Dropping out of university

[Bollard]

DD has just told me she doesn’t want to go back to university. She’s just finished year 1 of a humanities degree at a RG university. She’d like to apply elsewhere and start again in September. Does anyone know how this works? I’ve tried to find a step-by-step guide and I’m a bit bewildered.
I know she can apply for student finance and that she’ll have extra debt. I think she’d rather start from scratch than apply to start in the second year.
Should she contact some unviersities directly now and see if they can make her an offer? Or update her UCAS form and go through Clearing?
She was at the place she’d firmly accepted so accommodation was all sorted out and we knew what we were doing!

So she’s currently out of the country and decided this while away? It sounds more of an emotive decision than a fully-thought-out pragmatic one.

It’s easier to decide something like that when away, it won’t feel as real so ‘safer’.

Not Bristol!

She’s been very negative all year. But she’s a cranky old thing so we thought it was just her. I agree that without some firm ideas about where she’d like to apply to, it’s just hot air. I think she’d be unhappy being at home next year.

She’s overseas for another 2 months.

I’m going round in circles but it’s helped to get your input. I’m going to sleep on it and see if a plan of action seems clearer in the morning.

It doesn't really sound like she has time to do anything if she's overseas and not really linked up to make applications etc. Can she come home for a bit to focus on it for a few days and get a plan sorted?

I think taking a year off (pausing her studies rather than leaving) or just simply pressing on and making the best of it might be the best option if she actually enjoys the course itself. Different accommodation next year could have the same effect as moving universities in that she'll be with a completely different group of people. Unfortunately I think we all big up university too much and shouldn't be telling our kids that they're going to have the most amazing time ever and "find their tribe" and all that rubbish. Yes they might find friends that they bond with really well but at the same time they might not and might just have people they socialise with but don't feel that close to. It's really different nowadays, lots of kids spend a lot of time in their rooms with their doors closed on their phones and there seems to be far more frequent trips back home to see school friends (partly I think because its so easy for them to stay in touch with social media and they all get FOMO). At the end of the day they are spending at least £20k a year (fees, accommodation and living) to go to university and they are charged interest on that from day one. It's a massive amount of money that will take them years to pay back. The grass may look greener elsewhere but there is no way of knowing that the new place would be any different. Chopping and changing should really be a last resort.

I hope she gets her head straight about where she wants to be. It is tricky, particularly since often the second year is the most difficult (and the least social as they all calm down a bit and focus on work/get more realistic about what money they should be spending)

Why did you think Bristol? Worried now as my DD is thinking about Bristol.

OP, are you sure she's not neurodiverse rather than cranky? What about commuting from home?

I'd strongly advise she take a year out rather than bumble along into starting again at a different uni.

What is she doing overseas for two months? Is it an option for her to spend part of her year out there? Mature a bit and decide what she really wants to do?

Sorry I probably shouldn't have asked that but its a fairly popular destination for our school and whenever I hear of kids from their school being unhappy and feeling like somewhere isn't living up to its hype or not being a supportive environment its invariably Bristol. I know two kids who have left and another two there at the moment who are not really enjoying it. It also matched the description of being RG, non campus, a city and having accommodation that is some way out.

There will on the other hand be thousands of kids there really enjoying their time. I hope your DD has a fab experience.

If it didn't work after a year it probably won't work somewhere different ? And redoing the year is a complete waste of of time and money. Seriously job or apprenticeship now would be my advice

I'd advise her to defer a year but keep her place at the existing university and work for a year. She can then take time to decide what she wants to do or reapply to do a higher degree apprenticeship. She can work, study and earn a living while doing the degree apprenticeship.

Quite a few students do set off on the wrong course and feel much happier on a different course or a different university. I absolutely would not rule out things being better elsewhere. But she would need some idea of what she is looking for. Simply changing for the sake of it to a course that is chosen because of its availability at this late stage is unlikely to work. At this stage I would say, stop, pause studies if she can while she rethinks, get a job and enter the application round for entry in 2025.

Graduate apprenticeships are an option but are very competitive. It would have to be something she knows she wants to do. You also don’t get the holidays to head abroad for two months! My niece is doing one - she chose her subjects at sixth form based on their preferences and was lucky to get a place. On the downside though, and something people never mention with graduate apprenticeships, the company has recently restructured, downsized her sector, laid people off and moved departments away from her site. She no longer gets to rotate departments. She is lucky to not be first year and to get ‘stuck’ in a department that is varied and meets her interests. Others weren’t so lucky,

...also think she’d feel as though she’d failed if she went to a non-RG university...

That's definitely one notion that needs knocking firmly on the head. It might cheer her up to tell her that if the 'RG' were to be hatching their plans in the same place today, they'd be calling themselves the Kimpton Fitzroy London Group.

Which other universities did she originally apply to and get offers from, and why did the others appear less desirable at the time than this one when she came to firming / insuring? Going back a step further, which additional other universities did she initially consider and why didn't they make it into her UCAS form? Looking at all of these de novo, which would she apply to if doing UCAS for the first time today, and, assuming offers from all, which would she firm? (Of course, this might not help if she was persuaded from the outset only to look at RG universities, only to list the 5 'most prestigious' on her application and firm the <ditto>).

That being said, like pp, I would seriously advise her to request to suspend her studies for a year instead of dropping out, take stock of her situation in a less pressured manner, and look at submitting a whole new UCAS application within the normal time frame (including autumn open days etc) for a 2025 start elsewhere, if that's what she decides is really best for her.

I think she would need to leave her current university if she did submit a new ucas application but pausing for a year would give her time to make the decision to do that.

I also wouldn’t make any permanent decision from abroad if she is on an exciting trip of some sort. Play with ideas, sure, but nothing is likely to live up to the ideas you dream up in sun drenched foreign climes full of adventure.

She might well not be thrilled about taking a year out, but she's away for 2 months in this period when she'd have to be sorting out this situation and that signals that she's more invested in exploring what she enjoys than in focusing on the immediate future of her academic opportunities (no judgement at all here, if she's been unhappy it's a good thing that she's doing something that she's enjoying more). You can't fix this for her, especially not from the other side of the world. If she's certain about dropping out but not available to investigate and arrange a course that she genuinely really wants to take up next term, then it's best to suspend her studies, work for a while, maybe travel some more, and make a firmer choice about where and what to study in 2025.

I agree it’s probably better to pause and take a year out to consider her options. In the first instance she needs to is responsible for supporting her at the uni and have a conversation with them. There may be some sort of student support, possibly a welfare/wellbeing service she could talk things through with?

Taking a year out would be a good option and going to open days etc in September, or visiting unis over the summer. Not something to rush into

I was also going to say what about a gap year? If the issue is the city and the friendships and not feeling settled, it may be that taking a year out, travelling, working, will help her hone in more on what she wants. Forget the RG thing, she tried that, it's not worth the other sacrifices if she didn't like it, the people I know who have been the unhappiest out of my children's friends at uni are those who got in by the skin of their teeth to a RG university and felt they had to stick it out, They'd have been better changing subject, course or location to somewhere different with a different vibe and better suited to them, and had more fun! (not saying RG can't offer fun, I'm saying if the fit between uni and student is not good, it's not worth ruining 3 years of uni to stay at a RG).

Not quite. Student Finance offers one year beyond the length of a degree. This statement is correct for a three year degree.

Has she considered taking an interruption of studies (may have different terminology outside of the HEI I work in).
That would give her time and thinking space and she could then withdraw and reapply for 25/26 entry.
Has she talked to academic/pastoral staff about this?

Agree with other posters this is very hard to sort if she's not with you. You want to support her, but these are adult decisions and she needs to think through what it will mean to her in terms of funding/debt and lifestyle. If she doesn't really know where she wants to be, just 'somewhere else' it might be that she's not really ready for the whole student experience.

University learning will be there when she's ready, I think we often do young adults a disservice by the expectations of going at 18 (not saying you expect that, more schools and society).

I think we often do young adults a disservice by the expectations of going at 18

This! Five of my ‘academic’ school acquaintances and friends didn’t go straight to uni. Two went a few years later. Two were sent (paid for) by their employers in their early 20s, and one took professional exams instead.

PS Also the UG loan and the lian for a stand alone Master’s are independent of each other. The loan for an integrated Master’s only is integrated with the UG loan as the original degree is then four years (so Student Finance would give a loan for up to five years)

No one with an integrated Master’s is eligible for a loan fir an additional Master’s although someone with (only) a PGCE is

The Master’s loan makes no provision for extra time

Sorry I did not catch this on first reading

Not to derail the thread - but my DD did exactly this - changed after her first year from a uni she HATED to... Bristol and is having a fantastic time and totally loving life. (So that is one positive anecdote!)

It's called a 'false start' and is not uncommon.

I agree with this, given what we know.

Failing to thrive at the first attempt is not a big deal. At her next application, DD will need to explain what happened briefly and coherently. No sackcloth and ashes are required, but a positive statement about why things will be different on the next go is. Even though these statements should be brief, they must be thoughtfully crafted. It is going to take some introspection and therefore some time.

DD also needs to get it right this time. Admissions tutors are happy to offer a second chance but considerably more doubtful about a third

Best wishes to her. Like all students she deserves a chance to thrive. It is worth taking the time to do this right so that she can

Yes, you must withdraw in order to submit a new UCAS application

Sorry, this may not be 100% true.

I arranged ‘transfers into Y1’ from external students at the end of Y1 elsewhere when I was an admissions tutor, but that was within our subject.

Reading the UCAS site just now it looks possible that there may be options not requiring you to terminate at the first uni. But it sounds like DD may want to do that anyway

I was looking at it curious about the possibility of starting a eg Med Sci degree and applying for medicine alongside rather waiting until you finished to apply for medicine. It looked like that was not possible which didn’t surprise me but not sure if it makes sense that you shouldn’t be able to or not.