Even as a University student you could be making mistakes right now that could impact the rest of your life. It’s helpful to take a step back every now and again, to survey your situation and determine if there are any mistakes you have made or are making that you can fix right now.
It’s not always easy to project the future, and to be able to determine what better courses of action you could have then in university, but it’s always worth the effort. There are some common mistakes that university students make, that you might be able to take care of right now, rather than looking back later with regret.
Consider each of the following, and whether or not you may be on the wrong track. If so, there’s plenty that you can do about it now.
Choosing The Wrong Major
- Your parents or high school teachers may have had an undue influence on your selection of a major.
- You may have followed one or more friends into a major.
- You might have made the decision on a major long before you entered university, and inertia has prevented you from considering alternatives.
- You may have been absolutely clueless as to what your major should be at time the you selected it.
Choosing a major is never “just something you do when you’re at university”, as though it’s just another part of the higher education package. Closer to the truth is that you are deciding on your life’s career when you choose a major. That’s never a step a to be taken lightly.
Many graduates, upon realizing that they made a mistake in choosing the major that they did, face the prospect of either spending more time and money returning to university for yet another degree, or they spend a lifetime of regret working in a career field it’s really not suited to them.
Related: Is Money the Main Reason You Chose the Major You Did?
You can avoid that mistake right now. Spent some time seriously considering whether or not your current major is the right one for you. If you have a solid suspicion that it isn’t, make the change now and do whatever it takes to get yourself heading in the right direction.
Not Applying Yourself To Your Studies
Many University students lose sight of the fact that getting an education is the primary reason for attending in first place. Other pursuits get in the way, particularly the “university life” of socializing, partying, and extracurricular activities. Academics can often take a back seat and that arrangement, and turn out to be a big mistake once you graduate.
Related: Why Your Major Needs to Match Your Passion
Since education will be the primary decoration on your resume upon graduation, your grade point average will matter to potential employers, to say nothing of graduate schools. Once you graduate, it will be too late to change your undergraduate grading situation. If your grades aren’t really where they need to be, you may need to pull back on some of your other activities, and spend more time working on your grades. Though it may not seem to important right now, there will come a day when it will be very important.
Not Mixing In Some Parallel Opportunities
There’s more to university then just formal education – there are parallel opportunities that you can partake in that could be significant after graduation. These can include work experience related to your major, volunteer opportunities, or even unique life enhancing travel experiences.
Each of these have the potential to supplement your education, and make you a more well-rounded job candidate and citizen when graduation comes around. Still other actions you might want to consider are networking into your intended career field, or taking specific courses that might benefit you on a job search and in your future career.
Related: Can’t Find Work In Your Major’s Field? Now What?
Look to make your university experience more broad by adding activities and participation that will supplement your education.
Borrowing Too Much Money
There probably isn’t a university graduate alive who hasn’t looked back at the amount of money that he or she borrowed during university and realized it was a mistake. Once you graduate it will be too late to do anything about the amount of money you borrowed. This is a potential mistake that you can only hope to fix if you take action right now, And there are various ways that you can do this.
Resist the temptation to live on loan proceeds, whether this involves student loans, credit cards, or any other forms of debt. The money you are borrowing right now will have to be paid back after graduation. The less that you owe, the easier it will be later. Never assume you’l be making so much money that paying back debts will be like a walk in the park. You’ll have other financial obligations after graduation that will leave less money for debt repayment than you can currently comprehend.
Supplement your loans with a part-time job during the school year, consider working full-time during summers, and even look into the possibility of starting your own business while you’re still at school. All these efforts bring in at least some money, and that will reduce your reliance on student loan debt.
