Campus/Collegiate/Smaller Uni ideas

[nacras]

Hi - my anxious DC wants to go to smaller collegiate type uni. Keen on Durham because of collegiate system which makes everything less intimidating. However its 6 hours away. Also liked Bath but doesnt do sugject. Any suggestions of campus type Unis appreciated. Thanks

@Hdhdjejdj i remember seeing this list and both Durham and LSE are just outside the top 10.

DS picked Durham once got rejected from Cambridge as it will hopefully give him the university life he wanted to have. What he does with the degree is going to be up to him whenever he goes as recruitment has changed a great deal in the past few years

I don’t think Durham graduates have a great deal to worry about when it comes to employment prospects.

@Phphion Are you saying that employers would not prefer a graduate from Imperial than John Moores as a general rule? I don’t think it’s fair or guarantees the best employees but there is a bias towards some universities.

I don't know about the specific subject your DD wants (work in Humanities), but you could add Keele to York & Lancaster.

Exeter is a beautiful campus, although it's a middling size university. There's always the Cornish campus in Falmouth (not to be confused with Falmouth University).

@Hdhdjejdj I am saying that I don't like it when people misrepresent data

Additionally, the OP's DC wants a small university in a quiet kind of place. Using data that is by its nature biased towards big universities in big places is not particularly helpful.

@Phphion I wasn’t aware I was misusing data. I am quoting a survey that some of the universities listed are happy to be on and are promoting themselves on the back of. If employers prefer these universities because they are based in big cities, why are they not listing their 1994 counterparts, like Man Met and Nottingham Trent? It just seems like a huge coincidence they are all RG universities.

And in actual fact, I was responding to @Mumdiva99 who said employers don’t care about which university students go to, rather than telling the OP her DS should go to one of universities on the survey I quoted.
As I’ve said, if people want to say it’s completely irrelevant which university students go to in relation to their future prospects, that’s fine. Sadly I don’t think it’s true.

Well the DS isn’t taking his places at Oxford or Durham if you read the thread. I have suggested that for an academic candidate it would be better to go RG. That doesn’t give much choice on the south coast! However finding a small university is impossible. None are. Surely you need to find a course where the DS makes the most of his abilities? However there is no such thing as a small campus. Even Exeter is pretty big! Like a giant boarding school on a hill. Being with like minded DC is also important and for Geography it does matter but there’s little point talking about John Moores or Keele if they are too far away!

It has long been the case that earnings are greater for grads from RG universities (see IFFS reports) but course is important too for breadth of subject options.

@nacras

We're not quite as far away from Lancaster as you (4hrs rather than 5) but still a fairly long journey.

We still decided it was worth it and so far glad we did.

When we looked round over the summer we stayed at the Lancaster House Hotel which is right next to campus and really lovely - but pricy, especially if you need 2 rooms (it's probably cheaper to have a suite if someone can survive on a sofa bed).

Having done a bit more research for drop off we stayed at Bridge Square Apartments in a 2 bedroom flat (via booking.com - a company called YoloLets seem to own 10+ properties there). It's right in the centre and very conveniently near to the big Sainsbury's so we were able to do a massive food shop on Sunday morning to set him up as it were, before moving him in without worrying about food spoiling.

It was cheaper than the hotel and has a secure underground car park (you need a code to get in) so there were no worries about leaving the car full of packing.

We drove there on Saturday and were then "fresh" for the drop off/move in on Sunday before returning home.

It actually worked really well and seems we had less stress than friends trying to drop off at much more local locations in one day.

Also it was lovely to spend a last evening as a family in Lancaster. We had a nice restaurant meal together and then watched a favourite movie in the flat before bedtime.

The flat wasn't anything super special, but it was very clean, functional and had everything required (inc washer/dryer) so we could even wash the clothes DS was wearing to minimise his laundry pile!).

We plan to do (sort of) the same in reverse at the end of term by coming on the Thursday but staying in the lakes so DH and I get a nice mini holiday before picking him up on Saturday - so a combination holiday/pick up!

There's no getting around that the distance adds ££ but there are ways to make it less daunting than it might seem if budget isn't the pressing priority.

Good luck whatever you decide x

My DS loves Lancaster, he has Aspergers. They have the college system.

geography at Nottingham is very highly rated and v high employability stats fir graduates. It’s a lovely edge of City campus with mostly traditional catered Halls - after first year most students live in the same area (Lenton) which is essentially a student village. Small manageable city centre with all possible amenities and great public transport.

@BreadInCaptivity
We also stayed at the premier inn just north of the city. Eldest spent 4 days at an airbnb off St leonards gate (opposite mamma mias pizza) as her contract for second year started in the middle of the week. Travelodge also in the centre is good, but parking is not that great, so best place is Auction mart carpark near the canal.

[quote sammyjoanne]@BreadInCaptivity
We also stayed at the premier inn just north of the city. Eldest spent 4 days at an airbnb off St leonards gate (opposite mamma mias pizza) as her contract for second year started in the middle of the week. Travelodge also in the centre is good, but parking is not that great, so best place is Auction mart carpark near the canal.[/quote]

Thanks for that 👍

@TizerorFizz

Well the DS isn’t taking his places at Oxford or Durham if you read the thread. I have suggested that for an academic candidate it would be better to go RG. That doesn’t give much choice on the south coast! However finding a small university is impossible. None are. Surely you need to find a course where the DS makes the most of his abilities? However there is no such thing as a small campus. Even Exeter is pretty big! Like a giant boarding school on a hill. Being with like minded DC is also important and for Geography it does matter but there’s little point talking about John Moores or Keele if they are too far away!

It has long been the case that earnings are greater for grads from RG universities (see IFFS reports) but course is important too for breadth of subject options.

With respect, I think the point being made is that Universities with a college system "feel" smaller as a result - not that they are smaller.

Nor perhaps would you want them to be in the sense there's a trade off wrt facilities and finances that impact on overall desirability and prestige.

Upshot is it's a balancing act based on many factors, but I would suggest that being RG isn't a "top" consideration. A consideration yes, but not the be all and end all.

Depending on course (and even overall) there are Uni's who rank consistently higher (like Lancaster) than many RG counterparts.

[quote Hdhdjejdj]@Phphion I wasn’t aware I was misusing data. I am quoting a survey that some of the universities listed are happy to be on and are promoting themselves on the back of. If employers prefer these universities because they are based in big cities, why are they not listing their 1994 counterparts, like Man Met and Nottingham Trent? It just seems like a huge coincidence they are all RG universities.[/quote]
There were no ex-polys in the 1994 group, just smaller research intensives unis, of which a lot have now joined the RG.

@doobidoobidoo I lose track of who’s in what group. It should be meaningless but sadly it isn’t.

[quote Hdhdjejdj]@doobidoobidoo I lose track of who’s in what group. It should be meaningless but sadly it isn’t.[/quote]
Given your comments I'm not convinced you ever had track to start with.

DS1 did Geography at Southampton, its a really good course. The house he rented after halls was 3 minutes from his front door to Geography dept.
Lancaster was his reserve, but its a long haul from the South of England, especially if you go on the train.

@BreadInCaptivity
I thought Lancaster was already considered too far from the south coast. I don’t think Lancaster provides 3 years of on campus living so I don’t see how it really differs from a catered hall at Bristol where there is a strong community spirit. Except it’s a lot further away

I think Bath is maybe a possibility too and that’s not RG either. However I cannot see how Lancaster, Chichester, Gloucester and Bath Spa are really the answers on distance and course content. I think we all know RG isn’t everything but for Geography, and the distance requirements, there really isn’t much choice if you discount London. It’s more a case of finding where the student feels at home. We don’t know what support might be needed but someone can feel lost in even a collegiate system. All that really means is you eat with other students and have some entertainment put on. Plus possibly a chapel to attend. So a traditional catered hall, such as Wills at Bristol, can give all of this. But I accept Bristol and Exeter might be too far west for the op.

You seem nice @titchy

Aston Uni is a campus - abd quite small.

Re Nottingham and Lenton. The city council are quite concerned about the amount of student accomodation in some parts of Nottingham, and are being quite strict about numbers of people in properties, and the numbers of Houses of Multiple Occupation (?) in some areas. Its not altogether a bad thing as they appear to be trying to improve the quality of student/shared housing.
DS2 went to UoN and now works there, and when a group of 3 of them were looking for a house to share last year, it was a more difficult than the previous time they were looking.

@Hdhdjejdj

You seem nice *@titchy*

I am in real life - look at my responses to the question actually asked.

I don't think it's particularly helpful to OPs when people post stuff that's totally irrelevant to the question asked. I also don't think it's useful to others when stuff is posted that misses a lot of facts out or needs a very detailed nuanced explanation, and that explanation is waved away with an 'Oh it's complicated.'

So, yea, I am nice in that I don't want people to make decisions based on ill-informed hearsay and not actually evidence based.

Hope that helps

Ok….

This is the problem with social media I suppose. People who claim to be nice in real life think it’s ok to be utterly vile online because it’s not ‘real.’