Why do some unis seem to have lots of threads?

[MeshMesh]

As a longtime reader of higher education threads on MS, I can’t help but notice some institutions seem to generate far more than their fair share of threads. I’m curious as to why this is.

For example, there have long been ‘Parents of Durham/Oxbridge/Warwick/Imperial students’ threads, but no equivalent threads for any of the big city unis, such as Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, or Glasgow. This is deapite these having many tens of thousands of students.

Similarly, Warwick, Bath, Edinburgh, Durham, Oxbridge, St Andrew’s, and Exeter all seem to generate all sorts of threads on everything from courses, to parking arrangements on moving in day. Yet, there are less commonly such threads for the big city unis.

Why is this?

Is there less of a “showing off” factor with the big city unis? Do the kids at the higher tariff unis have more support issues? Are these unis more complex in some way (eg college systems). Or, is it simply a reflection of the demographics of Mumsnet and the uni choices made by their DC?

I think it’s a just reflection of mumsnet demographics. I suspect the yp of mumsnetters posting on here are more likely to be privately educated and that in turn is reflected in the universities mentioned on here (your list and the which unis have the most privately educated students list are mostly the same)
I also think parents of some yp with disabilities/ND or more vulnerable are attracted to campus or collegiate universities not big city.
I’ve a friend who works at a rural campus uni and their rates of suicide/attempts is higher than other universities. My theory is parents perceive it as a safe option as it’s a rural campus near a small quiet city and encourage their yp to apply who’d they’d worry about in a big city. Those yp need more support so parents ask more questions.

I don’t read the higher education board on here but from my experience of facebook groups I can tell you if it helps at all that Bath parents are much more helicoptery nutcases than Edinburgh parents - I have a child at each and the difference in the groups is bizarre

I think the demographic of Mumsnet tends towards Oxbridge, Durham, Warwick Bath, Exeter, Bristol and, as you say, there are lots of very involved parents positing kn threads. But I also see certain schools push young people to certain unis, without actually asking if they want to live in those places. My friend’s son Has suffered by choosing Warwixk because it rated highly but he is struggling with the campus and small town vibe. No disrespect to Warwick which is a great uni but you need to want to live there as well as study theee.

It's just showing off. My DCs are each at post 92 universities and having a great time.

It's because most mumsnetter's DC achieve all 9's at GCSE and A* at A level.

We never hear about normal DC any DC who aren't super bright.

There are definitely universities that seem to be talked about more. My dc are at very different universities. One is at a popular performing arts uni and the other is at an ex polytechnic. Both are in the right place for them. Both universities are excellent.

You forgot to mention that they’re all 6’4” rugby players as well as academics.

My averagely bright, not at all sporty DD went to a university that rarely gets mentioned on here.

One particularly snobby mumsnetter who lives in an ivory tower once said that her degree wasn't worth the paper it was written on because it wasn't from a top 10 university - I make no apologies for the boast here because it is relevant - 1st class STEM degree from an RG university (not that I think it being RG is important BTW).

It’s definitely the Mumsnet demographic where the average user is more likely to be heavily involved/invested in their child’s education and encouraging their aspirations.

If your friend's son is clever enough to get a place at Warwick they were also clever enough to ascertain that is a campus uni in the location it is in. It is not a secret and he would have had ample time to visit prior to choosing it either as an option or firm/insurance or was he pressurised into taking the prestigious offer by your friend?

DD didn't like Warwick at all. She said it felt too isolated. She didn't like York for the same reason and was meh about Lancaster.

Schools/teachers also have influence and often recommend and encourage and push the elite unis to the higher performing pupils and often look down on the non RG unis. It’s what happened to our DS and thankfully he saw sense and chose a top ranking but non RG uni, which worked for him - now a high flier at the UKs biggest insurance/pension firm in London!

I also get the feeling from some posters that young people who don't want a the type of job that pays the best part of 6 figures at entry level (law, finance, banking etc) are lacking in ambition.

Those kind of jobs would bore DD to tears. She is a people person and is training in an allied healthcare profession where there is a skills shortage. She loves the course and has really enjoyed her clinical placements, and will end up working for the NHS.

I posted on threads about one of the universities you mention, because it was already there and there were things I wanted to know about, plus the shared thoughts of a group of parents whose DC were off the the same place. Perhaps ironically, given some of the comments on this this thread, lots of us wanted to know if the traditionally private school elitist rep the uni still has was likely to impact our state school, average height, non rugby playing DC!. Good news is that it didn't and that's a message I'm happy to chip in with on other threads about it.
If ds had gone to another uni I would have talked about that one, or started my own thread if there wasn't one.
I do give a little cheer if I see my 'local' uni mentioned. It rarely is, despite offering some well regarded courses in some subjects.

was likely to impact our state school, average height, non rugby playing DC!

😂

Certainly there is an element of showing off, although what anybody thinks they might gain from impressing a bunch of strangers beats me. On the flip side, it's somewhere parents can celebrate their children's achievements if for some reason they don't feel able to do this in real life.

A few of the unis OP listed are at extreme ends of the country, so you can understand people wanting to be sure of plans so as to make the most of the trip. The collegiate unis are a quite different animal from other institutions, in application process and once you get there. They, along with any courses with admissions tests, genuinely prompt more need for advice and parental support, especially if you're not from one of the oft-cited privileged schools or backgrounds. If you're not involved, it must seem OTT but a lot really is invested in these particular routes whatever the outcome and it helps to have a community sharing the experience.

Massive assumption there.

Yes there was someone a few weeks ago posting about Manchester Met and only got about 3 replies. Had she posted about Durham, she’d have got 50. Bizarre!

Yes I also posted on a pre existing thread about one of those unis because it felt like a totally different world for me. I didnt go to uni, its about as far from home as you can get from our house and we'd never visited so i had logistics questions.

Now he is there i can sort of see why the theys exists. Its a very strange place.

😂

Just to add that a lot of those universities are competitive for certain courses and have additional entry tests / interviews. So the 'Parents of...' posters have often started to 'talk' to each other earlier as they are trying to navigate a slightly different application process together. The Medic/Vet Med/Dentistry groups are similar.

They are only 17 and not going with the usual expected choices isn’t easy.
There was a long thread the other day where a yp had been no to Warwick and several people implied she was being silly to dismiss such a good uni, it’s the course that matters. I can see how a yp can visit open day it tricks lots of boxes and they push down the it’s a bit quiet/isolated concerns.
Some schools push certain unis. My niece at a high achieving school in SE was telling me where her friends were going - Bristol, Exeter, Bath, Warwick, Oxbridge.
My DD’s choice was different to what people expected but she stuck to her guns and argued her case to school and me. Not all dc are as sure of their gut or ready to stand up to people/parents. Most of her friends went to northern unis within a few hours of school.

The pressure predominantly came from his school. Yes he had visited but says now that he put too much emphasis on where the school said he should aim for and not enough on how he might actually feel living there.

Haha

DD went to a relatively normal university for undergrad and is at another relatively normal one for post grad.

It didn't matter employment-wise which university she went to for either degree so she chose the universities where she felt she would be happiest at and has never regretted it.

I think there is a sense of potential students, schools, and parents having very different 'wants', influences, and short-term financial outlay in mind, when they are vetting universities to apply to. When I was that age, I lived close to one of the cities that is in the 'big city with a few large, good universities within 2 hrs travel' bracket, but one that doesn't get lots mentions on threads. The motivations among my friends were to join a good course, but equally as importantly, to be able to stay reasonably local with accommodation, social life, and work options that were not a big change from prices and wages that they had been familiar with while at school. Plus the chance to keep or run a car, at the time. Leeds, Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool (etc)...the cities are large enough to be cities first and university territory second. The others - which sometimes ringfence even a large campus - feel more town and gown.

I always thought that my city would be a great one to come to as a student, and I knew a few of the students who were a bit older and had chosen to do that, but my hope was to be somewhere much further from home, with a different feel that was less urban.