University applications for September 2025 - let's go!

[hornetgirl]

Hello to all you on the forum.

Having gone through this all in 2022/23 with my eldest ( just completing year 1 Southampton), I am back again with my daughter - just finishing year 12.

She is looking at Vet med or vet nursing

We have been to several open days: RVC, Chester, Nottingham Trent, Bristol and we have Surrey this Saturday and Nottingham in 2 weeks.

What a stressful process this is even for a second time mum (and expensive on the travel and hotel stays!)

What are you doing with your year 12s so far?

I think there are definitely much higher expectations

I went to Cambridge in the mid 90s and whilst the buildings were externally lovely we certainly had no expectation of an en-suite shower or toilet (I think it was 2 between 8), the kitchen was teeny tiny no oven just a gas hob and there was no central heating just a gas fire in the living area so that the bedroom was freezing in winter with ice on the inside of the windows. I went to visit friends at various Unis; London, Leeds, B'ham and no-one had en-suite. That was considered a huge out of reach luxury back then but now seems to be expected.

I also remember there were still some shared rooms which I don't imagine you have now. Some people did go for these in 2/3rd year.

I understand this dilemma. If you look up where Keele ranks in the Times or similar its at #56 this year, just below and just above quite a few ex-polytechnics. I would focus on Lancaster (ranks at #19 on the same list) as it has really been on the rise for some time now. I took an MA there and when I revisited 10 yrs later it was transformed (and flourishing).
While the ranking numbers don't mean everything, it will affect the cohort of students your DD ends up with. She is more likely to find bright, like minded folks at Lancaster than at Keele. Just my tuppence worth anyway.

The thing is that for the subjects that DD is interested in (Humanities) Lancaster isn't rated that much higher than Keele, in fact according to the CUG, graduate prospects are higher at Keele! Plus Keele has the MFL option which DD really loved.

Anyway, DD may hate Lancaster (or absolutely love it), we shall see.

@Sweetpeasaremadeforbees - my take on it is they need to be happy to do well. DC1 is likely to have the predicted grades for (eg) Durham, St Andrew's, Warwick, but is firmly of the view that she wants to live in a large, diverse city, with affordable accommodation. TBH I was the same! She's at a state sixth form college in an urban area and the universities with a slightly boarding-school atmosphere don't hold any appeal for her.

IME once you have secured your first job little heed is paid to where you went. I could not tell you where a single one of my colleagues got their degrees - and lots of graduate recruiters are now institution-blind.

Our DD is bright too and predicted high grades, so I too wonder how important choice of uni is down the line when job hunting, as opposed to being really happy with the uni you go to even if it is not one of the top ones. I guess a determined attitude plays a big part in life, so hopefully they will all do well.

I've just read the (depressing) student attendance thread and I think a fair number of the students interviewed seem to be at prestigious unis and a lot seem to have anxiety. I think we shouldn't underestimate the importance of a uni where the students are happy and we need to teach our children that the onus is on them to make the most of every opportunity (and that includes attending every single bloody lecture or seminar!)

IME once you have secured your first job little heed is paid to where you went. I could not tell you where a single one of my colleagues got their degrees - and lots of graduate recruiters are now institution-blind.

I find that really reassuring, thank you. DD is at a huge 6th form state college and whilst she loves it and the large town it's in, she says that she wouldn't want to go to a big city. She's mostly looking at campus unis near smaller cities.

ThePure a friend of mine had a shared room at Hull in the '90s.

Think she was paying £7 a week or something!

There are still shared rooms at some Unis. Either Bath or Exeter has them as they were mentioned at one of the open days but I can't remember which one! Possibly Bath.

We have seen loads because ds is my second. Ds2 has lancaster as his first choice. It’s top ten in the main rankings and that’s more important than subject rankings in terms of employers in most cases.

we’ve also done Surrey uea York and Keele. Ds wants a full campus experience not a city site and is very sociable so loves the fact that all colleges have their own bar and active social scene.

We’ve we also seen Durham, Warwick, Birmingham, Exeter, Loughborough.

DS1 is also at Lancaster. He got three a stars and ultimately rejected his Durham offer for Lancaster. It’s been a great experience for him. Lancaster also gives £2k to those who get three As or above as long as their GCSEs are also above a certain level

DD is applying for vet medicine at Cambridge, Bristol, Nottingham and Liverpool back up is zoology at Cambridge she’s predicted 5 A* (has done maths a level course in year 11 but school are keeping it ticking over so she can sit at same sitting in year 13. Entire summer is work experience at loads of different practices etc - and Cambridge summer school

We are doing Nottingham in 2 weeks from now so 6 th July

Omg yes £140 day return for Liverpool!

Second time around for us too and a completely different experience - DC1 is academic and just finished first year of Durham. DC2 in Y12 has SEN, not academic and wants to follow a more creative path.

We went to UWE and Bath Spa in the autumn, UCA at Farnham yesterday, and then lining up Falmouth, probably Bournemouth and still researching others.

Completely outside of our comfort zone, DH and I both went to academic Unis, and are in traditional careers that required good degrees, the creative side of things is largely alien to us both. DC2's needs mean he requires our assistance in the process, and I need to be sure he's going to the best place for his subject and his needs. Not exactly something that the Guardian league tables can help us with 😂.

Visited Ox Brookes last weekend with DD1 who wants to read architecture. We both loved the Headington site and the pro-career direction but were confused by the 'interior' architecture course which seemed theoretical and abstract: does not seem to be about arranging room lay-out which is what DD prefers. May go back for 'regular' architecture tour/course spec.

Also visiting UCL and Portsmouth Uni for architecture in the near future.

I wouldn't reply on that sort of financial incentive being available in future. The dramatic drop in foreign students for the coming year on top of higher costs and brexit means huge cuts across HE. I also would be asking about the expected and current cohort size for courses and wouldn't be signing up for any particularly small or obscure courses.

It’s definitely available for this cohort.

Great to hear how everyone is finding open days. So far we’ve been to Durham and Manchester for physics. DS hasn’t had latest predicted grades yet but is hoping those would both be in reach.

He thought he’d want to be in a city but I think found Manchester a bit too big and liked Durham more because it was smaller and more manageable. I wonder if he might find it a bit too quiet after the first year, though.

Yy to how much train fares are! And Durham was five hours for us…

Next week he’s going to two London unis, staying with a relative. I think he expects to like Sheffield the most - but we’ll do that in the autumn.

A relative of mine became a British ambassador and went to Keele!

Does UEA offer what your DD wants to study? Attractive campus on the edge of a not-enormous, attractive and quite quirky cathedral city. DS2 is just about to graduate and is looking for work in Norwich, as he wants to say there if possible. DD, who is taking a year out between BA at Birmingham and LLM at Leed, has been sharing a house with a schoolfriend and a handful of others and working in the city - she would also like to go back to live there at some point if she can find suitable employment.

Really interesting to everyone’s experiences so far, thank you. I would agree with the sentiment that as long as there’s not a massive difference in rankings (Cambridge vs Bedfordshire etc) then where the feel happiest and most motivated is more likely to be important.
I have to admit before starting this process I was a bit of a university snob (not that I would have ever communicated that to DD!) but the more I’ve looked into it and talked with parents/students recently I’ve realised it’s not as straightforward as league tables etc. A lot of those at more “mid ranking” universities have had far better teaching, pastoral care, overall experience than those at the more traditional universities (eg Bristol where I went)- maybe because those places don’t rest on their laurels as much? Whether that will remain so with the budget issues I don’t know…
Anyway DD is back from Manchester and York, liked both but I think leaning more to the big city vibe of Manchester (or Leeds where we went last week)

We went to Surrey Open Day on Saturday, it was well organised and interesting. The accommodation is pretty impressive and the 2 campuses are very pleasant although very quiet.

If you are a city person who wants lots of shops, bars etc Surrey may be a bit on the quiet side for you.

We are off to Nottingham on Saturday 6th July.

hornetgirl
derailing things a bit but how does your older DC like Southampton? We looked in the autumn and DD loved it and we are going again on 6 July in the light of seeing others now. It is 2ish hours from us so feels more doable for her. York and Manchester this weekend (4-5h away) were good and offered an integrated masters and we are trying to weigh up the value of that.

My DS has loved Southampton, he has thrived from day 1. The accommodation is excellent, the social life is good, lots of sports and other clubs and societies. Cost of living is OK and private housing in Southampton for 2nd year is plentiful and reasonable.

My DS has been living in Glen Eyre Campus this year, he had a job at Domino's which they are holding for him over the summer. He has got massively into rowing and made lots of good friends. He has a lease for a house in Portswood starting on 1st July and we are picking up the keys next week to move some of his stuff in from halls.

Can I join please? We have just done Glasgow open day, and are booked on to Aberdeen at the end of August. We are in England but DD really likes the Scottish system of extra subjects in year 1 and 2 - although thanks to this thread we now know that Lancaster has a similar set up, is that correct?

First time going through this and it is a bit overwhelming at times, so hopefully this thread will continue to be a mine of information

Second time around for me. DD2 wants to do Engineering. We visited Sheffield on Saturday and we were really impressed. The facilities were jaw dropping, everyone was friendly, and the city looked lovely.