Helping ds in lower 6th choose open days

[tobee]

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?

I don't think anyone has yet mentioned whatuni.co.uk

You put in predicted grades and subject and it comes up with a list of places you might get in. This gives you a long list

Geography was v important for my DS, he didn't want to be more than 2 hours away from home. This was another filter.

He (and we) knew that he would fare better in a campus environment where everything is laid on on site. You know your own DS, would he enjoy a big city environment or a more community feel? Anyhoo, that's another filter

So by this time, we were down to about 10. We the ordered prospectuses (can't be doing with looking at websites constantly!) and looked at course content (which actually for DS subject is fairly similar wherever) then booked open days accordingly. We went to 3 - the 4th was on the same date as another, the 5th was further away from the rest (breaking the 2 hour rule, but aspirational). When offers came in he went back to 2 including the aspirational one and the one he didn't go to first time round and has firmed the latter.

So what I'm trying to say is that there are ways to filter things to a manageable level. But first he must pin down subject matter- might his school help with that a bit?

Oh and I should have said all the while we had an eye on the prestige (for want of a better word) of the establishments - there is a definite hierarchy and we took the view that it's important to get into the best one you can as pp have said, for emplyability purposes

Thank you. Still mulling it all over.....

tobee we've not finalised plans for dd, for this year, but for ds we looked at 4.
It was just the 4 he asked to look at, tbh. He wasn't ever going to be getting As or A*s, so that narrowed it down to begin with, and he was fairly equally interested in all the 4 he wanted to see. fortunately between us, it wasn't too difficult to facilitate that.

This yr dd (who is better academically, but also FAR more organised) started with a spreadsheet listing all the universities that offer the subject she wants. We sat and looked through it and started cutting out those that were both very far/difficult to get to and yet, not necessarily considered strong universities (so we left on the list highly regarded universities that were a way away and all fairly local ones). Then started looking more closely at the course contents / student satisfaction rating / student employment prospects / etc., and between dh and I looked at our diaries to see what was practical. I don't mind if we end up doing around 5 or 6. If she chooses any in Wales / near the Lakes / in Scotland / near or in the Peak District, or indeed any National Park then dh would take her like a shot anyway and they'd just go for the weekend and walk or climb on the other day.

My son went to 6 which were the 5 choices he put down plus Cambridge for their Masterclass day.
The other 5 were within Scotland as good unis for his subject and no tuition fees. None of the Scottish ones were over 2 hours away. We spent the weekend in Cambridge (think he was the only Scot there when they did a straw poll of where people had travelled from)

I would encourage your DS to spend as much time as possible researching courses on the internet. In the end, everything else pales if you don't like your course. Apart from course content, obviously realistic grades is important. DS did a spreadsheet listing pros/cons and grades and it worked well. Though league tables have their limits, they can be a handy starting place. There are loads of stats about grades/drop out rates etc that give clues to the quality of a course.
If he's a home bod then sounds like distance and access to home might be a factor
as will the type and quality of accommodation on offer.
Then does he prefer campus or city? Probably worth visiting both types. DS didn't realise it till we did some open days and it was soon very clear that he hated city based unis. Hated Manchester loved Exeter. Leeds is a good balance.Close to the city but still feels like a campus and is mid range in grades for a lot of subjects. Birmingham also surprised us. It's a good campus and seems to be up and coming for arts subjects especially.
Remember you don't always have to do a full open day. Most unis do tours at other times. We did a tour of the nation and managed to eliminate a few unis at more or less first glance.
Good luck.

Can I tag on here please? DS2 still unsure what he wants to do and he needs to start selecting unis to visit so will RTFT and see what you're all saying!