What to study after school? How many matric students don’t know what to study after matric? It can be frightening and overwhelming for matric students and their parents when they start wondering about what to study after matric. Sometimes this wondering about what to study after school starts before the matric year, late in grade 9 when grade 9’s make their school subject choices for grade 10, 11 and 12.

When thinking about what to study after school many matric students (or even younger students) and their parents don’t even know where to start looking for study guidance and career guidance. Many don’t even know what to type into the search bar of a search engine like Google. Where to start?

What may help matric students decide what to study after school? What information should they be looking for?

If matriculants are going to be going to university to study, they need to know which bachelor’s degree studies to apply for, and they need to know the major they wish to take for that bachelor’s degree. A major is the main subject they will be studying.

The information that these matric students need to look for is:

1)
Types of bachelors degrees such as BCOM (commerce – business – accounting) or BSC (bachelor of science degree) etc.

2)
Then they should see what majors are offered for each of these bachelors degrees.

3)
Then they should see which types of careers they could follow if they had that bachelor’s degree with that major (or what types of jobs will be easier to get if they have that degree and took a specific major).

If the types of careers appeal to them, or suit them, then they know which degree to study for, and which major to take for that degree.

Matric students and their parents can also approach the topic of what to study after school the other way around:

1)
The student can do a career quiz. A career choice quiz may help the student realise what skills he or she has. The results of a career choice quiz may help the student match those skills up to a career. Student can then eliminate the career choices that don’t appeal to them, leaving just a few careers to choose from.

2)
Then the next step is to learn about what degree is required to help a student with a career choice, and which major should be taken for that degree.

Conclusion
Once matrics and their parents know how to start looking for ideas on what to study after school, the whole process becomes less difficult to understand and do. Wondering what to study after matric? Match up skills and job preferences with career choices, degrees and their majors, and you’re getting there.

© Copyright Teresa Schultz 2014