Campus universities with beautiful old buildings

[Trewser]

I know, i know. But dd2 is reluctant to go to any open days, and this is her (childish and silly i know) requirement. I thought if we could at least do ONE she will start to be more open minded!

Open days at the end of year 12 are good, imo - the kids have a fair idea how they're doing with their A levels, and it's less pressured than autumn of yr 13.

I didn’t say DDs friends who are English grads didn’t have jobs. I said they were not as far ahead in their careers as they would wish to be. They are very bright, work hard, but don’t earn much. They like what they do though according to DD.

The average grad starting salary in the UK is £23,000 based on the most up to date info. For English grads it’s £19,350. After 5 years, English grads are earning less than those with Nursing degrees and also less than those with History and MFL degrees. So does subject influence pay? Yes it does. Massively. You would be better off doing Education.

The way to improve the situation is to get to the best university you can. The course content really is of secondary importance to anyone who is not an educator, although of course the student should like it. Piggy and Errol work in the education sector. They are not English grad employers but know about academics. Most employers want the university attended, not the minute details of the English degree, and they certainly wouldn’t think Edinburgh was the pits!

Of course studying English might not want a good well paid job. That doesn’t appear to be on offer to many English degree holders anyway. If you did want more, English may not be the way to go because it doesn’t set sought after.

I don't work in the education sector I've just spent too long on MN HE threads in the last few years

Lovely buildings in Newcastle uni, itself, but at best you'd live in a 60s block.

I think liking the feel of the university is quite an important factor.

DS1 much preferred the feel of Strathclyde to Glasgow even though technically Glasgow would be seen as more prestigious.

Ds2 loved the feel of Aberdeen and was ecstatic when he got an offer to study there.

Different strokes...

Have a look at the University of Wales Trinity St. David's campus. Lovely old buildings, friendly atmosphere and Carmarthen is great.

do not indulge her desire for period buildings

So not Oxford, Cambridge or Durham, then, OP...

And for all the OP is on here asking for suggestions on behalf of her DD, one hopes that she acknowledges that at the end of the day, what goes on said DD's UCAS form is the DD's choice. Certainly UCAS and all the universities applied to will be working on that assumption.

Yes, I do work in education : as an English teacher, which I think is rather relevant! However, I know you beg to differ.

You would be better off doing education : surely you aren't advocating an actual undrergraduate education degree ? An English degree, followed by teacher training would get one to that higher starting salary.

Honestly, bubbles, you do seem to think everyone picks a degree based solely on future earnings. What I said was that if one has the choice of a range of highly sought after degrees in top institutions , THEN look at the courses , because that makes a difference to enjoyment while you are there. And, certainly, if one wants to go into publishing, journalism or education, then modules covered may well be highly relevant, increase employability and be useful in job interviews. Or the opposite.

I am afraid I am a Glaswegian , so do think Edinburgh is the pits! with a poor English degree

And it is just nonsense to say English isn't sought after. It is highly sought after, just not largely in high paying employment sectors, although plenty go into Law.

More and more young people are coming through and opting to study politics and history. There will be a huge glut of these graduates and I think we will begin to see many many (more) history grads struggling to find work. It is one of the very few subjects in teaching with a surplus of trainees. The discouraging noises some people make about English is not helpful. There is a perfect storm brewing in English teaching recruitment.

As an academic i'd caution against choosing a course on the buildings. Her lectures may all be timetabled in a concrete monstrosity regardless.

I'd also caution against picking a course based on future earnings alone. I teach far too many students who do this and they have a miserable time of it and often achieve far less than those with a passion for the subject.

Yes indeedy sleep, the same applies at A Level : students doing A Level English Lit because it is 'useful' who don't read. Students taking science and maths because mum and dad told them to and being useless at it and miserable and achieving lower grades than they might have done. Students taking business because they think they are future Apprentice candidates and arsing about for two years.

OP has never said her DD has any doubt about the degree choice : just the institution!

I do think location can make people happy, but maybe the location of the uni itself (some of which are in beautiful areas/ lovely cities/ bustling locations) does impact upon some people's happiness. It's one of the reasons Hull has struggled : beautiful campus (genuinely really lovely), but not in a beautiful city.

do not indulge her desire for period buildings

She will choose where she goes, depending on grades. Ultimately it won't be anything to do with me! This is just to get her interested.

Why would history grads earn more than English grads?

I usually agree with BB but I have never in the legal professoin notiecd a difference between English and History graduates. My daughter's lawyer firend is an English Cambridge graduate for example and she has done pretty well in law, no worse than had she read History.

trewser, I suspect it is just career pathways, not that history grads earn more than English grads when they are doing the same job! I haven't looked at the table (because money has never meant much to me) but the obvious professions aside , I don't think there is much in it between the other subjects.

The only degree I would dissuade a DC from doing is Education Studies : it's an odd degree. It's not a teaching qualification and, yet, I assume most people who study it have an interest in teaching. Happy to be persuaded otherwise by someone who knows, though!

Lovely buildings in Newcastle uni, itself, but at best you'd live in a 60s block.

Maybe this is directed at living in an old building? We looked round loads of universities and, apart from Cambridge, they were all in post 60s blocks. Dd did get her first choice, Park View Student Village, which has quartz worktops in the large living kitchen with a 8 seater sofa and large TV. And an en-suite in her bedroom with a 4ft bed. It’s still a lot cheaper than many other places. And it was the best accommodation we saw out of 4 universities visited. It’s only one year old though.

Bubbles I don’t know whether you are London/SE based so have a different mindset but Dd isn’t driven by an end salary. She loves studying and discussing books. She very good at it. She decided on the university based on the fact she loved the course and the city.

...and she’s doing modules/societies she’ll enjoy and have direct transferable skills to journalism/ publishing/ law!

Maybe this is directed at living in an old building? We looked round loads of universities and, apart from Cambridge, they were all in post 60s blocks

A lot of the student accommodation in Cambridge isn't in old buildings either! Apart from 'new' colleges (eg Churchill) many of the others have 'new' accommodation buildings - or have college owned or sublet houses or over shops in the town.

Similarly, someone mentioned Bristol having some nice accommodation- well, Wills and the halls in Clifton may have charm but they're heavily oversubscribed and some of the newer alternatives are unlovely. I'm sure the same applies at many other unis - don't let your DC place undue weight on some particular hall which they may not get into. (This is a general observation not directed at the OP)

Errol yes definitely agree with accommodation swaying judgement. There were a lot of very anxious people getting upset, to the point of not going, when they didn’t get the accommodation they wanted. If this really was a dealing breaker it’s a risky strategy but different universities deal with if differently - some it’s a lottery, some you get ‘first dibs’ if you put them down first.

Dealing breaker? Deal breaker

Keele would definitely be worth considering.

Nicest campus accommodation I saw was Hull. And cheapest!

Lincoln apparently has some nice flats overlooking a marina!

Yes, Lincoln has some really nice accommodation. Really small campus (not really a campus, to be honest) very close to beautiful city.

It's actually popular for English. We have sent numerous students with ABB type grades there over the years as it has an interesting course and a combined English/Creative Writing degree, but I think OP's daughter might be capable of 'better', as such. Might be good for an insurance.

I think that, except in cases of a student being extremely clear about their requirements of a course, it is often 'seemingly trivial' things that get us interested in universities in the first place.

For OP, once their child has been persuaded to go to an open day or two, on the basis of buildings, then it is very likely that other (perhaps more rational) considerations will come into play ... but that first hurdle has to be leaped.

I first considered where I wanted to go based on it being the 'other' one of the Oxbridge pair from where my brother and parents went. Entirely trivial, but once investigated, I also found that the structure of the course was MUCH better for me. I initially chose my college based purely on its size - and rejected the one which would then have been top based on the entirely trivial point that it looked extremely gloomy in the driving rain in which my 16 year old self visited it - but in fact then wrote it on my list based on much more rational reasons to do with guaranteed accommodation and large proportion of graduate students.

I just think that at this point, most future applicants are 16 -18. Their interest is likely to be piqued by fairly teenage factors, but it doesn't mean that their final decision will be based purely on these factors.