Southampton university. Science based degree.

[W0tnow]

We aren’t from the UK, and don’t live there. Obviously I know Oxford and Cambridge are top universities. But I’ve been doing research with my daughter who will be studying in the UK (bio sciences, or natural sciences…something like that), and Southampton keeps coming up but my husband is discounting it as he doesn’t rate it after talking with British friends and colleagues, who graduated 30 years ago!

My research is telling me that it’s a solid choice and should be in the mix. We don’t have predicted grades yet but she scored all A* bar 1 A for GCSE. Is he wrong and am I right?

Your daughter should choose, not your husband.

S'oton uni had a good reputation 30 years ago, and still does. It is quite a nice city too.

https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings/biological-sciences

I graduated from Southampton over 30 years ago and I think it’s a solid choice, particularly if your dd is interested in oceanography.

My dd is interested in natural sciences and currently researching Cambridge, Southampton, Bath and Loughborough- does not want to live in London.

My son's best friend went to Southampton, did sciences. He earns mega money in a very secure job related to his science degree. I don't think he was over impressed with one aspect of the teaching, but it was certainly worth it financially. Make sure it is Southampton uni and not Solent uni.

Southampton was my insurance choice (after Cambridge) back in 97. Really good university.

Thanks @titchy yes that where I keep seeing it pop up and where I’ve directed my husband! That site appears to be a pretty reasonable guide, right?

@ShanghaiDiva yes we have those in the mix too. She thinks she might want avoid London to get a more complete ‘university town’ experience. Bath looks nice too!

@Blablablaaaaa well, yes. But none of us have experience or knowledge apart from anecdotal evidence and what we see online. She’s looking to us for guidance. If she did what he wanted she’d be studying finance! 😉

@Theoldwrinkley what sort of role does your son’s friend have? My daughter is extremely bright across the board but has kind of resigned herself to a career of earning not-that-much as her heart totally belongs to science which appears to not pay extremely well.

I don't think science earns 'not that much' ?
I mean, yes not the mega earnings of finance in The City but there are plenty of opportunities in science. (Better than Eng Lit or something surely!)

It definitely had a good reputation for bio sciences in the 90s when I was there. I know of a few people who have been since and have done very well with their science degrees too.

I graduated from Southampton with a STEM degree, and stayed for a PhD. I think it’s a great uni, there is a good student experience. It has the benefits of being a campus uni, but is not far from the city centre. The campus is nice, a decent size and has good facilities (they are just embarking on building a shiny new sports complex). The city is good for students, not as expensive as some others, especially in the South and is well appointed. There is a ‘student district’ with a small high street close to the uni. I enjoyed my time there. It’s a nice place to be.

Quite possibly I have the wrong end of the stick there. We are decidedly a non-sciencey family, and having a science enthusiast has thrown us a bit.

@PeppermintyPatty she’s a keen sportswoman also so she’d love that.

thanks all.

Then Southampton is a good choice. As well as the new sports complex, there is a 25m pool on campus and big sports fields over by the airport, easily accessible by bus. A strong athletic union and big sports culture for those who want that.

re: pay, it’s true, some science grads don’t earn the big bucks. Especially not if they follow a research/academic career. But the skills are in demand in other sectors eg finance so high salaries are possible.

Will she be able to visit the UK to go to university open days? Seeing the university and the town would really help. She might like universities that she wasn’t sure of on paper, and vice versa.
Southampton is a good university but I personally don’t like the town, that’s just my opinion.
If she looks at a range of universities that offer her chosen subjects she’ll find what she wants. If she’s interested in natural sciences or bio-something, she’ll need to look at the syllabus of each course, because they vary widely. She’ll probably see some that she doesn’t like the look of once she sees the syllabus.
If she is interested in doing something like Natural Sciences, she might like to look at Durham as well as Oxford and Cambridge.

One of ds friends did a bioscience degree there, then a masters and has been well employed since.

I did biological sciences many years ago and moved into IT due to being poorly paid as a graduate scientist. Some of my peers eventually went to work at pharmaceutical companies (admittedly after spending most of their twenties being near destitute PhD students) but now are in extremely well careers in the pharmaceutical industry. Some are also reasonably well paid lecturers. Not sure what it's like now but I don't think it's bottom of the scale for earnings.

Southampton is very sought after in my DC or sixth form as it consistently top 20 and an OG RG uni so I'm surprised to hear people dissing it.

You need to look at all 3 rankings guides Imo - Times, Guardian and Good Uni Guide.

Many years ago, I nearly went there to study biochemistry with physiology. Thé only reason I didn't go was that my father was ill and there was only 1 through train/day to Liverpool and then an hour home from there. There was no day return ! It was a lovely, then, modern campus with very nice labs.
In the end, I went to umist dropped out, did chemistry and like many people of my era went into IT.

Many apologies for very late response but only just found how/if anyone listens/reads my responses! Sons friend did electrical engineering and is now some sort of manager for national power company. Earns in excess of £70k. He's just 30. Works incredibly hard.

My brother is a senior chemist who recruits graduates, and he rates Southampton highly, along with Manchester, Sheffield, Edinburgh. Bath has terrific industry links.

Southampton is pretty well known for sciences, especially bio sciences, and is usually well regarded by those in the field, but it doesn't really have a strong international rep. But ultimately, it's your daughter who has to spend three years there, so it ought to be up to her, really?

In terms of sciences, depending on the skills you develop, there can be a lot of roles in industry that eventually lead to decent pay- it depends what you want to do, and how in demand your skills are. Equally, there are some fields were pay is usually quite low, so it does depend a lot on what, specifically, your daughter wants to do.

Is she in Y11, or Y12? If Y12, why not go along for an open day if feasible?

At a recent open day we found the Chemistry department exciting with exciting extra options and a lot of graduates starting their own businesses or taking up food opportunities. They have new labs. Unfortunately the Chemical Engineering dept is in its first few years and doesn't have all of the equipment that say, Imperial College has. It also isn't an accredited engineering degree yet (but is hoping to be).

Good, not 'food' options!

@W0tnow
The Guardian university guide is an odd one. It undervalues some aspects snd over values others. Substitute the Complete University Guide which is more reliable and less quirky.

Add Sheffield, Bristol, Birmingham, York, Bath, Durham, Manchester and Warwick into the mix. Plus several Scottish universities are good but they might be 4 year degrees. All the above rank above Southampton. However there’s nothing wrong with any of the above options, including Southampton: there are so many great choices. Work is what you make it. High earnings isn’t always the route to happiness or being fulfilled.

STEM academic and former admissions tutor st a Russell Group university here. (The RG is currently comprised of 24 of the most prestigious universities in the UK, although I think it is over egged.)

Southampton is an excellent choice for many disciplines, including mine. (It is also RG.).Perhaps the colleagues of your DH are not aware of this, or perhaps they are just old fashioned snobs?

There are also many other good suggestions on this thread. As you mentioned Bath, OP, I will say that I am particularly enthusiastic about UG studies there in my discipline: entry standards are high, meaning that the students are strong, they always look happy to me and student satisfaction is very high. Also, colleagues seem for the most part genuinely to enjoy interacting with them. That is priceless.

As PPs have mentioned, a science graduate with a good degree has many routes to (a) pursuing a passion, (b) earning well or (c) finding some weighted mixture of these. Your DH is behind the times.