History degree - how do you narrow the list

[HotFlowers]

Dd is just finishing year 12. She is keen to study History at uni, followed by maybe going on to study Law, been predicted AAB.

We live in East London, none of the family have attended uni.

She has narrowed her list of possible uni’s by the following;

Course content
Top 30 uni
Top 30 course
Campus uni very near a City
Likelihood of getting in (knocked out Durham and Bristol)
3 hr drive from home. Although the first 3 on the list are actually 3.5hrs-4hrs away!!

She has been attending virtual open days and has liked them all so far....

Do we need to go visit all the Uni’s, happy to just not sure how a closed uni will give her much idea...

List currently;
Exeter
Leeds
York

Birmingham
Nottingham
Southampton

Loughborough
UEA

Any we are missing, is visiting them all now the way forward?

Any help or guidance appreciated.

I and my daughters are lawyers (and my twins you just finished at Bristol U (not law) start the GDL (post grad law) in September, not that that makes me an expert. She could try studying ancient history at Bristol which my daughter did and is now a City lawyer - it is a very interesting subject and the grade requirements may be slightly easier and Bristol has a special system for those in the 40% worst UK schools as you can get in with lower grades (not that she used that system but it might help with your grade concerns). History is fairly competitive compared with some subjects but is certainly a very good degree to do and I really enjoyed my history A level. (I read law at university as do half of lawyers)

Lots of lawyers go to Exeter, Leeds and York (see www.chambersstudent.co.uk/where-to-start/newsletter/law-firms-preferred-universities-2019. My other daughter - in house lawyer in London went to Nottingham (Bsc from there).

My 5 children visited no universities before applying. Visit if you like but they did not want to and it was easy to choose without bothering and cheaper and less time wasted.

As for her future she should look at law firm websites as they give the timetables - eg after year 1 at university she might spend the summer and Autumn applying for vacation schemes. The next summer she might apply for training contracts so her future law studies might be paid for by law firms and timing is key - the firms recruit at least 2 years in advance.

Be very careful about using league tables as a guide. There are no "official" league tables for universities, as there are for schools: they are produced by newspaper publishers to sell newspapers (so the Gardian table uses criteria that will appeal to stereotypical Guardian readers, the Sunday Times table uses criteria that will put "traditional" universities at the top, etc.). They have no statistical validity and are based on fairly dubious data. If a university/course has an exceptionally low score for something it's worth trying to find out why, but apart from that they are meaningless.

DS1 did and DS currently doing History at Uni; I mean read and reading of course :)

Course content and structure is important for a subject as wide ranging as history; some Unis offer from the ancient world right through to the modern, whilst others have a more or exclusively modern focus - modern seemingly being post 1700 and your DD looks like she has done her research on that. I would not get too fixated on particular more niche modules, as they can come and go - especially when the lead academic decides to take a year out to write a book about it

Open Days are largely marketing events and whilst good to see the place your DD will probably get more useful info and insight in respect of the course from their websites.

They are all going to have , hopefully and C19 permitting, real life offer holder days as well which certainly for DS2 was really enlightening and changed his first choice completely (both initial absolute fave and where he is now are both on your DD's list).

xenia makes a good point in terms of content; certainly Durham's standard offer for Ancient History was slightly lower than that for History and there may, if applicable, be contextual elements too.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Really useful information. Especially to look at law firms websites, seems like she needs to ensure she has a plan and gets herself into gear.

Feel reassured that not everyone visits all unis.

Thank you

I did a History degree at a Russell Group. For me, I hated ancient History, I also wanted a chance to do a different module if I fancied it in another subject, which I did do. My main thing though was to "feel" the Uni. I just didn't feel right at any except the one I went to. I also think the reputation is important, right down to the people.

It sounds harsh but Exeter has a snobby rep for a reason, as well as the many rape-joking scandals that took place and there is an element of racism reported there. Leeds and York are both great unis, York is more campus based and has the feel, my friend did History of Art there and loved it. Leeds is definitely the all-rounder uni, so the nightlife and social aspect is very well reported.

@boys3 thank you. I know i should know this, offer holders day, does that happen after you have submitted 5 options and heard back, or after you’ve firmed 2 offers.

DD is wavering towards Warwick rather than Exeter. Exeter haven't been very helpful with regards to open days, virtual or otherwise. They just don't seem to be invested in any way, seems like they just want bums on seats, and as they have the numbers, they don't need to make the effort.

We are Surrey so discounted Leeds and York as too far away, Bristol she didn't like the course. So we have as our current list Oxford (dream, not likely), Warwick, Exeter, Southampton, Kent.

I know i should know this, offer holders day, does that happen after you have submitted 5 options and heard back, or after you’ve firmed 2 offers

So you submit your 5 choices on UCAS. A couple of months after that you receive your offers. Don't forget, you may not be offered all of your five, although that is fairly unlikely. You then go to the offer days, and they all try to persuade you to choose them as your top two. After the offer days, you firm your top two.

One of my brothers studied history at Cardiff and the other studied history at Sussex. Both loved it, but the one in Sussex especially loved being in Brighton.

They both work in marketing now..!

Definitely look at course content and specialisation options, but keep open mind on that. If there is a particular period that appeals it may be worth looking at whether they have specialists for that. Access to libraries also important. Exam structure - does she want dissertation option?

She could look at additional opportunities the uni offers - study abroad, work placement etc.

Accommodation may be a factor to consider, and scholarships or bursaries offered by the uni.

She could also look at student satisfaction and graduate employment data.

Not of these things are likely to help her pick a first choice but they may help her to knock one or two off her list to get the five for the application

Neither Leeds nor York are that far away form you if you are prepared to take the train as they are on fast train lines up from London.

I live North of London. The most popular unis of late for historians of your DD's ability have been Birmingham and Nottingham , which students are always positive about. York has a longstanding reputation in history and is very popular . Applications will be very high for all of these places to be honest!

Just my opinion but Loughborough is a bit separated from anywhere big and vibrant and VERY sporty, which is great if you are, not so much if you aren't..

Thank you all, really appreciate you taking the time to reply.

I’m really pleased we don’t need to do a tour of the country!!

I think now it’s down to her to re-read the course content, the extras that differentiates each one and hopefully take it from there...

Just t follow up baahhh, has she looked at Warwick?

Have you considered Scotland?
Edinburgh has great history courses.

Warwick is currently in the second week of its virtual open days. No idea when the History department specific sessions are, though, I'm afraid. Or were, possibly - two for DS2's subject were last week and the others tomorrow and Thursday. There are 'tours' and more general sessions every day, though, I think.

My DD is studying History at Liverpool. Loves it.

Why the 3hr drive? Students can easily take the train anywhere and there is a company sherpr that you can use to ship boxes and bikes within a day or two to anywhere in U.K. for pretty cheap. I mean two big boxes plus a bike with included bike box from London to Scotland for £125. They pick it up at your house and deliver to your residence hall. No need to pack up a car and haul things to uni.

DD has just finished her first year studying History at Exeter. Is doing the 4 year study abroad option but not sure if she'll go. Has enjoyed the course and uni - hasn't found it snobby at all. Has been hard hit by strikes so has missed a lot of teaching this year which has been very frustrating - far more than a lot of other subjects. Is also thinking about Law afterwards. DS is doing IR at Birmingham and also loves the uni - much busier than Exeter so depends whether you like busy city or slightly quieter. Both have their pros and cons.

@CBear99 @Piggywaspushed I think she would like a busy city, hence why she had knocked Warwick off the list. Interesting you say Exeter isn’t snobby, was a concern...

She’s hoping the ones she has on the list are all near a busy city, but still a campus.

Exeter, Leeds, York, Birmingham, Nottingham, Southampton, Loughborough, UEA.

Loughborough isn't near a busy city. Thirteen miles from Leicester and twenty miles from Nottingham.

Good advice above. If law is her aim try to have that in mind rather than anything like I prefer a campus university or I want nice bed rooms.

My daughter enjoyed ancient history but as said above plenty of people prefer history - loads of them in fact which can make history a very competitive subject (as indeed is law).

I am not a great fan of 4 year courses as that can mean a year of extra fees and another year of exams or whatever and in law if that is the aim you have 2 more years of study after the degree too if you don't study law for your first degree and one more year if you do so extending it all even more is may be not a good idea.

My son's best friend is at Warwick and probably picked that in part because of the racial mix (he's not white) and it is an excellent university.

The list above looks fine. As 3 of my children went to Bristol and my father Durham I am a bit biased towards those ones but that list would be fine.

I have 3 children the eldest 2 have finished, but youngest still at uni. One of the most useful bits of advice from their school when they were making their applications was to ensure their choices kept their options open. You apply for 5 universities and pick 2 from the offers you get, your firm choice and a back up choice (2nd choice). They advised the first choice should be the favourite place your child would like to go should they achieve their predicted grades. Many students miss out achieving their predicted grades, so ideally their back up choice should a university thd child would be happy to go but is offering a lower grade. For example if the first and second choice places were needing the same grades but the child did not achieve those grades, they would be left with no place on results day ( they could still go through clearing). Keeping options open like this reduces stress.
One of my son's studied history as part of a joint honours degree. The course content differs at each place and it would be good for your daughter to look at what are the compulsory modules and what choice of modules they offer and if they interest her. She also needs to get the feel of if she likes the atmosphere of the place. Many don't get their first choice of accommodation and are only in it for a year, so that should not be her most important aspect in making her choices. Good luck

Look at the specialist interests of the lecturers eg dd is specialising in Chinese and Japanese history in the third year. Ignore league tables they have crazy anomalies but sticking to those who were universities pre 1992 is a good idea. Then think about city vs town and halls on campus vs separate. Loughborough is very different to Nottingham despite it being the next stop on the train. If they want to come home during term time check the cost, even the Midlands is £40 with a railcard.

Dd is loving history but is does vary a lot in content around the country, she needs to look very carefully pm me if you need more pointers

My daughter has just graduated from Nottingham. It's a lovely campus & not at all far from an interesting city centre. It's a well respected course and she felt her lecturers were brilliant. Her only negative was in first year as she was in a hall full of much snobbier, affluent students who took the piss out of her northern accent and spent a fortune partying when all she wanted to do was work, eat nice food and sleep. Other halls looked better