Choosing a university for wellbeing over prestige

[Agamede]

DD is academically able but has been through the wringer in terms of her mental health over the last few years. No one would ever know from meeting her for the first time, but she’s needed a lot of support in college around anxiety, hr autism, sensory challenges etc. She is thriving there, has made great friends and loves it. Feels ‘at home’ and included for the first time (after struggling to fit in at a selective independent school.)

She has offers for economics from Warwick, Exeter, Durham, Bristol and UEA. She’s ambitious and is hoping to go onto health economics or maybe insurance and will probably do a post grad degree. She knows that the first four are great options in terms of prestige but having visited all of them (twice!) she feels that UEA might be a better fit in terms of supporting her wellbeing. She loved how ‘normal’ and inclusive it felt, the campus and its proximity to home for easy weekend visits. We also have close family in Norwich. I loved it too, and think she is probably right (with a tiny niggling, what if…?). She’s has bit of pushback from her college tutors and comments from a couple of friends (not unkind) that’s making her second guess herself.

It would be helpful to hear from anyone whose DC has made that choice (or who has made it themselves) and how it worked out for them. Any thoughts welcome.

I know nothing about the pastoral care in any of these unis.
But I do have/ have had four kids at uni.
All I will say is that they have to be happy and feel well supported to achieve all they’re capable of
Good luck

My son did, started at Glasgow, hated it and adversely affected his mental health. Now at Strathclyde.

Is closest to home going to be a good idea so you can support too?

She should go with her gut, no point going somewhere prestigious and being miserable and ending up leaving.
If she wants to do postgrad anyway she could go somewhere more “prestigious” then - both DH and I did this after getting 1st class degrees at our more humble undergrad unis

Go with her gut-and honestly in my experience no one cares where you got your degree. Im not even sure why I bothered going to university!

Absolutely agree that well-being is the most important. The most successful person I personally know went to a uni that most people have never heard of. It's very common in lots of countries for students to live at home and commute to their nearest one.

Absolutely agree that well-being is the most important. The most successful person I personally know went to a uni that most people have never heard of. It's very common in lots of countries for students to live at home and commute to their nearest one.

I have no idea about the pastoral care at each one, but I would agree with others that it's better to be at a uni you feel comfortable in that one you feel miserable in. And the local family support would help.

And UEA isn't exactly the University of Bedfordshire, it's still a good university in its own right, even if on the current rankings it's below the others.

Admittedly a few years behind me now, but I am a UEA graduate and ended up with a City law career, and now run my own law firm, so I've done OK from them!

We prioritised wellbeing over prestige as well. However, when you visited did you have a meeting with the Student Disability office at each school? Walking around campus and it feeling normal and inclusive on an open day or offer holder day is more advertising than reality. She can also go onto the Student Room forum and ask current students about their support specifically for autism and mental health.

Remember she's not just choosing a place to study, she's choosing a place to live for the next 3+ years. There's a lot to be said for the gut feeling of "I feel at home here" for making good university choices, the same as for house-hunting in the "real" world.

Yes prioritise - but from that list I would have said Warwick although I guess I am a few years out of the loop now Warwick used to be far better support than any of the others

time for more research I think - the visit of only part of the picture - what data can you get, is the student room still full of useful info?

https://unifresher.co.uk/uni-prep/choosing-a-univeristy/best-universities-for-disabled-and-neurodiverse-students/

Yes absolutely - my DD did a year at Cambridge, struggled because of lack of support for ASD, anxiety etc, and is now having a much better time at Durham.

Thank you, that’s really helpful. I think being not too far from home will make a difference and Norwich is a city I can really see her in. I think she might want a few weekend visits home just to decompress.

And great to hear from a UEA graduate. Everyone I know who has been there loved it.

UEA is having more significant financial difficulties than most which would concern me, especially as support costs and I would wonder if that would be affected. My daughter at a different university gets a lot of different support from SDI and some of that will be cut back next year due to funding issues. Warwick has a really strong reputation for Economics and is a target university for employers I think, particularly finance type things, plus it a small safe campus. My son graduated from Warwick, but for Comp Sci. He isn't neurodivergent but his sister is and we all agreed that it would have been a great fit for her if they had done the course whe wanted. My husband did study Economics at UEA and loved it although he graduated in 1991 so a bit out of date! Although if you may need to provide additional support distance is a big factor.

Don't choose Durham!

I think you need to speak to the Student Support Disability department at the universities just to find out what they offer, including UEA. I do think being comfortable at uni is incredibly important which has to be balanced against potentially not attending the universities in the top 10 for Economics.

Hi, OP -

DD sounds so able that I think her enthusiasm for her degree programme will be a key to her success.

I am in STEM and an observation with my personal tutees is that those who feel pushed into the subject, or see our uni as second rate (because we are in the tier below COWI and they were rejected by Oxbridge) and themselves as losers, don’t live up to their potential. Stress is also a big, big damper.

Self fulfilling prophecies.

So there is a great deal to be said for UEA. Yes, it does appear to be one of the universities in greater as opposed to lesser financial difficulty. That could mean strikes, disruptions, contractions, closures. But the uni will not be closing inside of five years and Economics should not be unduly affected.

I also agree Warwick could be a great choice. It would be mine. If DD felt able to embrace it, it would probably offer a somewhat better base for moving on to life’s next steps. But if she thrives at UEA she will, in all likelihood, land on her feet and have good choices.

Best wishes to her.

100% agree with this. DD2 also did exactly this, had a great 4 years at a mid-rank, post-1992 university where she had enough time to represent the university at sport and to party! But also did well enough to 'upgrade' to a world-renown (in her field of STEM) institution for her Masters.

@user2848502016 made a great point that if DD excels at UEA she will be well placed to to PG somewhere more prestigious.

Our students regularly do COWI PG. same thing.

My cousin's son went to UEA - his incredibly academic parents reacted as if he'd announced he was going to live in a squat.

He now has a fantastic job working for one of the big London theatres, which had always been his ambition.

Also many (most?) employers will not be familiar with the minutiae of rankings. You'll always get a premium for Oxbridge and Imperial and a few others. But if you asked someone recruiting for eg, local government, I really doubt they could put Exeter, Cardiff, UEA, Reading, Newcastle in their "correct" order.

But if you asked someone recruiting for eg, local government, I really doubt they could put Exeter, Cardiff, UEA, Reading, Newcastle in their "correct" order.

DD (BA from one Kimpton Fitzroy London - sorry, Russell - Group university, LLM from another) is currently in the process of applying for a place on the Government Economics Servoce degree apprenticeship. The degree bit is provided (remotely) by the University of Kent.

My DS struggled with MH through sixth form and is now 2nd yr at UEA. He had an offer from Loughborough (not Oxbridge I know, but ‘better’ than UEA in the tables) which he turned down despite getting the grades. He’s flying at UEA and very happy. Like the others have said it’s 3+ years of life, not just some lectures.

I don't know about ones your DD picked but my foster son who has learning disabilities and is neurodiverse goes to Worcester University. It is a smaller campus so less people which is good for him because he struggles in crowded places. Pedestrianised centre so safer walking about, fantastic disability team who allocate their best accommodation to students with disabilities. The staff have fallen over themselves to support him. He gets a mentor as well as ICT support. They have a drop in support centre that is manned all day every day. I was so worried when he started but we've seen him flourish even joining in societies 2 evenings each week. He joined chess society because he could play other online if he didn't want to meet in person but now not only meets to play a few games but even goes out for a drink with them before he goes back to his halls. He joined a martial arts because he's already a black belt and you only have to interact in a 1-1 in most instances. It might not be academic enough for your DD but the support for students is superb.

Thanks so much for the replies. This is really helpful. We have set up calls with Student Support at Warwick and UEA and will see how these go, but I think UEA is a nose ahead at the moment.

I think I would be looking at what support services
are available at each uni. Eg are ther mentors or
counsellors trained in autism? Are there quiet spaces? Academic adjustments? Do they take autism into account when offering a place in hall? (My friend’s DC who is autitic has been stuck in a flat with a load of drunk, loud, weed addicts)