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Higher education

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

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Original poster

Helping ds in lower 6th choose open days

82 replies

tobee · 29/03/2016 16:06

After doing mock as levels my ds asked me about universities to apply to. He's not sure what course to do. I'm trying to help him but don't want to prejudice his thinking. There are just so many different places, courses and combinations that he could try for. My dd knew exactly which 5 unis to apply to so my input wasn't required. I wish there was some sort of quiz he could do that you put in the sort of things you were keen on for uni e.g quiet, loads of nightlife, campus, city etc, etc and grade variables and then, voila, try these! Any suggestions as to how to narrow things down? Or is it just a question of ploughing through ucas website and uni websites?

OP posts:

BitchyComment · 30/03/2016 17:47

Bojo
^The people going to Keele and Brunel are rather different from those choosing Bristol or Durham for example.

I think you must have misread my post - I mentioned Keele and Brunel as great back up a universities for one or two of my DC. I'm sure everyone knows they are not comparable to Bristol and Durham

BertrandRussell · 30/03/2016 18:03

"^The people going to Keele and Brunel are rather different from those choosing Bristol or Durham for example."

Such glorious snobbery!!!!

BitchyComment · 30/03/2016 19:03

It just so Mumsnetty isn't it.

Original poster

tobee · 31/03/2016 01:03

I think you might have misunderstood me Bertrand. Ds is worried Edinburgh is too far away. He's a bit of a home bod. But I think he'd be fine. I think we're more worried he wouldn't cut it not the other way round.

Since I went to a poly which, in its new form, is ranked as the lowest in the country and dh went to the highest, but we both enjoyed our respective courses, I don't think I'm snobby about where ds goes!

OP posts:

GinandJag · 31/03/2016 03:39

What nonsense about snobbery.

It is very tactical to put a range of universities on the UCAS form. No point in putting down five "samey" places.

Jenijena · 31/03/2016 04:04

Some ways of ruling out or in various universities (and choose some open days to visit to reflect this)

do you like a campus or a town based university (I visited Nottingham on a very cold, wet day... I'm sure it's a glorious campus, all I could think of was I was soaking and I still hadn't left the place and I'd been walking for half an hour)
if a campus university, do you want one self contained (with at least some halls etc on it, like ?Keele or Warwick) or one where it's easy to 'escape' and you can walk within a few minutes to the nearby places and real people walked through it too (e.g. Leeds, Southampton)
big city, little city, countryside, don't care?
what else do you want out of a course? More and more universities are offering year in employment variations of non vocational courses like Philosophy and English, for example. If this appeals at all, shortlist!
get the prospectus. Yes, it's spin, but if you've got a choice of 100s, a yes/no pile on the basis of the pictures may not be the worst thing
access... Not necessarily all about distance, but ease to get there. What are the major train lines leaving near you? It can be cheaper to fly eg Bristol to Edinburgh than train Bristol to Manchester, etc.

If you can go to a local uni open day, even if it's one you're very unlikely to go to, you pretty soon can get a feel for what you do and don't like, and might be a useful benchmark.

BertrandRussell · 31/03/2016 07:10

Sorry, tobee. My snobbery remarks weren't directed to you.

hellsbells99 · 31/03/2016 08:03

One we liked is Liverpool University. Although it is an RG uni, it isn't rated as high as most of the others so grade requirements are slightly lower. The uni is really nice and Liverpool is great for comedy and music.

bojorojo · 31/03/2016 11:38

No. They were dircted at me. It is not snobbery. It is really saying that a student who likes Brunel/Keele will not necessarily like Bristol. It is chalk and cheese. It is interesting that YOU think Brunel and Keele are for "ordinary" folk. I never implied anything of the kind. I just said they attracted a different type of student with no implication that one type of student was better than the other. If a student is considering universities, it is useful to consider where you may feel "at home". Is it snobbish then to say that Liverpool is not rated as highly as other RG universities? The implication being that Durham, for example, is higher. Of course not. It is just different and students can make up their own minds if they like Liverpool and its culture or prefer Keele and Brunel.

hellsbells99 · 31/03/2016 12:13

I wasn't being a snob about Liverpool - I was stating a fact as it is rated lower than alot of the RG universities in all of the league tables. We really liked both Liverpool uni and the City. For what it's worth, I think it is the only uni in England that offers medicine, dentistry and vetmed.

Original poster

tobee · 31/03/2016 14:05

Anyway...... Thanks for all the replies, everybody. Lots of good suggestions and food for thought.

OP posts:

bojorojo · 31/03/2016 14:13

I was not being a snob either....... but that does not stop people posting rather nasty messages aimed at me.

Original poster

tobee · 31/03/2016 14:24

Well, as I say, I appreciate everyone's comments and info. Sad if I've inadvertently caused upset.

OP posts:

BertrandRussell · 31/03/2016 14:38

tobee- if anyone caused upset, it was me failing to sit on my hands.Sorry.

The drama and comedy at Edinburgh is fantastic- loads of opportunity to perform and for new writers.

Original poster

tobee · 31/03/2016 14:42

I tell you what, if you like, I can do a good line in inverse snobbery, having got a degree from the country's lowest rating university. Plus it was called a poly then

OP posts:

BitchyComment · 31/03/2016 14:42

My hands escaped too. Sorry to derail your thread OP.

Coconutty · 31/03/2016 20:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

HocusCrocus · 31/03/2016 22:24

Philosophy which often requires lower grades than English, Politics or History.

It may well - I do not know, but of Ds's friends the highest offer ( i.e. highest required grades ) any of them had was for Philosophy. Not of general help because anecdotal.

If it were me I would be trying to get him to nail down the subject first. Trying to decide on subject / university together would be like plaiting fog IMO. Also - it is not just about getting in. They have to do that subject for a minimum of 3 years.

Eustace2016 · 01/04/2016 10:22

You don't need to be snobby but you need to be sensible. If he wants the better employers and better paid jobs then he will hugely increase his chances if he tries to get into the best university - top 5 or top 10 that he can. It is not about snobbery, it's about getting a good high paid job later.

Also be tactical. My daughtger went to Bristol and is a lawyer. She didn't apply for law as it is harder to get into there to read law than some other subjects and that worked really well for her. Then the employers tend to recruit by institution attended not always subject (unless it's a career which requires a specific degree).

bojorojo · 01/04/2016 10:36

English typically requires an A* from the highest ranking universities. Philosophy at the same institutions does not. There will of course be differences between universities.

My DD also did not do Law at university but choosing another subject (MFL - requiring lower grades) at a prestigious university and then converting to law works really well. Just takes longer!

BackforGood · 01/04/2016 15:44

Thanks for the links - I've spent ages playing around with the which site you linked to coconutty - I've not come across that one before

Original poster

tobee · 02/04/2016 00:53

Ok. So those of you who have been to open days or those going this year, how many did you attend? Why that many?

OP posts:

GinandJag · 02/04/2016 05:41

Going to open days isn't that easy. We've certainly never managed to go to many.

My DCs' schools have only allowed one day off to attend an open day, so anything else has to be on on Saturday or during half-term.

DS1 went to an open day with school, and a university near to us, neither he intended to go to, but there are some elements that are common to all universities. He didn't visit any that he actually applied to.

DS1 missed out on all the early open days as he did his UCAS at the last minute. We went to two offer holder days, and he ended up at a different place that he did not visit.

DD1 went to the open day of our local university because it was an easy thing to do. She had no intention of going there but was really impressed with it. We went to two offer-holder days at other places.

DD2 is in LVI now and highly organised. She has been scouring calendars for Saturday open days, but won't worry too much if they don't work out.

Eustace2016 · 02/04/2016 07:43

Yes, my older 3 children as far as I remember went to just about no open days. They felt they could see the places as easily on youtube rather than taking 8 hours to get there and back and do a visit as far as I remember. It worked fine for them but it is up to the person. Some people really want to look around and have the time and inclination (... mine were just too lazy or too busy with other stuff depending on how you look at it).

Coconutty · 02/04/2016 08:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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