After building a strong foundation in the first two years of university education, selecting the right modules for specialization in years 3 (and 4) is an important step as it could potentially set your career path for the future. Here are some handy tips you should consider while choosing those:
- Choose What You Like: Perhaps the most generic advice you’ve been given innumerable times, but it cannot be stressed upon, enough. Any module, no matter how hard or easy it is deemed to be would be doable as long as it actually matches your interests. It may or may not be the optimum module for the most glamorous or in-demand career paths, but at the end of the day what matters is you get to learn more about things you are actually interested in and set a foundation for a career that you would actually enjoy doing.
- Ask Around: The most realistic overview of the modules you’d get will always be from the fellow university students who have taken the same modules. Reading about it might give you a fair idea but asking your seniors about how it actually was, especially the exams and assignments, definitely helps. If you’re unsure about a particular module, asking your personal tutor is a good idea as well as he/she can provide you with a better explanation of what to expect from the module.
- Research On It: The university website is your best source for this. It provides details about the syllabus and the assessment criteria. Some modules may have a number of assignments and labs while others might solely depend on exams. Our university website also provides all the past year papers, looking them up gives you fair idea of what you can expect after completing the module and whether it’s within your comfort zone or not.
- Broadening Horizons: Always wanted to learn a foreign language but never had a chance? Or learn more about a subject completely different from your field of study? Now is the time! While picking up the right modules for your career path is important, picking up some interesting modules has its importance too. This might well be the last chance you get to learn about something very different from your field of study. For example picking up a foreign language may seem an unnecessary burden for an engineering student but knowing a foreign language is an essential and impressive addition to your CV, as you never know which country you might ended up working in. However, it is important to consider that you are sure that you will be able to accommodate these modules with the other modules and projects.
- Choose Modules Relevant to Your Project: Another important thing to consider is the modules you might need for your project. But don’t narrow down to choosing similar modules as this might limit your potential career choices later on.
- Check the Prerequisites: A number of modules have some prerequisites, i.e., modules you should have taken before hand in order to be eligible to choose this module. While this might be not so important in year 3 but if you’re studying on till year 4, make sure you check and meet the prerequisites for the year 4 modules you are interested in so that you will be to choose them after year 3.
If you’re still confused about some modules, the best thing to do would be attend the lectures for all the modules you’re potentially interested in during the first two weeks of Year 3 as you can still request for a change by then.
Tips For Choosing the Right Modules for Specialization in Year 3