Any interest in a non-Oxbridge/ non-RG parents chat?

[SockFluffInTheBath]

There are lots of threads about applying to Oxbridge and other ‘top’ unis, anyone interested in a thread for those of us with DC looking elsewhere? Not trying to be divisive, but there’s no ‘drop in centre’ thread for other unis, and I thought it might be good to have a space to chat sometimes.

[Title edited by MNHQ at OP's request]

I apologise for the earlier derailment as it doesn't apply to this thread.

Thanks @RampantIvy but it takes two to tango. @TizerorFizz i tried to be polite and inclusive before but you’re not here in keeping with the thread bring for parents of students currently looking at uni, and your inputs aren’t helpful. There are plenty of other places to rabbit about earnings and prestige, for many reasons those aren’t priority in this thread. My daughter most likely has an acquired brain injury after losing her entire blood volume in a major trauma 3 years ago. I couldn’t give two hoots that she’s no longer top band at school, I’m just glad she’s at school.

This thread is a happy safe space for those of us on the ‘other’ track, if you’re not here as one please find another patch. We don’t need opinions and goading.

My DS is in his first year at UEA and loves it. He applied for chemistry and had UEA as his firm choice, but changed to another stem subject at the last minute. He was blown away by their labs, I definitely recommend a visit.

Goading? I’m going to refute that! Yes. I don’t like sneering at higher earners and saying they are greedy and I didn’t start that! If any word is goady it is “greedy”. However my DD2 went to LCF and is not a high earner. I’m very much supportive of those who don’t want elite unis and I don’t even have a degree. I just feel decisions are made by DC should not be described in hugely derogative tones but I note it’s my fault for responding! Of course it is.

It might just be a good moment to say that many dc still want high paying jobs regardless of uni and they should be allowed to make those choices free from labels and i would not expect anyone to be rude about my lower earning DD either. So yes, live and let live as @PhotoDad says.

So I have created a spreadsheet! It incorporates student satisfaction scores for the respective Real Estate courses, as well as averaging the general league table positions of the university in the three main league tables. I tried looking at league tables by subject, but some of these courses appear under Land and Property and some under Business, so it's not possible to compare fairly. Anyway, it was a very satisfying process because it gave us an obvious top 5 😂we have Ulster, Northumbria, Aberdeen, Reading and Nottingham Trent. Unfortunately the first three are sooo far away from us!

A woman after my own heart @crazycrofter I made something similar last year for DS 😅 DD is looking at Scotland too but nothing so far as Aberdeen, that’s flying home territory I think. Does your DC have an early preference?

Ds is struggling to give it any attention in between working 60 hours a week at Tesco and planning/getting excited about his travel plans for Jan - August! He may come back for a month or two to work in Mar/April. I’m hoping he will have some offer holder days to go to then. I think both Aberdeen and Ulster will involve flights for us 😬

That’s all very exciting (maybe not the 60 hr weeks!). Good luck to him 👍

@SockFluffInTheBath yes we are going to UEA this weekend. I'll report back next week.

Thanks for creating this post.

Thanks @minisnowballs yes the Chemistry dept takes in 50-60 students & the HofD says they are small enough such that they get to know the students & have an open door policy. Felt refreshing to see their facilities and support services.

It’s great seeing the chatter but I’m quite suprised how involved as parents you are? I’m not being goady just surprised, Is this the norm as my DD is making her own choices and no way would she be interested in any s/s if I made one. Maybe it’s because she’s taking a year out but also the thought of a permanent 9% min tax for the rest of her working life is now worrying her (&us tbh) on the finances of going to University. If she could do what she wanted training on the job I think she would. My DH has both where he works new grads who are now seeing large deductions from their payslips for life and his trainee degree apprentice who yes it will take longer to graduate but will come out debt free. Are the finances worrying any of your young people after the changes to student loans?

@Autumn00Storms - of course it is a worry- but many jobs require a degree and there aren’t enough degree apprenticeships to go round. Uni is a big investment- I guess that is partly why parents get involved these days.

for dd1, taking her round unis has been a really special time though- helping her to think about next steps and how we value how far she’s come. For our foster daughter- who is an unaccompanied minor whose parents are in Kyiv, it’s vital we are there to explain her circs.

dd1 must have a degree to be a nurse- there are degree apprenticeships but they don’t offer the same benefits in terms of living away from home and having the ‘uni experience’ she craves. If she goes to wales though I’m hoping she’ll get away debt free with some savings from her junior isa and working in her hols/spare time.

good luck to yours with her decision.

I'm from the NE; Northumbria is really well regarded by locals, often considered completely on a par with Ncle Uni by local employers and is right in the city centre next door to Ncle Uni. Newcastle is a fabulous and compact city for students too. Definitely worth a look even though I hear you on the distance.

but I’m quite suprised how involved as parents you are?

I think it depends on lots of factors.

DD has a summer birthday and at 16 she didn't feel confident enough to go to open days on her own (none of her friends were interested in the same universities or the same degree courses) and she wasn't old enough to stay in a hotel for the further flung universities without an adult with her. Also, as we are rural with not great public transport I drove her to open days.

The other reason was that we both wanted to do the open days so we could discuss them. They were all enjoyable trips.

Are you not taking any interest in your daughter's higher education choices?

DD is now applying for post grad and I have had no input other than visiting a couple of universities with her (one I needed to drive to)

I hope I'm not a complete fraud for posting on this thread BTW

We were impressed with Northumbria uni as well, it will be one of DC's 5 choices and a potential insurance choice.

It actually ranks pretty well for his course (a social science) and he loved the city, uni location, halls and everyone we met on the day.

Thanks for the Northumbria feedback, that's useful.

@Autumn00Storms Dd made her own decisions - and I'm not sure that had the best outcome, but we let her (she didn't really look enough at the course content, it was all about liking the vibe of the uni and city). Ds is actually incredibly independent, he's been travelling all over the country with his friends on trains for the last 2-3 years and since he's bought his own car he's not really needed us! But he's not great at admin (this is something we're working on in his gap year and he's got much better at checking emails - he's dealt with the application for his gap year course in NZ and booking flights etc on his own). He will make his own decision ultimately, but he does ask our opinions - so the spreadsheet was really as much for me as him, so that I can feel confident in my opinions!

He does think about the cost and was originally set on a degree apprenticeship. However he's away from Jan and so it would be almost impossible to get through the various application stages. He doesn't want another gap year. But also, the types of apprenticeships he'd be looking at are all in the big cities, so he'd have to move away for one, which he'd love. I'm just not sure if he's ready yet to juggle study, fast paced work and looking after himself.

Aberystwyth has a great reputation for MFL. DD’s best friend at work did the same course there as your DD - they work for the EU in Brussels so using their languages all day, every day!

I have a DS whose degree will not be Oxbridge or RG. DH did his PhD at Cambridge and I went to an RG University, we also both worked in 4 Universities between us with one not being Oxbridge or RG. That University in my humble opinion had much better pastoral care. DS is doing a degree apprenticeship and it’s a vocational subject. I’m warn in the knowledge that he will have no debt at all and a job when he graduates next year, he is already earning 32k PA as an apprentice.

DS did his A levels during covid and ended up working at an airport for a freight company and very much grew up for two years. He also worked with people who had to do hard physical graft as did he and I think it made him a far more rounded person. He came out with his classic quote about how he hadn’t realised how weird his Dad and I were till he worked there. Thanks son.

@SockFluffInTheBath i couldn’t let your post about your DD’s trauma pass without giving you a huge virtual hug. Unimaginable.

Thank you, that's great to hear. She does qualify for an Irish passport so will be able to work in Europe if she wants.

I think she's been a bit taken aback by the intensity of the French course (she's learning from beginner level) but last time we spoke she said she was intending to stick with it.

Marking my place. DS isn't quite sure what he's up to yet. It won't be an RG though.

My DC had Northumbria on their UCAS as a fifth choice, we had planned to be visiting next weekend but as they have offers from the Uni's they want as Firm and Insurance (Loughborough and Portsmouth) they have decided not to go. I'm a little sad, I was looking forward to the weekend away but the Christmas budget will appreciate it.

@woolleybear ds has rejected Portsmouth as an option for some reason! I really liked Newcastle as a city on the one occasion I’ve visited.

It’s great seeing the chatter but I’m quite suprised how involved as parents you are?

We take DD to open days because we live rurally and DD can't drive. She decided (with advice from college) which Unis she wanted to visit and actually it's been lovely for all three of us having days out in places we've never visited before. Then it's all up to her, getting her UCAS form in, keeping an eye on offers and offer days and finally deciding which to firm and which to have as insurance. Then she can sort out accommodation and all that sort of stuff.