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!

Oh does it? I thought it was on the river Severn. Anyway OP I don't think it's very seasidey

The coast north of Liverpool from Crosby to Southport is beautiful and only a 15 minute train journey

I chose all Scottish unis on my application because of the accent. Ended up at Glasgow, loved it.

No Zara in St Andrews.

For mine location was the most important factor. Both went to Russell group unis and had a great time. Its your dds choice and the school were right on what they said.Uni is so much more than study.

I love this and yes it did make me smile. Your daughter sounds great and I'm sure she'll do well wherever she ends up. A maths degree sounds like hard work so she'll need downtime in Nandos, Zara and by the sea! Good luck to her.

Oh does it? I thought it was on the river Severn. Anyway OP I don't think it's very seasidey

It’s a port on a very tidal river. The Avon, not the Severn. I agree, it isn’t remotely seasidey. A lot of the time it isn’t even riversidey.

Ok, she's taken it a bit literally but please don't belittle the suggestion to find a uni where the environment suits her. We're a smallish island and so have a lot.of big coastal (or coastal ish) cities with excellent universities- Sussex, liverpool, Edinburgh, exeter, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Soton, Aberdeen, Newcastle etc. etc. If she's doing a well provided for subject like Maths then she needs to narrow it down and this seems as good a way as any. You could point out nearby cities with a Zara if she's getting too bogged down on that one focus.

I'm a mature student doing a course that is a) highly competitive and b) has very limited spaces so I've had to take what I can get. I'm stuck in the midlands and no offence to anyone local, bloody hate it here. I miss the coast and the big cities I know. If I'd had the choice then I would have grabbed a coastal uni with decent restaurants and probably been happier for it! It isn't a facile or lighthearted point at all just try and get her to see it as a bit more of a general idea than a 'pick your favourite shops and stick to them'

There’s lots of water in Bristol - the harbourside - but for a beach you’re talking WsM, Portishead or Clevedon - all about half an hour away.

And unless global warming has accelerated rapidly since last time I was in England; Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds are a long way from any seaside

Regardless of whether it's a good uni filter or not, this is the most enjoyable thread I've read on MN for a long, long time 🙂

I'm not sure it's any different to only looking at unis with a rowing team, for example.

I went to a talk at Bath from a student with ASD who said a great thing about Bath was that it was only during the hours of 5-7am that you couldn't get food delivered directly to you. That's got to be worth considering as a criteria as well.

I'm with DD on this!

I can't think of anything better than going for a walk along the seashore if you're stuck with a maths problem. Even better if there's some retail therapy and food in the mix. The solution to the thorny maths problem would probably pop into your head unbidden afterwards. There's a lot to be said for background contentment.

Of course some people think you should be sensible and look at league tables and find out what prestigious academics are at the uni - even though top-class academics are often too busy doing top-class research and tend to avoid undergrads if they can get away with it.

I have loved it!

Having spent a couple of weeks working in towns without any of them autistic ds decided he needed to be in a city or town with either a Macdonalds or KFC and definitely a Wetherspoons.

High priority for him was a good music scene/music shops too.

He ended up in Leeds by the way. Salford was his insurance as Manchester was so easy to get to from there.

Of course the location is very important, it's key to feel happy in your university town, and particularly for her, having the familiarity seems even more important. I think it's good the school is saying that. Filtering for specific shops/restaurants is perhaps a little far but I'd suggest Sussex University!

"I can then look them up to see if they are good for her course which is Maths. "

No, she can look them up. It's her decision to make.

It is, but young people with autism often need a bit more input than those who are NT

They're a decent proxy for 'has a reasonable amount of mid-range shops and eating places that cater for a young-ish audience'. So not a bad filter at all. Pretty similar to what the Bank of England does to define the inflation basket of goods.

If I were you I might suggest adding a filter about the course itself. For example, Cambridge was always supposed to focus on pure maths and might not suit someone with a more practical bent.

From the nando/zara/sea example I wonder if your DD might get a lot out of stats or econometrics - applying maths to figure out real world problems?

Has someone suggested Aberystwyth? Though I don't know if there's a Nando's or Zara!

Sadly no Zara, but it is a lovely Uni! And probably the best beach so far.

Nothing wrong with those criteria. My DS filtered by proximity to a skatepark! He’s now loving skateboarding (and studying) at Bristol 😂

It has neither.

nearest Nando’s possibly Swansea

no identikit shops, or relatively few at least, in the Aber retail offer. 😀

DD has shared her list with me now that I have apologised for scoffing at her filters yesterday. She’s got:
Sussex
Swansea
Bournemouth
Liverpool
Exeter
Newcastle
Edinburgh
Aberdeen

She is now going to dig into the detail of the Maths courses and do some virtual open days but she said she really likes the look of Sussex and Swansea in particular. Might take her down to Brighton this weekend for a wander (we are London so easy train journey). Any further thoughts/observations/advice warmly welcomed xx