28 Sep 2021

When you think of online study, you probably picture one (or more) of these scenarios:

  1. Spending a few hours each day working in a cool online café. You are free from the confines of a traditional, physical uni and as such you’re able to combine your degree with epic things like travelling the world.
  2. You’re unmotivated. The freedom of studying whenever you want has caused you to procrastinate to the point where you’ve fallen behind in your studies. Meanwhile, your friends who go to physical universities with strict class timetables are forced to study to keep up the pace, and it works.
  3. The freedom of studying online allows you to get a job at the same time, meaning you don’t fall into thousands of dollars of debt at the end of your degree.

The reality, however, is usually a mix of all of the above.

But with a bit of good ol’ fashioned “applying yourself” (every teacher’s favourite phrase at parent-teacher interviews), you can really use studying online to your advantage and shape your life to look however you want it to. If you're thinking of applying for uni next sem, here's what to expect:

It’s flexible

If it’s flexibility that you crave in life, then there are two things that you must do:

  1. Join a yoga studio
  2. Study online         

Online study probs won’t help ya touch your toes, but the amount of flexibility your life will gain is insane.

When you don’t have to commute to uni, go to class at a specific time or plan your sleeping pattern around these classes, you’ll find that you have way more spare time than any of your mates doing uni the traditional way.

If you’re able to keep yourself accountable and make sure you actually do set aside a bit of time each day to study, you’ll realise why studying online really is the dream.

You won’t miss a thing

When all of your lectures and tutorials are online, you’ll never have to start an exam or an assessment at a disadvantage to everyone else because of that one time you slept in past your alarm and missed class. Everyone has equal access to all the resources, all the time.

That way, if you do happen to miss a few classes or decide to go on a sneaky mid-week road trip during the semester, you’ll find it super easy to catch up on your studies the following week.

Your time management skills go through the roof

When you make the switch from school to uni, you enter the next level of self-management. Rather than having classes from 9 till 3 everyday with lunch at 12, your classes are scattered throughout the week. There is no lunchtime. You eat when you want – you know, whenever you’re, like, hungry.

However, when you make the switch to online study, you won’t just get better at managing your time. You’ll become a pro.

You’ll nail routines. You’ll figure out how to balance things like life, work, study, and your relationships better than anyone else. You’ll become so productive and good at planning things out that people will think that there’s two of you.

Independence, baby!

Being the one that keeps yourself accountable can help you develop so many good and healthy habits. Not only will you organise your time better, you’ll also become way more independent.

Think about it. If you can organise and complete an entire uni degree without even leaving your own bedroom, who’s to know what else you could achieve on your lonesome.

Soon you’ll be cooking your own dinners, organising your own tax returns, buying your own flights around the world and spending your Saturday nights discussing taxes and politics with your mates (okay, maybe that’s pushing it).

The way you interact with people completely changes

When you study online, your teachers take on a completely different role to the teachers in traditional universities.

Rather than spend half the day trying to catch your lecturers in their offices just to ask them a question, you’ll be able to post questions to your teachers and advisers in online forums.

You and your fellow students will be able to help each other out with your work too – but don’t worry, there are less, umm, “formal” forums for you to hang out (cough, post memes, cough) on as well. The sense of community is actually super strong in online unis – it’s not like in traditional unis where you just go to class, get out and go home but do prepare yourself for the awkward "-unmute- bye 👋" at the end of classes!