Top Unis - am I missing something?

Some super high achievers actively avoid Oxbridge for political, social, mind broadening etc reasons. My Dd for one. She won’t be on her own in a ‘second tier’ Russel choice. There’ll be plenty as well qualified. Getting a first class degree there and going on to post grad ( in maybe Oxford or Cambridge ) will set her up as well as anything.

Daughter needs to compromise on the campus then- I get the wanting to be able to pop back home- better to realise that now than later.

if you look at the % spread on the league tables there is really nothing in it.

the question I would be asking rather than moaning about uni choices is why is she under reaching on her choice of degree. If she and you think she is so exceptional then why isn’t she chasing medicine, computer science or maths/sciences?

are her As all humanities or drama?

My daughter had straight 9s and A star A levels and went to York for PPE. She said what are old white men going to teach me at Oxford …..
Year 1 was easy and I thought she made a mistake. Year 2 was manageable and she got a First. Year 3 is finally challenging and so I wouldn’t knock it. She’s getting through the rounds on some interesting jobs which Oxbridge students would be equally pleased to get.

She didn't NEED to push herself, she chose to. She is choosing to want to attend a "top" university - it doesn't mean it will be the best for her. There will be plenty of students attending the "top" universities that will very rarely visit home but are prepared to make that sacrifice to be able to attend them. It's a choice, nobody is forcing that upon her.

Maybe it was something in the water at Bristol Uni in the '80's, but I seem to have encountered a lot of people who went on to become MPs.

They were economists and lawyers. The guy who studied politics in my circle went into merchant banking and I think he faffs about with a vineyard these days.

Agree with OP, doesn’t seem to be a clear second tier of universities these days, outside of Oxbridge, Imperial, LSE. So if you have a bright child who doesn't want to (or isn't quite good enough to get into) these unis, it’s not clear what the next best options are!

They're not supposed to have termtime jobs except for a few things like the college bars. And they're likely to need to consolidate/revise/do other work in the Xmas and Easter vacs.
But there's no reason they can't do summer internships - in fact a certain number of weeks relevant work was a course requirement for DD.

Durham is amazing!! My daughter read History there and I would fly return to Newcastle sometimes for £50 return. Don’t restrict yourself, explore!!

Red Brick unis have very high entry standards. Oxbridge is entirely its own beast but you need to work just as hard to get into somewhere like Bristol. I got all As at A level and still didn’t get into Edinburgh, York or Bristol - was accepted to Cardiff so still landed a Russell Group and certainly needed to put in all the work I did.

There is also flying, not the best for the environment I know but it’s a short flight to the SE

I’d base it on whatever university is best for her chosen subject, and has the best employment links or prospects…

Oxbridge is fine if she is likely to want a career that only needs pure academic success. But Oxbridge students are heavily discouraged from having part-time jobs (and from what I can see little time to take one up anyway, even in the holidays) and working/life experience is increasingly critical these days for graduates seeking their first careers. Without it they can really struggle to find material in competency based interviewing (I speak as a seasoned recruiter.)Employers usually want the 360 degree person - redbrick/Russell group Uni, 2:1 or higher, plus some life skills to complement the degree.

I'd second places like Edinburgh or St Andrews. St Andrews is really remote - a good 1.5 hours from Edinburgh and you can only get to the university by combination of train and bus. Great for the on campus feel, bad for wanting to come home. Edinburgh is very accessible though, it's no problem to get a train at that age, she can just read on the train.

Our DS has not long finished a Masters at Oxford, he applied under the Oxford opportunity scheme ( not sure if this is relevant?)
He didn’t have a job whilst he was studying, didn’t have the time, even in the Summer breaks, he was constantly doing papers.
He couldn’t come home during term time, generally 8 weeks per term, it’s very frowned upon to go home unless it’s the holidays. We had to empty his room each holiday-they rent out the rooms, I think there’s storage for a fee, but overseas students take priority ( the first year was different-due to Covid, that’s another story)
Although he studied hard, came out with a fabulous result, he says he couldn’t wait to leave, not a wonderful experience for him .
He’s now doing a PhD in Edinburgh, he’s absolutely loving it.

Going to uni is about so much more than academic study! Or even your resulting degree.
And from the point of view of your DD, she's worked really hard to get good grades. She will have learned a lot from that. She wants a campus uni, not too far from home. I think that gives her loads of options.

Especially for politics it's great. The university is geared for political discourse and the level of guest speakers is unparalleled.

Apart from costs, people are so quick to dismiss London because "it's not social". It's social if you make it social. And also YPs need to think about the value and they'll get from each institution. Networks, connection and academic value all matter. A campus is just a group of buildings near each other.

Our son is in his 3rd year at Warwick, studying Psychology. He's loved his time there. He can hop on a train to London and meet us there in the same time as it takes us on a train from SE Kent. A weekend visit home is not too lengthy or expensive.
Wherever she goes, her excellent A Level grades will still be on her CV.

Has she thought of taking a gap year? Her parameters for decision making sound a bit unformed - doing something for a year would boost her confidence so she might feel happier about being a bit further away, and then she could apply with known grades.

What is her school like, would they be able to offer advice on worthwhile gap year schemes? I'm sure that at her age delaying things by a years feels like her life is slipping away and she will be much older than everyone else, but the signs are that she might benefit.

Sheffield is a really good university but not a campus (although not sure it matters as great student community) and not near the se

There are many, many children with the same or even better grades than your daughter, OP. Many with all 9s at GCSE and 4 A*s. And most don't get into Cambridge or Oxford or LSE because there aren't enough places. Hence, competition at many other top universities.

Get a grip. There are many other great University programmes available. And they also require high grades and hard work to get in. Your daughter has not wasted her time.

What does she want to do as a career?

Politics isn't really a career & graduates go onto a diverse range of post graduate courses & graduate jobs.

If she's determined to become an MP (very tiny percent will succeed) then purely academic qualifications aren't much use.

This with bells on. Especially where they really pushed themselves to get the A stars rather than being naturally intelligent and talented. Some people get A stars with minimal effort because they're just that bright. Some manage it because of a mix of subject choices (some tougher than others) and working themselves into the ground. Top A level results do not necessarily mean top degree result. They're indicative of aptitude to a degree yes; but someone in my year at uni got strong A levels but scraped a 2ii. Another I know got a solid 1st but AAB A levels.

@OnTheRoll Having top grades doesn’t guarantee entry to oxbridge, or some other uni’s anyway. I didn’t apply to oxbridge but did apply to 6 top rated unis. I had high predictions. Was still interviewed for 3 of the uni’s. There’s plenty of top universities other than oxbridge?
Also, why can’t she travel? I picked one nowhere near where I lived. It was still only a train ride/short flight away!

I think it's your DDs course which is unusual in that regard @skyscrapersinging

Would you consider QUB Belfast? A small, walkable city, Russell Group university and short flights to England