Which university?

[andwhy]

My daughter has offers from Bath, Exeter, Durham and Bristol to do economics. She is literally changing her mind every hour. Anyone any knowledge to help... please

What is important to your DD? Is a particular region of the country important? Does a campus or city uni particularly appeal? What about sport and societies? The collegiate system at Durham?

Economic students tend to be studious and focussed, so I would def encourage her to consider the respective rankings of the degree programmes she has been offered, and the quality of the UG teaching and learning environment.

Joining the online forum TheStudentRoom is a good way for applicants to investigate these matters.

Congratulations on those 4 offers - that's a great achievement.

Some non-course related questions:

1. Exeter, Durham and Bath are similar sized, small cities; whereas Bristol is much bigger - does that matter, e.g in terms of nightlife, shops, other social activities etc ?
2. Bristol and Durham have been newsworthy this past year for accommodation struggles after 1st year - has she thought about that ?
3. Durham's collegiate system is unique and is really good for sport, when you're not at the university level- is she sporty at all and would this interest her ?
4. Weather - Durham gets a lot of rain and will be colder compared to the other 3 cities in the South West.

Thank you, she was certain she wanted Durham for the location and the collegiate system. But, the degree is a BA whist the other 3 are Bsc. She thinks the Bsc is probably better, for her. And it's the whole campus/ town debate that's causing her to change her mind with the wind I think. Unfortunately because she was so set on Durham we haven't visited the others and we are now into A levels so can't really take the time!

Great summary of some non-course aspects, @lastdayatschool. Just to correct one point, the SW experiences more rainfall than the NE and latest stats show 20% lower average rainfall in Durham vs the other locations cited.

Thanks for the update @PerpetualOptimist

It seemed to rain every other day when I was at Durham - feel for those in the SW if they get even more 🙂

I think the BA and BSc will have something in common, but not a huge amount. For PG, especially PhD, study, the more mathematical BSc is better as most Economics research is quite mathematical.

But there is a smaller, more classical strand more orientated towards the other social sciences. Durham, Oxford and a few other places. I think there are Civil Service , think tank, journalism and other roles including some banking and management available to graduates.

I think the top tier of the financial sector prefers the BSc. And BSc economists can do most of the BA roles but possibly not all of them.

Thanks for that, that is in line with what she has recently found out, but didn't know before. Which is why she is now thinking that Durham might not be the best choice. But, unfortunately having found out so late in the process she now doesn't know what to do. As her (our) knowledge of the other unis is rather scant.

As a former Russell Group admissions tutor (STEM) I have always thought highly of Bath, which is not RG. But I don’t know anything about Economics there, or at her other choices.

I haven't been to Bristol but here is a recent thread about accommodation and the costs involved. You could also @ some posters for their specific advice if you need.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/4800904-bristol-university-halls-wisdom

Durham is a set fee for accommodation no matter which college with increases for catered, en-suites etc and reductions for sharing etc. My child is at Durham, there are plenty of accommodation options available, it all depends on budgets, who you are sharing with and how close to town you want to live. I do understand the BA/BSc issue as Ds2 is year 12 and Durham is on his list for economics.

Both through being collegiate, and with the shared rooms accommodation, I think Durham is more different from the other 3.
Though Durham, Exeter and Bristol all have higher proportions of people who attended private schools than average - don't know if that impacts in any way.
Geography can be a bit of a decider too, especially when a student (or, come to that) a parent is ill, or has an accident or is unhappy etc, being a distance from home can make things that bit more difficult. Not that I would choose on that criteria, but if the universities are 'tying' for other, stronger reasons. Obviously I don't know where you live as to which are nearer / further.
Accommodation is Bristol is extortionate.
Durham, Bath and Exeter are smaller, 'naice' cities, whereas Bristol has a greater mix, being a bigger City -which many would count as a positive.

They are all good offers though. It really is quite personal.

What are her reasons for wanting a BSc? Because she really likes maths? Because she really wants to work in finance? Something else?

Bristol economics degree I think objectively the best in terms of prestige and employment after graduation.

An amazing place to be at uni

She is good at maths, and at this stage thinks she'd like a career in the city. So has been advised by the new careers teacher at school that the Bsc would be the better option for her.

On that basis, course-wise Bristol would probably be best. It is the most mathematical and offers a lot of business and finance options as part of the economics course. It has a very, very good record of graduates finding employment in the city.

Exeter is very good for financial economics. Bath is a more standard all round department. All of Bristol, Exeter and Bath are very respectable for economics, though. If she prefers the environment of one of these more than the others, it wouldn't be a terrible mistake just to choose that one.

Graduates from Durham can and do get jobs in the city, but they tend to be different types of job to those that very mathematical people get. Durham economics is a good course, but it is very low on advanced maths content. As a result, an economics graduate from Durham wouldn't come out with some of the very high level mathematical skills that some city jobs look for. On the other hand, they are excellent in other branches of economics.

@andwhy
Regarding costs of halls: Bristol has a range of halls and a range of prices. There are some which are not at all expensive! I’m never sure why people write horror stories about the most expensive! In terms of living after y1, Bristol is big! Yes Clifton is expensive but other areas exist and are cheaper. Bath is hardly a cheap city and nor is Exeter.

I know the Economics course at Bristol tends to attract Dc who want city jobs. They also offer Econometrics for the ones keen on maths. Loads of options too.

I too would rate Bristol top of these. Bath is a very business focussed university and I would put this second. She really should look at the core subjects and options though. Bath and Exeter have more of a campus feel. Bristol is more of a city university with more going on around it. More available in the city too.

I live in Bath, studied economics at Bristol decades ago and would happily have gone to Exeter (we had a quick look around about a fortnight ago for DD). If your DC "JUST" wants to be an accountant, don't bother studying economics BTW.

Bath is an ugly university in beautiful countryside. It has great sporting facilities as it is a centre for excellence for many. There is a glut of private student halls in and around town (though many are ££) and good bus links up to campus. Some Bristol students get billeted here as there are so many empty rooms (as shared houses have traditionally been more affordable).

Our local paper is forever telling us how highly ranked the place is for employability. There are a lot of 4 year degrees with industry placements.

Each degree can be very different depending on what modules you select.

DD(15) will want to spread her wings in due course, otherwise I would happily send her to Bath in a flash!

Does your daughter have any idea what job she wants to do? She should look at the employability statistics.

Warwicj for mathematical Economics.

She doesn't have an offer for Warwick. Although we have been told it's good.

Thank you for the other advice so far. It does seem to be a difficult decision. There doesn't seem to be a black and white answer.

Does she want to do a placement year?

She doesn't know. Although she has told me that at bath she has to.

I think all 4 are equally good tbh.

does she want city based or campus? It’s the key question with that bunch of offers.

if she’s wavering on Durham I’d say bath for economics.

She should read up on the placement option at Bath, the uni has good links to industry and lots of the students take the third year out for placements so it's a case she may leave with her friends for a year and then come back for the 4th year. But saying that if her heart was set on Durham and you have visited then I would stick with Durham.

I think that's a hard decision when she hasn't visited the other three. DS definitely went by feel of the place is now a Durham STEM first year. The collegiate system certainly helped him settle in.

My tuppence re economics is that my DN graduated PPE BA at York and walked into an accountancy job in the city, he's in the 'financial markets' team.