DECIDING what you want to do for the rest of your life is a little bit daunting and rather scarily, it all starts with what you choose to do at university. But never fear, we are here to guide you through the terrors and traumas of picking the right course. We've searched high and low for the most popular majors for international students and we've found out why they're so in demand.
Business Studies
It will hardly come as a surprise to know that Business Studies heads up the list of most popular majors for international students. For 85% of students graduating with a Business major, getting a job seems fairly straight forward. Skills developed learning about business are transferable in just about every industry and could lead you into a myriad of possibilities. Marketing, advertising, retail buying, sales, logistics and retail management are just some of the potential career paths you could get involved in. Starting salaries are obviously dependent on which field you choose to specialise in but on average a career in marketing, for example, could give you anything between £18,000 and £32,000.
Engineering
The popularity of 'STEM' jobs has risen considerably in recent years. Courses that focus on science, technology, maths and engineering are in high demand for international students. These practical and more academic subjects offer decent employability rates and a high starting salary. In a recent study carried out by 'Which?' mechanical engineering degrees ranked as providing the sixth highest starting salary for graduates, starting at around £25,000. A degree in engineering could lead you design engineering or project managing and if you fancy taking a slightly different route, you can diversify into IT analysis or how about becoming an armed forces officer. The possibilities are endless, right?
Economics
Whether you consider it a benefit or a burden, there's no denying that economics rule the decisions we make on our own, in our families and in government. It’s a subject that is more diverse than it is ever given credit for and can lead directly into banking, investment and insurance, or more varied options, such as retail, manufacturing and transport. A degree in economics can teach you how to problem solve and how to analyse and draw conclusions from data, as well as teaching you strong communication skills needed for presenting findings. It’s ranked as having one of the highest starting salaries for graduates, at just under £25,000 and having learned such widely used and essential skills, it will turn you into a dream employee - perhaps why it's one of the popular majors for international students.
Computer science
Who wouldn't want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg and invent the next generation of social media? Well, if you study computer science, like Zuckerberg, you could well be. As we invest more and more in technology, graduates with high levels of technical skills and knowledge are increasingly sought after with a very respectable employment rate. A strong understanding of computer systems, coding and programming is indispensable in our technology driven age. Every company needs their own Mark Zuckerberg - why not let it be you?
Law
Every parent has dreams of their child becoming a successful, prosperous individual, and 'lawyer’ definitely fits the bill quite nicely, so it's no wonder that studying law is high on the list of majors for international students. It's a strong, career driven degree that sets you on the path to becoming a solicitor, a lawyer or a barrister to name a few. It's a tough course to tackle and requires some extra years of study, but the rewards are plentiful. According to the website 'Prospects' over 50% of 2015 law graduates are now in employment with over 35% of the remaining students continuing on to further study in law or other work.
Social Sciences
A social science degree gives you countless opportunities in the workplace, whether you want to try your hand at anything from town planning to human geography or anthropology to politics. This vast range of employment possibilities has meant that on average, three years from graduating, almost 85% of students find paid employment compared to 80% of humanities graduates. This, along with the analytical skills this course gives you, is why it's one of the most popular majors - especially for international students.
The brave decision to study abroad, live in a foreign country and maybe speak a new language, has made many international students more employable than native students. It shows new skills and courage that will no doubt impress employers, no matter what course you choose to study.
Want to begin your journey? Take a look at the Universities page, where you can get in contact with real international schools about studying abroad.
