Adult life is full of decisions. So before launching into how you might go about deciding on university, there’s one point to make.

A decision you make now doesn’t have to be forever. Unless you’re getting a tattoo, and even then it can be removed, it’s just a lot of effort.

The point is, whether you do or don’t decide to go to university now, that doesn’t mean your life will stay on the path you choose at age 18. If uni isn’t right for you now, maybe you will go in the future.

So how do you decide whether uni is what you want to do after finishing school?

There’s lots of questions you should ask yourself and points you should address before you make the final decision.

Your job

For some people, making the decision about university is actually quite easy because it turns out the job they want to eventually do dictates what they must do immediately after school.

If you already know exactly what you want to do then you need to look at how you will get there. If you want to be a doctor, lawyer or teacher, for example, there is absolutely no question, you must do a degree to get there.

There may be some people in this group that don’t particularly want to do a degree and would rather get on with their career but they don’t have a choice if a degree is necessary for this line of work.

There’s also a lot of other jobs out there that require a general degree. If you know what industry you want to work in, start researching entry level jobs or look at what skillset you would need to get in. If the majority of the job adverts you look at require you to have a degree, you may want to seriously consider uni.

Some jobs, especially more vocational and practical ones, don’t ask for a degree, but may want something else.

And if you have no clue what you want to do, like most people when they leave school, then that’s totally ok too. In this case, you may make your university decision by looking at other factors.

Listen to your feelings

If you fall into that category of not being sure what you want to do yet, like most people, then the place to start is to listen to your thoughts and feelings.

If you’ve not stopped thinking about university for months and can already picture yourself there, then that’s a great sign you’re keen for it and will make the most of it.

If, on the other hand, you feel like you can’t imagine yourself at university or you really hate the idea of doing more academic work then you might want to look at your options and decide if there’s another route you’d like to take.

Consider the practicalities

It’s also important to consider all the practical elements of going to university and to ensure it will work for you personally.

These practicalities can differ depending on your university and course but some things to think about are:

• Does university fit with the lifestyle you want or need?
• Are you ok with the funding side of uni?
• Will you live at uni or at home?
• Do you know exactly what your course involves and the expectations on you?

These are just a few of the questions to ask yourself. It may be useful to make a list of all the practicalities you need to consider.

Talk to people

This really applies to any big decision you have to make in life, talking to someone else about it may give you a new perspective or help you confirm what you already know.

Talk to someone who’s already been to university and ask them honestly what it was like. Would they have done anything differently? If you’re really on the fence about whether to go or not, also chat to someone perhaps just a few years older than you who hasn’t been to university. Why did they make that decision and how has it turned out for them?

Go to university open days

They are often on week days but if you can possibly get to a uni open day they’re so helpful. Your school may already let you have the day off to go to them so double check.

Open days at universities help you get a feel for what life will be like there and find out a lot more about your subject as well as the individual university. Its a chance to ask lots of questions and think about all aspects of life at the uni – where will you live, what amenities will be close, what are the transport connections like, how often will your lectures be and what might you do in your free time?

Open days are also useful in your hunt to decide which uni you want to go to as, if you to to a few, you can decide what you do and don’t like. You can find out when universities are having their open days and book onto talks on university websites.

Weigh up your options

Once you’ve done the above, and thought long and hard about all your post-school options, it’s time to make your decision.

Just make sure you know the dates by which you need to make your choice. UCAS applications to apply for a place at university usually need to be done by mid-January, although some universities have different start dates. There will also be a date by which you need to make your final choices depending on what offers you’ve been given.

Talk to people and listen to what you truly want. Only you can make this decision. Whatever you decide, that’s amazing and exciting.