Durham, York, Bristol for History - which ones to firm and insure?

[easterb]

The countdown to finalising choices on UCAS has started and DS casually mentioned over dinner that he’s still not sure! He likes them all (but not bowled over by any one of them).

Anyone with DCs studying History at any of these Unis with feedback?

Which combo would you choose??

Do you have a sixth form that offers lots of advise ?

@MeetMeOnTheCornerthe degree nor the university matters until you get through the psychometric tests and likely video interviews until finally the CV’s are handed to a real person for the final interview

Erm, yes I know about this, that's why I've replied

@Fabfabfab Read the college allocation info. Those who are dissapointed tend to only put all the most popular colleges in their rankings when the places are likely to get filled by 1st, 2nd or sometimes 3rd choices. There is an element of luck but it isn’t completely random. For the self catering colleges (apart from Hild Bede) there is not a great deal of difference between location and accommodation so hopefully even if they don’t get first choice it won’t be that bad.

@Denim4ever My son was at a state sixth form which gave lots of advice, He was told to have a range of offers, but if they were Russel group or not was irrelevant. His offers for History ranged from A star, A, A to A, B, B - all were Russel Group.

@Truetoself You truly believe all SMEs do this style of recruitment do you? They absolutely do not. Plus it’s so ultra competitive to get a job these days you will find the best employment rates for history are at the best universities. They take the smartest and often best placed to pass tests dc!

DS’s sixth form gave lots of advice but it was specific to every individual student. Some applied to all RG; others applied to no RG at all. DS applied to a mixture of the two, but whether or not they fall under the RG banner was irrelevant in the advice of his decision making. All of DS’s friends have a range of offers they’re happy with. There was no ‘blanket advice’.

On Durham colleges if your DC is interested in modern, self catering and south of the library on the Hill they are very likely to get one of their top choices, eg South, John Snow, JB, Stephenson. If they are STEM the location is fine.

Trouble comes if the strong preference is for catered, formal, wood panelled and Bailey eg Castle, Hatfield, St Cuths. Then there is a strong chance they end up with one from the first list and have to adjust expectations accordingly!

If you look at the 'Palatinate' online newspaper there are articles on how overs subscribed or otherwise the colleges are. Good luck!

DS is at a good state sixth form and wasn't given this advice. He's predicted 3 x A* and applied to 5 RG universities.

I have a child who's been through Clearing, in a very popular humanities course.

She dropped two A-level grades in two of her subjects, which was very unexpected. There were good offerings in Clearing on the day.

Our second DC is going through now - her course is less popular than DC1. I had no issue with advising her to put down the two RG unis as firm and insurance because I am very confident there will be options available if things do go a bit to pot.

If I had a child applying for Computer Science where I think the offerings are more limited and always, always highly competitive my advice might be different.

It happens when you apply with grades in hand. My son applied to York, Edinburgh, KCL, Warwick and Bristol. Got offers from all of them.

Yes, get that. The sixth form meetings were while they were still there. Incidentally, our sixth form help with post results applications after students have left

I note this with interest but I still rate the advice given by our sixth form.

@Denim4ever You do know not all RG are the same don’t you? Have you looked at entry tariffs for the different universities? They are not identical so of course most dc can do 5 RG if they wish. It’s very normal as they are not all AAA and above. Course and university matter.

And the relevance of that is? Public information is knowable and known. By the same logic the advice of one of the top state sixth forms in the UK is not going to be ignored. I just don't see why this is even queried.

It's wonderful that they were so on the ball and so helpful. It doesn't mean what they say is a hard and fast rule, applicable to all.

You're starting to sound like a devotee to a cult.

The advice of our bog standard small unremarkable nonselective private school suited my DS perfectly. Their differentiated advice suited other students with other strengths perfectly. They are all happy with their offers and about to start their exams. The best of luck to them all and I hope they all achieve their offers and go to unis where they are happy and can excel themselves.

In a similar boat @easterb . I thought DD had decided but having a last minute wobble.
I think the RG thing is a bit of a red herring tbh. Bristol has offered BBC. So RG doesn't automatically mean really high offer.

Bristol notorious for contextual/low grade offers, virtually all my local leafy state comp go there for this reason.

ABB not BBC for Bristol, but the point still stands.

OP good luck with the deciding - mine is still wavering between his firm and insurance (similar Bristol contextual offer as insurance, but he might choose to put that one as firm instead).

@1apenny2apenny Do you think these dc should be excluded from Bristol then? They are a bit lower in the league tables than they used to be. All those non deserving dc let in. Whatever next.

While I think the OP is being a bit optimistic thinking that assorted anonymous posters on here might help her SON make a choice (as the first comment has it, it's his choice, so why ask randoms on MN?) I think it's unfair for you to let your individual and personal experience colour this discussion. I'm sorry you had a bad time. That was, as you say, decades ago. Things will have changed considerably and the student experience itself is very different these days. I've never heard ANYONE describe Bristol as a 'bland town'! Bristol also takes student mental health extremely seriously since the horrible and very well publicised case of a student who took his own life.

You may have misunderstood the actual purpose of university, particularly for a humanities degree, which is that you read for a degree. You don't just turn up and expect the lecturers to fill a row of empty vessels! As for the idea that someone keen enough on history should just watch some middle-brow history tv series - come on. You sound bitter and as if you have a massive resentment against Bristol because it was the university you chose, where you went on to have a bad time. Do you blame a lot of things on other people or circumstances? University will, like so much in life, depend upon what you put in.

@GlomOfNit I took the post from @NewspaperTaxis to be a bit tongue-in-cheek and a bit of a wind up.

Well - for better or worse - the deed is done!

He firmed Durham and insured Bristol. (I have reservations about Bristol and would have preferred that he insured York - but not my decision!).

He’s also completed his Durham college preferences.

He still seems unsure/underwhelmed by the whole thing. Maybe just exam pressure or maybe a sign he will end up deferring and taking a year out in the end. We will see.

But for now it’s done, dusted and off the mental list!

Thank you all for your interesting views and thoughts. And good luck to all those with DCs yet to choose.

DD is at Bristol studying History. We live in York so it is a distance away but is OK. She had some big mental health issues part way through first year and has found the support to be very good. She loves Bristol and the whole vibe there. It has a lot of hills 😃

She applied to Durham but didn’t want to go there in the end as she felt it was too insular (although Newcastle only about 15 min away). And if we didn’t live in York she might have applied here I suppose but we’re less than 2 miles from campus and I think tnat wouldn’t have been good for anyone!

A relief I’m sure, OP. And excellent choices.
Best wishes to DS