DS started uni last september, i think he should leave and start at a different uni sept

[blueskyblues11111]

DS is at a non RG uni, and After this year of covid stop / starting / isolating at uni plus the fact the DS got much better A’level results than he was predicted . I feel he should reapply to a RG uni to re start he uni course of economics this September . Aibu to feel like this ,,?

i have spoken to DS about this possible option , but he says he wants to stay where he is ,,,

I know I really need to stop dwelling on this option but it’s hard when 1st years have had such a tricky start to their uni life ....

BTW , i know i probably ABU :)

Wow QuantumQuality that was an unnecessarily rude post.

Yes, you can get 4 years of UG funding.

It’s a hell of a big debt to saddle on a young adult though-big enough for 3 years but to an an unnecessary extra year on, when the child doesn’t want to change university and the university isn’t actually a RG one!

The OP wants her ADULT SON to relocate to a place of her choosing about which she clearly has insufficient knowledge and saddle him with a load of extra debt. And I’m the one who might be struggling with lockdown 😂

It's your aggression and rudeness that are alarming. Are you like this in real life QQ or just to random strangers on the internet?

The research done by the IFS clearly indicates that if a dc wants higher earnings from Economics, university matters. The report into course and university outcomes with regard to salaries was published in 2017. Posters can insist there is no difference, but there is. However that only matters if it matters to the OP’s DS. Presumably it doesn’t right now but it might if he decides to look for a masters.

I clearly said moving now is difficult. It’s also recognised that although Loughborough isn’t RG it is, like Bath, Lancaster and St Andrews considered to be very good. When he got his results he decided not to trade up and that was up to him. As it will be for any further study. There is, however, no evidence that I’ve seen that says all Economics courses are equal. Unless someone can find it.

The deadline for 2021 entry has passed I’m afraid. Also if he has a student loan he would require funding for a further year to complete his undergraduate degree. If he stays where he is and gets a 2:1 or above he can go on and do a masters at a different university of his choice.

He doesn't have to drop out. He can apply to join in second year/ as a deferred student.

The deadline for 2021 entry has passed I’m afraid

But there is ucas extra!!

I'm in no way suggesting that moving university is the right thing to do in this case but I wish people would stop posting incorrect information!!

The deadline for equal consideration has passed but the vast majority of universities will still be taking applications through UCAS extra and then there is Clearing - which is now so much more than a way for students who've performed poorly to get into university.

If he was unhappy with his university or experience in general , fair enough but this doesn't seem to be the case.
I know lots of people who went to non RGs (me included) and turned out ok!

So, do you want him to go to a Russell Group university or Loughborough? Do you still want him to go to Loughborough, even now you know it isn't a member of the Russell Group?

As someone else has already mentioned, if he did better in his CAGs than the conditions of the university that was his Unconditional Firm, your DS had the chance to try to 'trade up' immediately after getting his results, via Adjustment (and no, you don't have to give up the place you already hold in order to apply elsewhere, only once you have been accepted by the new unovetsity. There is a very short window of opportunity, though - less than a week). Knowing this (because it's all on the UCAS website, so he will have been aware of the process), he decided to stick with his original decision. A decision with which he is not unhappy...?

So there's your answer.

@PresentingPercy but telling the OP that there is a pecking order for economics is rubbing salt in the wound. And higher earning potential does not make a degree better. That study is also now 4 years out of date.

@justasmalltownmum

He doesn't have to drop out. He can apply to join in second year/ as a deferred student.

That’s a good and very true point. He can contact the course leader if he wants to and ask about a transfer into year 2.

Uh...OP, Loughborough is not a Russell Group uni. I'm not sure what you are doing or thinking. It's a great uni though so this rather makes the rather obvious point. RG is nothing more than a marketing exercise.

RG students do better overall. You can kid yourselves all you like but it’s not just marketing. There must be a load of gullible people about then if Oxbridge is purely about marketing.

No change on the salary front in 3-4 years. The top earners are still the top earners. It won’t change! The op is already disappointed. I’m merely agreeing!

If there’s no change on the salary front, why not post 2020 statistics?

You’re not merely agreeing with the OP, you’re also saying that her DS’s economics degree is worthless and won’t lead to high earnings. That’s hardly helpful. But perhaps your aim isn’t to be helpful.

@PresentingPercy

RG students do better overall. You can kid yourselves all you like but it’s not just marketing. There must be a load of gullible people about then if Oxbridge is purely about marketing.

No change on the salary front in 3-4 years. The top earners are still the top earners. It won’t change! The op is already disappointed. I’m merely agreeing!

You are confusing correlation with causation. Bath, Loughborough and St Andrews are widely accepted as being 'better' universities than Queen Mary's or Queens Belfast. RG is a RESEARCH CONSORTIUM. That's it. They pay to belong. Universities like the above mentioned (along with other excellent universities like Reading, Sussex...) are simply smaller therefore do not produce enough research to warrant paying to belong. Remember none of this is relevant to undergraduate. UG required best teaching not highest number of research citations.

Leave him be. How he applies himself at university will matter more than the RG tag.

He's an adult and will likely make lots of decisions that you think are suboptimal but that's his life and his choice.

RG is a very successful marketing gimmick which doesn't guarantee that every student will end up better off than every student at a non-RG. I say that as someone who has worked in both RG and non-RG universities.

@PresentingPercy

RG students do better overall. You can kid yourselves all you like but it’s not just marketing. There must be a load of gullible people about then if Oxbridge is purely about marketing.

No change on the salary front in 3-4 years. The top earners are still the top earners. It won’t change! The op is already disappointed. I’m merely agreeing!

It’s not necessarily cause and effect though is it?

Maybe people who have been to an RG uni earn more because they are intelligent and driven (which they must have been to get the grades) and then go on to apply that to their working lives so get promoted more, etc. Which they could have done regardless of which uni they’d gone to.

Just a thought.

In any case, grads from City, Loughborough and Bath regularly out earn grads from more than half of RG grads. Your point is ....well, pointless. Comparing say Cambridge with Leeds or Queens is a bit stupid. They are both RG but being RG in no way elevates the latter to the former. Graduate salaries are dictated far more by profession than university. Graduates going into finance on the whole start off way higher than those going into teaching or social work. Measuring outcomes purely on every salary is kind of missing the point of everything other than starting salary. Sussex for example attracts students whole are left leaning and interested in carers that do not necessarily pay as much as those who attend Warwick. The Royal Veterinary College produced vet nurses alongside vets and scientists. Vet nursing is terribly paid thereby lowering salary averages. It is a world leading vet school but will never be RG as it is too small and singularly focussed. That says nothing about the calibre of the institutions. You are measuring things by an extremely limited and basic metric.

@QuantumQuality

Jesus. Back the fuck off. You’ve picked a random university which you know nothing about and suggested you’re DS wastes a year of his life on going there, clearly with no idea of the financial implications. I think the only ex poly in the NE that does pure economics is Northumbria, which has an excellent sports reputation. This is top level bad helicopter parenting.

Quite agree, although my reply would have been a bit more wishy washy.

I’ve been to two non Russell Group (1 ex poly) unis and have studied modules at 2 others and have just started a post graduate certificate at a third one now. I have had great experiences. I really think that RG uni’s are best for people wanting to go into politics or London law firms but for most real world jobs this doesn’t apply. I work in health and social care though. In real life no one I know has ever been concerned about what uni a person went to, ever. It is only talking to people who work in Westminster government / law that it is mentioned.

Also met my husband at the ex poly who is a high earner. Top 1%.

I think the wealth & privilege types that go to to certain universities are able to perpetuate their wealth.

My sister went to a RG uni and then did another degree at a non RG and agrees.

My dd did her degree at a non RG uni and then did her Masters, 5 years later, at an excellent RG uni.

I would support your ds where he is for now. Most dc are more self aware than parents realise.

I have a degree from an old low ranked poly.
A degree from a RG uni.
A masters from an RG uni.
A PG diploma from an RG uni
A PG diploma from a low ranked modern university
A PG diploma from an old poly.

Six different unis. The best teaching I had was at the modern university. The teaching at 2 of the RG unis was fairly ropey.

RG students do better overall. You can kid yourselves all you like but it’s not just marketing. There must be a load of gullible people about then if Oxbridge is purely about marketing.

No change on the salary front in 3-4 years. The top earners are still the top earners. It won’t change! The op is already disappointed. I’m merely agreeing!

It's far more complicated than this....

And RG isn't necessarily a marker of quality and certainly doesn't indicate high quality teaching.
It one of a few mission groups - these are a group of self selected universities who share the same 'Mission'. For RG universities this is research.....

The issues around employability are also quite complex. Yes RG universities do tend to have impressive employability figures (although certainly not exclusively especially when you look at subject level) but the factors that influence this aren't straightforward. Socioeconomic background and parental education and occupation play a huge role - not only in the type of university to attend but also the jobs to do afterwards.