This has been a question that I’ve been thinking about recently, as a grade ten student who’s about to choose my IB subjects, I’ve been intently thinking about my future as an individual who will be applying to universities in two years. Despite the two years before I make the critical decision, it’s still detrimental for students—not just for me—to think about the subject choices we make, as those can determine whether or not we are eligible for certain courses. 

Certain universities or colleges require specific subjects depending on the course and degree. For example, students interested in medicine should take scientific subjects to ensure their eligibility to apply for a medicine course at university. From discussions with my teachers, there have been times when students haven’t chosen the right subjects and ended up in a position where they didn’t qualify for a university course. It would be a waste of two years of work hard for university, but then it would turn out that you can’t apply due to your subject choice. 

This is why subject choice is crucial, and students should carefully choose their subjects before they head for higher education. However, it is important to keep in mind that students may change their minds about what they would like to be.

In an interview that I conducted with a grade nine student, who is a student at GAA, I asked them about what the school could do to help younger students make the right decisions for subjects, as well as opportunities to learn more about specific work fields.

“They could bring in college graduates that have majored in that specific thing… If you were thinking of going into that field you could go to that assembly and someone would come in and talk about it.”

They believed that having college graduates—who graduated from different fields—talk about what they had learned in that university course and what the job consisted of, could be beneficial for students, as this would give insight as to what they would be getting themselves into once they study. 

The student was also asked if they believed that GAA offers a variety of subjects.

“I think it does. I haven’t really seen the options that other schools offer,” They also added “In my opinion…There are many different classes you could take if you wanted to go into different fields.” 

I also created a survey, completed by my journalism class from grades ten to twelve, in which they answered questions about school subjects and their effectiveness. One question that I asked, which garnered fifteen responses, was if they, the students, believed that school subjects could help with making a decision when it comes to higher education or career. 

Eleven out of fifteen people said that yes, it can help with making a decision. Some said that it could help you see if it’s a good fit for you, whereas others stated that you may study a subject in school but decide to change your field in university or even when you’ve already entered a specific field.

In another question, students were given multiple subject options where they had to choose from a checklist which subjects they would be interested in taking. Some of the more popular options were: Engineering or technology (7 votes), finance (6 votes), and graphic design (5 votes). These are typically subjects that aren’t traditionally offered in schools but are offered in most universities, yet students would like to take these classes before the bigger decision that they will have to take.  

Overall, it seems that the students here at GAA believe that the school should offer a new selection of subjects that interests the majority of the student body, as well as have thorough discussions with teachers or higher-ups to ensure the best choices for students’ academic future, and most importantly to teach those in grade eight (going into highschool) and grade nine’s more about the importance of subject choice.