Poss an AIBU but v annoyed by friends comments

[Bacere]

Long story short DC told by school try for oxbridge they don't do exact course DC wants to do so applied elsewhere. Achieved predicted grades for a levels but off to non RG uni who do course DC really wants to do. Comments keep being made which in the least query why make that choice when so many other "better" options to worst so far which made me need to vent on MN and yes I forgot to say 'did you mean to be so rude'

In the past MN has always helped. So, Anyone else need to share similar to make me feel I'm not the only one who knows such horrible people?

Subjects like Meteorology at Reading. Most definitely a niche subject and a highly regarded course. I don't think Reading is RG either.

Niche subjects - [[https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/sportex/app-golf-mgt-studies.aspx
Golf management at Birmingham]] , for instance. It was mentioned at a talk at a local grammar school on applying to RG unis. The talk was by a panel of RG academics and they emphasised that the right course should drive your choice, not the uni. They said there were some great courses out there, like these golf degrees, which were very competitive. They said the degrees might not be at RG unis but the graduates had great employment outcomes!

Product design at Northumbria (where Jonathan Ive studied), Estate Management at Reading, Auto-engineering at Surrey, Marine biology at Bangor or Southampton. That sort of thing.

I wouldn't worry about it - it's entirely different with more specialised or vocational courses. It's nice that your DC have some idea what they want to do and are training for it. A lot of DC (mine included) just plumped for the subjects they were best at at school and didn't really open their minds to other things.

Marine biology at Bangor or Southampton.

Southampton is RG, and very highly ranked for several of its engineering courses .... I think there's a couple of well- regarded niche courses at Southampton Solent, maybe that's the example you meant?

RG is a load of marketing bollocks. Universities shell out a fortune to buy their way into a club that makes them look good. To be taken with a large pinch of salt.

I meant GOLF management at Birmingham, not plain management. Sorry, rubbish editing, but as you can appreciate, much more niche!

I'm glad you added that :) I was wondering

No. What I meant was that if you wanted to study Marine biology you would pick Southampton over, say, Oxford. And yes you would find some people, even on MN , being sniffy.

It all comes out in the wash. Three years on when they start looking for jobs, the ones who knew what they wanted to do from the start and chose the right course, are at a real advantage.

The talk was by a panel of RG academics and they emphasised that the right course should drive your choice, not the uni.

Oh good, the nice young man from Leicester who spoke at DD's school wasn't just pushing some wacky, non-RG rubbish, then. Although, like at most / all grammar schools, there are undoubtedly some parents who see Oxford or Cambridge as the only possible destination for little Ermintrude, with the actual course (and whether there is one that she is interested in) coming a very poor second.

Here are some more fun niche degrees in the UK, several with great job prospects :

Brewing and distilling
Equestrian psychology and sports science
Baking technology science
Puppetry and theatre
Yacht operations
Circus and physical performance

Well I may have drunk the Kool-Aid, but anyone who decided they wanted to go to Oxford and then cast around for a subject they might want to do would surely be far less likely to be offered a place compared to the many others who are applying for courses they are genuinely interested in. And it's not just getting the place - there is the 3 whatever years study , which could be pretty miserable if you are not that fussed about the subject. Course first IMHO and then find the best universities for it - then take into account the feel of the place, whether it would be congenial for 3 - 4 years.

I'm with the nice young man from Leicester

Speech therapy also niche.

I was a victim of dismissing certain routes through because my grades were better thanwhat unis wanted. For this reason I turned down degrees (audiology was one, very niche!) because , actually, my onw academic snobbery kicked in. I ended up at a top university studying English Lit and am now a teacher so that was pointless

That said, nowadays I probably would be lost to teaching, too, because I would have been persuaded/persuaded myself that I was 'too clever'.

I also didn't apply for Law like all the other top achievers at my school as I always was a bit contrary.

I have done OK in my career and am considered a decent teacher, but sometimes I wonder how much more fulfilled I would feel if I was a speech or audiology therapist.