Sociology and French - how to choose which uni

[Gillemeow]

My teen wants to do Sociology and French at a university in the North. We have discounted Durham as their sociology degrees are very criminology heavy so that leaves Manchester ABB, Newcastle AAB (should be offered BBC via their Partners Programme) and Liverpool BBB.

On paper Manchester has the best course and reputation but we got a really bad vibe at the open day. It felt like the university really weren't bothered about people applying to them, the signage was rubbish - we got lost several times and the accommodation is really expensive and dingy. The subject talks basically repeated what's already on the prospectus pages and the students didn't seem particularly enthusiastic about their courses.

We got a really good vibe at Liverpool but the sociology course doesn't offer much choice so isn't the preferred option. It does do a really good work experience based module in the third year that I think would improve employment prospects. They also seem to have the best student satisfaction results out of the 3.

Newcastle is the current favourite. Lovely accommodation, good course, great vibe from lecturers and students (who had come back after graduating to promote the courses) and they went the extra mile by offering taster lectures which the other 2 didn't.

Teen is taking English Language, French and Sociology and is likely to be predicted A star, A star, A in that order.

We plan on revisiting the 3 unis in the autumn open days to give Manchester another chance. A few people I know said Manchester gave them the same "don't care about the students" vibe.

So I guess what I'm asking is, how important is the feeling you get from visiting a university? Is a bad vibe but great module offer and excellent academic reputation more important than a great vibe and good course offer? Should an employment based module working on sociological research be a big factor in the decision (Newcastle and Manchester don't offer this).

If we get the Newcastle Partners Programme offer of BBC what on earth do we put as our insurance? I'm wondering if we put Liverpool, as whilst their headline offer is BBB, their historical data on UCAS shows they have accepted CCC.

Any advice appreciated.

I believe Durham will prioritise disability needs in allocating colleges. I think sometimes when they do the initial allocation, people do get allocated to an unsuitable college, but a call to the right team gets it sorted. It's not the easiest university to get around, but perhaps a call to the disability team will be able to tell you more about how people manage.

In answer to what you put as the insurance offer if the first choice offer is BBC, it's not compulsory to have an insurance offer. If the predicted grades are all two grades higher, it seems very unlikely that it would be needed. It's also okay to have an insurance offer that is higher or equal to the first choice, on the off-chance that they are more willing to lower it. If the first choice discovers when results come out that they have more people who have met their offer (and not their first choice if it was an insurance) than they really want, they may not be able to take anyone who has missed it, even if they have got AAD; the second choice uni may have undershot numbers and so be quite happy to take them.

With regard to future of courses with HE cuts, very many universities are undergoing some form of restructure. You're probably wise to look at the size of the departments. If they offer a "sociology and French" degree then they would probably have to offer "teach out" if they cut one of the subjects, so that existing students can finish. However the problem is that as the department shrinks, the choice of modules may be restricted. If you're in the last intake for a subject, then by the final year, they will only need to be employing a third of the teaching staff they had previously (and staff who can find a job elsewhere will obviously jump ship as soon as they manage that, especially with the situation across the entire sector). They may not be able to offer as many different modules, especially if they are more specialist ones that the remaining staff haven't taught before. Lists of final year modules may well have a footnote saying that the exact modules offered will vary from year to year.

That’s fucking depressing 😭. I did History with German at Bristol 25 years ago, I absolutely loved it and my year abroad (studying History in Hanover) in particular. I went on to do a PhD in German History- basically a great excuse to spend 3 years looking through boxes in German archives and conducting oral history interviews! I feel very sorry for all the students in the future who will never get the opportunity to do stuff like that, all because the Labour government in a moment of madness in 2004 decided to make languages optional 😢. And then the Tories came along to decimate Arts and Humanities too….

Oxford degrees aren't necessarily more intense. Degrees especially for non-regulated subjects/careers are very different and broad everywhere, that goes for modules, assesment styles etc and so you cannot just generalise like that. Yes Oxbridge has more prestige and a different way of doing things with supervision etc but it doesn't make it more intense on its own. You'd have to see the specific grades and achievements of each student, the entry requirements may be lower for Sociology but it wouldn't on its own suggest a student isn't as capable of academic rigour. Some people don't go to Oxbridge not because they aren't capable but for many reasons, not wanting colleges or liking the cities, wanting a different teaching style, not liking the tradition and the structure. Yes you wouldn't see identical skills because they are quite different in focus and research but can be very complimentary.

Home Office Social Researcher here. I reckon sociology would be fine as long as there as research methods components. I did History with German, an MSc in Public Policy and a PhD in History.

@TheLivelyViper I think most people recognise the shorter terms and high workload at Oxbridge even if you don’t. Certainly at undergrad level. That doesn't mean the thousands who apply and don’t get in are not highly employable, but I think the style of teaching at Oxford is more intense than most other universities and you really would notice when compared to a CCC A level sociology student from Portsmouth - as an example. Nothing against Portsmouth.

It’s also the case that all these grads want the same jobs and there aren’t enough of them. Few law grads become barristers. Few sociology grads use sociology. It’s a degree to open doors and, guess what, all those history, politics, psychology etc etc grads will be looking at policy and think tank jobs too.

DDs friend works for a think tank and it took quite a while to get the gig. Years. Parliamentary intern, International Conflict masters, speaks 4 languages etc. Just walking in with a sociology degree (not that she studied that) isn’t possible for many grads. DC of friends has a double masters from Maastricht in public policy got he got nothing in the field he wanted. It’s really tough and thousands don’t get into the sector they want.