Making your university choices: are you a driver or a passenger?
Right now, I’m reading Who gets in and why: A year inside college admissions, by Jeffrey Selingo. It’s a book all about university and college admissions in the US, by a renowned journalist who embedded himself inside several university admissions offices to find out what really happens.
It’s a fascinating read, and while there are enormous differences between UK and US admissions, there are one or two areas where there are direct parallels between the two countries.
One aspect of his analysis that immediately resonated with me was his characterisation of applicants as either drivers or passengers.
He describes drivers as those students who are well ahead of the game, mainly from wealthy families, supported by experienced advisers at their privileged schools, doing their college research early, giving themselves plenty of time to do their admissions essays and apply for the early round of admissions.
The passengers, meanwhile, don’t really consider their choices until late in the day. They don’t fully understand the process, as they don’t have access to the right advice, and so they are passengers in the system, subject to being carried along in whatever direction the system takes them.
Sound familiar?
I could point to any number of wealthy independent schools in the UK (and overseas) full of the first type of applicants; shortlisting their choices by easter of year 12, supported by expert advisers, receiving extra tuition and coaching for their admissions tests, nailing their Personal Statements by the summer, and getting their applications sent off in plenty time before the mid-October deadline.
Meanwhile in schools and colleges across the country there are plenty of other students who haven’t even considered university until well into their final year; rushing their choices and applications to hit the end of January deadline, with stretched and stressed teachers struggling to support them, but without the time or resources to do it properly. And these students, like their US counterparts, risk being carried along by the system, with little control over the final outcome.
But, there is a problem with this rather simplistic analysis.
It suggests that all the wealthy and well educated students are actually taking control of their choices and destinies. But that’s simply not always the case; very often they are simply passengers of their parents’ and their school’s ambitions.
And it implies that students from less advantaged backgrounds will always be a step behind, and unable to take control.
But while educational disadvantage is real, I’ve seen plenty of students from less privileged backgrounds take full control and be 100% the drivers of their futures.
Why should you be a driver, and not a passenger?
It’s quite simple really; to be happy, you need to be the architect of your own future, the writer of your own story. You need to give yourself the maximum chance to get an education that suits your style, in a subject that motivates you to work hard and enables you to succeed. You need to be in a place that fuels your ambitions, with people who will inspire and encourage you. You need to be in control.
Otherwise, whose life are you actually living?
Are you a driver or a passenger?
So how do you know whether you are driving or are actually just a passenger?
Well, I have four questions that might just help you to be honest with yourself.
1. Who is doing most of the work to look into your options?
Is it the university counsellor at your school? Do you have regular meetings with them, where they come up with all the suggestions? Are they the one making the final choices of your stretch, realistic and safe options? Is it a parent, hitting the internet each evening to find out the entry grades for your chosen courses, or coming up with alternative ideas that they think you might like, but might be just a bit more likely to get you a job? Who is the one suggesting you go to open days, and when you get there, who is asking all the questions?
If it’s not you taking the initiative on researching your choices, there is every chance you might be a passenger.
2. Do you have a tendency to run deadlines really close?
Your school will set deadlines for things like university shortlists and submitting your draft Personal Statement. There will be external deadlines for signing up to admissions tests, replying to interview invites, and submitting results.
If you are the sort of person who regularly submits these on the last day, or worse still late, what you are really doing is letting go of control. You see, there is every chance that there could be a technical problem on the deadline date, or a member of staff who was going to help you could be unwell. By running deadlines close, you are putting yourself and your future at the mercy of technology and other people.
And ultimately that means you have decided you are OK to be a passenger.
3. Are your everyday actions aligned with what you want out of life, or are they really aligned with what others expect of you?
I started playing the French Horn when I was around 10. Most of my family were musical, and it was kind-of expected that I’d take up an instrument and join the school orchestra. I don’t remember why I chose the French Horn, but I did.
I didn’t hate it, but it took me around five years before I finally worked out that the only reason I played it was because it was expected of me. It just wasn’t me, and wasn’t part of my plan. I finally plucked up the courage to tell my teachers and my family that I was going to give it up. Perhaps my father was disappointed, but not half as much as I thought he would be, and for me it was such a huge weight lifted.
If you are living your life studying subjects you don’t like, doing sports, music, drama or anything else that you are just not that into, it's a sure sign that right now, you just might be a passenger.
4. Are you taking Dave Grohl’s career advice?
I wrote a few months back about Taking careers advice from Dave Grohl. “If you want to be in a band”, he says, “just play”. And by extension, if you want to be a writer, just write. If you want to be a nurse, just get yourself into a position where you can care for someone who needs it. And if you are genuinely interested in studying English, economics, maths or engineering, don’t leave it to the school to decide and limit exactly what you should be studying. Get out there and find the really interesting stuff for yourself.
Whether it’s reading, podcasts, online courses or taster days, these are often called super-curriculars, and there is plenty out there for you to find and learn from. And if you are not proactively doing this; you are not bothering to find out more about the subject or profession that you are applying to do at university, there are a couple of possibilities:
Either you are not really that interested, and you are just applying to the subject because you think it's expected of you. Or you just aren’t that bothered whether the subject is the right one for you; what will be will be.
Either way, I’m afraid you’re probably a passenger.
A final word…
I suspect the fact that you are reading this right now means that you are well on the way to being a full driver of your own university choices and your university applications. But if you do find yourself slipping into any of the above habits, you now know to take action, take control and start driving your own decisions.
It really is the only way to live your life!
