Six months ago these HSC students picked their degrees. Did they make the right choice?

A few months into her combined teaching and fine arts degree at UNSW, 18-year-old Naomi Le Clerc was questioning if she had made the right decision.

University was a world away from the supportive environment of her high school and she struggled to stay on top of all her work.

Naomi Le Clerc.Credit: Nikki Short

“Being in charge of yourself and not having anyone breathing down your neck to finish assignments was the main challenge,” she said.

“I didn’t have the pressure from the teachers which in year 11 and 12 I hated but now wishing I still had.”

Le Clerc considered switching to a marketing degree but ultimately decided to stick with her degree, which allows her to pursue her passion for art while also providing good job prospects.

The University Admissions Centre annual lifestyle report found that this year’s cohort of first-year students is more pragmatic than those from previous years. The students were likely to pick degrees based on employability as cost of living pressures bite.

Of the more than 17,000 school leavers surveyed, cost as an influence on their choice of institution rose almost 10 percentage points this year, from 34 per cent to 43 per cent.

Students who chose a course based on employability outcomes rose seven percentage points to 64 per cent while work experience and internship opportunities as a factor in degree choice increased by seven percentage points to 46 per cent.

Passion was still the biggest influence on course choice – but its impact was down three percentage points to 80 per cent of students.

First year engineering and computer science student at UNSW Granth Shah. Credit: Kate Geraghty

Engineering student Granth Shah, 18, who lives with his family in Schofields and studies at UNSW in Kensington, is enjoying the social opportunities on campus and pushed himself to make new friends.

He was set on studying engineering since he was in early high school after excelling at STEM subjects and taking inspiration from his engineer father.

“I was definitely guided by passion,” he said.

Shah dreams of working in the emerging field of mechatronics and is looking for part-time employment.

“In high school the structure was much more rigid and they closely monitored our learning, in uni it’s quite different you have to be responsible yourself,” he said.

Erin McFarlane, 18, who lives with her family in Ashfield, is studying a bachelor of business at the University of Technology Sydney after being granted an early conditional offer.

First-year UTS student Erin McFarlane,Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

McFarlane also applied for commerce at UNSW and University of Sydney but settled on UTS in part due to its central location.

She considered switching degrees after feeling lost in the crowd in her first few weeks of the course but has ultimately decided to continue it.

Her degree is a mix of online and in-person learning, but she far prefers face-to-face classes and struggles with online exams.

“I hate the online exams we have to do, I had a terrible experience with the software we need to use,” she said.

“Everyone I know was so stressed about it, more than the actual exam itself.

“I missed one of my exams and had friends texting me freaking out.”

The UAC survey found while students were more worried about cost-of-living pressures, mental health concerns were down.

“We’re seeing students making careful economic decisions around employment
outcomes after they finish their study,” spokeswoman Kim Paino said.

“But they’re also showing great resilience.”

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