Why do some unis seem to have lots of threads?

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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, perhaps, that the emergence of ranking schemes, and the expansion of higher education meaning simply having a degree is much less exclusive, has evolved the preferred choices of the (especially affluent SE based) middle class.

In the late ‘80s, my (provincial English, comp school, lower middle class) mental hierarchy of unis was: Oxbridge at the top; Durham said to be next but tainted because it was an “Oxbridge reject” place; then, the red-bricks like Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol; then, perfectly respectable choices like Sussex, Hull etc. I had no idea Bath even had a uni, had never heard of St Andrews, London unis seemed interesting but off limits due to cost so knew very little about them. Warwick seemed like a niche, somewhat eccentric, choice for 18 year olds who wanted to study business (none of whom I had ever encountered) which wasn’t seen as a wholly kosher subject choice at the time.

In contrast, there now seems to be a perceived “tier 2” of unis between Oxbridge and the red bricks. Much of the status anxieties and assertions on Musnet seem to revolve around this supposed tier.

I think it's a little bit self-selecting. People come to the board for discussion about the typically harder to get into universities, or the ones requiring assessment tests or interviews, or where there are additional steps to the process (e.g. medicine and vet med). So if you have nothing to contribute to those discussions you stop checking the topic and are therefore not available to respond to a query about Manchester Met even though your DC actually goes there.

I was on a long running thread which started with a year group in Y10. By the Christmas of Year 13 I'd stopped looking at it, because my child was only the only one not applying to university and the discussion was just of no further interest to me. So if someone else later had wanted non-uni options, I didn't see it!

People also often go to WIWIKAU which has a much larger user base and a wider spread.

Yup, our son's experience too!

In addition to this, there’s the cost. £60k at an absolute minimum for tuition/living costs, so people want more bang for their buck: a respected course subject from the highest tier uni that your DC can get into. I think the cost brings a lot of anxiety into the equation.

Noone should be having to argue their choice to a school.

Parents potentially if accommodation costs and SF Issues mean there are affordability issues but noone should be forced to attend a location they aren't happy with

I agree with you - but it's a bit of a vicious cycle. Parents pick these schools because they send lots of students to high ranking universities, so they shouldn't be surprised to find that pushed once they get there. Lots of these parents are also pushing this idea themselves (see the very many thread on MN about parents who are horrified that their child has a non-Russell group university in their sights).

I’ve been on some of those threads. They’ve been incredibly helpful and supportive for the specifics of that particular place which is very different from others. Being on those threads is very far from showing off since we’ve all got kids at that uni. And sometimes the students in question are having a hard time (sometimes linked to the pressure of the place) and again, other posters can be very helpful.

Every so often someone pops up on the thread to tell us all we’re so up ourselves and this particular uni is nothing special. And then it goes back to normal.

I’m just curious though as to why if these threads are so helpful (which I don’t doubt they are), they only seem to exist for a small selection of unis.

People don't just use Mumsnet? An awful lot of universities have other "parent forums" on different platforms. For example, my daughter is at York. There is a Facebook group for "Parents of York university students" which is pretty active; in the period between A Level results day and start day, people were posting daily tips and information for new student parents; there is lots of information about things happening in York as well as general threads that are not particularly York specific but the ways of dealing with it might be (my child doesn't like the catered food, for example ). There is actually a parents of York students thread on Mumsnet, but it's practically dormant, and I can't imagine why anyone would post a question on there rather than an active FB group.

Or maybe it's just like the question of why some school years have vibrant WhatsApp groups (my DD's year) but some don't (my DS's - 2 years apart; same schools). It's down to the individuals that are around and contribute to them?

Schools publish their leaving destinations so it’s in their interests to want students at prestigious unis.
Some was more about them being awkward about time off attending open days to further flung universities.
Lots of school ignorance/misinformation about universities/courses outside England.

OP I think it’s just traffic. A couple of years ago when DD was in yr13 I started a non-RG thread for the ‘others’ of us to chat. It wasn’t anti-RG, it was just a thread to natter about the other unis- similar to the uni-specific threads, but all-in since there were fewer of us for each uni. In the end DD went to York (oops) and that year there were quite a few going, so we had a York Starters thread to chat- again just weight of numbers rather than anything special about us/the DC/the uni.

You'd probably need to ask the parents whose kids go to them why they don't start/comment on threads about those other unis, rather than putting it down to the 'status anxieties' of parents who post about the 'supposed tier' of unis that you seem to have some issue with. As a few people have said, there's good reasons why parents use those threads for more competitive unis where support and advice can be helpful along the way esp given the changes in recent years which mean its different to the system parents might have been familiar with.

Comparing it to the past when we were often pretty clueless but it was generally fine because it was all free and easier to get graduate jobs is nothing like the world today when they're getting hugely in debt, the job market largely sucks, and some career paths require being on the ball about entrance exams, work experience, essay contests and countless other hoops it pays to get prepped for. If those things are irrelevant to a uni/career, there's no cause to post about them, but parents are bound to be more involved now that they're often helping with the huge costs and in some paths, like law or finance, rankings can matter.

There's other sites with much wider spreads of posts. Reddit subs talk about the whole spectrum of unis but interestingly YP there are waaaaay more obsessed with uni prestige and the internationals are in a whole other league of having to justify the even bigger fees and walk the tightrope between only applying for top ranked 'elite targets' and getting ripped off by bottom ranked 'degree mills'.

wikiwau and uni specific Facebook groups tend to be where parents post about all the unis and issues from application support to where to park and what to do when their DC's heating has gone off in halls. That's where I'd guess you'd find most of the parents who might post about the vast majority of other unis. It's like the long tail effect - once you get out of the top 10 lots are aiming at, the queries are across so many unis that they're better off asking in those bespoke groups.

Parental showing off.

@SockFluffInTheBath - I remember your non-RG thread, I was on there myself. Very well done to your DD!

My DS got a place at Exeter but changed his mind and is now at Southampton.
<blatant parental showing-off here😂>

@ChildrenOfAlbionRovers well done your DS! I think DD was set on Aberystwyth when I started that thread. It was a nice place to chat and fret together, and I think most, if not all the DC, got what they wanted, which was lovely,

‘Supposed tier’ because one often sees these unis described as existing in such a tier, but the quantitative basis for them existing as a distinct cluster is pretty weak and inconsistent when you look at the various rankings. This suggests there is a strong component of perceived status at play in the discussion on Mumsnet.

There are also numerous studies on parental ‘status anxiety’ and educational choices. You may not use that exact term but it’s certainly real. Choices in very many consumer markets are heavily influenced by meeting emotional not just material needs.

Okay I didn't know this was a scientific study. But again, if you're interested, there are a zillion tier lists on relevant reddit subs and no end of doxbridge woxbridge variations so whether the quantitative basis for them existing is weak or not, they do exist in the world beyond Mumsnet threads and people use them to help inform what is a major life decision that will cost £££££s.

Perceived status is not some fantasy we've invented and factoring it in alongside many other more relevant factors needn't be about anxiety, just common sense. I went to a non-uni college for my degree and it took me 20 years longer to get where I've got and I'm still behind some peers who got their initial boost from the perceived status (and real world networks and opportunities) of such unis.

Despite claiming innocent curiosity as your reason for wondering about all this, it does seem like you think you're superior to the parents on threads about unis in that 'supposed tier', so maybe your answer is simply that the parents who don't post about other unis are just cooler and better and don't need any support.

To respond to your point about motivation, I guess I’m a little saddened that the red brick unis seem to have slipped down the perceived relative parental status hierarchy over the past couple of decades. A little unjustifiably so in my opinion.

I also find it intriguing that in the quest to get into the highest ranked university, seemingly increasingly as a goal in itself, some DC may be missing out on more enjoyable experiences at big city unis.

It seems like a lot parents treat choice of university like choosing a school by asking around and finding out where the "best" places are, without really comprehending how huge and complex each institution is. It's of no consequence that the physics department is a world leader in quantum technology if DC is planning to study history.
I treated it more like buying a house (and I work at a university), so we went and saw as many as we could in our "price range" ie predicted UCAS points and then judged the hell out of them. I felt that a really good sign was how much students were involved in the presentations on open days. Also whether any senior academics can be bothered to show up on a Saturday morning. You soon get a feel for which ones are just coasting on their reputations.

I don’t think they have at all. If you look at topics like “where’s good to study x subject?” there are loads of different unis mentioned, lots of discussion around various red bricks, other unis etc.

But there are lots and lots of good “red bricks” / big city unis, and only a small number of “top 2 or 3 in the UK most competitive ones”. So even though people are putting down 4/5 “red brick / big city” unis and eg one “stretch target” highest ranked place, it’s that one most competitive one with extra entrance exams etc that gets most talked about, as it’s harder to get into and people want tips / discussions etc. on entrance exams, in person interviews, weird college choice stuff that people don’t have experience of and which isn’t an issue at most places.

If people aren’t applying to one of eg the top 3/4 unis, their “stretch target” could be one of 10-20 other brilliant unis. So conversation gets way more spread out and generalised.

Hi @SockFluffInTheBath I was on that thread with you too, it was a great supportive thread even when DS was favouring an apprenticeship instead of uni. Like you I started a new thread when my DS got an unexpected offer from a RG uni (it was Durham lol - guilty as charged)

I think I was also on that thread and got a slight reprimand from someone because my DD wanted to go to Lancaster which is apparently considered as good as RG!

I think certain unis get fewer threads on here because fewer MN kids go to them. Certainly if I had an issue I would be more likely to ask on the Facebook parents page than here. I think the longest Lancaster thread I've seen on here was that mum slagging the uni off when her DD was too disorganised to book graduation tickets.

I do think MN kids are disproportionately likely to be predicted high grades, aiming for top unis and doing STEM compared to what I see in real life.

Thing is, whatever the students' attitudes, there is a broad element of truth to this! You'd be kidding yourself if you argued that getting a degree from Oxbridge/LSE/Imperial was the same as a degree from Liverpool or Queen Mary - of course the 'top tier' unis listed here are far more prestigious.

Some of it I'm not quite sure about - is Bristol really 'better' than Manchester, for example? And St. Andrews, even though they make high offers, isn't anywhere near the likes of Cambridge/Oxford. Similarly I'm not sure UCL/Exeter are quite the same league - isn't UCL super competitive?

Completely agree. I have no beef with the suggestion Oxbridge and LSE/Imperial occupy a true top tier. It’s all the claims about there supposedly being a distinct cluster between those and the big city unis that I find a bit spurious. I’ve studied at a big red brick and a couple of places ranked just below Oxbridge and, as such, supposedly ‘better’ than the red brick. They were all great and I couldn’t really see much difference in the quality of teaching, staff, or research between all three.

I think the Mumsnet demographic also tends to London/Southeast (look at how many thread there are in primary/secondary about London private schools entry etc) and so Unis like Bath, Bristol, Exeter are seen as somehow preferable (thus "better") even though, as PPs have said, there is no objective evidence that puts these above northern city universities such as Manchester and Leeds. Totally agree the cities are very different so maybe Mumsnet also tends to parents whose children prefer a smaller city/town but no idea why that might be the case.