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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think UWE is a bad choice of Uni for Fashion Communication or Textiles?

48 replies

RockinHorseShit · 27/10/2021 21:39

Sorry to ask here, but it's always busier & I'm hoping to catch people currently working in the industry or with DCs etc who do.

DD has done an about turn on studying for a Psychology degree, which was why she initially chose UWE in Bristol. Shes convinced herself her B, instead of predicted A in A-level psychology wasn't good enough, but seems from checking myself it is, it's fine & she has more than enough points already too & will have more from her current college course. It's seems she is giving up without trying, which she has form for, plus she didn't like one of her Psychology tutors at A level college, which has turned her off it a bit, so we are still not sure if she actually wants to do it or not. We do think it would be a better fit for her career wise though, but of course it's her choice, but we do have concerns.

She's still insisting on going to UWE based on her friends & boyfriend going there, we do understand her reasons why, but she is now looking at Fashion. Most likely fashion communication aiming at being a stylist, or maybe Merchandiser, buyer etc. She's only just told me this now after months of refusing to discuss it & years of being determined to get a psychology degree & career in that. I'm trying to organise a visit for the open day to see all possible choices & she's refused to tell me anything up until now as she doesn't see a need to vits the Uni🤦‍♀️----

Fashion is my trade & I've worked all ends of the design & manufacturing end of it & recruited too. UWE fashion textiles definitely wasn't a respected degree when I was working with high street design & speaking to old colleagues who still work in the manufacturing & design arm of fashion tell me that hasn't changed...

Is that still true? AIBU to be concerned this is a bad move?

Fashion Communication of the 2 courses she's interested in seems to be the one she's most interested in though she won't give me a straight answer & as it covers photography too, which she's done well in A-Level wise, would be the better fit of the 2 for her.

Is this a respected degree within the the industry?

People keep telling us that everything bar the fashion department has a good reputation at UWE, so the about turn on course choice is a worry🥴.

We have what still seems like a much more respected Uni fashion department on our doorstep too, which could have repercussions financially if I'm understanding it correctly (disability)

There's also photography. She did exceptionally well in that A-Level & where as we've steered her away from a degree in that as it's such a hard career path, one DH gave up after the onslaught of cheap digital cameras, & after doing well in it for years, so he feels that's a bad choice or her too...

but is it though when she obviously has a real talent for it. How easy is it to get work with a photography degree & what type of work

Help Confused

Thank you 🤞🤞

OP posts:
Original poster
RockinHorseShit · 27/10/2021 21:41

Oops, cross out fail Confused

OP posts:
Seeline · 27/10/2021 21:45

Ultimately, unless she enjoys the subject she is studying, she is likely to end up struggling with a degree.

You and your DH sound very heavily involved in her choices.

Pandaly · 27/10/2021 21:49

She needs to do the degree she is most interested in.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 27/10/2021 21:51

Best ones for fashion are Edinburgh, Ravensbourne, and Epsom l believe.

Skiptheheartsandflowers · 27/10/2021 21:51

So you steered her away from the thing she has a real talent for, and now she's made an even worse (to you) choice. Perhaps time to step back and let her make her own choices?

SuPerDoPer · 27/10/2021 21:57

She's refusing to discuss it with you or visit the uni with you because you are taking over her life. She needs to decide what she wants to do and accept the possible pitfalls of that FOR HERSELF. Back off and leave her to it. Pestering her about uni choices and courses based on "mum knows best" will not end well.

Seeline · 27/10/2021 22:00

If she already has points in hand, I'm assuming she's not 17/just 18 like most currently applying for uni.? Let her make her own decisions.

Original poster
RockinHorseShit · 27/10/2021 22:21

Sorry, I wasn't clear. SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT SHE WANTS TO DO. So needs guidance, she's like a rabbit in the headlights & getting hysterical & all I want is a list of courses to book for open day, so she can get a better feel for what SHE chooses to to. At the moment she's almost sticking a pin in the map to make a choice.

Psychology was her big passion from high school through college until the last few months with a difficult teacher, where she convinced herself she was going to fail, so this has come as a shock to us as she was very single minded about that until now.

Even though she'll say otherwise, she shows no sign of passion for either photography or fashion other than her own clothes... the only photos she took were for college, bar the usual teen selfies etc. She too anxious to go out & take proper cameras photos as she thinks everyone is looking at her. Same with fashion, she has access to all machinery needed to make anything she chose, but bar cutting up a tee shirt, has never made anything since she was about 11. She definitely has a natural talent, but has shown no interest in learning.

Hope that clarifies things

OP posts:
Original poster
RockinHorseShit · 27/10/2021 22:23

@Seeline , yes, you're right, she's just turned 19 & took an extra art foundation course as she didn't feel ready for Uni & she thought it could be useful with psychology as at the time she had some interest in child psychology & art therapy

OP posts:
ClumpingBambooIsALie · 27/10/2021 22:24

Maybe she needs a year out working and deciding what she wants do with herself, so she doesn't spend tens of thousands on something that turns out not to be what she wants. She could even get digs and a job in Bristol.

Original poster
RockinHorseShit · 27/10/2021 22:26

& she did agree to going to see the Uni, wants to stay with her friend etc & was excited until I asked for a list of course choices to book the appointments for her. To her that seems to be mean choosing her degree now & it's sent her into a tailspin 🥴

OP posts:
Original poster
RockinHorseShit · 27/10/2021 22:28

@ClumpingBambooIsALie

We'd be happy for her to do that, but this is a year out now & she is pushing herself to whether she feels ready or not, we don't think she does feel ready still, but her boyfriend & friends are going, so she's panicking & feeling left behind, so I know she won't put it off another year unfortunately

OP posts:
ClumpingBambooIsALie · 27/10/2021 22:33

Yep sorry, when I typed that your message about her having taken a year to do an art foundation course hadn't appeared yet — I can see why she'd feel the need to get going on a degree now. It seems a shame that everyone feels they have to decide how to spend their one and only undergrad loan at that age, when so many of us aren't really sure at 17/18/19. (I went to university in my thirties instead, which… has its own drawbacks.)

PurpleGooglyEyes · 27/10/2021 22:35

Do you think she will struggle to get on to any sort of fashion course without doing foundation/having a strong creative portfolio?

She really does sound like she needs to take some time to think about it. I made the mistake of going to uni at 18 without properly thinking about what I wanted to do and ended up dropping out after a few weeks. Luckily I was able to return in my late twenties as a mature student after finding what I was really passionate about - something completely different to what I'd chosen at 18. I know it's difficult when everyone else is going to uni at a certain time, but she needs to realise it's about her rather than everyone else. Easier said than done, I know!

PurpleGooglyEyes · 27/10/2021 22:37

Sorry I forgot to add, I graduated from a fashion/textile degree last year. The majority of my course-mates came from doing art foundation after their a-levels and not many were accepted on to the course without this.

sweeneytoddsrazor · 27/10/2021 22:41

Will she have the right qualifications for the course would be a good starting point for her to consider

Griselda1 · 27/10/2021 22:48

If she's not even taking photographs I can't understand why it would be an option. It's shockingly competitive and really doesn't seem like a realistic choice. Most successful photographers don't have degrees, if she had the interest she'd be taking photographs.
My son has just finished a psychology degree and it's going to take many years for him to get anywhere in that career path. I'd also suggest some work experience.

Alaimo · 27/10/2021 22:57

Rather than trying to do things for her, have you tried asking her how (if) you can help to make the decision process easier for her?

Original poster
RockinHorseShit · 27/10/2021 23:06

It seems a shame that everyone feels they have to decide how to spend their one and only undergrad loan at that age, when so many of us aren't really sure at 17/18/19.

That's exactly it @ClumpingBambooIsALie & she clearly feels the weight of that decision & has gone into panic mode. I totally get that too as even though I had an idea of what I wanted to do at that age, I ended up doing something else & couldn't have decided at her age either. The huge debt makes it all so much harder these days.

OP posts:
Original poster
RockinHorseShit · 27/10/2021 23:21

Do you think she will struggle to get on to any sort of fashion course without doing foundation/having a strong creative portfolio? She is doing an art foundation now & has A* photography A-level

But I can see the portfolio going exactly the same way as her portfolio to get onto this course went... sticking her head in the sand & doing nothing until the very last second whilst I have a nervous breakdown trying to get her to start😫 she had great photography work, which she will have this time too, but everything else was done the day before it had to be in & she stayed up all night to do it. Me & DH were convinced she'd buggered up her chances of getting on what here is a very popular & hard to get onto course, as she could have done much better, but they gave her a place on the spot at her interview. She has a knack of somehow pulling it out of the bag at the last second, which doesn't help getting her to start a project in good time, which she's going to need to do this time🥴 thanks for the portfolio reminder.

She really does sound like she needs to take some time to think about it. I made the mistake of going to uni at 18 without properly thinking about what I wanted to do and ended up dropping out after a few weeks. Luckily I was able to return in my late twenties as a mature student after finding what I was really passionate about - something completely different to what I'd chosen at 18. I know it's difficult when everyone else is going to uni at a certain time, but she needs to realise it's about her rather than everyone else. Easier said than done, I know!

I did the same, I stuck a graphics degree out for 18 months & dropped out too. Ironically I don't have a fashion degree, turned out companies were more interested in experience, which I got working it myself & growing up learning from my designer maker grandmother was of more interest to companies than a actual degree. That could be an option for her too, as it still happens... if she'd
start making some actual clothes 🤦‍♀️

OP posts:
Original poster
RockinHorseShit · 27/10/2021 23:31

Will she have the right qualifications for the course would be a good starting point for her to consider

Yes @sweeneytoddsrazor

If she's not even taking photographs I can't understand why it would be an option. It's shockingly competitive and really doesn't seem like a realistic choice. Most successful photographers don't have degrees, if she had the interest she'd be taking photographs. That's exactly how we see it too, especially DH as he was a professional photographer. She clearly has a natural talent & has already had paid photography work that was offered to her, but we just aren't seeing the passion needed, nor any understanding about just what an actual job in photography would entail or how competitive it is & how hard it can be to actually get paid for work if you are freelance, which most are

My son has just finished a psychology degree and it's going to take many years for him to get anywhere in that career path. I'd also suggest some work experience. Congratulations to him him Smile
We know that will take years too, but it's a much better fit for her disability, far less stress or such long hours than fashion or photography, so makes far more sense to us, especially when she still seems passionate about it

OP posts:
Hunderland · 27/10/2021 23:33

What about an apprenticeship? From what you've said she doesn't feel ready for uni, isn't putting any work in anyway and doesn't know what she wants to do or where it will lead.

Hankunamatata · 27/10/2021 23:34

Urgh the cost of degrees now makes choosing that much more diffcult. I'd talk to her calmly about psychology degree as she was so set on it. Perhaps get her to phone the administration and talk to them about her predicted B

Original poster
RockinHorseShit · 27/10/2021 23:34

Rather than trying to do things for her, have you tried asking her how (if) you can help to make the decision process easier for her?

Yes, we've tried this time & again with similar situations too & she just won't engage til the last minute & then it's panic stations.

I'm almost glad I had to bring this up with her now to book appointments, otherwise we'd be doing this the night before her application needs to be in 🥴

OP posts:
Hankunamatata · 27/10/2021 23:37

Also use offer a foundation year with psychology. So there are options