Choosing universities

[FantasyAndHope]

Dd is interested in studying history with another subject or politics.
She has looked at sociology but according to teachers it's seen as a 'weak degree' and should be avoided as some employers don't take it seriously.

So..when looking at universities are rankings important? And what is the best number to go to? Is it choose in the top 30? Top 20?

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Fantasy you are better off asking uni questions in 'Higher Education'.

[Hillarious]

I wouldn't say Sociology is a weak degree. At the end of the day, many arts degrees are about handling information from various sources and re-writing and analysing it. In today's world, Sociology is quite important, in some ways more so than History . . . because we never seem to learn lessons from History.

[LadyinCement]

Well, you kind of have to match the student to the university. So think about predicted grades and then look at what places ask for those grades. You don't want to sell yourself short nor do you want to waste time looking at places that ask for stratospheric grades (that would be Exeter) if they are not achievable. Offers should give you the best idea of the "ranking" of universities rather than looking at some of the league tables. Then of course there's course content and how close the university is to home if that matters, plus whether it's campus or city.

Ds's friend is doing History and International Relations at Royal Holloway and really enjoying the course. Sociology is not so "mocked" nowadays; it was overtaken by Media Studies some time ago.

[Hillarious]

This is where I confess DC2 is about to start a Sociology degree, for which ABB is needed. Went to a model lecture and it was fascinating. With DC1 and DC2, we first made a decision about the kind of uni to choose - large city, small city, campus, London. Decided against London unless there was a specific course only available there. In our opinion, too big a city to have any sense of a university community (too much going on elsewhere) and we were happy with that decision. Ended up choosing city universities in the north - beer is v cheap there!

[BackforGood]

Agree that you are looking at this from the wrong angle. It has to be the right University for the student, not because MN say so.
You (your dd) need to be realistic about the grades they will achieve, and look at the universities offering courses she can get on to with those grades. Then look at the content of the course, then look at the university - campus or City, where in the country, what the accommodation is like, what the travel is like, what is the cost of living like, what % get 'graduate jobs' within 6 months of leaving, what do the student satisfaction rating say, etc.

Use push.co.uk, UCAS, the student room, and I'm sure there are others, to start filtering options.