Best University History course for a state educated London boy?

Bumpsadaisie · 24/09/2021 19:58

He wouldn't feel out of place at Oxbridge. Loads of normal kids there!

I was one - and did History. It was brilliant!

mnahmnah · 24/09/2021 20:01

I teach in a northern state comp and we often have students go to Oxbridge to do History and love it. One of my best friends at school (also a northern state comp) in the 90s went to a Cambridge and loved it. It’s more about choosing the right college. Do some research on which colleges have more of a mix or leaning towards state students.

Other than that, Keele is good for History

Chihuahuacat · 24/09/2021 20:01

I went to Sheffield and it was great! I think it has one of the highest number of working class pupils for a russell group.

I’ve had a successful career off the back of it as well!

KaycePollard · 24/09/2021 20:05

But he'd probably feel just as out of place in a northern English or Scottish university. He really needs not to think in such stereotypes.

However, if he wants to indulge in stereotypes, he might look at Manchester - excellent History Department, as is York's. Exeter's is also excellent, but he might be judgey of the students there.but he really needs to get a grip, frankly

King's London, or Queen Mary's London, also brilliant departments.

But History is a very broad subject and taught in many different ways. Departments have very different emphases, and styles and approaches to curriculum.

What & how does he want to study (within the broad discipline of history)?

RobinPenguins · 24/09/2021 20:08

@Chihuahuacat

I went to Sheffield and it was great! I think it has one of the highest number of working class pupils for a russell group.

I’ve had a successful career off the back of it as well!

Ditto! Loved my time at Sheffield and certainly never felt out of place as a young woman from a comp.

Original poster

Chicchicchicchiclana · 24/09/2021 20:13

I don't think he needs to get a grip. He has a strong feeling about the type of further education he wants to go on to - which is down to earth and mainstream where he will meet a lot of people he can bond with. IME private school and state school students usually gravitate towards each other and stay in their own groups throughout University.

OP posts:

Original poster

Chicchicchicchiclana · 24/09/2021 20:14

Have to say I have always had a soft spot for Sheffield as a city ... not that that's a good enough reason!

OP posts:

Moonlaserbearwolf · 24/09/2021 20:15

Plenty of ordinary people study history at Oxford! I know a few and they all loved it. You could help your son by trying to open his mind a bit.
Agree with the posters above. History courses vary so much. He needs to look at the course content and make a judgement based on that.

Moonlaserbearwolf · 24/09/2021 20:16

@Chicchicchicchiclana

I don't think he needs to get a grip. He has a strong feeling about the type of further education he wants to go on to - which is down to earth and mainstream where he will meet a lot of people he can bond with. IME private school and state school students usually gravitate towards each other and stay in their own groups throughout University.

That may have been your experience but it certainly wasn’t mine. Did you go to Oxford or Cambridge?

Original poster

Chicchicchicchiclana · 24/09/2021 20:16

Yes, I'm asking for advice on course content, future careers, best place for which course. All of that.

OP posts:

Dreamtheimpossibledream · 24/09/2021 20:17

Leeds? Sheffield? Sussex? As others have said though, you can't just stay amongst your own as comforting as that may be or feel now! It's def not what you should judge a university on.

namechange30455 · 24/09/2021 20:19

@Chicchicchicchiclana

I don't think he needs to get a grip. He has a strong feeling about the type of further education he wants to go on to - which is down to earth and mainstream where he will meet a lot of people he can bond with. IME private school and state school students usually gravitate towards each other and stay in their own groups throughout University.

Maybe that's the case wherever you went but that 100 percent wasn't my experience at Oxford!

Palavah · 24/09/2021 20:21

@Chicchicchicchiclana

I don't think he needs to get a grip. He has a strong feeling about the type of further education he wants to go on to - which is down to earth and mainstream where he will meet a lot of people he can bond with. IME private school and state school students usually gravitate towards each other and stay in their own groups throughout University.

Where has he got this idea from? From you? You seem fixed on Oxbridge not being appropriate, which seems unfair.

oneglassandpuzzled · 24/09/2021 20:21

I think both you and your son could open your minds a bit.

My son did history at York after private school but his friends and housemates over the three years came from all kinds of schools.

JemimaMuddledUp · 24/09/2021 20:21

DS2 wants to study History and current favourites Durham, York, Lancaster, Exeter and Birmingham. I'm not sure Durham would fit the bill though for your DS as I gather there is a high proportion of privately educated students. (DS2 is not privately educated BTW).

gogohm · 24/09/2021 20:23

Just get him to look at the course content, they vary a lot. No point going to the "perfect" university if you hate your course

Doubleraspberry · 24/09/2021 20:23

Does he have a passion for a particular part of history? It’s worth him looking at the details of various syllabuses to see what interests him. The courses will vary so much in content depending on who is in the department. If he wants to know whether the department has a good reputation there are various league tables which work on different measures but usually broadly come out in similar places.

And then does he know what type of university he wants to go to, other than not Oxbridge? Campus? Big city? Within easy reach of a weekend at home or as far away as he can get?! There will be so many options for him that the hygiene factors are worth considering.

Some non-Oxbridge have reputations for being very rah. Not sure how accurate any of it is though, but to be aware of. The Student Room website is probably a good resource in sounding places out.

I would never say someone to Oxbridge if they didn’t really want to. There are definite pluses but also minuses. I do think it’s changed hugely since I went but as a girl from a comp and a lower middle class background I spent three years wishing I’d gone somewhere with ‘normal’ people, so I can sympathise with what your DS is feeling.

BikeRunSki · 24/09/2021 20:24

@Chicchicchicchiclana

Have to say I have always had a soft spot for Sheffield as a city ... not that that's a good enough reason!

Any reason to live in Sheffield is a good enough reason. It’s a great city, and I say that as a born and bred Londoner.

I went from a London comp to Newcastle Uni. Quite a long time ago now. Before the OP’s ds was born! But I loved it. I loved being so far away, I loved being a metro ride from the sea, I loved that it has all the facilities of a city, yet I could walk across it in no time. That is had it’s own character, and that character is actually a bit feisty. That’s it’s out on a limb up in the NE and doing it’s own thing quite happily. The university is big enough that you’ll find your tribe. I’m an engineer, but I believe the history dept was, and still is, very good, although that might be more Ancient History/Classics.

Then I graduated and got a job in Sheffield…

SusanBAnthony999 · 24/09/2021 20:24

I went from a Northern comp to Oxford 30+ years ago. The ridiculous stereotypes you read here about everyone at Oxford being posh, privately educated and pretentious - and state educated students feeling unwanted, excluded and out of place were nonsense then and are still nonsense now.

Palavah · 24/09/2021 20:24

The best place to get info on course content is from the history departments themselves

It's fine to have a preference based on the location - it's not all about the degree itself.

If he's struggling to choose between different courses then it's worth him looking into the extra-curricular activities that he may be interested - sport? Music? What do they offer and does that appeal?

RainingYetAgain · 24/09/2021 20:28

History is a big subject First of all he needs to look at course content and options. DS didn't want a University dept with an emphasis on modern history and wanted to concentrate on early modern and medieval history. He also felt he'd had enough of Russian history too, but that was more easily evaded.

TizerorFizz · 25/09/2021 00:09

I’m always amazed that parents teach their children they cannot fit in with others from a slightly different background. Plenty of privately educated students have parents who scrimped and saved to send them to private school. They don’t necessarily stick together and they are not a different breed of student.

However at places like Sheffield and Liverpool, the privately educated student is a fairly rare sighting. So you could argue state educated pupils stick together!

If he doesn’t want to try for the best universities where the majority are from state schools (Oxbridge) so be it. But at least put him right on his beliefs about these universities instead of the rubbish he has been fed. He should look at course content so he enjoys it and think about employability too. Employers don’t really care if you did modern or medieval history. They might care a bit more about where you did it.

sendsummer · 25/09/2021 05:39

Son would like to feel at home on a course with fellow students from a mix of backgrounds where he won't feel out of place for not having a private or grammar education

If he wants to feel at home with a mix of backgrounds at university (and presumably after university) then why aim to segregate himself from part of that mix? Insecurities of ‘feeling out of place‘ certainly won’t be resolved that way. Presumably universities with a more international student mix like UCL are also exclude by his criteria?
Although league tables can be flawed, the complete university guide tables for history are a reasonable place to start for a list of options that can then be filtered by his priorities for course content and surroundings plus likely A level grades.

mycatthinksshesatiger · 25/09/2021 06:20

He needs to visit some universities and make his own mind up about which course and setting feels right for him. I went to Oxbridge from a private girls' school up North and initially felt out of place as most of my peers had gone to state schools and had led much more rounded/less sheltered lives rather than just focusing on exams. University is what you make it though and in general if you go into any situation with pre-conceived ideas you may well show confirmation bias.

chopc · 25/09/2021 07:26

I was a medic at UCL - it is only now that I am reading threads like this I am realising about the snobbery about schools. It went right over my head at that time. I went to grammar school and was confident and didn't care where everyone else had gone to school as we were all at UCL now......

Having said this there are preconceived ideas about universities though and I have to say it did influence DS choices where the university wasn't renowned for History .......

However for your son I would apply to wherever he likes and has the grades for because after the initial intros, where you went to school doesn't come into conversation