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

@thing47 I’m assuming your DD didn’t apply to Durham or St Andrews’s or Edinburgh and get a place. It’s easy to advocate for universities ranked in the 40s for the subject if you are not turning down 2 in the top 10 and 1 ranked at 15. Would your DD truly have done this and gone local instead? I think probably not.

Unless you want no/low contact in the future I'd stop living through her with the "us" language. It's not your degree, there are multiple downsides to Edinburgh and even if there weren't it's not your degree.

Yes-my ds did his masters at Manchester and is working in a field where the maths is so useful. His UG was at a much smaller university and he had to do a foundation year there because his a levels were poor. I’ll never forget sitting in the car on a level results day and seeing his disappointment and upset especially when his friends had all done well. But he called his uni which had rejected him and they agreed a foundation year. It was the making of him-he got his confidence and the enjoyed the nurturing and pastoral care from a smaller university. Given his experience, I was so proud of him with his Research masters result. I think a pp said that a levels were a better predictor of success than degree. Maybe, but sometimes, you can beat the stats.

It’s not necessarily a much better experience. I agree that moving away from home is a good thing- but certainly for my dd 150 rather than 450 miles would have been infinitely better.

I have a dd in year 13, she was really keen on a far away university, then last week she said it all started feeling real rather than hypothetical and she’s now keen on a university that’s very close to home.

Now the far away one hasn’t made an offer yet, so I’m advising to sit tight until they do. I’m also saying we should go to offer holders days before making a firm decision. I think right now they are realising that exams are coming up fast and it’s not long until they actually have to go.

If you get a distinction in your Masters from a world-leading university, no one is going to give a monkey's where you did your under-graduate. That is also a fact.

Not in STEM, at any rate. I don't claim to know anything about law.

If by 'best', you mean highest ranked in league tables, sure. But as @titchy says, that is not the sole route into higher degrees. Niece and goddaughter studied first degrees at much lower ranked universities than Kent but now have PhDs from RG universities and interesting research jobs in the STEM field.

And a 1st from Kent would still have led to the same pathway… Agree a distinction at Masters is important. Far more so than where the BSc came from.

@thing47 In astrophysics it is looked at for ranking though. @Mischance The subject rankings at CUG take lots of things into account. It’s just a fact that in this subject RG plus the top non RG (St Andrews) are best. Although dd didn’t do stem at uni, her lecturers were all experts in their field of academic work. They all had extensive research. This is what academia is. It’s not purely vocational where you are taught a job.

It has got to be her choice. I went to a local university. I didn't go to a top university but it felt like a better fit. It was easy to get help when i had a problem. I could also go home on a weekend if i wanted. I have now moved further away from my family home.

Degree matters though-my dc got a first in Astrophysics from a small university and then did research masters in one of the top 5. Funny, they bombed their a levels and did extra foundation year but a levels have not mattered at all career wise. A masters distinction did though.

My son went to Edinburgh - lovely Uni. We live about 20 minutes away and go there often for meals out etc. It's a wonderful city.

People saying Scotland is cold are being ridiculous. It's a few degrees at most. Our summers are HOT.

Agree with the comments on the financial stability of Kent, I’d be very concerned. Also, where in London do you live? If you’re near City or Heathrow there are multiple very quick flights daily from Edinburgh, so in reality she could be at home just as quickly as from Kent so “closer to home” doesn’t really apply.

Her motivation for Kent appears to be that its nearer home and feels like a safer option. I've no clue about which course is better, but as another way to think about it -

How well does she know Edinburgh (or her other options?). Could you arrange a weekend visit - sleeper train there, or a flight? Committing to 4 years somewhere she's never been / barely remembers is going to be off-putting.

Could she improve her confidence or stretch her wings a bit, to make that a smaller factor?

It's all very well saying RG universities are stronger in research but that's really only relevant if those doing that cutting-edge research are involved in giving lectures or taking tutorials, which is often not the case for teenage under-graduates. You don't benefit simply by being in proximity to them.

I rejected a top uni in London to go to UWE (Bristol) to be closer to home - went home every weekend and worked in local pub. Loved it. Don't regret it but Bristol had a great social life. It was not the better uni of the 2 and the year after I left (down to budget cuts) they were not able to show at Graduate fashion week in London which is where I was scouted for my first job.
Anyway, despite not going to a great uni I've still had a brilliant career. And I did move to London after uni when I felt ready.

I do not thinknthis idea that all RG unis are better is true. Universities should be judged on a whole range of things and every one is different.

I think ultimately it’s up to her.

Is she past the point where she can make more applications? Can she apply to an RG University nearer to home to tick both boxes?

Trust me it won’t. A 1st or 2:1 from Kent will get an MSc offer from pretty much any UK uni for Physics/Physics adjacent course. That then gets to you a position where you’re able to apply for PhDs. Same route as someone who did their UG at Durham for example. Physics students at all levels and specialities are in short supply!

There are so many students who struggle with university and annually there are tragedies. It is important that your DD is allowed to make her own choice - with some guidance of course - but in the end it is her choices. Better that she should make her own assessment of her needs - she understands herself better than you do. The pastoral care in some universities is awful and this matters a lot.

My 3 AC all went to university, one to a RG - their outcomes have been similar, and the pastoral care in the RG university left something to be desired.

OP, whilst I agree that it's a much better experience for a student to be a fair distance from home, this isn't your decision to make.
There is a lot of "we" and "us" in your post, but it actually doesn't involve you at all - the universities get back to the student and the student makes his or her own choice.

@titchy In this field, where further research is normal, degree will matter! It’s astrophysics not maths. It’s a fairly small number of dc who do this and employment isn’t obvious afterwards. A levels won’t be a determine factor here I think.

I would find it hard not to see my DC go to a RG Uni if that was an option. But, you can’t force them. You can clearly state why Edinburgh is the better uni - provide stats to show your reasoning for this choice. But, ultimately it has to be their decision.

To add - all the evidence points to AL grades being the stronger factor, not uni or degree classification, in determining post-uni outcomes.

To be fair, and I do think if she’s Durham-offer material she should aim elsewhere than Kent, the reality is that the grad job market is tough at the moment (maybe it’ll be easier in a few years?) - but it’s tough for all (and maybe someone wants to have a peek at Durham’s finances before castigating everyone else), and she’s planning a Physics degree and they are sought after. Kent isn’t so poor as to not enable PG or PhD level study, or to be blacklisted by employers.

Theres a lot of hyberbole on the thread (it is MN after all!), but a Physics degree from a middling uni isn’t going to ruin this kid’s life chances at all. Employers like Physics and Maths grads, wherever they’re from.

Support not interference.

It's up to you if you contribute or not, but you don't control where they are going to be spending the next 3-5 years. Accompany them on open days, give them all the information to enable them to make an informed choice, then respect their decision.

(Like another poster, I want to echo that Durham was great for DD until it wasn't: the pastoral side was indefensible.)