1 in 5 university students drops out during the first year. The problem that starts before the beginning

Most students do not choose what to study. They choose what they can get into with their score.

These days, near any library or academy, it is easy to hear eighteen-year-old students talking about the PAU. And there is one complaint that comes up more than any other: getting thirteen out of fourteen no longer sets anyone apart, because today that score is reached by a significant number of students. The admission cut-off score no longer says much about the actual difficulty of a degree; it simply records the last score with which someone gained a place the previous year.

And they are not wrong: we have ended up measuring the value of degrees through a number that reflects neither their difficulty nor their content, but the intersection between supply and demand. For most students, choosing a degree becomes a race against time in which too many things come into play at once: the PAU score, the places available, family expectations, career prospects and that feeling that a single number can open or close paths.

And in that context, many students do not start by asking themselves "what do I really want to study?", but rather "what can I get into with my score?" or "what has good career prospects?". These are legitimate questions, they are part of the system and should be taken into account, but the problem appears when they become the only factors in the decision.

Scores, career prospects, family pressure: too much noise for making a decision

The admission score guides, orders and limits possibilities. But it should not replace reflection. One thing is to take entry requirements into account, and quite another is to let a few decimal points decide entirely what kind of academic and professional life you are about to start building.

Something similar happens with phrases such as "it has good prospects", "it fits your profile" or "it is useful". All of them can be valid reasons, but when combined with little real information about the degree, they end up producing decisions built on a base that is too fragile. Because a degree is not an option on a list or an outcome seen from the outside: it is a specific journey, with specific subjects, a methodology, a pace of work and a particular way of learning that you will experience first-hand.

That is why most students who feel they have made the wrong choice have not necessarily made a bad decision in absolute terms; they simply chose with an incomplete picture of what came next and prioritised the wrong aspects.

Data from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities supports this idea. Its Academic Performance Statistics show that, among those who began a degree in the 2021-2022 academic year, 22.1% dropped out during the first year and 9% switched to other studies during that same period. This does not mean that they all chose badly, but it does reflect something important: for many people, choosing what to study is a moment of adjustment, doubt and reconsideration.

It is not what you choose, but where you choose from

This is the idea most worth taking away: what matters is not only which degree you choose, but where you choose it from. Are you deciding from desire or from urgency? From information or from comparison with your classmates? From what interests you or from what reassures you in the short term?

Deciding with time, information and guidance is not the same as deciding from the fear of running out of options. That is why, before looking at lists and admission cut-off scores, it is worth changing the starting question.

Instead of beginning with "what can I get into?", try different questions: What kind of tasks do I enjoy when nobody forces me to do them? Do I prefer theoretical or applied environments? How do I handle uncertainty: do I need clear structure or do I adapt well to chaos? Which high school subjects made me think, not just pass? The answers will not solve the choice completely, but they will guide it from a different place.

Research the degree properly, not just its name

Another step that many students skip, and later pay for, is researching the degree beyond its name. "Psychology", "Business Administration", "Biomedical Engineering" or "Audiovisual Communication" are labels that can contain things that are very different depending on the university.

Before marking an option on the application form, it is worth doing the following:

• Read the full study plan, not just the names of the subjects.

• Review the teaching guides for first-year subjects, where you will find the bibliography, methodology and assessment system.

• Compare the same degree across two or three different universities. The weight given to internships, mathematics, languages or group work can vary greatly from one institution to another.

• Check whether there are external internships, when they take place and what type they are.

A couple of afternoons of work can save you an entire academic year.

Talk to someone who is already inside

Official websites and promotional videos are useful, but they are designed to make the degree look attractive. For a more realistic picture, look for someone who is already studying it: a second- or third-year student, a recent graduate or an active professional.

LinkedIn is an underused tool among high school students. You can write to people who work in the field you are interested in and ask them what their real day-to-day life is like, what they studied and what they would change. Most people respond if the message is brief, polite and honest. A twenty-minute conversation usually gives more information than ten brochures.

You do not need a clear vocation to choose well

It is also important to dismantle a harmful myth: the idea that you need a clear vocation in order to choose well. Many people do not have one at eighteen, and that does not mean they cannot find their path in due time.

Sometimes, a sustained interest in a subject and the willingness to commit to it for a while are enough. Other times, what exists is pure curiosity, a desire to explore. Either of these can sustain a degree. What rarely works is choosing without any of that, only by elimination, inertia or external pressure.

What if you are already studying and having doubts?

Let us be honest: there is nothing wrong with not getting it right the first time. If you have reached this point while studying a degree that does not fully convince you, it is worth keeping something in mind: doubting is not failing. Changing degrees or taking a pause is not wasted time; it is making a decision with new information that you did not have before.

That said, there is something that helps you make fewer mistakes, or at least realise much sooner: being close to the reality of the profession from the beginning. A large part of the doubts that appear in second or third year come from having spent years studying only theory, without contact with a real professional environment. And that contact is precisely what allows you to know whether you truly like the degree or whether what you liked was the idea you had built around it. The later that moment arrives, the longer you move forward without having the answer.

That is why, if you are having doubts now, it may be a good time to ask yourself not only "is this the right degree?", but also this other question: "am I getting to see what this profession looks like from the inside at any point?". And if the answer is no, or if there are still two years to go before finding out, perhaps the problem is not only what you are studying, but the model in which you are studying it.

What you should ask of the university model before deciding

There is something few universities say out loud: the format in which you study shapes your experience as much as the degree you have chosen. A degree may be well designed on paper and still be incompatible with your real life.

Universidad Mundae starts from a different idea. The admission process is not resolved through a score: it includes an interview in which each candidate’s profile and motivation are assessed, because a number cannot predict how someone will perform over four or five years of study.

The model is flexible by design. Depending on the programme, studies are online or blended, making them compatible with work and family life. And for those who want to go further, there are mobility plans that involve moving between countries and projects, without having to wait for an Erasmus exchange in third year or take a gap year.

In degrees such as Nursing, contact with the professional environment begins from the earliest stages. Internships are not a formality left for the final year: they are part of the journey from the beginning, precisely when they are most useful in confirming whether the choice makes sense.

The difference, ultimately, is one of orientation: the university adapts to the student, not the other way around.

Choosing a degree well is not only about knowing what you want to study. It is about finding a model that allows you to test it from the beginning, that fits your life and that values who you are beyond the score you achieved one day in June. That does not guarantee getting it right the first time, but it changes the starting point significantly. And sometimes, the starting point is everything.