University costs us over £27K and three years of our lives, with the University of Manchester reporting only 74% student satisfaction across all courses. Transferring universities, moving to another course, or simply realising you’d rather be doing something else; it’s about time we think about what’s right.
Being a year older than most people in my third-year course, most assume a gap year, which I never did. Leaving A-Levels at 18, I went through clearing to a course in the same subject I study now, but at MMU. And honestly, I didn’t like it. Sure, many circumstances came to play; the lack of challenge I felt, the university and course in general, and some personal context, but I knew that if I had stayed for the full time, I’d come to regret it. The decision wasn’t easy, but at the end of my first year there, I moved to a similar course at UoM, starting fresh, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Alice, a third-year History and American Studies student, had a similar experience, starting off completing a first year in Speech and Language Therapy before realising it simply wasn’t right for her. And now, months before graduation, the fear of “being a year behind” felt at the time of her transfer feels completely trivial.
I’m not outright saying that everyone should drop out. I didn’t know it was an option in my first first-year, and if someone had told me that dropping out is okay, the decision would have been much easier. People join university as first-years at so many ages, from all backgrounds, and it’s crazy to assume that everyone will know exactly what they want at the age of 17/18. Student Finance loans cover an ‘additional’ year, giving you leeway, and after a few years, the ‘time wasted’ feels so insignificant.
The idea of university being something you push through rather than enjoy shouldn’t be as common as it is, and that’s where the problems all start. You don’t want to be in your classes, your motivation gets zapped, you don’t do as well as you could, your mental health diminishes… it’s a spiral. Whatever reasons you may have to not feel right in your course, they’re valid.
My advice? Talk to someone. Maybe you can change some modules, transfer credits to a different course or even university, but whatever you end up doing, it’s the clarity that changes everything. It’s so easy to overthink the process, write a two-page pros/cons list (I definitely didn’t do that…) and not just trust your instinct. University can be hard and overwhelming, but it shouldn’t be something you hate.
Acknowledging that you want to move is huge, and if you’ve gotten that far, well done! Wherever you end up, the process of deciding to stay, leave, or change things slightly is one of personal development. And if something isn’t right, academic advisors (although it might not always feel like it) are honestly there to help you with your next steps.
