To think my DD should go to Edinburgh Uni instead of Kent?

I was going to say the same. Out of all the options, St Andrews is the top one. Yes, it is far but if she can't come home every weekend, whether she's in St Andrews, Edinburgh or Durham is much the same in the end. StA also has a lovely student culture.

Also adding that Kent is proposong to merge with Greenwich. Its next few years are unlikely to be stable and staff are likely to be demotivated.

Agree it had to be your dd's choice but it must be an informed one.

I don't know where your are based but we are se and equidistant to the airports and I worked out that it was as quick to visit dd, when Edinburgh was in the frame" than some other unis.

Not sure what the donut is for Edinburgh is on average about 3 degrees colder than Kent. Maybe stop eating donuts and study facts!

It's a biscuit.

A whole 3 degrees. What a ridiculous thing to base a major life decision on.

Back off. She has to make her own decision

Let her choose. If being near to home is important to her, and she gets good grades gently point out that she could apply to the London Unis via clearing, or she could take a gap year, or go to Kent. Validate her right to choose, and her reasons as being important to her and help her to negotiate the process rather than deciding for her.

Not sure what the donut is for Edinburgh is on average about 3 degrees colder than Kent. Maybe stop eating donuts and study facts!

My sister went to Edinburgh, it was really good lots going on there for students. It really got her on the stepping stone for a career path in London where she lives now with her partner that she met in Edinburgh.
I think that your daughter would be crazy to choose Kent- a Uni in crisis over such an established safe bet.

Please-as a parent with two happy, well adjusted and career driven young adults-let her go where she wants. Be happy that she has good choices. My son missed his grades at A level-so I encouraged him to go to clearing. He was adamant he wanted to go to his first choice and do a foundation year. A wise friend told me to back off-if he goes to his uni and it doesn’t work out, he!ll put it down to experience. If it doesn’t work out through clearing, he’ll blame you. Let her be enthusiastic about her choice rather than having arguments about where she should go. She can do a masters with that extra year-as did my son in Astrophysics at a different uni Manchester-where it really helped him land his job

Another thing which may be an advantage in Edinburgh (or st A) is that the course structure will allow her considerable leeway to change direction if she doesn't like Astrophysics as much as she hopes. So it's a safer choice if she's wobbling at all over the course.
St A is a serious hike from London; somehow that last 1.5-2 hours from Edinburgh feels interminable. But Edinburgh is easy by train or plane. Durham is super easy; less than 3 hours on a direct train.

Not intending to be provocative at all, but are you absolutely certain she was accepted to all those universities? I wonder if saying that she wants to stay close to home is a way of her saving face.

If you’re certain, then I would try to understand why she’s so keen to stay close. Are there any other redeeming factors of Kent university that’s swaying her decision? And what support can you offer to make universities further afield less daunting, could you visit the universities with her perhaps. Ultimately it is her choice, but I understand your hesitation and would try to encourage her to think carefully about all her choices.

"We"....its not we here, its "her" and her alone

Back off @Girlypops154, you sound overbearing.

It's her uni, if she wants to go to Kent, let her go to Kent

she has also been accepted to St Andrews but we prefer Edinburgh

Who is 'we' in this sentence? Because it should be her choice, it doesn't really matter what you would prefer.

All you can do is give her advice, and then let her make her own choice. Ultimately she needs to go somewhere that she feels she would be happy. She won't do well somewhere that she doesn't like, however good the uni is.

she has also been accepted to St Andrews but we prefer Edinburgh

Who is 'we' in this sentence? Because it should be her choice, it doesn't really matter what you would prefer.

All you can do is give her advice, and then let her make her own choice. Ultimately she needs to go somewhere that she feels she would be happy. She won't do well somewhere that she doesn't like, however good the uni is.

I went to Edinburgh uni. Fern Brady talks about going there in her autobiography and it was painfully accurate, even though she was there a few years later than me. Lot of poshos and a divide between local and working class students and the rah rah jolly japes and old school ties crowd. Not sure what it's like now. But anyway, it needs to be her choice, surely? And most parents these days are normally breathing a sigh of relief if their kids want to remain a bit closer to home. Don't get me wrong, it's good for some to spread their wings, but it doesn't always work out well going far away.

4 of her 5 choices are ridiculous for someone who wants to stay near London, but Durham and Edinburgh are an easy, if not especially speedy or cheap, train journey from London.
You have to take league tables with a pinch of salt but student satisfaction is far worse at Kent (ranked 44th) vs Edinburgh (14th) so it does seem like an odd choice to avoid a train journey half a dozen times a year. Unless she actually is planning on living at home and that’s the issue?
You can’t and shouldn’t be talking her in or out of anything but she could perhaps go to Edinburgh for a few days before she needs to firm/insure to see what she thinks and check out what she can target through clearing that may be better than Kent but closer than Edinburgh. Can she reject everything and reapply through UCAS Extra? I can’t remember what the rules are with that. Ultimetly you can’t make her do anything, and if you do and she hates it she’s made your mistake rather than her own.
Be wary or anywhere going bust - friend dd just started a joint honours with MFL at Nottingham and they binned off the MFL part after the first few weeks.

I agree with a PP that it must be an informed decision and if she wants to be closer to home, then maybe she should defer a year and apply to somewhere prestigious like Imperial

I think parents can have a say when they will often be paying for accommodation etc plus when they know that domestic universities are a “passport “to onward careers and might have better teaching

I work in physics in Scotland l. In terms of astrophysics and university experience St Andrews is a better dept it’s great. Edinburgh is fantastic too but St As is better. Edinburgh though is great for city life though for someone from London the charm of St Andrews would be better. I wouldn’t go to Kent, there isn’t much info on their department and it’s not in the top physics unis. If she wants to stay closer to home Imperial college would be better half way Manchester had a fabulous astrophysics course. Good luck.

I can't remember my parents saying much beyond well done and how proud they were when I told them what uni I had accepted then they helped me sort practicalities of accommodation/moving etc.
I find it really odd you think you can insist where your child goes?

How often has she been to Edinburgh and has she done it by train? Edinburgh /London is a great train journey - lots of us do it often for work. To me the two cities are very easy to travel between despite the distance.
But there are lots of other ways kent and Edinburgh will be different cultures- is she maybe a bit intimidated by Edinburgh? It does have a lot of very confident students - privileged and intelligent and self confident.

I think your DD should choose. It’s important for a young person to be happy with their uni choice. You can only advise.

To add: me, my DH and one of our DDs all went to Edinburgh uni and loved it and loved the city; my other DD went to Durham and got bullied out of it. There was a huge snobbishness there.

Kent is planning to merge with the University of Greenwich as it’s about to go bust, and has also had to make substantial redundancies. Although it needs to be her choice I’d be quite concerned about this choice for all kinds of reasons and I’d be any to be very sure she understands the difference between the universities both in terms of reputation and financial viability.

Can I ask when your DD got her offer please? Mine is currently waiting on the response from her application to Edinburgh. Thank you

It's her decision. My daughter has decided where she wants to apply, based on criteria that is important to her. You can give a gentle opinion but she is going to be living that life so she needs to decide. Your priorities might not be the same as her priorities.

I came here to say this too. Be wary of Kent.

I agree with other posters that it is your DD's decision, but it should be an informed one