Knowing what elective units to choose for your uni degree is hard! So we asked an expert to help you decide
So you’ve chosen what you want to study at university – but decision time isn’t over yet. Uni degrees have core courses that you need to complete in order to graduate, as well as elective units that you can choose. The number of elective units will vary depending on the course and the uni.
The question is – how do you decide what electives to go with? With many degrees allowing you to select widely, even from completely different disciplines and faculties, it can be hard to know where to start, or what to consider when making the choice. After all – your choice of elective could literally end up changing the course of your career.
Choosing electives for high school or uni? Head to our Choosing Electives hub for more tips and insights to help you find the right path to your dream career.
To help, we reached out to an expert.
Linda Beaumont is the Associate Dean of Curriculum and Learning in Macquarie University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering.
Here are Linda’s top tips for choosing electives at uni:
1. Work backwards when choosing electives.
Some units in second or third year will have prerequisites (i.e. courses you need under your belt already). You don’t want to get to third year and realise you can’t study the elective you want because you haven’t completed the prerequisite units! So when choosing electives skip ahead to the third-year units you would like to do, then consider what prerequisites you might need to do in first or second year.
2. Think outside the box.
Your degree might be in Computing and Games Design, but studying Arts subjects (like Myths in the Ancient World) could give you interesting inspiration that serves you well in the future. Or perhaps you are studying a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Human Biology. You could strengthen your understanding of this field by considering anthropology electives.
3. Use your electives to complete a minor from another faculty and broaden your qualifications (and improve your job prospects!).
Data Science or Mathematics majors can group nicely with a minor in Marketing or Media, for example. Electrical, mechanical and mechatronics engineering majors can be paired with minors in Business – teaching you skills in management, leadership, finance, and so on.
4. Keep your choices current
When choosing your electives, you could consider current important debates being played out in the media in your area of interest. For example, if you are studying mechatronics, which often deals with automation and robotics, then having a better understanding about morality and ethics could be highly beneficial. Same with Artificial Intelligence or Data Science and areas like ethics or psychology.
Thinking about the applications of recent technologies can also be useful for determining electives. If you are studying electrical engineering, an important and rapidly expanding field is precision agriculture, for which an understanding of plant biology and soil science would greatly help with entry into this area.
RELATED: Emerging fields in technology
5. What are the key skills employers want?
We know STEM careers, like engineering and computer science, are in high demand. But we also know that there are other, more general skills that are key for employability – like communications, teamwork, problem-solving and leadership. You could use your electives to help strengthen these areas.
READ: Top 10 employability skills
6. Add maths and data!
Whatever your degree, you can give yourself an edge over other job candidates by including higher-level computing and maths or stats electives. Maths and data skills are in hot demand, and are applicable to so many fields in our digital-driven era.
7. Don’t be afraid of going off plan.
This is your chance to get creative, and be brave! Unrelated electives can help satisfy intellectual curiosity about diverse disciplines. Put simply? Follow your passion!
QUIZ: Find your STEM + X
8. Above all, ask for help!
Navigating unit plans can be tricky. Reach out to the course director for more advice.
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