Choosing uni for lifestyle/course/rankings?

[breeze77]

Hi all,
DD is in yr12 and fully immersed in the university selection phase. We are just struggling a bit with what to prioritise.

DD would like to do English Lit and French joint. She would actually love to do more languages but really want to do English so this seems the best plan.

She’s an A/A* student but not massively driven. Her dream life is to live in a van and travel and never be tied to an office job (she is only 16!). She comes alive on beaches and would be in the water all the time if she could. Her current love is surfing.

So, because of the lifestyle, Swansea, Aberystwyth and Exeter are on the short list. But I’m concerned that she should maybe be aiming higher on the rankings? She’s bright enough for Oxford but I don’t think she’s driven enough to stay on top of the workload. She’s also put off by the distance to the sea.

Is it ok to choose her uni putting lifestyle above everything else? Or should rankings be more important? We are firm believers in living the life you love, but don’t want to regret this once in a lifetime opportunity for her.

Id love to hear some views on this.

In my view unhappy kids do not work well. She is likely to get better results if she is happy. Surely better to get a really good degree from a lower ranked uni than a poor one from a higher ranking uni, or not finish at all.
Leaving home is a huge step. They have to cope with so much that's new. Being happy with where they are has a big impact on how they deal with everything.
Obviously that does mean spending sufficient time on their studies and not surfing all the time 😉

I have a few friends that went to Oxford and Cambridge, I worked in higher education for many years and was actually involved with admissions for a few years. It’s not for the faint hearted, being an A plus student means nothing there because everyone is. My friend had to drop out for a year as he got stomach ulcers due to stress and one of DH friends who was the number one student on his course committed suicide. Most of the people I know who are Oxbridge are academics so I suppose they are a specific type.

I have a child who was an A plus student who announced he didn’t want to go to University at all. DH and mines entire careers had been in higher education, it was a bit of a shock. He worked loading freight and as a kitchen porter for 2 years whilst deciding what he wanted to do. He met people from all walks of life and I saw him mature. He is now on a Degree apprenticeship so no student debt and earning 25k PA already.

She does at least plan to go to University. I have met many academically gifted young people over my career but the ones that really got on and seemed happy were good communicators.

I would look at the course first - there will be a huge variation in the way English Lit and French are taught and what modules (and languages) are on offer depending on where she studies. Then I would look at what study abroad is available with the course (surfing at the Paris Olympics next year is taking place in Tahiti - maybe she could find somewhere with a year as a language assistant there for instance or in some other surfing hotspot!) If she really is an A* student she should do the best the degree she can on a course she's passionate about. She can live in a van afterwards and during the holidays should she so wish, but she will have the degree for the rest of her life not to mention the debts to go with it, so might as well get value for money. As an aside DS is studying at Birmingham - so couldn't be farther from the sea - but still knows people in surfing soc.

I think lifestyle and location are so important. Uni rankings are quite random depending on the factors. And don’t forgot rankings change all the time - the uni I went to was very high at the time but now much lower. Honestly, on my experience, employers do not care where you studied. I rarely even reference my degree when applying for jobs now I’ve got several year’s experience

Might she consider a gap year in which she could travel (via beaches!) or maybe do voluntary work (there are many programmes for marine / turtle conservation)? Just an idea. She would then apply with grades in hand and an extra year's maturity. She would know there she stands, grade-wise, and may be more inclined to apply for the best unis possible?

She may want to have a look at Liberal Arts degrees too where she would be able to do English and 2 languages.

Exeter is still high enough ranking to be considered prestigious enough for other parents 😉

I'd say Liberal arts at Exeter sounds perfect. They wanted AAA last year.

Maybe Lancaster. Would be able to do 2nd language as a minor in the first year.

Liberal arts might be a good option - DS is doing Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences at Birmingham, one of his surfing friends is going to Australia for her year abroad, another student is going to Lisbon. At the end of the day she might still prefer Swansea, but she should really open her eyes to the wider horizons that some degrees can offer before she makes her choice.

She could consider St Andrews - I don't think surfing is as big a thing there, but people do it and there's a uni surf society.

If she's happy she's likely to do better in her studies though. I moved to Swansea and I know so many people who went to uni here and then chose to come back and live here. My son has made his choices based on proximity to the sea too as is also a surfer. Exeter is his top choice and has a great reputation. He's also put Bristol on as can still travel back for surf and has the wave pool.

Looking at things more broadly, are these potential avenues to explore:

Uni where surfing can be done 'around the edges' of an 'indoor' course (your DD's current focus)

Uni courses where you study outdoors/in the water, at least some of the time (completely different courses eg Geography)

Uni courses that could to lead to careers that incorporate travel/outdoors/water (eg Management with Languages)

Unis and uni courses more likely to lead to 'high pay per time spent' careers that allow lots of outdoors/water free time

Obviously some of all of the above options may not suit because of preferences, skill sets and A-levels currently being studied; my point is that the opportunities open to your DD can be framed in different ways.

As PPs say, work experience and/or travel before uni could also hone your DD's decisions on which path is best.

I think a balance needs to be struck. I think giving no weight at all to the ranking of a university would not be a sensible approach, but environment shouldn't be ignored either, eg my DD ruled out London universities for reasons that had nothing to do with accommodation costs. She had visited London and it didn't appeal to her as a place to live. DS ruled out a couple of highly ranked campus universities that offered his course. He likes living in a city. I didn't argue with either of their approaches. Environment is important. However, had they applied for really low ranked institutions based purely on location, I would have raised concerns.

Thank you all so much for your replies. There is some really interesting points of view here that I may not have thought of myself. It’s always worth getting opinions from others.
A gap year is not on the agenda. She is really excited about going to uni and can’t wait to get there. I think a year out after uni is on the cards though so I love some of the ideas that have been mentioned here.
It’s good to know she is not the only one with her eye on the location. It’s just a shame that two of her current favourites aren’t higher up the rankings. We will attend the open days and get a feel for what we think.
We went to the swansea open day last weekend and it looked fab. We were just a bit concerned that they kept pushing that they make an offer to everyone and not to worry if you don’t get your grades as they may still accept you anyway. But maybe that’s not a bad thing - it makes me sound like a snob saying it might be! 🤦‍♀️

Swansea IS fab. I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't enjoy it. Dc1 went there and did really well as is now doing a masters at a rg uni.

Has she looked at Exeter Uni’s Cornwall campuses?

I've heard amazing things about Exeter too.
DD was very ready for uni but knew she wanted to be down south (warmer weather!) and near the coast. So her choice was partly location based. She's doing liberal arts including languages at Bristol and loves it. She's got a year abroad in her third year which is fulfilling some of her desire to travel as well.

Think about seasons. The academic year runs from Late September to Mid June. And April, May and June are generally when you are up to your eyes in revision.

So don’t prioritise a university because it is lovely in July. Think about where to live when it is November. And raining.

Yes. It rains A LOT in Swansea!

It's incredibly important that she is happy in the place she chooses to live in and lifestyle is a big part of that! Many employers now also have blind selection in terms of university names anyway!

So far that's 2 city universities and 1 town. If she loves the outdoors she will most probably love Aberystwyth but it's definitely worth a visit to as its typically 3 hours from anywhere. The plus side to this is most students stay at weekends in term time and it's a proper community. Downside if she is used to city living and lots of shops or lots of different cuisine.
Exeter isn't the easiest to get to a surf beach without a car.

I went to Aberystwyth and loved it and most of my close friends are still my friends from uni there.

My dd was(is) also very able but not massively driven or study-focused! She got A star/A/A with a very relaxed approach and lots of socialising throughout sixth form. She could have done better and is bright enough for Oxbridge but would have hated the pressure. She didn’t really look at details of courses at all - she went for Psychology as she wants to work in mental health, but all her focus was on finding a place she liked, with a good social life.

I think that approach was fine for her as she’s bright enough to cope with whatever the course throws at her (although some bits are tricky!) and she was choosing based on her personal priorities. She’s happy at Nottingham.

So I think your daughter’s approach is fine. She can always then pick the higher rated uni (Exeter?) as her firm as long as she likes it. There’s also Newcastle and Liverpool which have beaches nearby.

Yes but November also has the best waves. 🏄

We are currently debating this for DS1 who is in year 12.

He wants to go to BIMM to study electronic music and they have a number of centres.

We looked at Bristol, Brighton and Birmingham but in the end decided on Brighton simply due to the size of the town, its location and the culture.

We are in Jersey and tbh I think a big city environment away from the sea would be too much of a culture shock.

Although it is an expensive option the main criteria is that he will be happy there and so should enjoy his time at college and his course.

I agree - my DS at Birmingham was heavily involved in BrumSurf his 2nd year (1st year bring covid), which is one of the biggest societies there despite Birmingham being about as far from the sea as you can get. He went to Cornwall about every 2 weeks in the BrumSurf van with the BrumSurf boards…! And some great club trips to Portugal etc. He is now in a year abroad in California… surfing regularly. I would tell your DD to choose her uni based on course and year abroad options and access to the sea, rather than limit herself to seaside unis per se