Blog Posts

How to choose the best university

When deciding which university to go to, you need to do research so you can understand which university gives you the best chance of being employed after graduation. The world or national general ranking of a university does not necessarily mean that the university produces the best graduates in ALL their programmes.

Different universities are known for producing the best graduates in different professions. This article will give you 5 easy tips to help you choose the best university or institution.

1. Research your prospective degree

The first step towards finding the best institution or university for your degree is to research the degree you want to study. Go through different institutions’ websites and handbooks to gain an idea of what you need to average in your final exams to be accepted.

Aim high so that your options are not limited. Once you have that noted, you can research what the jobs you’ll apply for, will need in addition to your qualification, look into other skills they require and what tasks you’ll be doing on a day-to-day basis.

After finding out what the jobs will require, you can search for universities which offer programmes that align with the job requirements. By doing this, you will ensure that you choose the university which will equip you with the skills that are in demand within the job market.

2. Research different universities

This second section is to understand which universities companies hire from. For example, there are certain companies who prioritise hiring graduates from specific universities. To conduct this research, consult an AI tool like ChatGPT.

If you want to work for a specific company, ask a prompt like “Which university’s alumni are mostly hired by this company”, this will give you an idea of which university you should aim to get into. You can also ask questions like “What are the top 3 law faculties in the country?” or “Which university is best known for producing the best actuaries”, try to think of prompts which will help you understand the best university for your degree.

3.Talk to university students

Talk to university students studying the degree you want to study so you can understand what will be expected of you to get the degree. We often forget that part of getting a job requires you to get great marks in university and the only way you can know if you are capable of achieving good marks, is if you have a sense of what the university journey looks like and you can find that out from people who are already going through it.

Most university students do have profiles on LinkedIn and you can find them by just typing in an institution and a degree and see which profiles show up. Be mindful of how you ask them questions, be straight to the point but also don’t be rude. You can also find students on social media, although they may be hard to find or they may also ignore you but, it’s still worth a try.

4.Message professionals on LinkedIn

Another group of people you can talk to, to figure out which university to go to are industry professionals who you can find on LinkedIn. You can essentially reach out to them and ask them if they’d be interested in answering questions you may have about the profession. Or you can just go through their profile, in a research-y type of way.

Their personal experience will give you a more specific idea of what the profession is like, unlike generic research which just gives you an overall idea.

5.Research companies who hire in your degree

Lastly, you have to research the companies which hire within your degree, where their offices or branches are, the cultural norms of the company, what’s expected of employees and if they have any graduate programmes you can aim to get into.

Having an idea of where you want to work gives you motivation and can be encouraging but it also lets you know what your life might look like in a couple of years.

So go out there, read up on your degree, talk to university students and professionals and make the best decisions.

There is a YouTube video linked below which goes into further detail about choosing the best institution! All the best and trust that whichever decision you make will help you take a step further towards building a great fulfilling career.