Today I’m going to talk about my experience
with trying to pick up another course in my second year. Let me give you a
little bit of background. When I originally applied to this college I wanted to
do Business Studies and Psychology, but unfortunately because of my maths grade
D I couldn’t do Psychology so I just went with business. However I didn’t let
this stop me. I was planning on getting my C in maths and then picking up
Psychology in my second year so I made sure that the course leader knew of my
interest, so after multiple talks and various emails I managed to sit in a weeks’
worth of lessons and I have to say it was fascinating for me. But now I’m not
so sure. Journalism is a MASSIVE interest for me right now and I thoroughly
enjoy my law units in Business so I’m considering taking law. This has put me
into a dilemma. As of this moment I’m still talking to course leaders about
picking either course so I thought I would share my so called ‘tactics’ on
getting into a course in your second year.
Disclaimer – In no way am I
claiming that this is an exact science, this is based off of my experience so
far and whether or not it works out that is yet to be known.
1) Make them
conscious that you are interested – When I say this I don’t mean just
asking about the course and what it covers. I’m saying that you should actively
talk about the process of getting in, what the requirements are and then what
it covers. It’s also useful to suggest sitting in lessons to get a feel for the
course, this is the benefit of already being in the college because it usually isn’t
much inconvenience for a current student to sit in one of their lessons.
2) Read
up on the subject – This is very good way of showing that you are
enthusiastic about that course because they aren’t going to let you in lightly
because they will take your current course into consideration and not many
students are even allowed to stay in for more than 2 years because chances are
that the course will be 2 years.
3) Be in
close contact with someone of power – This could come across as
manipulative but it isn’t in no way. Assert yourself with someone who you can
go to for advice in college. For me it’s the head teacher of my college, however
I was quite lucky to meet her because of the fact that I enrolled late and she
must have been managing the late enrollers because she was the one to email me
back on my application. Since then I have been able to get VERY useful advice
and information from her and typically people don’t say no to their boss. She
is lovely too :)
4) Sell
yourself – Think of it like you aren’t a student at the college because then
you will have the mind-set that you have to show off your determination,
interest ect and that would make you a more attractive candidate for the
course. It is also worth explaining why you want to take the course up in your
second year and why you didn’t apply for it in the first place. If you don’t have
a legitimately good reason you can be honest or you could do what most do which
is come up with one.
So that’s it. Pretty simple for
now, however this is what has worked so far and the future seems promising.
Are you looking into picking up a
course? Or did you successfully pick up
a course? Share you experience with me on Twitter! @Jayson__Knott
