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.

It has to be a mumsnet/southern thing surely

No, it's a school thing. Many 6th forms aspire to have as many of their students' destinations to be RG universities. I can assure you that schools and 6th forms in Yorkshire promote the idea of their students going to RG universities.

I think it isn't so much that the universities are RG, but that traditionally they ask for higher A level grades, so if a school/6th form can market themselves as having most students achieve mostly A*, A and B grades they will look better than the competition. It is all about perception.

My DD went away to uni for her first year (a long way away) but didn't like it there and switched to a uni near home (home being London). She enjoyed it just fine and had a great social life (but it being London of course she had a lot more options than she would have in a smaller town). She lived at home and went to uni in London for the next three years, it all went very well.

"We make your future success our priority and pride ourselves on the proportion of our students who are able to secure their first choice university place (on average, 95%). This includes those students progressing on to Russell Group universities and universities which are in the top third nationally (over four-times the average nationally)."

^^ Lifted from the wesbite of DD's old school.

No I get that it’s promoted now in colleges but in recruitment processes and applying for jobs I don’t think that narrative has been passed on given RG status recent (as in last ten years)

I interview people and have never given uni a second glance

I just checked the bus pass online and it is £533 for a year travel card for students, which included the route to the university plus around town as well.

Or it is £1.50 for a ticket from town to the university. That sounds reasonable enough.

(from April 2022)

@Watapalava
What about all the other entry tests? What about how a Dc answers questions? How they are dressed? It all adds up.

Also if you have Imperial, LSE, Oxbridge etc on your doorstep you would take them. What I dislike is staff discounts!!! Why would any university do this? If Oxbridge did, can you imagine the outcry? Money given off to well paid parents? Why would anybody think this was a good idea? It’s not close to helping social mobility unless a parent is the cleaner! Name the discounting university please. Also name the firms that give internships to Dc of parents. I’d really like them to be named and shamed!

@Watapalava
The Russell Group formed in 1994. Surely you didn't think it was in the last 10 years? It has increased in size and there are some excellent universities who are not members. Are you sure you work in recruitment?

@TizerorFizz also big prestigious employers often have career talks at these unis. Quite often the finance societies at Imperial, LSE, oxbridge bring in big bosses to give career talks. The finance socs are even sponsored by some big employers.

Is Goldman Sachs going to turn up to University of Hertfordshire?
Probably not.

@yogabbagabba134
That’s exactly my point! Aim high. It’s vital. Just because an employer turns up, it doesn’t mean they won’t recruit from elsewhere but they are unlikely to find students with the profile they want from lower tariff universities. Therefore staying at home for Hertfordshire if you are Warwick qualified is utterly daft! Why not apply for the best of you can?

As I said earlier, these firms sift. They are not necessarily bothered about university at an early stage but we all know where the brightest and best usually go! The firms ultimately know where their best recruits come from. So any company that covets these types of grads will target certain universities. Where a university is excellent at something else, employers in that field will target term. It just won’t be Goldman Sachs!

However I stand by my original point that internships are competitive and all applicants are considered. But if you apply for the best internships, and you are not objectively as good as those chosen, then you have to try elsewhere and lower your sights. That applies to every job too. As no poster has actual concrete evidence that Dc of employees didn’t go through all the hoops, we cannot be certain that dc didn’t. It’s conjecture.

There are jobs outside of finance....

And many finance jobs which aren't the big names!

@Orangesandlemons77

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...

But they aren't saving that, surely.

If they are fortunate enough to have £15k in a CTF, then they have that, regardless of where they go to University. They aren't 'saving it' by staying at home.

@OutlookStalking

There are jobs outside of finance....

And many finance jobs which aren't the big names!

How good is the pay though?

I think a major part of uni life is the freedom and hopefully becoming independent. I know it's more expensive (2 kids and 2 step kids been through uni) but I think it's better.

I also think, again, as often happens on MN the threads get skewed by one or two posters working on an assumption that everyone is aiming to be a City Banker or lawyer.
The overwhelming majority of the hundreds of thousands of students have no desire to go in that direction.
There are all the nurses, physios, OTs, SaLTs, sports scientists, social workers, teachers, paramedics, police officers, HR professionals, project managers, engineers of all kinds, solicitors, journalists, translators, civil servants, local government officers, and no doubt hundreds upon hundreds of other professionals for whom a degree is a degree.

They would be saving their CTF money as we are on a low income so if they went away they'd probably have to use that money if costs are high. As we'd not have the money to contribute otherwise. Even if they got the full loan it doesn't sound enough to cover all the accomodation and food costs etc

Whereas at home they could save more, potentially more of the maintenence money as well.

Out of interest does anyone know how funding works for the 'year in industry'? Do they get a loan for this year / require tuition fees?

People saying unis don't matter it's the grade are delusional.
My husband's company (science field) actively recruit from Oxbridge then Russell Group etc.
if you think a first from Bournemouth beats a 2:1 from Oxbridge you know nothing about recruitment.

A degree is not a degree. They are not all equal. Be careful what you are paying 9k a year plus for.

@Kite22 I think I went OTT. But surely going to the top unis opens more doors?

If you want to do sports science best go to Luff, for example!

DD starts at our local uni in September & she’s happy to live at home. She’s confident & sociable so not worried she’ll miss out making new friends. We’re only 15-30 minute bus journey to uni / city centre so no reason to miss out on any social events.

If she goes mad socialising when she starts uni, I’ll just need to get used to her coming home at all hours in goodness knows what state, or not coming home at all , but that’s for me to deal with.

Re RG unis, I only learned of this term from MN and it wasn’t a factor when DD was choosing her preferred uni.

The problem is that it should be. If students want to study and work locally and lube at home, that’s fine. If they want a better paid job then it might not be fine at all. Course and university matter.

Posters cannot complain about Goldman Sachs not visiting a university without understanding why not. Of course not everyone wants higher paid jobs, but for those who do, choose wisely.

Most unis have accommodation that is well within max loan. DN gets a £2000 bursary too. That’s plenty more than others get whose parents don’t add much to the minimum loan. If you are poor at uni you have more money than some, especially in some areas of the country. Money seems to be available to Dc of single mums who never married.

[quote yogabbagabba134]@Kite22 I think I went OTT. But surely going to the top unis opens more doors?

If you want to do sports science best go to Luff, for example![/quote]
I think it is good to look at the individual courses, yes.

However, the point I am making is that out of approx 700 000 new full time undergraduate applicants handled by UCAS each year, most of those won't have the option of a place at Oxford, Cambridge, or any of the 4 or 5 other Universities that there is a perception are the "top" universities. Not every student is agonising as to whether they can push those As to A*s. Even those who do have the option, there are some that prefer the course elsewhere - I think medicine can be a good example of that, just thinking of the expertise at other medical schools. Or if you want to do marine biology for example, I can't help thinking that a coastal University is going to offer a better option, so you figure that in. Or if you hope to apply for army officer training you might want to go to a university with a cadet training unit. Or if you want to do teacher training, you might actively choose a big multicultural city to get a wider experience in your teaching practices etc. It isn't all about ^everyone wanting to go to one of about 6 universiteis as is implied very often on MN

Even if they got the full loan it doesn't sound enough to cover all the accomodation and food costs etc

Overwhelmingly it is enough (the full loan)
As has already been said, the student needs to make decisions about where they study, about what accommodation they would like, about how much they want to work during term time, and about how they budget their money.
There are also option to take a gap year and work and save first.
Generally, there are 3 months they can work between A levels and going to University during which a buffer can be saved.
Most students don't start with a savings account of £15K either, so your student is very much richer than the overwhelming majority of students starting out.

You sound very much like you have decided for them anyway. I hope he has been given the full information and the chance to view Universities and talk to students and to make his own decision. Staying home and going to local University is an absolutely valid choice, if it is the student's informed choice.

DS is at a London uni and about 1/3 on his course live at home.I suppose the pandemic has influenced things as eg he was at home shielding for his first year.He is in a flatshare now with old friends as until this year he hadn't met any colleagues.