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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Which university to choose?

52 replies

FellatioNelson · 10/03/2011 10:31

My son is currently predicted ABB with a fourth B/C for his 4 A levels. He has been made offers from all five universities he applied to.

He has applied for a joint hons course.

Sussex (asking for an AAB from him, even though the course requirements say only ABB to apply.)

UEA (ABB)

Birmingham (ABB)

and then two others, both decent places and 'proper' unis, who will take slightly less, or a UCAS points accumulated value, or are just less fussy about which grades come in which subjects.

Our fist choice would have been Sussex, but he is not feeling confident he can make the 2 A's they want. He feels if he puts it first it will be a wasted choice. He could pull it out of the hat, but it's a gamble he's reluctant to take, which is a real shame as it seems to be storming up the ranks and would be such a great place to live for him.

He is pretty confident he'll get what he needs for UEA and he really loves it there. It is not an RG or redbrick university, although it is very well established (since the 60s') is not a modern poly convert, and seems quite highyl regarded. It gets exceptionally good feedback for the course he will be doing. (one of the highest ranked in the country, and certainly pretty much joint with Sussex and many of the RG unis for that course/faculty)

Then we come to Birmingham. It's Russell Group. They will take him more readily than the above two, beacuse they are less fussy about the order of his grades/subjects. But the feedback for his course is a bit lacklustre. Where Sussex and UEA were scoring very high 80s and 90s out of 100% for just about everything, B'ham was around the 60%-65% mark for everything. I'm not sure how this feedback compares with other courses they do (it's obviously a good uni but perhaps the faculty my son needs is a bit weak there?) and I'm not sure how it compares to other courses' feeback across the board.

It's back to the age old question. How important is it to have an RG university on your CV versus a (good) non-RG one? can even an RG university be crap at something?

OP posts:
mrswoodentop · 10/03/2011 10:45

If you don't mind me asking what subjects is he applying for ?I wouldn't be too hung up on RG they are a self selecting group of self publisizing universities,many very decent unis are not RG;think Durham or York for example.

I would take the feedback seriously ,UEA and norwich is a fantastic place to be ,too close to us geographically for my ds but v good,if he loves it and feels he can get the offer grades and the feedback on the course is good that would be very important.Can his school put him in touch with people at each so he could have a chat .

By the way,well done to your ds for 5 offers you must be so proud

webwiz · 10/03/2011 11:20

I think there comes a time when you have to put aside whether a uni is RG etc and think that if you are going to spend three years studying somewhere you need to really want to go there.

DD1 is at UEA and she chose it over a RG uni because the course suited her interests better (Biological sciences)and she just loved the atmosphere there. She is in her second year and is having a fabulous time she has gone from being quite lazy in the sixth form to working and playing hard and aiming for a first.

DD2 is about to make her final university choices now and I have advised her to think about where she will be happiest as I think that feeds into how well you do and that is what is important on the cv in the end.

Original poster
FellatioNelson · 10/03/2011 11:39

He will be doing joints hons English and Philosophy. My gut instinct is to think the same as you mrsw and webwiz but with so much emphasis on the university snobbery debate, and considering the amount of debt they are expected to take on, I have become a bit paranoid! I'd hate him to be penalised in his future career (should he ever actually have a future career Hmm) because he made a naive, uninformed choice. It's such a minefield.

And yes thank you, I am proud (but more relieved/surprised than anything) that he's has a full compliment of offers, as friends of mine have brighter, harder working children who have struggled to get what they wanted.

But I think that is because we aimed realistically in the first place - not to mention my sweating god knows how many gallons of blood over tweaking the personal statement! He didn't need to have any interviews either, which surprised me.

Listen to me - and the royal 'we' Hmm I can't help thinking bugger it, if I'm expected to subsidise all this, I'm flipping well getting involved whether he wants me to or not!

We went back to Norwich yesterday and I can tell he really loves it. Smile

OP posts:
ajandjjmum · 10/03/2011 11:43

DS has two friends who started at UEA in September and they both absolutely love it.

mumoverseas · 10/03/2011 11:45

To be honest, I would be inclined to dismiss Sussex as he will be under so much pressure to get two A grades and it is a VERY long time until results day.

If he loves the feel of one particular Uni then I would have thought he would do better there than somewhere which may rank better but doesn't suit him as well.

I do feel your pain, DC1 finally made his choice last week.

Original poster
FellatioNelson · 10/03/2011 11:49

Having said all that, I'm not a pushy mother - not in the slightest, honest. Over their dead body will any of my children ever let me lay down the law about homework, revision schedules etc, God Lord, no. The only reason I've managed to have a hand in this is because my son wanted lifts to the open days, and for someone to do all the donkey work for him. Wink

OP posts:
witchwithallthetrimmings · 10/03/2011 11:50

tbh I would not take student feedback too seriously. Of course student opinion matters but I am not sure how survery's such as the NSS really reflect it given the low and varying response rate. Also places like the LSE tend to score really badly but the content of the courses is excellent and students end up doing very well.

meditrina · 10/03/2011 11:57

IIRC, UEA has a very well regarded English Dept. I'm sure other posters will be able to chip in with reputations of the other universities.

Have you had a careful look at course structure and content? These can vary a lot. Which appeals most to your DS?

Also where does he actually want to live?

mrswoodentop · 10/03/2011 12:01

Interesting FN,my dsis only in year 12 but we are starting on thsi route and he is keen on politics/english /philosophy. He was really keen on york Eng/Pol but someone who left his school last year is doing that very course and hating it,so now he is not sure .

UEA is a very well respected university

charitygirl · 10/03/2011 12:02

Didn't go to any, but attended a conference at UEA and was very impressed with every aspect I saw - plus even I know it is highly rated for English.

Inevitably the other two must offer more in the way of city living, given that UEA is very campus based, and the nearest town is Norwich! But that doesn't matter to everyone.

And B'ham might be Russel Group but I dont think it is seem as outstandingly academic. as an employer I'd be more impressed with UEA.

Original poster
FellatioNelson · 10/03/2011 12:03

TBH, he's preferred Norwich all along. He loved Sussex, but not more than Norwich, IYSWIM. He's completely not fussed about Birmingham - though it's the only one of the five he didn't actually visit, so it's not as though he knows he hates it. He may love it.

I just want to make sure he's not being stupid to throw away a RG place too readily without thinking it through a bit more that's all. Perhaps we really should go and have a look.

OP posts:
mrswoodentop · 10/03/2011 12:04

Sorry that should have read ds1 not dsis

Original poster
FellatioNelson · 10/03/2011 12:05

But I'm feeling happier by the minute with all these very positive comments about UEA!

OP posts:
throckenholt · 10/03/2011 12:12

UEA gets consistently very good student satisfaction ratings.

snorkie · 10/03/2011 12:55

ds visited UEA with school last week - it is a nice place and a well respected university too I understand.

Well done to your ds with all his offers. My gut feeling says UEA sounds right for him if he loves it & the course feedback is so good. I know it's not RG, but several other highly ranked universities aren't either - I don't think it's the be all and end all.

snorkie · 10/03/2011 12:56

x-posts - yes he should definitely visit Birm before choosing. He might prefer it. When do the choices have to be made?

Original poster
FellatioNelson · 10/03/2011 13:30

I don't the final choice (first choice plus one insurance choice) has to be in for ages yet - some time in the summer I think?

OP posts:
Original poster
FellatioNelson · 10/03/2011 13:31

I don't think - sorry.

OP posts:
ajandjjmum · 10/03/2011 14:09

I think choices have to be made by 5th May.

happilyconfused · 10/03/2011 19:35

Whilst you are pondering other students are sorting out student finance and accommodation. Do the Brum visit asap.

Original poster
FellatioNelson · 10/03/2011 20:36

God, yes that's a very good point - first served on the accommodation! Thank you. Will step on it.

OP posts:
webwiz · 10/03/2011 21:35

You can check on when the accommodation allocation opens on each university website - UEA's doesn't open till May but some others are earlier than that.

Habbibu · 10/03/2011 21:49

yy to UEA for English - interesting, very innovative, well-regarded. RG is, as others have said, first and foremost a self-selecting lobby group, based on size, above all - it's made up of universities who have the largest (by volume) research income - but if you look at per capita research income things are very different, and so much of the RG snobbery is extremely misinformed and misplaced. A gut feeling is important, and UEA is an excellent place for English, so his gut feeling is sound!

ajandjjmum · 11/03/2011 08:40

The urgency with accommodation varies uni to uni, and student finance can be set up and details altered later.

You need to think and get the choice right, rather than rushing into it.

JaneS · 11/03/2011 12:10

Birmingham does some very exciting research in English; this may be why they have such a good reputation. Obviously this is very subjective, but I've not come across anyone from Birmingham who carried on with English after their undergrad. degree, and that might be some indication that it's not really enthusing people? I don't know if the figures back that up, but my impression of Birmingham is that its postgraduate and research stuff might be stronger than its undergrad teaching.

It might also be worth your DS thinking about the relative sizes of these places - it can be really miserable to be somewhere where you feel anonymous in a huge crowd, or where you feel hemmed in by too few people.