Staying at home for University

[Orangesandlemons77]

Reading in the papers that since Covid and with the cost of living as well, more Universities are having applicants from students living at home.

Wondered what others thought of this? I have a DS who will be applying this year, and yes think he may be applying to one nearby.

Internships are never given by large companies or organisations on parental contacts. They are very very competitive and paid. However if parents own the company, then it’s different. Work experience in mums cafe is totally different too and not necessarily of value to a career in law!

My DD applied for work experience and volunteered. We don’t know anyone who could give it to her.,The big law firms and management companies don’t take family either. Everyone has to apply and compete. I would love to know where the Durham DC did internships arranged by parents. One assumes not Slaughter and May or PWC!!

I’ve been surprised how expensive some self catering is. Liverpool is very pricy too. But I would still choose a university on prestige. Would you swap Durham for Derby?

Durham was DD’s choice and I wasn’t about to steer her away purely on accommodation costs. As for internships and work experience, her three housemates have jobs in the city, in finance through parental contacts.

Yup most places just ask for a 2:1 don't they so in that case a 2:2 from oxford wouldn't get you in!

I know OTs and Engineers who have done very well in their careers from Oxford Brookes. Many careers you need to qualify in and it wont matter to the extent people are worried about.

Places still steeped in old class divides will - law is a good example. But most careers really wont now will they?

Internships are never given by large companies or organisations on parental contacts.

That is a pretty bold statement.

It isn’t true.

So what is the standard maintenence loan if they do stay at home? Because if they saved that (or some of it) along with their child trust fund (which is about 15K) that could be a good sum at the end.

Particularly if they got a part time job (easy to find here as in the city)

Both the 'stay at home' and other universities offer a 'year in industry' for the course DC is looking at. But the one here offers ones with places locally.

@etulosba
It is true. Look at their web sites. Smaller companies might be informally offering work. Large well known ones that pay for interns have application processes. Tell me which large companies offer internships without application? Fashion maybe but most large city finance, law and management companies have fair applications.

Also anyone at Durham needs to apply for decent internships. Durham is hardly a disadvantage! You get nothing if you don’t apply!

@Orangesandlemons77
Well stay local then! Your DC obviously doesn’t want anything else and you want him close. There are rarely enough placements to go round and they are competitive.

Off mumsnet (were many are more privileged) in most jobs it doesn’t matter. Russell groups may earn more but that’s likely because you have kids going there from more privileged backgrounds anyway - kids who’ve been steered to go there

I went uni years ago. Got in all 6 I applied for inc 4 which are Russell groups. I had no idea back then what a Russell group even was so just went with the one that looked best.

Perhaps it’s a southern thing I don’t know but I’ve never heard of any recruiter putting uni name in their selection process

Anyone over 40 outside or certain circles probs doesn’t even know what a Russell group uni is!! Unless they themselves were brought up well off/private school. I only learnt the term on mumsnet and my whole family had been to uni (I’m mid 40s)

DD is applying all the time. But balancing demanding application processes with her dissertation is hard. Meanwhile her connected friends look forward to their £40k roles starting in the summer.

Ok just checked and the loan for staying at home for 2023 is 8K.

So if they saved most of that each year and the CTF of 15K that would be around 24K (3 loans) and 39K in total!

(we are on quite a low income but could cover most of their living costs and if they got a part time job they could use that for themselves)

39K is quite a good amount to save over the time at university...

@Orangesandlemons77

So what is the standard maintenence loan if they do stay at home? Because if they saved that (or some of it) along with their child trust fund (which is about 15K) that could be a good sum at the end.

Particularly if they got a part time job (easy to find here as in the city)

You can just say on SFE that they are living out and get more loan.

£8k is the maximum loan, £4K is minimum so most are somewhere between.

The loan for living costs I mean, not the tuition fees which is paid separately.

So there would be nothing stopping them if they wanted saving that money say in an ISA or LISA (lifetime ISA)

@etulosba in most of these large companies they ask if you know someone at the firm. They try to screen out nepotism

@Orangesandlemons77

The loan for living costs I mean, not the tuition fees which is paid separately.

So there would be nothing stopping them if they wanted saving that money say in an ISA or LISA (lifetime ISA)

yes

Another consideration is the commute from home. In many subjects timetables are bitty and students who are an hour away (plus costs of travel)- in London suburbs for example- can have trouble getting in for just one hour class, or find it's not worth the hassle. Similarly for socialising unless uni has good hangout places

'unis don't matter for grad salaries'

www.theguardian.com/education/2018/nov/27/lse-london-school-economics-graduates-earnings

Also investment banks and other financial firms have target unis (where they target their recruitment). It's usually Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial, UCL and then Warwick.

They are degree agnostic as long as you went to a top uni.

The snobbery in Mumsnet about RG Uni’s is hilarious. I work for a university. DD has a place there for September. She gets a 50% fee deduction as a child of mine and we are happy for her to start at home and not pay rent. We can cover her remaining 50% fee so it’s looking likely she will graduate debt free. Genuinely worth more than saying she went to a RG in 3 years time.

The only people that care about RG uni’s are parents bragging about how amazing their child is.

Agree Cherry completely! My kids both love within committing distance or 2 RG uni but locally no one would ever call them that. It has to be a mumsnet/southern thing surely

@aramox1

Another consideration is the commute from home. In many subjects timetables are bitty and students who are an hour away (plus costs of travel)- in London suburbs for example- can have trouble getting in for just one hour class, or find it's not worth the hassle. Similarly for socialising unless uni has good hangout places

Yes. We're in the city centre right next to uni accomodation and on the bus route from town to the university so would just be the same as for the students so think this would be OK. I hear the buses get quite busy though so they might need to leave quite early but that shouldn't be a problem. It would be about 15 minutes journey.

@Cherryonthetop2019

The snobbery in Mumsnet about RG Uni’s is hilarious. I work for a university. DD has a place there for September. She gets a 50% fee deduction as a child of mine and we are happy for her to start at home and not pay rent. We can cover her remaining 50% fee so it’s looking likely she will graduate debt free. Genuinely worth more than saying she went to a RG in 3 years time.

The only people that care about RG uni’s are parents bragging about how amazing their child is.

That's fab, didn't realise you could get a discount if you worked there. debt free sounds great too.

Internships are never given by large companies or organisations on parental contacts.

DS applied for an internship with a major European bank at the end of his first year, which he did not get. A friend of DDs did get it despite being still at school when is was advertised for UGs. Her father was a very senior Director of the same bank. I do not believe she went through the same recruitment process.

At the same time a friend of DS' got an internship with a major US company which her dad happened to work for. I asked about the blind recruiting that was supposed to happen. Easy apparently. The dad just hand carried her application into the personnel department.

However the real advantage kids from middle class background have is that they understand the importance of internships. By the time they graduate many will already have a pretty full Linked in profile of different experiences. Which is not just the experience itself but also the experience of applying, the effort that is required, the experience of interviews and so on. My observation is also that these kids are more likely to have decided on a career and will then have decided what to study and where. If you know where you are going it is easier to get there.

In contrast others seem to chose a subject they enjoy, and to then decide to enjoy their University years, only starting job search after they graduate. They will probably be fine but won't be off to the same running start.

Connections can help, as my examples above illustrate, but we have also seen kids who have applied for literally hundreds of internships and jobs, and yes, they land one in the end. And you only need one. (This has just happened to a friend of DS who comes from a country with a despotic regime and who can't return, but who now has three or four really good offers. Ditto an au pair we knew who after four or more years volunteering each weekend finally got her foot in the door and who has now been promoted to a conservation/environment role that would be the envy of many environmental science majors.)

Also I can't understand the fuss over staying at home. You can have a good mix of local and University friends and save lots of money. Many, possibly the majority (especially if you exclude overseas students) of London students do it. The savings then give you a head start when you want to apply for a London sized mortgage.