How to figure out the perfect college course for you

Seeing as it’s College Awareness Week, we wanted to talk about the excruciating decision we all must face when we’re leaving school — which college course is the right match for us.

It really is quite unfair that we’re forced to, potentially, decide our career paths when we’re only just figuring out who we are, as we leave school at 18-years-of-age. However, this is a reality we all must face sooner than later.

That’s why we were so excited to hear about YOONIE.ie, a software platform designed to help leaving cert students to pick their ideal course, looking to life beyond the leaving cert.

YOONI has developed bespoke assessment technology that analyses a student’s academics, personality and interests to generate personalised course recommendations and insights.

After all, research shows that first-year dropouts alone result in losses of €17.2 million to Irish parents each year. On an individual level, the third-level student lifecycle will cost parents a minimum of €18,444 with a child living at home for college. Every Irish parent has a 25% chance of losing some, if not all of that €18,444 due to their child dropping out.

According to Nathan Mayes, co-founder of YOONI, “In Irish Colleges, the dropout rate in the first year is 14% while a total of 25% of students drop out before graduation. Studies show that 60% of these dropouts are due to students choosing the wrong course.”

“We developed YOONI from the ground up, in collaboration with Guidance Counsellors and other experts in both education and technology fields, to bridge the void between the traditional guidance system and modern career guidance technology. YOONI.ie uses smart technology to help alleviate the stress students face navigating the path of course selection.”

TikTok star Podge Henry now spends a large portion of his time entertaining his forty nine thousand followers with funny sketches, but says that choosing the right college course is no laughing matter. 

“Making the correct college course choice for me was vital because I really wanted to pick a degree that I knew I would see a future career in while also giving me options in case I wanted to go into something else after college. Communications was perfect for that,” he explains.

“It allowed me to showcase my interest in content and TV but was broad enough that there were plenty of options in Marketing, PR and broadcasting too if I wanted to explore them. It’s just about being happy with what you are studying, once you have that everything else comes naturally”.
To sign up for free, and to view other supports available to students, visit www.YOONI.ie