What course should DD do?

[Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies]

Right. Let me start by saying this entirely a choice for DD to make. She is my fourth child, meaning any tiger-mother tendencies have long since left the building.

She was supposed to go to a RG university to read maths in September - second teir as she is realistic about her abilities, and knows she wouldn’t have got into Oxbridge, Imperial, Warwick, etc. She took A level Maths last year and achieved an A star, but has found Further Maths this year challenging, and tbh, a little boring. She (sensibly) suspects this means Maths as a degree is probably a bad idea.

She is also taking Psychology and Spanish. She’s a little meh about Psychology, and it is definitely not an option for her degree. She loves Spanish, but found out most foreign language degrees focus on literature and history, which is not really her vibe.

She is very creative, and in in my completely biased opinion is fabulous at craft activities - sewing is a particular strength (she’s entirely self taught - working on a sewing machine she picked up for a tenner on Facebook market place).

Does anyone have any suggestions for degrees, apprenticeships, or even just an old-fashioned job?

How are non graduates “better” than graduates? In what ways, specifically?

How about Actuarial Science. Lots of maths but in a practical sense. Leads into being an actuary obviously.

@Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies I'd recommend looking on the UCAS website because it collates all the courses together, she can put specific filters on and then look at various courses but also specific elements of the course. Especially as at university, many courses differ greatly on teaching style and modules based on the lecturers (even with accredited/regulated courses, the optional modules also differ). Honestly many people study out of genuine interest and even if they don't directly go into that field, the skills you learn from critically examining information, writing persuasive essays, presentations etc will always be useful. The same goes for knowledge, which is always useful and if someone wants to study out of genuine passion, it will always have benefits for them.

I wouldn't recommend it. It's a specialized degree, and OP's DD is creative.

https://royal-needlework.org.uk/degree/

Loughborough has a lot of Art & design courses, including textile design with work placement year, fashion design and others:

https://search.lboro.ac.uk/s/search.html?query=textile+design&collection=loughborough-courses

Hi, OP -

Given your DD’s talents for Maths and sewing, exploring the possibility of a degree and career in some type of design related field seems like a great idea. As a former RG STEM admissions tutor, I think her A star in Maths will go a long way with admissions tutors on Design orientated FY programmes.

She should have a good range of options. Generally, I think the design world is quite competitive, so an aspirational application or two would be a good idea if DD is thinking of a career in the field.

Costume design would be one great option; fashion design seems to me to be another. I am sure there are more. This is an exciting field for someone with DD’s talents.

If DD doesn’t get anywhere working backwards from thinking about a career, I hope she will take a gap year to think more about what she wants (while doing interesting and/or useful things). IMO many more should.

Best wishes to her

Has she considered architecture if she has both the creative and mathsy side to her?

Computer science?

I also wondered about architecture, @Colinfromaccounts , but it seems DD may have already found her passion.

I also thought PP’s suggestion of a careers counsellor was good

What about linguistics? A background in maths and languages wld be v useful.

eg www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/linguistics-ba-hons

Again. Thanks for all the suggestions. I think there are some really interesting ideas. Ultimately though, it’s on DD. Hopefully I’ll be able to update in a few months!

Architecture?

Oh , I should have RTFT. Interesting several of us think this, mind.

Great ideas but high achieving design students applying to eg Loughborough require portfolios.

All very worthy - and of course every parent wants their kid to enjoy their career - but… has she thought about the type of lifestyle she’d like and what she’d need to earn to achieve it? She then needs to look at what she can realistically expect to earn in different fields.

You only have to look at the numerous threads by disillusioned women on here who
drifted into low paying jobs after university and now bemoan their poverty to see the dangers in not thinking about this early on.

Even for a FY?

PS @Piggywaspushed it seems clear that the DD will need background in Design such as an FY before she can do any kind of good degree in the field.

Yup!

Do you leave near to somewhere that has high end tailors? Wonder whether they might give her useful experience while she's finding her way.

Wow, thanks. In STEM which is what I k ow a valid use of FY is for talented YP to change fields when they have a late change of heart.

How can someone move into Design late? Must they take a gap year to create a portfolio? Is some FE advisable?

PS It says something about the British system that age 18 or so is ‘late’.

But a FY in art and design isn't like the foundation years of a degree. It's a completely separate, long established system. Often students have quite unconventional qualifications on paper. They might (not always) have lowish A level grades but a very specific talent. The entrance to these FYs is based far more often on portfolios and interviews, far more than in degree level courses. There are also a range of providers for FYs.

In some fields you generally can't/don't proceed to a degree without having done a FY first. It's a prerequisite.

In short, a portfolio is more important for FYs!

I'd go for an art foundation year to explore that more and have options to apply for design courses next year

Have a gap year. This will give your DD time and space to think things through.

She could go out to Spain and use her Spanish skills. My DD did workaway in Germany during a gap year and ended up changing degree direction completely and even took 'with German' as part of her degree even though she had not done A level German. Her 'with part' was more business/political German rather than literature. She loved that part of her degree.

https://www.workaway.info/en/hostlist?hidden=&showMoreOptions=0&search=&lang=en&workawayer_capacity=0&languages=&date_start=&date_end=&min_stay=&host_rating=0&country=ES&region=&gnid=303&lat=&lon=&ct=&savedSearchId=&previousSavedSearchId=&distance=

Yes, I get that now thanks. How are tou meant to proceed if you only come to this realisation age 18 or later?