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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Original poster

How on Earth do you choose a uni?!

140 replies

OuiOuiMonAmi · 29/08/2025 15:46

It was easy for DD when she went to uni because her subject was quite niche so there were only a handful of unis that offered the course. But DS wants to do Computer Science, so of course every uni in the UK does that. There are SO many and we can't possibly visit them all (especially because we've left it quite late, gulp). We can narrow a few things down (eg. he wants a campus uni) but there are still loads of them... or SHOULD we be visiting all of them somehow?!

Plan was to use a ranking list to see what are the best unis for his subject amongst the ones he's likely to get grades for. But the lists are all so different! One uni can be Top 10 in one list, but then in the 30s in another list. And a uni that is towards the bottom of the list for subjects overall has one of the highest ratings for teaching quality and student satisfaction so how does that happen?! (obviously they take several factors into account with general rankings but I don't understand such a big discrepancy.)

OP posts:

Tinytigertail · 29/08/2025 15:52

DD looked for a uni that had a good reputation for the course she wanted and excellent nightlife, which is as good a criteria as any!

Original poster

OuiOuiMonAmi · 29/08/2025 15:54

It's so hard to find which unis have a good reputation though - half the internet says one is great, and half say it isn't!

OP posts:

SilverViking · 29/08/2025 15:57

maybe help narrowing things down.. would he prefer to be near home, or further away?
If it I'd for entry this year, then what uni have places?
Are there any towns wihich he would prefer to live in? Is accommodation cost a factor?

Then I would just do a plus and negative list for each uni... and narrow it down a bit more.

It may just come down to his hunch or preference, if there are no oitstandinf differentiators.

But the choice must be his.. to research, discuss with you and for him to make a decision. It's an important skill and confidence builder for a life and career that will require making informed logical decisions based on very limited facts being available at the time.
.

th preferable

StepsInTime · 29/08/2025 16:00

I work in tech. Look for a uni with good links in industry for placements, internships which will give him an advantage when it comes to getting a graduate role. Sandwich courses are the ideal.

Delphigirl · 29/08/2025 16:00

Honestly she can use any criteria she likes. She might want somewhere that is also good for her sport, or which is near the sea, or does year abroad, or is in a small pretty town, or is in a massive city … I would say go and look at your closest Russell group just to give her a baseline to think about and then a variety which fit her grade and preference profile.

OldieButBaddie · 29/08/2025 16:06

What is she into? This will be a big factor
DD for eg wanted somewhere arty and a bit grungy and fun so went for Bristol and Manchester, she was on a niche-ish course and the other main options were Exeter (too boring she felt) Birmingham (they offered her CCC unconditional which she felt devalued the course) and Leeds (she didn't like the course structure as much). She also wanted to be within a couple of hours of home by public transport which ruled out a lot of places.

Ilovemychocolate · 29/08/2025 16:10

I don’t know if it helps but my dd looked at Sussex, Sheffield and others but eventually chose Newcastle and LOVES it!
Friendly people, great night life, fantastic student facilities and easy to reach loads of other places.

luckylavender · 29/08/2025 16:12

Campus or not? Big town, small town?

muddyford · 29/08/2025 16:27

I chose my university within a radius of fifty miles, so it was easy to get home. Knocked out all the ones requiring A level maths. This was in early 1980s. Ended up at King's College London, where I was blissfully happy.

Decorhate · 29/08/2025 16:53

My kids didn't want to apply to Oxbridge or London unis (we live near London) so that discounted quite a lot of the best unis for their subjects.

I also discouraged Exeter, Newcastle/Durham and Scottish unis due to distance.

So there were really not that many left to choose from.

So between them they applied to Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Southampton and a few others.

AelinAG · 29/08/2025 17:32

I would say there are a few stages.
First, is Oxbridge an option? If so, that’s one place of five filled
Then, are London unis in or out of play?
How far away (on public transport) is he willing to be from home? That lets you cross off big bits of the country.
If he wants a campus, finding the campus unis within that geographical range is next. Does he want a stand alone campus or a city campus?
Then, which ones of those match his grade profile?
Is there anything especially important to him about his university experience? Work placements, study abroad, student support, year in industry, particular topics? Which of the unis matching his geographical preference and grade profile meet that need?

That should give you a decent shortlist to work from and then you can start to look at rankings for the shortlist.

For geographical preference even if he says he doesn’t care about being close or far away from home, you can get him to think of it like ‘would I study in Scotland?’ ‘Would I study in the North? ‘Do I want to near a beach?’ Etc until you’ve got a general idea

ColesCorner7814 · 29/08/2025 18:09

My DD wants to do Marketing, but not all Marketing courses are the same. Maybe narrow it down to where they would like to be (town, city, rural, near, far) and then look at the actual course content as it could differ a lot between the unis.
She decided on the advertising side of marketing, we then looked at the unis that did this and visited a few (still got some to go) - will probably have looked at around 8 by the time we’re done. Interestingly, we thought Newcastle would have been top of her list, but after a visit, the course just wasn’t for her (for a marketing course, they didn’t market it very well!)
Good luck!

Reallyneedsaholiday · 29/08/2025 18:11

Lots of things to take into account, but I’d look at online reviews from students, and then consider whether he will need to work to financially support himself, and whether there are local “job” opportunities, especially transferable ones - eg Tesco will allow students to work in their home town during holidays, as well as in their student town during term time. Also consider how he will be travelling to and from home. Does he drive? Is he relying on public transport, or on you to drive him. My own son chose a uni which was a very long, frankly inconvenient drive away. He enjoyed his experience, but it was a real pain to drive him there and pick him up everytime he wanted to come back, so set whatever boundaries in place before he makes up his mind, and stick to them.

PoppySaidYesIKnow · 29/08/2025 18:14

Choose one that’s easy and cheap to get to on the train!

Minkmeister · 29/08/2025 18:26

My son has just done his BSc at Newcastle University in Computer Science and staying on to do his Masters. Great course. Great city. It is our local university so may slightly biased.

Sixtimesnow · 29/08/2025 18:29

Maybe look at the employment statistics? I'd start there, then whether he wants a year in industry, course content, then maybe student satisfaction, then the location. Finally how much debt is the university in.

Sixtimesnow · 29/08/2025 18:30

Oh and rent costs and ability to travel home easily.

ThisLoftySquid · 29/08/2025 18:32

Process of elimination. Start by looking at her predicted grades and removing any that aren't close (in either direction). Then remove any that aren't campus universities. Then look at transport links and think about how far she wants to be from home, remove any that are too far away. Then think about the kind of place she wants to live for the next 3 years - big city, rural, somewhere in between. Then look at the course content - some might be more statistics and data science focused, others robotics focused etc. Also look at year in industry and whether she'd want to do that, some universities really push it whereas others are indifferent.

Also having studied CS myself I'd suggest looking at the gender ratios. CS can still be really male dominated and she needs to think about how she feels about that. Universities that take part in things like BCS Lovelace Colloquium is a good sign.

Starmoonstar · 29/08/2025 18:33

StepsInTime · 29/08/2025 16:00

I work in tech. Look for a uni with good links in industry for placements, internships which will give him an advantage when it comes to getting a graduate role. Sandwich courses are the ideal.

This. My DS did this and went straight into a paid internship on graduation on the strength of his performance during the year in industry, and was then offered a job.

Goingncforthisone · 29/08/2025 18:34

Pick a university table and stick with it. Pick some favourites - long list then short.

Check another table to check your picks aren't rated for anything poorly and capture any you've not considered.

PlanetSaturn · 29/08/2025 18:34

There’s not really a wrong answer - if DS is going to thrive at uni, he’ll likely thrive in multiple places. My DS also did compsci - to narrow it down (after grade requirements) he looked through the UCAS course outlines/optional modules to see if any didn’t appeal so that knocked out a few courses. We visited three (at our leisure - only one was an actual open day) and he decided he preferred a campus university so that also helped prioritise. I’d agree that an easy commute to home is also worth something. Before you know it, the long list is a short list.

agentic · 29/08/2025 18:36

DD made a huge spreadsheet with rankings for the subject, distance from home, whether they had a climbing wall and facilities for her two other hobbies. It was very complex, but made her happy and she chose well.

SisterMidnight77 · 29/08/2025 18:38

OuiOuiMonAmi · 29/08/2025 15:54

It's so hard to find which unis have a good reputation though - half the internet says one is great, and half say it isn't!

It depends on his A Levels. There’s no point looking at the top end universities if he’s not going to get an A in A Level maths, for example. Maybe you’ve said elsewhere that he will get that. You need at least three As for the top universities and usually one/two A*s.

Apart from that it depends what kind of lifestyle he wants, etc.

The Times university guide is the one I’d look at. It’s very reliable.

wonderstuff · 29/08/2025 18:38

We found unifrog quite good for getting a long list of possibilities.

I personally looked at places within a campus within 3 hours of home I had a realistic chance of getting into and then went for the one with most bars on campus. I think young people today have different priorities!

BrummiMummi · 29/08/2025 18:39

This is one I would put the different variables into chat gpt for and work from there I think.

ie what is the best campus university in a xxx mile distance of xxx for studying computer science

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