings and things that you would actually like to attend… Well, you should have thought about the travel costs… How much longer are you going to be there? How many holidays are you going to go home for? Are you ok with cutting that in half? (Full disclosure, I’ve only been home twice in the last four years, flights aren’t cheap!)

• You over-estimated your love for new cultures.

You’re a culture-vulture, eh? When was the last time you ate something that didn’t come pre-packaged at a convenience store? If your fear of trying the local food has put you into a dietary reclusion, you might want to reconsider your options…

• Your tuition check bounced.

Is your daddy Bill Gates? Nope? Oh wait, you can’t afford a $35,000-a-year school for four years plus living expenses? Time to look into a part time job or look into how easily you can transfer those costly credits to a university that you can afford. 

• You don’t have a life.

Has the workload been so intense that you haven’t left your dorm room in weeks? Have you been searching for groups to join but the university just doesn’t offer much? Haven’t found any cafes that people actually go to? There’s a ton of reasons you could not be fitting in socially, now’s the time to decide if this is something that will pass, if you’re being too dramatic and need to shut up… or if you’ve actually made the wrong choice and need to try something new.

Like I said, give new places a shot, there’s usually a 3-6 month warming up period if you are living somewhere new… But if despite your best efforts, your university choices just aren’t working out, don’t be afraid to pack your bags and transfer to a new university. It’s actually pretty easy to transfer some basic class credit (at least in the US).

The transition to a better you and better university choices may be easier than you think.