Liverpool John Moore’s

[RockyKeen]

Youngest is predicted AAB ( works very hard to achieve those grades almost round the clock ) Got 9988877776 for her GCSE’s . This was working solidly since January studying 20-25 hours a week.
She’s got offers from uni of York , ljmu , Sheffield Hallam , Bournemouth and Uni of Leeds. She really wants to firm ljmu to do media production. ( all the degrees she’s applied to are media / film hands on ). She loved it when she visited , loved the way the lecturers spoke to her , the student work she saw etc Wants to work for a company doing their media in the future ( she’s very creative predicted an A for art al level and got a 9 at gcse). The others didn’t fulfill her as much when she visited . She hated Leeds which she though she would love and York felt too formal and at Bournemouth the students didn’t seem very positive about the cuts to the uni . She keeps saying she can only see herself there .
her sisters have studied whatever they wanted without my involvement , both at a rg uni . One did mfl and then a secondary phce and is a teacher , the other didn’t an archaeology and ancient history degree and then an MA in sustainable heritage management and now works for a heritage trust . I never got involved in what they chose .
school keeps telling her she’s selling herself short . She wants to do this undergrad and then specialise in immersive media or marketing for her masters . I don’t want to influence her decisión, I’ve always been very hands off in that sense and back when my older two went to uni parents weren’t as involved as now .
Part if me is happy that she’s happy , know she can’t keep the level of hours she puts in now forever and being a creative degree not sure how much it matters going to rg uni and at the end of the day it’s her who will have to do it and live there not me , but at the same time Comments form her teachers have made me worry . Anyone has children that have gone to ljmu or made th decision to go to a course that asked for lower grades ? Where they happy after ?
Does it matter as long as she’s happy with her choice ?

I literally was your daughter. Exact same predicted grades and wanted to go to JMU. School were going mental and even made me cry…I went to JMU, had a great time there, took advantage of all the extras and was very happy and had a great career.
for the course she wants to do it’s a good uni and she needs to be somewhere she’ll be happy and motivated.

My dd goes to LJMU, she started in September of last year. She loves it! We're from Liverpool so she still lives at home atm. But she's moving into halls for her second year along with her friends.

For a practice-based course, it’s often the case that post-92s are more established in the field and have better facilities. If she were planning on doing History or Maths it would be different.

How much will AI impact that industry? If considerably, I would very much be persuading her to choose a more traditional academic degree to keep as many doors open as possible in the future.

My DS got Astar, Astar, A at A level (in Art, Biology and Chemistry) and did an Art Foundation which was unconditional, and is now nearly finished with a Fine Art degree at UWE in Bristol.
Everyone (including his dad) said it was a mistake.. everyone.
He is on target for a first and has a grad job lined up in marketing starting in Sept.
They need to do what they love.
Rg are not the best for creative subjects (with a few exceptions)..'Modern ' unis have better facilities, often better industry links.
She needs to go with her gut.
Tomorrow my DS is running a stall at that school that told him to do a science degree!! For art based careers!

AI will impact everything. Including trad 'academic' subjects.

Mine went there, also after looking at Leeds, Nottingham Trent and Coventry for Graphic Design. She loved it and felt 'right' there from the moment she arrived at Lime Street Station (from down south) for the interview. It was 100% the right choice for her. Her time there was very happy and she got a great job off the back of it and is doing very well.

My DD goes to LJMU and she loves it there. Its a great uni and a fabulous city.

I never got involved in which uni she chose, other than attending open days and supporting her. Where she decided to go was HER choice and HER decision as, at the end of the day, she has to chose somewhere that she feels comfortable, gets a good vibe from and feels like its the right fit for her. For us, it was more important that her uni experience was a good, positive one and that meant her being happy and settled from the off.

Thanks for your replies I feel so much more reassured. She originally was going to do an art foundation course or graphic design. She loves art. However she we visited unis she seemed underwhelmed and anxious . We visited JMU because we were in Liverpool the day of the open day and thought why not ? She got talking to a student and decided to visit film talk and from there was persuaded to visit the talk for the media production course . It was the first time she didn’t have a knot in her stomach ( her words ) and when she called her dad that day she would not stop going on and on about it with excitement. She has not had that reaction anywhere else, plus she absolutely loves Liverpool.
She says she’s looking forward to doing something creative that isn’t art ( she still wants to do art in her own time, has not been able to enjoy it properly with gcse and a level courseworks ) , start or join a band in uni ( she’s in one now but it’s had to take a
back seat because she needs to put in so much work to get good grades ) and have a part time job / start a small business in the side ( she’s already has an idea ) and heels she will be able to balance her time well at JMU.
She also likes the attitude and friendliness of the lecturers and course leader who she has been I contact with and has answered all her questions and emails promptly , no matter how silly, in a friendly manner.
im not worried about ai or jobs right now. My brother is a musician and has made avoid living froM it despite everyone telling him
it wasn’t sensible . Likewise my daughter who did the archaeology degree having everyone tell her she wouldn’t find work . I just wanted opinions because school is putting so much pressure that JMU should be her insurance despite it being her favourite . Writing it all down here and reading your responses has helped me see she is doing the right thing for herself . Thanks ☺️

I did media at JMU and it was an amazing course. I graduated a long time ago. I just looked up my favourite tutor and he is now the programme lead for Media and he is incredible so your daughter would be lucky to learn under him. I couldn’t recommend it enough.

One of the most successful women I know went to LJMU.

I agree completely that you need to feel enthusiastic about your choice. Embracing of the opportunities in front of you is ultimately the most important thing, at least with the proviso that there are reasonable opportunities. That very much sounds like the case here.

I’ve heard that schools like sending pupils to the Russell Group+ universities. I am not sure whether this is simply about bragging rights, or whether they are incentivised. But your DD is not the first to come across this reaction and she won’t be the last. When it contradicts the pupil’s best interest it is simply wrong.

(I write as a former RG admissions tutor)

I don't know anything about either the course or LJMU but agree with previous posters that RG universities are not the best institutions for every subject and schools are not always best placed to give advice on less traditional subjects.
When my DS was applying for University he had an offer from Loughborough for a fairly niche engineering discipline - only 3 universities offer it. Everyone assumed Loughborough would be his preferred option as he's also very sporty, but in fact he vastly preferred both of the other places. I have to confess that I worried he was making a mistake turning down what would be considered the most prestigious option, and school certainly put pressure on him to change his mind. But he had sound reasons for his decision and he'd compared the specifics of the courses very carefully, so it wasn't just that he had a preference for a big city which I think is what his teachers assumed. I think there is an element of schools wanting to be able to publish the most obviously prestigious leavers' destinations but also sometimes they simply don't have enough experience of or knowledge about less traditional subjects and you're better off doing your own research.

I just wanted to add that my eldest daughter did Art and Design despite everyone telling her she will never get a job afterwards. Well she loved her course and on the back of it she got a great job that she loves and is now an interior designer and she visits people in their home for consultations. She LOVES her job and earns well.

Please don't let her teachers pressure her into a decision that she is not happy with. But I don't think you will. You seem a good Mum who wants her daughter to be happy, and her enthusiasm for the course she has chosen and the uni she wants to attend is really positive.

Good Luck to her.