Londoner not wanting to go to uni in London

[Acheeserollplease]

my DD is London born and bred - loves it here but wants to sample uni elsewhere. Trouble is she wants law - so cannot disregard KCL and UCL - arguably the most prestigious unis after Oxbridge and Durham for law. Would it be bonkers for me to suggest she lives in London halls even though we live in Westminster?!

The Uni experience isn't only about the degree piece of paper and what's written on it.
It's about growing up, being independent,making your own choices, budgeting and managing resources. Finding other places to I've and have new experiences.
Let her pick where she wants to go. Why not live by the coast, or in the country side, or try a new city.
Let her choose and then she can think about where to live.

Such a tough choice - you want to experience the full university experience but also, London is expensive! I went to uni outside of London, and my (limited) impression is that London universities don’t have quite the same feel in terms of student accommodation compared to campus-style universities. We lived in Surbiton, and my brother went to Kings in London almost 30 years ago - he lived in halls during the week but ended up coming home most weekends as many other students left on the weekends. School friends who also went to Kings and who started off in halls in their first year were all living at home again by the second year - it felt too hard to justify the expense, and the fact that there was nobody to hang out with on weekends! Plus the Kings student halls were really quite small and sterile back then. I think I would be prepared to give student halls a try for the first year so that your daughter has the option to experience it, and be prepared for her to move home :) if money is a question then I wouldn’t beat yourself up for ruling it out as option. Especially as you can’t get much more central than Westminster!

I live in Kent .My dd is studying economics and didn’t even apply to any of the London universities because she wanted to go away and get the whole university experience
London is not the best place to study if one wants the whole uni experience.
This meant that she didn’t apply to LSE despite her teachers at her grammar school encouraging her to do so
The right decision was made

Assuming she intends to practice law after university, I think she needs to look at which course she is most likely to get a training contract/pupilage after graduation..what about York? Different style of teaching, but a great base for getting placed post graduation.

I don’t think it is bonkers to stay in London halls but they are expensive, and are not exclusively for one London university only in some cases - so she might not necessarily meet other students from the one she ends up in. They can also be further out than you currently live so you’d need to factor in extra travel costs which she might not be paying now. If she would need to get a maintenance loan for that year I’d sit down and do the maths because that would be a lot of potential debt/graduate tax to accrue which is arguably unnecessary.

PP are right in that going to Uni is about independence so I think she needs to decide what she wants from the next chapter in her life and to go from there.

Same here. And I was so pleased she wanted to spread her wings and go up north closer to where I'm from. Hers and our bank balance are far better for it also.

We are London and I heavily counselled my DC to go out of London for uni. Doing it here is just not the same at all.

We live in LOndon and it never occurred to either of our DC to apply to London universities.

If you can afford it then do it. I got more from living away than I did from the education at uni!

I think uni about is about a lot more than the degree - and I think there are better places to go than London (or indeed your home city in general) with regard to student experience.

I stayed in London for mine; first year in halls, second and third years at home (didn't plan that when I started, but it shows the lower level of friendships I made because I came home so regularly in Y1) - I bitterly regret that I never experienced life in another city.

Isn't Bristol one of the best unis for law?

Our born-and-bred DD intends to go to uni out of London too, because she wants the full uni experience – i.e., living far from home, out of her comfort zone, being more independent.

I stayed at home for uni, for my three years. A little part of me always regretted not going away to a new city. There were times that lack of moving out etc really caught up with me. For example, I didn’t live with anybody else until I got married at 28, and it was really hard for me at first to learn how to just not be with my parents! I don’t drink or party though so I don’t regret not having that experience but it was the making of my now DH as he was very reserved and quiet at home with no friends. He came back from uni with a buzzing social circle and lots of confidence and still has a lot of those friends a decade on. (And a first, so he still worked I promise!)

I did sociology which is offered everywhere too, so I can resonate with the not wanting to disregard too unis in London for the course. I’d encourage DD to see both London and elsewhere and really talk to her about why she would prefer to move away than stay here. Listen to her and support her decision. I had family circumstances that soon made going away impossible, but I never really had that conversation with my parents before what happened happened and I’ve always wondered why I never talked it through properly.

There an other decent Law unis not in London, so yes YABU. Encourage her to live elsewhere.

Part of university experience for my dc (and me all those years ago) was getting to know and live in a different city.
Sensible not to put all LNAT universities. It’s one exam and if she scores well but not over 30 unlikely to get offers from Kings or UCL as a none contextual home student. Average pass was only 21/42 this year - just because predicted A* x 4 doesn’t mean they will ace LNAT multiple choice and essay. Look at acceptance stats - UCL law is over 4000 applicants for 200 ish places. The student room law forum is good for info on lnat universities so you can gauge what score may get an offer.
Complete university guide and Times best for law rankings (I’d disregard Guardian)
Durham and Bristol are high ranked lnat outside London.
Warwick is high ranked none lnat.
What about for her insurance offer? Some well ranked RG are only AAA and no lnat.

Key thing is what your dc wants it’s her choice. I personally preferred my dc’s insurance but she went with her choice and a yr1 is adamant it was right for her and I can see that.
Is perhaps part of it you not wanting dc to move away (mine chose 4 hours drive away)

I’m a Londoner who stayed in London for uni (in halls though, and this was years ago so not the same costs) and I really don’t recommend it. I stuck with my “at home” boyfriend, went back to my parents a lot, and all in all got very little out of the experience.

I’d encourage her to experience uni somewhere else if that’s what she wants. Uni is a great opportunity to try living somewhere new. Durham, Edinburgh or Bristol are great options

My DC always said that the most insular people at University were the Londoners. As freshers, they hadn't much of a clue what went on in the rest of the country, outside the M25.
I think it's great that your DD wants to flex her wings and experience 'elsewhere'.

If she wants to go elsewhere, let her go elsewhere. London doesn’t seem a great option for a good uni experience, I’d want somewhere that is more student centric as a city. 5 of the top ten law course are outside London. She wants to move away and cut the strings, you should be proud of her for that.

That’s such a good point @senua and that was definitely me! I’ve never lived anywhere but London and for a uni-educated person I think that’s pretty unusual.

i would also wonder if there were more foreign students studying in london? Chinese, for example, who would be unlikely to integrate

Good point, and UCL says 55% of its students are international, with 11,000 being from China (largest number of Chinese students in the UK).

Not sure what London has to do with it? Most kids go to unis outside their home town/city.

Both my daughters went to York, I have no idea if it is good for Law, however they both loved it , made many,many friends and it is SAFE. Once out of halls accommodation is not cheap by northern standards but mostly clean and comfortable and you don't need transport. PLEASE take her to look around and see for yourself. Lovely place for friends and family to visit too.

In the Top 10 unis for law, only 3 are london.

so yes, you would be unreasonable pushing her towards a london uni when it’s (a) not what she wants and will deprive her of an out of london experience (b) entirely not necessary

are you a bit of a helicopter parent?
if my mum had been trying to push me towards certain universities I would have told her to Foxtrot Oscar

Someone asked about foreign students. Kings law course had an intake of c300 last year. Only 30 students were British nationals. It is all about getting the fees (I know this directly from one of the law professors)