How to choose a university?

[redskydelight]

DD is in Year 12 and is struggling with the conundrum of how she chooses a university.

She is interested in English or possibly English and Linguistics. English is basically offered everywhere. She's been told by teachers she should "aim high" but they won't give her predicted grades yet.

So she's looking at the list of universities ranked for English and basically working down. She has no idea what to look for.

I've suggested

1. Does the course appeal? How is it taught and assessed? Contact time?
2. University has good reputation for English
3. What sort of university does she want? Big/small/campus/city?
4. Can she see herself living there?
5. Distance from home?

Can anyone suggest anything else? Or do you disagree with the things on my list?

My DD is in a similar position. She has 2 unconditional offers at 2 very different universities.

The course she's interested in is set by a professional body so the exams are going to be the same upon graduation.

We've narrowed it down to these 3 criteria

1. cost of living/ accommodation as we are not able to support her financially

2. course structure and her own learning type.

3. lifestyle that is small town campus v bigger city (Manchester v Colchester in our case)

Point 1& 2 is a clear divider so for her it's down to how where / how she wants to live for the nx 3 years....

I'd also suggest she looks around at English like but not English degrees.

Like you say everywhere does English, but it might not be what really sparks her interest. What is if she likes about the subject, is it more language structure or the literature? What does she see herself doing later on?

Would she be interested in a joint honours. Can be really useful for broadening job prospects.

Would she like a year in industry or study abroad option?

1. How far away from home do they want to be (travelling time <2.5 hours or more than that)?
2. Do they prefer a “city” or a “campus”? If a city, how big?

Those two questions narrow it down quite a lot.

3. Is there a suitable course?

I was a sixth form tutor for many years and this advice worked well for those who weren’t already sure.

Good advice. I really think the course is the most important criteria - everywhere offers English, but not all courses will have the same content or modules or be examined in the same way. I would look at courses first - that's what she'll actually be doing (and paying for) - feel excited about the course, then decide where you want to study.

Make a list of the top 20-30 universities (google different lists eg here www.timeshighereducation.com/student/best-universities/best-universities-uk)

Cross off all those that she/you aren’t prepared to travel regularly to. Eg having a child at uni in Scotland is a pain if you live in Plymouth. Also think about weather the rain in Lancaster put me off there 😬

Unless she’s quite streetwise, cross off the most rough areas. Would not personally want my child at uni in Glasgow / Liverpool. (Yes I’m sure they’re fabulous blah blah 🙄)

You now have a smaller list. Divide it into two lists: places she’s unlikely to get into (Oxbridge etc) and places where she has a real chance. Rank both lists in terms of how famous/prestigious the university is. Plan to apply to the top 2-3 universities on the ‘hard to get’ list and the top 3-4 on the other list.

Then check for things like are they pretty / near a beach / good for English / good for any hobbies she loves (eg Sheffield is great for rock climbers).

The “reputation for English” isn’t that important in my view unless she’s planning to go into academia /publishing.

Just how I’d approach it 🤷‍♀️

The main questions my dc's wanted to know were:

Is it far enough away from home to feel like a proper move away? (I was the same at their age).
Does it offer catered halls for the first year?
What's the town/city like?
Does the course lead directly to a masters degree?

With my kids, we looked quite a bit at satisfaction scores for the subject at that uni, and employment destinations after uni. No idea how accurate those stats are but it was something to go on. Looked at cost of living also (although I'm not sure the kids really paid much attention!), and weather (esp rain).
Once we'd shortlisted, we had one DC who chose mostly based on most inspiring open day and proximity to beach, another on prestige of uni (and proximity to beach), and a third on city with the right vibes.

What you've suggested is a really good starting point OP.

We ended up with a great big sheet of paper and once DS had narrowed it down a bit based on distance from home/uni reputation he marked them all out of ten on various aspects. Then we went to the open days and narrowed it down even more, scoring them on the accommodation/interactions at the open day/the city itself etc.

Go and visit the campuses. You don't need to wait for formal open days.

Sorry for repeats it’s hard to keep track.

I’d look at

• student satisfaction
• how they rank in terms of overall student experience
• is the town or city somewhere she would like living
• Does she want to do a year abroad or year in industry?

Following that, have a look at the courses themselves. Most universities publish the modules for each year and she might find some offer modules that appeal more than others, they don’t all teach the same thing.

Dont worry too much about accommodation at this stage - most have a mix of catered/self catered etc, you can figure this one out on open days. The only caveat in saying that is with certain unis be aware you can end up having a bit of a commute, Warwick for example.

Personally, I'm really glad that dd ended up choosing a university relatively near to us (Nottingham) over Southampton, all other things being equal. You never know when they might need to come home - dd had 2 separate interviews in our town in her first term (for holiday jobs) so she needed to come back twice for them, then she got glandular fever and tonsillitis and needed to be at home, then she had to take her driving test (and do some practice with us). It's been great being able to pop and get her (1.25 hours) on these sorts of occasions, which I wouldn't do if she was further away. She has also got the train, but it's just so convenient. And she doesn't lose anything by being nearer home, it's a completely different area, she didn't know the city before she went there and we don't pop in on her, as it's not near enough for that!

She also had a preference for large buzzy city, over quieter town - she did test this out by applying to York and Bath too, as well as Manchester, Nottingham, Southampton. The offer day at York confirmed that that wasn't the vibe she was after.

I also looked at accommodation costs, both first year and in private digs in years 2 and 3. For that reason I wasn't at all keen on Bath, but we let dd apply there (and were very glad when she decided against it!).

I'd also consider how much of the teaching is in person. Hard to find out though unless you ask the question at Open Days.

A bit tongue in cheek, but I'd take a look at the Application 2023 threads in The Student Room forums to see which universities are dragging their heels in responding to applications, and make sure you don't apply to too many of those

OP, I think everything on your list is sensible. Unless you are very wealthy, I would consider budget as a factor. For some families it comes as a shock to discover that student loans are calculated on the assumption that parents (even those on relatively modest incomes) are expected to provide a significant financial top up, and that even the maximum student loan (ie that available to students from households with the lowest incomes) will often not be enough on its own. (NB I am describing the system for England. Student finance for students from Wales is much more generous. ) Accommodation costs vary a lot from place to place. From what I've read, the London rental market has gone completely crazy recently, so I would say avoid London unless either you're seriously wealthy or you live within commuting distance and your DD would live at home. Bristol is also pricey, albeit not as bad as London.

Find out the employment and wages statistics for the uni as a whole and the specific dept/course for their graduates after 2-5 years. it varies enormously and helps illustrate how much they support graduates to get jobs and how the best employers view the uni/course.

Former admissions tutor here, OP.

Your list is excellent. If your DD takes your questions seriously I think she will be left with a list of no more than 10-15 unis. Although I am in STEM, I would add that for English I think reputation may be significant for those employers that don’t do blind applications and for PG applications. IME prospective students can underestimate the impact of setting - city, suburban, campus, etc on their wellbeing.

Virtually all the Russell Group and many other unis will offer Study Abroad, though it won’t hurt to confirm this. I don’t know to what extent Humanities programmes offer industrial placements but as I think your DD may be graduating into tough times such a thing might be excellent.

There are many excellent suggestions from PPs. TheStudentRoom covers all sorts of useful topics so I would definitely encourage your DD to join and get a range of questions answered.

Done this twice over

First issue for both my kids was distance from home. They wanted to be far enough away to feel that they had left home but close enough to come for weekends and Reading weeks (a bit like half term). That geographical consideration saved a lot of trawling through Uni websites for places they really wouldn’t go to!

Specifically for English delving into course detail is really important as courses will vary wildly in terms of content and focus - does she relish the prospect of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight et al or would she prefer a more modern focus?

The prospect of exchange and/or a year in work might also be high on the list of of “must haves” especially for a subject like English which in the face if it doesn’t have a direct link to many careers.

Then campus or city - both mine went for campus, everything in one place (at least for first year) and on the edge of a city.

Then filter by likely / predicted grades - typically you go for one aspirational, 3 achievable and one easily achievable option as a back up

Actually I will be surprised if the criteria here give DD as many as 10 viable choices.

I agree that course detail is likely to play a substantial role in narrowing down her choices - my daughter's just started an English degree and in the end her application choices were I think almost entirely determined by how much she liked the look of the course (didn't visit most as applied 2 years ago).

👍

Dd took English and would agree with much of your list. She suggests that you can shape your second and third year (she did a lot of Victorian lit and a diss on Austen) and the first year will be similar in most unis. Some people on her course did a totally different course to her, in effect.

She was able to pick coursework assessment not exams so that is worth looking at. She says also go to unis and speak to staff to see how their passion and interest comes across (some she hated). Bear in mind that a specific module may not be taught or a lecturer may be on leave.

The other big factor for us was distance. It’s often mocked on MN but my two uni DC both chose unis quite close. I could meet up with dd for lunch on a Saturday if she wanted, I can go and watch ds playing his sports fixtures. A friend had dc at uni in Kent and Devon so has to stay over when she visits. I do think this is a pain and she has found it to be so. Obv it’s worth looking far-away if there is a specialised course (the Devon one is) but Eng Lit is everywhere as you know. So it’s worth thinking about where she wants to be and maybe not too far away.

Come up with a shortlist using the factors all the pp say here and then go there and talk to the staff.

It's also where she might be forging friendships that might last her a lifetime.

What kind of people are suitable for her? What kind of people will be a good influence?

I didn't find TSR useful really as there were a lot of people just going round in circles about their applications and less about experiences once they were admitted.

Some people are unhappy with London and its vibe and the way assements are done, and state it's better to experience it after because it can be a lonely place.

Personally, I've heard people say they were happier at Laffbra (Loughborough) and Nottingham rather than LSE or King's, but that's just me

Good luck to you both!

Contact time is also worth asking about though I see you already thought about that

Prices of things might also differ, say, Brighton vs Manchaster when she's out

Say, King's might look beautiful but are assessments reasonably conducted there?

And is uni/course more research or student focused

As previous posters have said, think about distance and cost from home. Both my DDs chose universities within 2 hours of home. Both also decided they wanted city universities but still with a campus vibe. Both were lucky in first year to get on-campus accommodation but this was more expensive. DD2 chose her university mainly based on the course and the fab facilities (Stem degree).

What kind of people are suitable for her? What kind of people will be a good influence?

I'm sure there's a Mumsnet List of Approved Universities knocking about somewhere @cassiatwenty 😁