Why students should think twice before choosing a course only because it is trending.
Every few years certain courses and careers become the trending choice that everyone rushes toward, and it is tempting to follow the crowd, but choosing a course just because it is currently hot is risky. Trends can be a useful signal of where opportunities are growing, but they should inform your decision, not make it for you, because a course chosen purely for hype, without regard to your interest and aptitude, often ends badly.
There are a few problems with chasing trends blindly. First, trends change, and a field that is red hot when you start a multi year course may be crowded or cooled by the time you finish, since everyone else chased the same trend too, sometimes leading to oversupply. Second, and more importantly, if you have no genuine interest or aptitude for a trending field, you are likely to struggle and underperform in it, and success in any field, trending or not, requires you to be reasonably good at it, which is hard without interest. So people who pick a hot field they dislike often end up neither happy nor successful in it.
That does not mean ignoring trends entirely, because they can point to genuine growth and opportunity, which is worth knowing. The wise approach is to consider trends as one factor, alongside your own interests, strengths, and the actual nature of the work, rather than as the whole reason. If a trending field genuinely interests you and suits you, that is a great combination of opportunity and fit. But if it does not, it is usually better to choose something you can genuinely engage with, since almost every field has opportunities for those who are skilled and committed. Let trends inform you, but let your own fit and interest lead the decision.
Example: A student with no interest in coding who picks a trending tech course only because it is hot may struggle and dislike it, while one who genuinely enjoys it benefits from both the interest and the demand.
One practical tip: Let trends inform your decision, not make it. A trending course only pays off if it also fits your genuine interest and aptitude, because success in any field still requires being good at it.