How to choose what to study?

Start with yourself, not with a list

Latvia has over 400 study programs, so starting from a list is hard. It's easier to start with questions about yourself: what you like, what you're good at and how you'd like to spend your working day.

• ✓Which school subjects do you like and do well in – and why?
• ✓What do you do in your free time when nobody tells you to?
• ✓Do you like working with people, technology, numbers, ideas or your hands?
• ✓Would you like to work in an office, outdoors, in a workshop, on stage, at a school or in a hospital?

Turn interests into fields

Once you know what excites you, look for fields where people do that every day. For example, if you like helping people and biology – healthcare; logic and computers – IT; telling stories and writing – media and communication.

Don't rule out a field just because you don't know anyone who works in it. Read the program description and look at the courses – it often surprises you.

Check a program before choosing it

• ✓Go to an open day – many are also online.
• ✓Talk to someone who already studies there (write to the student council or on social media).
• ✓Look at the fee, the number of budget places and the city.
• ✓Check which centralised exams (CE) and results you need to get in.

Important already in 12th grade: choosing your CE

Many programs count specific CE – for example physics in engineering or biology and chemistry in medicine. If you don't take those exams, you often can't apply to those programs at all. So it's worth thinking about what you want to study before you sign up for your CE.

You don't have to know everything now

Many students change direction – and that's normal. The first years of a program are often broad, and later you can choose a specialisation or do a master's degree in another field.

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