Prospective students should stop chasing a high salary
Enthusiasm for your subject at university will stand you in better stead later in life than picking a degree for its earning potential, says James Gold
Higher education is no longer seen as a luxury.
For better or worse, any notion that one should be educated for education’s
sake is dead.
This creates a serious dilemma for applicants.
Given a world of heightened tuition fees and rigorous graduate schemes,
applying for anything other than law, medicine or a finance-favourable subject
is often considered a waste of time.
The result? Scores of students are applying for,
and often studying, subjects for which they have precious little enthusiasm.
But such a way of thinking is deeply flawed,
particularly when applying to Oxbridge. No two universities are better at
selecting candidates that can demonstrate genuine academic passion than Oxford and
Cambridge.
Any aspiring Oxbridge student should look to
follow their academic passions. As difficult as it might be to ignore the
pressure of family and friends who advocate a ‘sensible’ career choice at the
tender age of 17 or 18, it is crucial that an applicant pursues a subject they
actually want to study.
Doing so gives them the best chance of gaining
admission, enjoying university and, ultimately, having a fulfilling and
successful career.
Each year, admissions tutors face a large array
of hopeful applicants, the overwhelming majority of which are of excellent
calibre. Amongst such heavy competition, a student has to possess real academic
curiosity in order to stand out.
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