Since I always post about A/Ls I thought about writing about the life after A/Ls. There are two paths to follow after A/Ls.. A job or pursuing higher education. Since I did an undergraduate degree I can only talk about that. If you decide to go for tertiary education instead of directly applying for a job with A/Ls, the next question arises. Where to go? Before that actually there is one more important thing people usually miss and of course later in life they regret. What kind of a job do you wish to have after bachelors? Will you stay in academia or want to join the industry? Your answer to that will help you in determining your university.
01. What do you like to do?
This should be the very first question. What is the subject or area that you like, you will have no problem doing it for the rest of your life? Trust me this is very important because you will be with this particular subject and you will make a living out of it until you die one day. So make sure you don't hate it and you are actually doing it because you love doing it and engaging with the subject is not a chore.
02. What kind of a job do you need?
If you want to stay in academia, your university world ranking, accreditation and research experience matters. I can't stress this enough. ( Later I will upload a new post about graduate studies and how to pick countries) On the other hand in the current job market the most value is given to your skill. If you can prove that you are a hardworking skilled individual with an industry oriented degree you are good to go. So if you intend to become an academic you better pick a university with a high rank, accreditation and a degree that offers a good research component with great supervisors. In Sri Lanka currently the University of Peradeniya and the University of Colombo tops the rankings. I cannot talk about the UOP but I can about UOC. And then you also have the option of choosing a foreign university for the Bachelors. I will come to that in a minute.
So first of all the University of Colombo, the prestigious university that everybody dreams of. There are 7 faculties the Computer school and many other institutions that comes under UOC. Not only in UOC but also other government universities the two types of degrees I mentioned before can be seen; job oriented and academia oriented. For an example if you do medicine or engineering you will end up as a doctor or an engineer. You still have the option of doing research in those fields but you will most probably end up having a career in those fields. When it comes to the Science faculty it is not that straightforward. If you come to science faculty to end up doing a job in the industry you really have to horn the skills that will be required by the companies. On the other hand if you need to end up being a scientist you will have to maintain your grades damn well, do research get them published and work harder than ever.
03. Foreign degrees?
So umm foreign degrees.. You have 2 options. You can pay and get enrolled in a foreign university if you can afford it or apply for scholarships( There are a lot of scholarships for Sri Lankan students by several countries. Please refer to the ministry of higher education website.) But the very first question you should ask yourself is what is the plan here? Are you going to settle in that particular country or come back to Sri Lanka? If so is the degree is accredited and has a recognition in Sri Lanka? If you are planning on staying, what are the policies in that country? Is it immigrant friendly? Do a research about everything beforehand to make sure you are not going to waste 3 or 4 years of your life and money.
Since I was also searching for foreign degrees I know a thing or two about them. If any of you are interested in any information or a blog idea don't hesitate to contact me! Have a nice day!
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