Picking the less prestigious uni as first choice

[RecycleThie]

DD has offers from Edinburgh, Bristol, Glasgow and KCL. She wants to accept Glasgow as first choice- it’s the lowest offer (AAA whereas the rest all want one A star) so she wouldn’t have a second choice.

DH thinks she should go for Edinburgh or Bristol as being more prestigious to employers or if she wants to do further study (her course is psychology so she’ll need to if she pursues this career). I think she should go with her gut- she loved Glasgow when she visited and was a bit meh about the rest.

Obviously it’s her choice but she’s asked for some guidance. What would you say? I’d see DH’s position more if there were a bigger gap between the unis but as far as I’m aware they are all good.

Totally agree ideal to “ try before you buy “ if you possibly can. Dd went to stay with a pals older sister for the weekend and came back dead set on going to Nottingham as she loved it after seeing the students actual life there.

Glasgow is an excellent university. I thought you were meaning somewhere like Edge Hill or Northumbria.

We are very lucky to have so many world-class universities in the UK. And Glasgow is one of them.

Lincoln’s just brilliant. The investment in the university and wider city in the last 10-15 years has been phenomenal.

Edinburgh is not more prestigious than Glasgow. They are equals. Daft and showing a deep lack of knowledge. I suspect it's plain old snobbery

Some young people prefer to enjoy the student life over 4 years rather than 3. DD's ex BF basically dossed and partied through his first year at Glasgow because it was considered an easy year (in his view).

There is clearly a misunderstanding somewhere, Glasgow is just as prestigious as the others you mention, it's an excellent and highly rated university in a beautiful part of the city.

I’m a Scottish law graduate working in Scotland with lots of other Scottish law graduates. Not sure where the idea that Glasgow is less prestigious than Edinburgh comes from? Glasgow is an excellent university and I’m pretty sure it’s also RG.

Personally I’d rather live in Glasgow than Edinburgh (especially as a student)

This

@Namechange4234 It’s already been established Glasgow is 3 years of fees but 4 years of accommodation costs.

@RampantIvy Great for dc whose parents can afford a 4th year when it is not necessary. It’s a total luxury. Many parents would wonder why it was necessary for exactly the same degree.

It’s also a somewhat bizarre description of Bristol by pp. Bristol has done more than many for widening participation. It’s a vibrant city and most students find friends easily. It’s never great to judge other students quite so harshly and Edinburgh, in particular, would have been similar. In fact Edinburgh is 5th in the “posh student” league table (if you have to use such a narrow metric to judge a university!)

Would it be so bad to go to Northumbria for Psychology? My DN is going there to do it.

My dd picked her favourite as her first choice and an easier to get into uni as her back up just in case

You cannot automatically go to your insurance choice if you get the grades for your firm.

Putting that in bold because unfortunately some poor advice up thread- if you meet the grades for your firm, you are in there and your insurance place will have been released. The only way to get it back is to phone through clearing, but there is absolutely no guarantee of them having any spaces, and you’d be in line with everyone else wanting to go there through clearing.

Always put the one you truly want as firm, then decide what a sensible insurance place would be based on offers, where you’d be happy to go, and whether you’re inclined to take a gap year if you miss out.

Also bemused by the ‘lower prestige’ being U of Glasgow.

You are not wrong @TizerorFizz. He massively took the piss. One if the reasons he is an ex.

Well there's an advantage to a four year degree if you want to do a masters or doctorate elsewhere in Europe. Many European universities don't seem to recognise three year English courses as proper undergraduate degrees.
Personally I think four years is far better. More time to grow up and get into your intellectual top gear - especially for the Covid generation.
You're at work a long time ... another year before that is great.

@EvelynBeatrice Since when? Maastricht does. Most first degrees are three years except Scottish ones and they are not a higher qualification. MEng and a few others are considered better prep for professional qualifications and you don’t need a masters beyond the MEng. Few uk students study abroad in Europe as they are not bilingual. Our unis are in the top 100 world wide and are respected. Would a uni in Europe not respect a 3 year degree from Oxford?

The main requirement of psychology is that it’s a professionally recognised degree.

Great for dc whose parents can afford a 4th year when it is not necessary. It’s a total luxury. Many parents would wonder why it was necessary for exactly the same degree.

@TizerorFizz it looks as though you don't understand how a Scottish degree works. THe 4 years gives a much broader education, in which students specialise in the final two years. Many of them graduate with the equivalent of a Masters degree. The 4 year degree is standard in many other countries in the world, including those with some of the best universities in the world - the USA, Australia, Germany ... Your view point is quite limited & you don't appear to know the UK HE system well enough to give such definitive advice.

Would it be so bad to go to Northumbria for Psychology? My DN is going there to do it.

Northumbria is a post-92 university with a very limited research base, and admits people with around BBC to BBB. It's OK, I suppose.

You don’t need a broader degree for Psychology. Loads of 3 year degrees are accredited. If you cannot afford 4 years of accommodation, there is no advantage in a Scottish degree in psychology. It gets you no further forward in your career. Great of you can afford it though. Totally unnecessary if you cannot. Scottish degrees are not masters at an English level so as far as I’m aware, degree holders from Scotland are not exempt from further study for psychology.

Not about Glasgow versus others directly but get her to check what the requirements are at the end of y2 to go into y3 of psychology at Edin and Glas as opposed to the English ones. Many moons ago my Scottish friend went to Reading instead of Edinburgh as she worked out she needed a high y2 score in Edin to proceed onto the course for honours. This may have changed now though. I picked Edin over Glasgow yonks ago as I wanted to stay at home. In the end I was very relieved I had as on my course Glasgow sat two years worth of exams in the final year whereas in Edin you sat 3rd year exams at the end of third year and 4th yr exams at the end of fourth year - which worked better with my learning style. Of course this may all be completely inapplicable 20 years on but in any case she should read all the small print for everywhere.

It always makes me lol when pp say don’t go to a Scottish uni as it’s 4 years waste of money etc when they have likely paid thousands in private school fees. A waste of money is entirely subjective - I am happy to fund accommodation (not tuition as pp says many cap RUK students fees at 3 years) for an additional year for my DS to have the absolute time of his life. What is the rush?

Glasgow is an incredible place to be a student: 5 unis/art college/conservatoire means there are nearly 200,000 students there. The music scene is fabulous (Oasis were discovered at King Tuts) , stunning countryside within an hour, easy transport links to London etc. And the people are fabulous.

Highly recommend!

if not, what would be the issue with picking another as first choice and having Glasgow as insurance and then deciding on results day?

you absolutely cannot do this. If you get the grades for your firm then that is where you are going. Your potential place at the insurance is released as soon as your firm confirms that you met their requirements. So this is terrible advice.

They have to go with their heart. DS turned down Durham for Lancaster this year. He absolutely loves it there though so it was the right choice.

It always makes me lol when pp say don’t go to a Scottish uni as it’s 4 years waste of money etc when they have likely paid thousands in private school fees.

Actually @Splety speaking for myself (I flagged that Scottish unis offer a four-year course with associated extra costs) I didn't pay anything in private school fees.

And having DC at uni (actually two for one year) has been a considerable stretch for me so I do think the extra year of living costs aspect is one to consider. It may be that the OP and her DD will not have an issue obviously, which is great.

Sure - I wasn’t suggesting for one moment that it’s cheap and realise we are fortunate to be able to afford to fund it. But to suggest it’s a waste of money is entirely subjective.

My DS2 turned down a very prestigious uni for a slightly less prestigious one. He just liked thew course and the open day far more and it turned out to be the right choice.

The only thing i'd suggest with psychology is that she has a very clsoe look at the modules as courses differ widely - some are more heavy on the maths and stats than others. Depends on what she's interested in.

@Splety agree, I don't think it is a waste of money tbh (and I don't think I said so, just that there will be more debt, so to be aware). DS2 is doing a four years course with masters so I am on for that as well!

Lots of people have said it doesn’t matter where you do your undergrad degree and clearly 3 years, if people don’t have lots of spare money, is fine. Why is Northumbria looked down upon? Obviously has lower entry grades but if the course is accredited, it is! Many people seem to think work and experience counts more. So I’m now quite confused about advice. Does the nhs and applications for academic career progression care about uni or not?

Im well aware what a post 92 uni is but for psychology and pursuing that as a career, does uni matter? I do think it can matter for other jobs but not necessarily this specific one.

Another vote for going with her gut.

Edinburgh has a very high proportion of foreign fee paying students, I went there and had an amazing time, but it wouldn't be the same experience now. Incidentally I went to an open day at Durham and decided that it was very much not for me.

DS is also hoping to go to Glasgow although hasn't had an offer yet [fingers crossed]. It's a Russel Group uni with high entry requirements, so if she wants to go there she absolutely should. If it's where she wants to go, she'll be much more motivated to do well.