Searching for universities: how do you start from scratch

[Ammar Ashoor]

Okay, while many of my friends already know about university and which universities they want to go to I seem to be completely lost, from requirements to countries.

How do you research for universities? What do you look for? When do you start-I'm still at grade 11?

Edited April 6, 2014 by Ammar Ashoor

[Garrett !?]

You should get a general idea of where you're interested in going and what you're interested in studying junior year, so by the time you need to submit your applications early senior year you know where to apply. I'd also suggest visiting the schools you're interested in because you won't know if it's the place for you until you get actually go and see how the campus feels and what the city is like, etc.

Since you're an IB student you'll probably want to go to a university that is well known for the field you want to study as you'll have a lot more opportunities in finding a job and doing research in whatever field it is that you choose to study. Thus most of this research can be done online. I see you're an international student, so to find high ranking schools for just about any field, check out this website:

http://www.topuniversities.com

[Sandwich]

Picking a country is probably the best place to start. Language spoken, fees for international students, climate, people you know there, how close it is to home, whether you might want to continue living there after you've been to Uni... those might help. Also some places have particular draws e.g. a world city or being a hotbed of a particular technology or industry you're interested in. Some places are lots of ££££ to live in and other places are much cheaper.

Then picking a course would be next. What do you want to do with your life? What subjects are you currently taking - which of them do you like/dislike? What are you best at? Have you ever wanted to do any more vocational degrees e.g. Law, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Nursing? If you want to apply to a country where your current subjects need to fit certain requirements e.g. the UK, have you already excluded some subjects from the range of possibilities?

THEN pick a Uni. As above, ranking tables can help, but also think: do I want to be in a city or on a campus? What's the course structure like? Are there any opportunities that set one Uni above another? What's the social life like? You can find out a lot of this stuff by googling and researching.

If you go to the US you don't have to pick a course so there's less of an emphasis, but for other places in the world you do apply to study X, Y or Z subject, so you need to have an idea. Also look up the deadlines for places you're considering applying to (e.g. UCAS deadline dates for the UK...) and see what sort of stuff you might need to provide a competitive application in advance. In the UK there's a big emphasis on work experience if you're opting for a professional/vocational degree, and you'll obviously not be able to acquire that without some planning and having to do it in a holiday time. Or if there are any additional exams you might need to sit e.g. LNAT for Law in the UK. My examples are all from the UK because that's the system I know, but if you want to go elsewhere you should check out those things too.

Also, visiting the places you're applying to is fine but not essential. So if you're in a different country or just not able to go, don't worry about it. Just do the best you can with researching it. It'll all work out fine without needing to go and ogle it yourself. I never visited the place I ended up before I ended up here!

It's difficult and feels very premature in life, often, to think about all this stuff but sadly this is the time you've got to do it.

[-._._.-]

I agree with what Sandwich said. Just a teeny difference in opinion: personally, I think picking a course comes before picking a country but the difference is not that much, really. Unless you think that a particular country is good for your intended course or something.

[flinquinnster]

Although I totally agree with the above, I have to admit I didn't necessarily use that strategy myself. Firstly, I'd say that you should be applying to your own national system/in the region as those universities will probably be practically easier for you to go to in case any issues prevent you from going further afield. Then, from there, you can consider universities which are further away and probably more aspirational. I myself didn't really go for Sandwich's strategy of prioritising course/country. I just went and constructed a list of dream universities in the US/UK, did my best to decide on a subject after that, and went ahead and applied for those universities. Whilst I get in your case that method of constructing dream universities might not work, doing some research into universities you've heard of but never thought you could apply to may be worth it, as the entrance requirements may surprise you.