"A prestigious university'- how important?

[Orangesandlemons77]

I just wondered what your views are on this. Inspired by another thread.

There are two universities close by and it would save money for DS to live here. Especially with the cost of living / rent going up etc. I know they can get loans but it still would save money.

One of the universities required very high grades - three A*s for example for most courses. The other one was a former college of higher education and only requires three Cs for most courses.

DS is probably a B student. Quite a homebody and seems keen to stay close to home, we live in a city and would be on a bus route to university.

So, what do you think about how important it is to go to the 'right' university?

I read these days, some employers are not allowed to screen out candidates for e.g. grad schemes due to their place of study.

How much would this influence you with your DC and choice of university? Thanks

I would say it depends vety much on the course. Some places that are less well known will be highly regarded for specific things. For instance, some of the ex polys might have particular links with industry or be very strong in some practical subjects. When I was a student, back when there were still polys, a friend of mine picked Manchester Poly to do something related to textiles, over what sounded like much more prestigous places. But apparently for this particular course it was the place to go, and she has certainly done vey well for herself in her corner of the high fashion world.
The other consideration is how a particular student will do in the different environments. As a general rule it's good to aim high of course, but some people thrive in a less pressured environment. So it might be better to be somewhere where the ethos suits the student and they feel comfortable and give of their best, than somewhere where they are just about hanging on in therr and feel unhappy and pressured all the time. A bit like how it can be better for some kids to be at the top of the middle set at school than the bottom of top set.

Is it not more important your class of degree? So for example would a 2.1 from a less prestigious university beat a 2.2. from a different one?

Depends on the course. PPE at Oxford or something from Durham or St. Andrews can make a difference. Medicine is prestigious anyway and only the best universities offer that. Land Management at Cambridge is good. The big banks, law firms will look to recruit from the top unis. Depends on your career path.

@AgeingDoc

I would say it depends vety much on the course. Some places that are less well known will be highly regarded for specific things. For instance, some of the ex polys might have particular links with industry or be very strong in some practical subjects. When I was a student, back when there were still polys, a friend of mine picked Manchester Poly to do something related to textiles, over what sounded like much more prestigous places. But apparently for this particular course it was the place to go, and she has certainly done vey well for herself in her corner of the high fashion world. The other consideration is how a particular student will do in the different environments. As a general rule it's good to aim high of course, but some people thrive in a less pressured environment. So it might be better to be somewhere where the ethos suits the student and they feel comfortable and give of their best, than somewhere where they are just about hanging on in therr and feel unhappy and pressured all the time. A bit like how it can be better for some kids to be at the top of the middle set at school than the bottom of top set.

OK. The newer university locally is portraying itself as the 'creative' one and doesn't seem to do many e.g. maths courses. It is not high in general university rankings or earnings of former students but I studied there myself for a postgraduate course and I liked the campus and atmosphere and think it may suit DS in some ways.

I'll definitely look at the specific courses - at the end of the day it is up to him

@Orangesandlemons77

Is it not more important your class of degree? So for example would a 2.1 from a less prestigious university beat a 2.2. from a different one?

We filter out 2:2s, unless there are exceptional circumstances. It really isn't very difficult to get a 2:1 and the 2:2 candidates we do see, without the exceptional circumstances, are genuinely weaker. They have errors in their CVs, poor communication skills, sometimes very informal language style, are less prepared.

We do also filter on calibre of university, despite my objections, for some roles.

If your son is a B grade student he should stretch himself with a suitable uni.

@Pedallleur

Depends on the course. PPE at Oxford or something from Durham or St. Andrews can make a difference. Medicine is prestigious anyway and only the best universities offer that. Land Management at Cambridge is good. The big banks, law firms will look to recruit from the top unis. Depends on your career path.

Thanks. I don't think he's looking to go into medicine, banking or law but who knows it is still early days. I suppose you need maths for those and he's not brilliant at maths

It doesn't really matter

But

If you go to the top Uni's doors will open to you that stay firmly shut for anyone else in certain areas.

@QuizzicalEyebrows

It doesn't really matter

But

If you go to the top Uni's doors will open to you that stay firmly shut for anyone else in certain areas.

So it really depends on the area then..

He can apply to both and see what offers and grades he gets.

I agree with earlier posters that he should be encouraged to stay in a new city if he can and take a gap year. The students I know who commute have had very limited experiences. At that point why not do Open Uni and save more money?

I lecture at a non prestigious university in an accredited subject. Certainly for my subject the overall prestige of the university does not count at all. In fact I’d say locally one of the ex polys has a much better reputation for the course than the Russel Group university down the road.

I suspect psychology might be similar but not sure. I have heard it’s a course with a high (specific field) unemployment rate afterwards…..you need to do quite a bit of post grad stuff to work in the field I think? So certainly look at that. Of course having a psychology degree doesn’t mean he has to have a career in psychology he could get onto general graduate schemes. But I suspect in those areas there’s a favouring of more traditional courses?

If he does have his heart set on psychology then look at subject league tables for stuff like staff/student ratio. Maybe past NSS surveys though I take them with a pinch of salt.

I’d echo that it’s the course/uni combination which is important - there are some newer universities that have carved out really strong reputations in specific areas.

This is where leagues tables can be very useful, especially the Guardian league table which has more of a student and education focus than other league tables (which give a stronger weighting to research and international reputation). There’s a lot of data out there which is useful e.g. what percentage of students on a course get graduate level jobs, what the drop out rates are like, salaries after x years, how satisfied student were etc.

I should also add my dd is at a prestigious uni and the teaching she says has been very underwhelming. Dated in content etc

So don’t always assume the course will be better but I doubt employers really ever check or care

Also open days are vitally important. Especially meeting the academic staff there, getting a feel for their enthusiasm. Yes, I suppose there’s an element of putting on a show at all of them but Dd definitely felt that she wanted to go somewhere where the staff seemed like people she could cope with listening to for the next however many years. Likewise she was put off by the study facilities at one university.

’I suppose you need maths for those and he's not brilliant at maths’

He might want to look at maths requirements or recommendations for psychology degrees.

@Orangesandlemons77

I just wondered what your views are on this. Inspired by another thread.

There are two universities close by and it would save money for DS to live here. Especially with the cost of living / rent going up etc. I know they can get loans but it still would save money.

One of the universities required very high grades - three A*s for example for most courses. The other one was a former college of higher education and only requires three Cs for most courses.

DS is probably a B student. Quite a homebody and seems keen to stay close to home, we live in a city and would be on a bus route to university.

So, what do you think about how important it is to go to the 'right' university?

I read these days, some employers are not allowed to screen out candidates for e.g. grad schemes due to their place of study.

How much would this influence you with your DC and choice of university? Thanks

There is only one university in the country that sometimes, but not always requires students to get 3A*s. That university does not offer courses in every subjects and the short terms and high pressure may well not suit many students at all. Far more sensible would be finding a course that really excited your ds and never mind where it is. For instance if you are going to study automotive engineering, go to Coventry, forensic science go to Strathclyde.

It's not all about "do people look at the name of the institution on a cv". It's about what doors it opens, including the people you study with and the networks you develop.

He needs to visit both unis get a feel for the course and the place .
Don't just go by "prestige"

@Orangesandlemons77

It would possibly be Psychology, both uni's courses are endorsed with the appropriate body...

No psychology course in the country currently requires students to achieve 3As. Oxford and Cambridge both make offers that are AAA (Oxford only make AAA offers, Cambridge depends on the college but AAA is typical).

Psychology courses vary widely in content even though they are accredited. For instance Bath has an excellent psychology course in its faculty of Social Sciences for which one would not be a suitable student if one studied sciences and maths A-level, whereas others (Oxford and Edinburgh for instance) are science courses which one would not get onto if one didn't study science or maths A-level.

For psychology degrees it is especially important to consider which aspects of the subject one is particularly interested in and apply to universities that teach those.

I’m in a similar situation. Live in city with prestigious uni and have very academic ASD homebody son. He will apply to the prestigious uni but if he doesn’t get in we may well both end up moving. It’s pretty stressful!

If he was less academic I’d advise him to go to the other uni and it would be far far easier because it’s within walking distance. Not boasting btw….myself and my other son are not exceptional unfortunately!

Haven't read all of the posts but wanted to say....a teacher at a prestigious boarding school told me....its about the course not the uni. No one will care which uni was attended but they will care if you have the right course for whatever the future plan is.

I would say do something you’re passionate about and go to the best university your grades will allow (for that subject).

The higher one may drop its offers to A, A, B and let students in with A, B,B.

Agree with @Qwill

As a recruiter of graduates, work experience sets you apart from the others. Passion for the subject, the grade, and uni all pay a part, but having some experience (sandwich year for example), really sets you apart. I recruit STEM, and we regularly employ graduates that do a sandwich year with us, and also contribute to their course if they apply in advance.

I chose to go down the 'best course for my subject' route which meant turning down 2 'prestigious' universities (Cambridge and LSE). It hasn't held me back and I have still succeeded but there are moments throughout my earlier career when doors were closed to me because I had a 'solid' university behind me rather than a 'prestige' one. It was only when I had significant work experience (like 10 years worth!) at some highly respected companies that this stopped being a factor.

By contrast, I did a year abroad at a VERY prestigious university and when I meet natives of that country, they pretty much fall to my feet and worship me when I mention that I studied at this place (especially as a foreigner'). It has opened doors as well as given me immediate respect (from some pretty tough people) in the workplace.

I don't regret my choices. But if the courses are on a par with each other (mine weren't), the prestige name will keep a lot more doors open and I'd always pick that route.

What concerns me more is that the OP seems to be doing the hard thinking and research here rather than her DS? That doesn't bode well for the prestige route, especially as a B student. I'm hoping the OP is actually helicoptering rather than spoon-feeding.

I'll definitely look at the specific courses - at the end of the day it is up to him
HE needs to be looking at the course, not his mum!

I also think he needs to be encouraged to spread his wings and leave home. If he can't due to financial reasons, fair enough. But remember the days when a big goal of going university was learning to be independent?? Standing on your own 2 feet. There's huge value in this. Sadly it gets overlooked in these days of huge costs, grade inflation and panic about end degree results.