This is not a good uni filter is it?!!!

[Tinygardener]

NC as don’t want to embarrass DD or her school!

DD is looking at unis for applying to this November and school had a year group meeting last week. They gave good advice about how to narrow down uni choices and then chucked in this (probs meant light-heartedly): “a deciding factor could be proximity to what matters to you (eg. restaurants, shops, sports)”. It was also written on the PowerPoint handout.

DD has taken this very seriously (she has ASD) and has now decided she wants to be by the sea in a place with a Nando’s and a Zara! I only found this out after seeing tabs open on the family PC of Zara stores and Nando’s locations and gently enquiring what she was up to (not expecting AT ALL for it to be uni related!) What’s worse is that she says she has actually found some unis that meet these requirements! Seeing the look on my face she then clammed up and won’t tell me which ones though so can anyone hazard a guess? I can then look them up to see if they are good for her course which is Maths. I am both amused and exasperated!

University of Kent? Has both Nando's and big Zara and is need Margate, ramsgate etc

Exeter? Southampton? Portsmouth? Liverpool?

PS. Fancy Durham not having a Pret!

Was just going to say Exeter
less than 20 minutes to great beaches on the train, we have a Nando’s and a Zara AND they’re practically next to each other

To be fair, I know someone who once made a choice about their child's secondary school, which was influenced by the coffee served at the open evening. We are fortunate to have two excellent secondaries where I live. There's nothing between them at all. So, the better coffee tipped the scales (daughter was equally torn and deferred to mum to make the final decision).

Plenty of excellent unis will meet that criteria for your DD, and she'll have things she enjoys nearby.

@Twoshoesnewshoes being next to each other is EVEN better! 😂

yes, these tick her boxes too. The list is growing!

I chose Liverpool uni because I liked the Beatles. Seriously 😂

A big Zara is even better (she will probably start Googling square footage of Zara’s if I mention that though).

@Peacepudding really? Did you have a great time there?

Exeter, Manchester, Southampton, Bristol, Nottingham, any London university, St Andrews. Any major city really. Sheffield, Leeds. Liverpool or Cardiff - almost certainly have both.

Liverpool uni ticks all those boxes and is a fab city.

I did! What's funny is that it's only in recent times have I learnt (on here) that it's a Russell Group uni...I had no idea, I just thought Liverpool was a cool place to go 😂

Bristol is absolutely not Costal.

Exeter uni is so lovely. I didn't go there but visited often

Sussex/Brighton

Bristol (Weston Super Mare is pretty close)

Exeter

Cardiff

Swansea

Liverpool

Edinburgh (Leith surely counts)

Newcastle

There you go, pretty good filter I reckon.

If Zara is important then she'd probably be quite disappointed by the Exeter one

Weston Super Mare is probably not the sort of beach she's after

mumsnet is amazing! Some great suggestions here. But she means properly by the sea I - not London (we are from London and she doesn’t regard it as coastal!

If the coast is important she’ll be disappointed by Liverpool! That bit of the coast is pretty bleak. I guess she could head for north Wales.

I did miss Lancaster off my list above, and the coast further up toward Barrow is nicer.

You know I don't actually think it's that bad a filter. As long as there is a secondary filter after for the unis that work and she also looks at other more studious things. Speak to her about what the secondary filter will be.

A nandos and a Zara IMO is no better or worse than "I want city/campus" uni. they are all about preferences.

It really is. I would be delighted if she picked Liverpool

Hey, I grew up in Brighton, the beach there is pretty shit too (there are much nicer bits ten minutes in either direction up or down the coast, but the city centre beach is shit, dirty, and full of drunks).

Great advice. Will do!

Sussex. I live here and work with local grads and students and all speak very highly of the campus. 20 mins into town on the bus to Nando's and Zara.