The Most Common Mistakes When Choosing Your Field of Study

Choosing a field of study is often treated as a formality that comes after the real work: finding the right university. In reality, it's the other way around. Your field of study shapes the content of your studies, your career prospects, and often your quality of life long after graduation. Here are the most common mistakes we see, and how to avoid them.

The most frequent mistakes

• Following unverified assumptions about job prospects: "Biology or Chemistry means you won't find a job" is a claim heard often, rarely backed by real labor-market data.
• Choosing under social or family pressure, because a field is popular or valued in your circle, rather than out of genuine interest in the subject.
• Ignoring your own strengths in favor of a field that "sounds impressive" — a field where you can play to your strengths gives you a far better chance of succeeding.
• Focusing only on the target salary, without checking whether the actual content of the studies is something you're willing to study for several years.
• Choosing a field based on its name alone, without checking the detailed course list — two similarly-named programs can have very different content from one university to another.

Why these mistakes are so common

None of these mistakes come from a lack of intelligence or ambition. They come from a lack of method: without a structured way to compare options, it's natural to fall back on whatever you hear around you — assumptions, family expectations, or rankings. The problem isn't asking people around you for input; it's stopping there.

The criteria that actually matter

• Your genuine interests: you'll spend several years on this subject; without real interest, motivation collapses the moment courses get demanding.
• Your actual skills, not just your preferences: being honest about your strengths (math, communication, analysis, creativity...) points you toward fields where you have a real chance of succeeding.
• Job prospects, checked against reliable sources: not the opinions of people outside the field, but real data on hiring and the companies that recruit in it.
• The actual content of the program: the courses, the projects, the software used. The more you know in advance, the fewer bad surprises later.
• The life you want to build: industry, research, entrepreneurship, management. Your field should stay consistent with the career you're aiming for, not just your first job title.

Choosing a university matters. Choosing a field is strategic. But choosing the life you want to build is even more decisive — and it's the criterion most students overlook, even though it should guide all the others.

This is exactly the first step GSA Launch™ is built to structure: clarifying your study plan before choosing a university, rather than the other way around. If your field of study still feels unclear, that's the right place to start.