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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Which university?

55 replies

andwhy · 15/05/2023 14:51

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

OP posts:
IheartNiles · 15/05/2023 20:17

I know someone who employs portfolio manager grads for a respected international finance company. They like quantitative degrees BUT they would say there are lots of stages for employment and it’s much more about the fit than where they went. They’d rather them be happy and motivated and come out with a good degree from Russell Gp or equivalent.

Dobbyismyabsolutefav · 15/05/2023 20:39

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/4784563-exeter-vs-durham

This previous thread might help regarding Exeter vs Durham. My DD had offers from both, not in Economics, and really struggled to choose but ultimately her heart was with Exeter. DD is going into year 3 and is very happy at Exeter.
Good luck with your DC's decision, they are all fabulous unis.

Exeter vs Durham | Mumsnet

Isn’t it difficult helping our dc to choose? 🤦‍♀️ Ds is off to study archaeology. He’s torn between these two. I think he prefers Durham for the his...

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/4784563-exeter-vs-durham

andwhy · 16/05/2023 15:28

Does anyone know what the accommodation is like in Exeter for 2nd and 3rd years. And, are a lot of Exeter students from Cornwall?

OP posts:
TizerorFizz · 16/05/2023 16:14

Loads at Exeter from SE and London. Plus nearer students from Bath and Bristol. Big favourite with private and grammar schools. Cannot say about accommodation but it won’t be cheep due to location. Cornwall students might like the Falmouth campus.

boys3 · 16/05/2023 17:12

As Tiz says big proportion from London and South East - 44% of home undergrads. Add in SouthWest and East of England you’ll pass the 80% mark. Apparently c670 from Cornwall the same number who come from Kent. Almost 1000 from Hampshire, over 1200 from Surrey. More from Buckinghamshire than the combined total from the North East and North West.

not far off 50% from Indies and Grammar schools.

andwhy · 16/05/2023 17:19

Oh wow, thank you. Where do you get all those stats from? Do you happen to know the breakdown for Bath?

OP posts:
Delphigirl · 16/05/2023 18:25

She needs to take a day off, start damn early, get in the car, drive to Bristol then bath then exeter. Look round the campuses, do a drive past where the accommodation is, get out eat in the student union cafe, get her to talk to some people. It will be a long day but the most useful one she has spent. Ditch a revision day for it.

My cousin’s kid (lives abroad and came to stay for the weekend) had offers from Warwick Lancaster and exeter and was going to firm Lancaster when I found out he had never seen any of them. I literally put him in the car then and there and took him to a Warwick (1.5hrs away) and the next day DH got up and drove him 3.5hrs to Lancaster. He hated Lancaster, loved Warwick and decided the exeter biochem course was not for him. He is now v happy at Warwick. Lancaster would have been a huge mistake.

it is like buying a house. You can walk in to a house that on paper it is everything you want and think “not for me”. Only she can make this decision.

boys3 · 16/05/2023 18:32

andwhy · 16/05/2023 17:19

Oh wow, thank you. Where do you get all those stats from? Do you happen to know the breakdown for Bath?

Bath 49% from London and South East. Rising to 75% once South West and East of England added in, and passing 80% if you add Wales. 44% indie or grammar school.

a smaller Cornish contingent.😀

HESA table 59 has all the home domicile stats.

redrobin75 · 16/05/2023 19:31

@andwhy , does your dd realise Bath isn't catered, instead you can have credit to buy food on the campus plus self catering. It's so different to the College life of Durham, she must have a preference.

UsingChangeofName · 16/05/2023 20:42

I'm inclined to agree with @Delphigirl
Actually being there, at Exeter, for open day and then offer holders day, made my dc realise they didn't want to spend the next 3 years in Exeter. Not something they would pick up "on paper". For others, of course, being there makes a student just know that it is "the one".

Really interesting stats @boys3

Madcats · 16/05/2023 21:02

andwhy · 15/05/2023 19:44

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

Has she done any sort of virtual/ actual work experience in subjects that interest her?

I'm making GCSE DD do a few, even if it turns out that she hates them, to help narrow things down.

TBH I would just get onto Studentroom to do initial research and pop back to check opinions.

Margrethe · 16/05/2023 21:42

You can easily visit Bath, Bristol and Exeter in one weekend. It really would be worth making the rounds to see the cities before she hits the deadline to choose. It’s a big decision and seeing and breathing the different atmospheres could help a lot.

piedbeauty · 16/05/2023 22:25

You have to go and see all the other units! She can't choose without doing this. Check when their open days are.

lastdayatschool · 16/05/2023 22:37

For all those suggesting open days, weekend trips etc. you need to be aware that UCAS decisions have to be made by 8th June for September 2023 entry.

So 3 weeks on Thursday, and in the midst of A Levels, means the OP and DD probably don't have the luxury of free time to do these visits to the SW, especially if they live nowhere near the SW.

WednesdaysPlaits · 16/05/2023 23:33

Ds has Exeter as his insurance. No issues with accommodation there apparently. But clearly it’s pricier than some other areas of the country.

we’ve been down twice once for open day and once for offer holders day. Each time we stayed for a couple of days. Exeter is overwhelmingly white and very heavily independent school/grammar school. It has a nice feel and the campus is beautiful. It is however very clearly skewed to a particular demographic which makes it feel a little artificial.

They are quite rigid in the course structure. Most of the joint degrees are run in Cornwall but you can still take a couple of modules in a different subject if you want to have a slightly broader degree.

candlelighter · 16/05/2023 23:44

Honestly- if you would be crazy to turn down economics at Bristol.

By far the best option of the ones you gave.

ChocoBanana · 16/05/2023 23:52

Just a point on those saying BSc = more mathematical - I had a choice of graduating with a BSc or a BA from my maths degree ... so the degree name is not an indicator. Look instead at the course details

NotDonna · 17/05/2023 05:58

Has she looked at the complete uni guide and the various rankings? Overall rankings puts Durham 6th, Bath at 9th, Exeter 14th and Bristol 15th. Looking at ‘grad prospects’ the order is the same. I’ve 3 parent friends with DC at Durham who all love it. One did economics and stayed to do a masters.
They’re all great choices so What’s putting her off Durham now?

NotDonna · 17/05/2023 06:11

Is it mostly the amount of maths? I’m now wondering if that’s why my friends son who did the Durham Econ BA stayed to do a masters - to up his maths. He has just secured a finance job in London.

IheartNiles · 17/05/2023 06:13

NotDonna · 17/05/2023 05:58

Has she looked at the complete uni guide and the various rankings? Overall rankings puts Durham 6th, Bath at 9th, Exeter 14th and Bristol 15th. Looking at ‘grad prospects’ the order is the same. I’ve 3 parent friends with DC at Durham who all love it. One did economics and stayed to do a masters.
They’re all great choices so What’s putting her off Durham now?

Durham, Exeter, Bath then Bristol for economics in the Times university guide.

Needmoresleep · 17/05/2023 07:31

In terms of prestige I would tend to agree with the the rankings quoted above. My understanding is that Durham is perceived, after Oxford as one of the best less quantitative English degrees. (Ay Scotland has a couple of very well regarded departments as well.) It attracts strong and rounded applicants who don't want to spend their lives pouring over equations, as well as those who want to stay in the north. Those suggesting Bristol may be a bit behind the times. When they expanded the department they lowered the maths entry requirements.

However it is all a bit angels dancing on the head of a pin. All these Universities are on the radar of the sort of employer who gives weight to where you took your degree.

She should look closely at course content, especially third year options, and consider why she is studying the subject. If she wants to get a good generalist job (Civil Service fast stream, a non quant job in the City etc) I would say Durham or Bath, the latter because of the year in industry. There is a lot to be said for a broader education and for treating economics as a humanity. If she is interested in a forecasting or economic analyst role, she should look at the options available at Bristol and Durham (Durham has a very strong maths department but I don't know the extent to which economics UG can access their courses. Bath too, but when we looked it was seen as unusual for students on their management focussed course to want to) and pick as many statistics/econometrics/maths courses as they can, and then possibly look to taking a Masters.

From what I have seen from friends children, one of whom has done very well following a Durham degree, the BA/BSc thing does not matter at all.

In terms of lifestyle Bristol is beautiful and a major party city. Bath and Exeter students can get a train/bus to Bristol for a big night out, and Durham students go to Newcastle. How close to the party do you want to be? Ditto both Bath and Durham are lovely historical smaller cities, and Exeter is surrounded by lovely countryside. Bath and Exeter have strong sport (swimming and hockey spring to mind). A decade ago we stayed overnight in Exeter, started early and walked across the campus (hilly) and talked to people in the admissions team, drove to Bristol where we had lunch in the Economics faculty, then on to Bath where the head of admissions was kind enough to talk to us and also kind enough to suggest that their course, though very good, was not right for DS. It is about an hour's drive between each.

NotDonna · 17/05/2023 10:31

There’s not a bad choice here is there and I expect that’s what’s making the decision so difficult.

GMsAWinner · 17/05/2023 11:23

I know a couple of students who went to Bristol, both happy with uni and Bristol itself. DD visited one of them and came back surprised as she liked the area. Yes, accommodation is hard to find in Bristol, but that can be the case for a lot of unis. DD in Edinburgh and only found got a flat late August despite looking in groups of 2, 4, 6 and 7. She knows three boys who ended up in an airbnb (luckily parents incrediably well off).

If I were her, I'd also have a good luck at the modules. Some will stand out more than others.

Laffinalltheway · 17/05/2023 11:26

My child is just about to start their finals in an accounting degree at Bath. It was a 3 year course, but they deferred a year because of Covid. They decided to stay down there though and worked in Bath for a year. Absolutely love the place and the University and I wouldn't be surprised if they end up back down there at some point in the future. It's a beautiful and safe city that I love visiting too.
However, they've been offered a job at one of the 'big 4' graduate programmes from September so they're coming back for now.
Also, it does rain in Bath, A LOT! 😀

AGovernmentOfLawsAndNotMen · 18/05/2023 03:21

ways to chose

-campus v non campus based eg Bristol is non campus whereas Exeter is Campus based
-% of exams based on end of term tests. ( ie some unis have a higher % -weighting for course work some for exams ) which would dc prefer. Which is dc better at, does dc get very stressed sitting exams. Chose accordingly.
-Teacher pupil ratios
-Accommodation location and availability ( Bristol for example is a nightmare at the moment. )
-Accommodation costs
Then obviously any differences in the units covered in the course.

Teacher ratios usually found on the league table websites.
Accommodation after halls, just check out rightmove rental costs
Uni course websites will indicate % exam ratios

Hope this is of some help OP

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