Anyone with a dc at Exeter?

[bendmeoverbackwards]

How do they find it?

Dd has been redirected from Oxford and is now considering Exeter where she has an offer. The course is Ancient and Modern History but if she accepts she might see if she can transfer to straight History.

Any experiences good or bad would be welcome! Thank you.

Anyway, I'd worry with Penryn that all the best lecturers were at Streatham. And dd would hate being so remote and rural.

@Frodont You posted:
Discussions like the one on the black Mumsnetters board. Not reading it as the last post I saw from Black Mumsnetters was about how white people shouldn't post on black matters. Fair enough.

That was in response to a link I included in a post, meant for someone else, not you. I wasn't on the thread where you were told to bog off, so I responded with I think what they may have been telling you is to read, listen and understand from a black point of view rather than wading in to tell everyone their perception of whatever it was is wrong. In any case, my post was in response to @g1c2d3's post.

I made it quite clear the post and link were in response to another poster. You followed that up with information from your DD that 2 of her black friends were hoping to go there.

You're free to post, but It is you who joined the conversation about racism at Exeter, no one asked you your opinion.

Well anyone replying or starting a thread is either giving or asking for an opinion. It’s how it works.

It’s always best to choose where your DC is happy. Mine wouldn’t have gone near Penryn as it was seen as surfy hippy and for people who stayed in the area afterwards. That was their opinion but in the court of MN it will be wrong. Each to their own though.

I would imagine Streatham is far more diverse than Penryn!

Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could all visit the cities and campuses with our DC and get a feel for the places they’ve been offered. Sigh.

@GaribaldiGirl That would have been wonderful, unfortunately, this yrs cohort and last yrs have been denied that through no fault of their own it is why threads like this are help with garnering as much information as possible.

@PresentingPercy

Quite simply: people choose a university where they will be comfortable. It takes a bit more self belief to go somewhere where you are in a clear minority. I still don’t believe Exeter has a monopoly of racist students!

This makes no sense at all.

Black, Asian and other non-white students will inevitably be in the minority in almost any U.K. university. They should be entitled to feel 'comfortable' wherever they go - without requiring superhuman levels of self belief.

A huge number of DC feel uncomfortable when they go to Uni, lots feel they’re in a minority/different and this is about more than the colour of your skin. Most 18 year olds have lived in a certain bubble and have limited experience of such unfamiliarity. It’s a huge shock to many. Being the only northerner in hall of southerners. Being the skinny boy surrounded by strapping sporty boys, being a non-drinker in freshers week, being gay etc etc etc. I remember a girl in my hall was in the Salvation Army and put on her uniform once a week and went off to collect money, seemed weird to me at the time.
My point is that they have to embrace being different and find friends from totally different worlds. It is diverse in so many ways.
Not suggesting racism is any way acceptable, but I don’t think trying to find a Uni where lots of people are ‘like you’ is necessarily a good strategy. The white DC might be the same colour but they are not homogenous - they are very diverse in other less visible ways

@Frodont This thread clearly makes you feel uncomfortable and you are welcome not to comment. Stop with the fake outrage and trying to silence people who have a different opinion to you.

@Frodont I noticed on another thread you asked about Drama at Exeter. This is my DDs main interest and she asked about this at the open day last year and on the offer holders FB page. She was told that the drama societies are very active and very welcoming. Exeter has their own theatre on campus which we had a quick look at while we there. Also they have dance societies/groups which one of her friends (a very old dancer) is really enjoying, so it all sounds very positive.

@GaribaldiGirl I agree with your post completely

Relieved to see that a frankly disgraceful post above has been deleted.

It would be worrying if refusal to 'chat happily' became a reason for exclusion from the conversation.

errorofjudgement thanks that's really helpful!

Yes good post garibaldigirl I agree.

@PoulePouletteEternellement Couldn’t agree more. Glad to see HQ are out in full force.

Oh my, I’ve just realised I’ve referred to DDs friend as a very old dancer. That should read a very good dancer!
She’s only 19 for goodness sake

[quote errorofjudgement]@Frodont I noticed on another thread you asked about Drama at Exeter. This is my DDs main interest and she asked about this at the open day last year and on the offer holders FB page. She was told that the drama societies are very active and very welcoming. Exeter has their own theatre on campus which we had a quick look at while we there. Also they have dance societies/groups which one of her friends (a very old dancer) is really enjoying, so it all sounds very positive.[/quote]
Ooooh, that's good to know. DD very into her acting, despite being a historian! Drama is likely to be her main source of getting out and meeting people.

@errorofjudgement

Oh my, I’ve just realised I’ve referred to DDs friend as a very old dancer. That should read a very good dancer! She’s only 19 for goodness sake

😄

Dd loves dance too so thats positive!

@BigWoollyJumpers snap! DDs offer is for history too!

If you look at any research on minority students, there are many who find it a challenge to move away from home or out of their comfort zones. It’s a well known issue and this is what I was referring to. There is no point thinking it’s not important to lots of students and white ones too. Exeter and a few other universities do struggle to recruit some ethnic and racial groups. So I’m afraid I do think work needs to be done to persuade these students to apply to places like Exeter instead of lowly post 92 down the road. And it does need a certain amount of courage for, say Muslim girls, to make that move away from protective parents. So I’m not sure why anyone is confused. I would whole heartedly say the universities should be welcoming to anyone.

Choosing where to do works on several levels, and for each and every one of our DC's. My DD's chose not to go North, lots of Northern students choose not to come South. DD1 turned down a place at Imperial, because on the offer day, she was the only white girl, every other student was an Asian boy..... there are so many complex reasons behind why we choose to go to a particular university. Some like to go completely out of their comfort zone, and get as far away from parents as is humanly possible, some like familiarity and to be a short hop on the train from home. I think this applies to all DC's regardless of colour or sex, or socio economic background.

Where to go (not do!)