University..what's better?

[Veganfortheanimals]

I live in oxford...ds is applying to uni for next yr.he would prefer to live at home.i would prefer him to live at home to keep costs down..apart from oxford uni ( which he says he won't get in to ) .he says there are no good unis s near enough to live at home..he's predicted 2 A grades and 1A*. Maths , further maths chemistry...so is he correct when he says the university you go to is important? ..that it needs to be a russle group uni ,in order to get a good job after?? ..my degree is 20 + years old so what do I know...so what's better to be 30 grand less in debt after the degree by living at home? Or more debt and having gone to a Russell group uni? ....obviously I won't get an actual say in where he goes ,but he's not applied yet so.......

Going to a Russell Group uni isn't the be all and end all. What's most important is engaging in the degree and maximising your employability during your time at university. Things like volunteering, getting into positions of leadership/responsibility, engaging with the careers service for CV editing/mock interviews, going to careers fairs and doing an internship or placement.

RG universities can open doors, especially with 'short-sighted' employers. However, I've seen plenty of non-RG grads hired over RG ones because of the content of their CVs and how they interview.

To be honest he will probably never pay off his student loan and it will get wiped after 30 years anyway so he will probably never even pay the extra 30k off. To be honest I don't really think it matters to many employers these days about it the degree is from a Russell group uni. Saying that just because a uni is Russell group it does not necessarily mean that the quality of the teaching is any better.

1. Depending on what subject, he should stand a chance of getting into Oxford with those grades. (They might require him to live in for his first year though)
2. Yes, your university matters. Not necessarily Russell group, but one which is respected for the subject you do and has entry requirements at your DS's kind of level. Some employers are very restricted which universities they look at, depends on the subject/career.
3. There is a Higher Education thread where people will have more up to date insight on admissions, sources and universities.

Well, if half the folk on here are interviewing him in 5 years time, it's Russell Group or nothing.

Meanwhile, back in real life, he should think about what he wants to do, what he's good at, what course is right for him. Getting all of that right will dramatically increase his chances of a finishing his course an attaining good degree, which in turn will give him more choices later on. Those choices may include doing a post-grad course or PhD at a Russell Group, if that's the right thing for him to move him towards whatever his career goals are at that point in time.

It's not just graduates from Russell Group unis that get jobs despite what some people would have you believe

He's got excellent predictions in subjects which will open many doors for him, so he should have plenty of options available to him. Also, has he considered an apprenticeship instead of uni right away? it's possible to complete a degree while also undertaking an apprenticeship, especially with those subjects.

What does he want to study? I'd say go for the best one he can for that subject.

As PP have said, he debt will be hideous regardless of where he lives.

and attaining a good degree ...

There's not one single right answer to this, OP. Some employers do look for a Russell Group uni on the CV, others don't. It depends on what degree he gets (if he gets a 1st or 2:1 then the Russell Group thing won't matter so much) and also on the course he studies.

I agree with Mousehole that the most important thing is to find somewhere he engages with the course. Maybe that's more likely to happen if he is living at home? He needs to weigh up the different options before making a decision.

I think as well he is struggling to decide between maths and chemistry,that's delaying him doing the application,he wants to apply to some units for one and some for the other ,so he has more time to decide.but obviously that's not possible in the statement to do that .

Uni ,not units ,sorry