Chinese - advice on British universities

[Chineselookingwest]

my Son would like to study at UK University. Many of his friends do but they only mix with fellow Chinese and international students and keep themselves to selves. This is not what my son wants - he wants to integrate properly with UK students. His English is fluent.

he does not want to go to a university where international students isolate. He has friends at Essex university and Guildford and Holloway London who do that. He will avoid those places. Where else should he avoid please.

i am confused by posts I have seen on here. I now understand what Russell Group is but what is Russell Group with an addition + sign please. Is this important question? Please answer my questions and most important is that my son studies at university that is not full of fellow Chinese and international students.

thank you very gratefully

I think for mixing it's not so much about the university but about the accommodation. Students in their first year often live in halls where they have their own bedroom but share a kitchen with 4-6 other students, the universities often put international students in with other people who speak the same language.

He should just do the course he wants to do where he wants to do it. When he is there just join in whatever is going on in halls and do clubs which interest him. Years ago I lived for a year in a large hall. At the he end of the last term (when everyone else had already gone) a Chinese boy shared his lovely meal with me. He had kept himself to himself for the whole time. I wish I had got to know him earlier in the term and he had mixed in with everyone more.

The + is for non RG ones like Bath St Andrews & Loughborough who do well in the league tables but aren’t RG. Depending on who you listen to, RG is just a self selecting group of unis that marker themselves under the same brand.

As pp says it can be about accommodation. My DS is in private halls and shares with two international students out of 6.

I would suggest contacting the unis you are interested in to check to see how accommodation is allocated. A lot of it as well will be about how your DC approaches friendships. If he’s confident enough, it’s easy to make friends at the union, through sports clubs & societies and through his course.

Maybe have a search on these threads for cliquey unis - these are the ones I guess to avoid.

RG+ includes Bath, St Andrews, Loughborough and sometimes Lancaster. What does he want to study as some universities are better than other depending on his subject. It’s an expensive decision so he needs to choose a uni good for his subject.
I totally understand his concerns about integrating. A lot of international students stay together, which in a new country is totally understandable. Whilst the university and accommodation matters somewhat the driving factor will be his attitude and ability to mix. Being fluent in English is a huge plus and actually wanting to mix in will make all the difference! Chatting to people on his course, people in the kitchen and getting generally involved.
Each university has societies, sports teams. Clubs etc (some cost money) so it’d be useful for him to ensure there’s a few societies he’d like to join. There’s usually 100’s!

I'd say getting involved in societies and clubs would be the best way of integrating with fellow students. Most RG universities have large Chinese student populations- you pay a lot to come here which makes you very attractive!

What does he want to study?

He doesn't have to mix only with compatriots even if there are lots of them there. If he's generally outgoing and prepared to join groups and socialise, he should do fine.

What subject does he want to study?

We find that lots of international students, but Chinese students in particular, will create their own communities and stay amongst themselves. UK university culture can be a bit of a shock to the system for international students (both in terms of teaching styles and the social side), and it can be daunting/exhausting having to speak English all the time if it’s a second language, so I can understand why international students often make friends with others from their home country.

If your child wants to make friends with non-Chinese students, there is nothing to stop them from doing that at any university; they can join societies via the Students Union, or even request that they are put in student accommodation with other UK students only (some universities will allow students to express preferences for who they live with). They would need to be confident, and be willing to put themselves out there though. Being confident and fluent in their English language abilities would definitely help.

Hello, OP -

I am a former Russell Group admissions tutor in a STEM subject. I applaud your DS.

I agree with PPs that his attitude will be primary determinant of his experience. However some UK STEM courses are now majority Chinese, and on these courses British students nay be more inclined to stereotype your DS. That wouldn’t make his goal impossible but it would become more difficult. IIRC certain courses at Imperial are the worst for this. You can find the Overseas/Home student numbers online.

I would definitely put Lancaster in the + category. This is a recent development. They are developing a strong reputation in Teaching and Learning and their results in several STEM fields in the recent REF (national research rankings) were excellent; they were one of the happy surprises.

I agree that accommodation could be key. I wonder if some universities will let you specify that you don't wish to share with anyone the same nationality. I would assume a lot of the very expensive accommodation is taken up by international students - it certainly is at Bath - so perhaps he should opt for cheaper, self catering. Does he play any sports? Perhaps he could try something new.

My daughter has a similar but flipped worry - she has an offer for UCL (law) but is worried that she will struggle to make friends due to large numbers of Chinese student peers on the course who will keep their own friendship groups.

I was talking with a young Chinese woman yesterday./ She recently completed her masters degree and started a career in banking. She remarked that on one of her courses all the other students were Chinese and the lecturer was also Chinese.

She has a much broader range of friends and aquaintances in London that most students from any country as she has joined a lot of non student social organisations.

I would say avoid UCL and LSE as have heard they have particularly isolated groups based on country, but they are some of the best unis so it would be a shame to rule them out on this basis.

I was at Imperial (admittedly many years ago) and one of my greatest friends is Chinese…she just avoided the China Soc and did other societies instead.

Agree with this. He could avoid if he chooses but in practice most gravitate to those of similar backgrounds and interests. You tend to find a larger cohort of international students on STEM degrees, Economics and Law, and especially in London (RHUL is not actually in London). There are uni stats showing intakes for different funding streams.

If he would be happy with a small city (though good rail links to London), then Durham might work. DS is a first year in a self-catering flat of 6. The mix is 1 boy from China who does not mix, 1 boy from Pakistan, 1 boy from Hong Kong, 2 girls from UK and DS. They all have en suite bathrooms.

I agree with a PP about making friends through clubs and societies. The collegiate set up at Durham makes this a lot easier. I believe York and Lancaster have similar.

As others have said the two key things would be his choice of accomodation (I don’t recall mine having any international students at all and others being full of them- presumably some are mixed) and how he approaches it. A lot of international students will gravitate towards each other but he doesn’t have to. Getting involved in some of the societies will help a lot.

Avoid private halls if possible, as they tend to be international heavy and £££. You tend to find international students expect to use halls throughout their degree rather than living out in private rentals.

my son wants to study Economics with Spanish. He likes sport very much so would join those societies. He is good cook too and friendly so would cook for flat mates

I think your son will settle well in most places then. I come back to saying look at the universities with colleges as there are matches between the colleges as well as at university level, giving many more the opportunity to participate. DS is playing three sports and eyeing up 'extreme frisbee' for fun next term. He does fit in some study!

Thank you most kindly @EwwSprouts and I will look for this

I agree with this. I was an international student (many many many years ago) and made an active decision to make friends with all sorts of people. Others, I noticed, just kept within their nationality groups. Their loss 🤷🏻‍♀️

I live in Bath, very close to what I would describe as the £££ student accommodation, which is chosen by foreign students (and a cheaper block where you have to be arriving from abroad).

It is easy to escape the student bubble here, or mix with other nationalities.

I can't comment on the academic prowess, but teen takes advantage of the sports facilities.

OP, will your DS be learning Spanish from scratch (ab initio) or do they have a qualification (A-level equivalent) in it already. Some courses in Economics and Spanish will not take people learning from scratch and this is a consideration your DS needs to investigate. He sounds a very impressive young man!

“He is good cook too and friendly so would cook for flat mates”

that’s fabulous, OP. My DC can’t cook a thing so would love to be in your son’s flat! Seriously, as PP said, get involved in societies but give the China Soc a miss! All best to him and let us know where he applies. Great to hear other perspective - so many international students keep to themselves. Your post has made me think that perhaps some don’t want to really.