Hi my son and me are looking at different Uni's ( providing he gets the grades!) i just wondered if any other lifers had been to Uni ( or their kids / grand kids) what they'd studied , and where , and why they chose that Uni over any others.
Open days start this weekend , ( i don't know if there are any things i should be looking out for)
Reading & Southampton were 2 that he quite fancied , although we do have a list of 10 or so , so are trying to be open minded , although i think he likes the fact or not being so far up north that he can't get too watch Charlton at the weekends, i'm not sure whether that is a good or bad thing! any tips?
0
Comments
In academic terms your son needs to look at university rankings by subject, not necessarily overall - and also likely conditional offer criteria. Other considerations are first year accommodation, social life, sports clubs and so on.
Exciting time for your son!
Choice of subject is obviously the most important thing as he needs to be motivated for three years and hopefully employable at the end, e.g. Peace Studies isn't a great degree.
Then he needs to decide on a Uni, by considering things like would prefer a campus setting or a big city.
Look up league tables, e.g. The Times have tables for subjects as well as overall Uni standings. Tables are also available for student satisfaction, which are important as some very prestigious unis don't always deliver quality to the kids.
Also as many students end up adopting the local team for three years as a second team he needs to think about that, obviously.
I went to reading and had a good time, because it's university and you'd have to go out of your way to have a bad time. However, I was surprised by the number of public school types I met there and they were pretty annoying. Also it has a reputation as a bit of a weekday university, with lots of people disappearing at weekends. However, it is handy for London, and therefore Charlton.
My brother went to Southampton and it seemed very good.
Sussex seems to have taken a nosedive in the rankings since I left, but it's still a good uni with really good facilities/nightlife. (Though it is probably the most left-wing uni in the country, don't know if you're into that sort of thing).
Living in Brighton was great, and only 40-60 minutes train ride to London. When I was first planning to go to uni I thought living far, far away would be a good idea. In the end I was glad I didn't. It's nice to be able to pop home on the odd weekend if you want to.
I'd also advise to definitely go to a campus university. You don't get the same experience in a City U. Also, live in the cheapest halls of residence. All the expensive ones will be filled with twats.
Don't know if any of that helped, but best of luck
As already said, the subject should steer you in the right direction.
And I certainly didn't adopt them as a second team!
For my MBA I went to Sheffield and, even though I got back for all the weekend games, it was a long journey. If I'd gone there for three years I think I might have had to miss a few games. There is just too much going on to be gone all day. Having said that if he missed as few games for three years Charlton will always be there when he gets back.
*cost of living/travel/accomondation, etc - I went to Hull cheap as chips, little bit off the beaten track but not too much, meant the odd trip to Leeds to see bands, and made following Charlton at home at least more than a little tricky
*male female ratio - I ended up in Stafford Poly through clearing, mf ratio of 6-1, although my course was 1-1, not good
*distance - can be good can be bad, far enough to untie those apron strings, too far and its a real trauma getting to and fro, depends on how independent you are, good character building stuff tho
*course - aim for the top 6 in the topic of your choice, Hull was top 6 in Europe due to some EU research they'd done, and altho that wasn't my main topic it meant some bragging rights
*local football team..?
Really worry about the value of Uni for youngsters these days given the three years they spend there and the huge debt they (or you) incur unless they are studying something vocational or are at one of the top ten venues.
Many of my friend's kids graduated and then just went back to their holiday jobs in bars and shops full time. Great for customer service at PC World and Wetherspoons but not always great careers after three years of study.
Both little Grumpys are in London. It's expensive but easy for the Valley and they have loved living in the big city.
Have you considered just giving him £30K in cash and an airline ticket?
As others have said, the subject will somewhat dictate which universities he can chose.
I very much enjoyed my time at both universities, although there is quite a big difference between studying for a master's and an undergraduate degree. Nottingham was great for nightlife, and it is a big student city, so always lots going on. At Exeter I felt much more a part of the community due to it being a bit smaller and it all being close together.
I chose Exeter for my master's as it is one of the best places to study animal behaviour so it was a fairly straight forward choice, even though I had to reject some other offers for master's degrees in order to wait to get a place at Exeter the following year.
Choosing a place to study for undergraduate was quite a bit harder for many reasons. You are leaving home for the first time, and there is the whole excitement of getting away and having a great time at uni, that it is very easy to forget to concentrate on what you are actually going there for. I was swayed by simple things such as the weather, which halls of residence I was shown, which people you happened to talk to on the open day - all things that really wouldn't play a part in my future university life. In hindsight I would might have chosen Bath over Nottingham, simply because Bath seemed geared up to help you gain a career after you finished - years in industry/at another university/abroad. I found Nottingham didn't offer me any advice for life after university and what to do in order to be more appealing to employers, this was left entirely to my own devices. Even when I asked Nottingham for help to find a year abroad/year in industry I was told I would have to do it all on my own (NB this is not true of all departments at Nottingham, some of my friends took years in industry that were organised by their schools).
After seeing how much easier it is for someone to get a job after having a year in industry etc. compared to those with just the degree (obviously you can see why
Other things to think about: Sporting facilities, student accommodation, if your son is quite clued up about what he wants to study then you can look at the modules each university offers. Transport links. Cost of living (up north/out of London is quite a bit cheaper, so less debt?).
If I remember correctly, I didn't chose Southampton because it was grey and miserable, and all of the students I spoke to were socially inept. I lived in Reading a few years back (not as a student) and absolutely loved it - train to London in just over 20 minutes, so easy access to Charlton.
with regards to @razil's ratio comment - My animal behaviour course at Exeter was about 10:1 female to male, and most of the uni seemed to be that way... definitely a selling point.
I seem to have written an essay, i'll stop there...
3 miles from Kingston and Richmond. Lovely part of London. I'm from Essex so was just far enough to keep me away from everyone and be left alone, but close enough that i could get help from family etc if I needed it (illness in my second year).
Train from Twickenham takes 25mins into waterloo and then about 35mins to Charlton. Location also means good to get into London for work placements etc.
Biggest advice - get a job as soon as possible. Try the Student's Union bar as first port of call.
Do some work experience wherever as well.
To who ever said about the debt and working in a bar/same summer job after graduating - it takes time to get your career moving in the right direction and you don't generally walk out of uni and get your dream job straight away. I was a bar and restaurant manager for 5 months and then worked for DFS for 6 months before I got to do the thing I really wanted to do.
Also the debt thing - it doesn't count against a mortgage and is taken like an extra tax - you don't ether money after so you don't miss it. You as patents also shouldn't put yourself under economic strain - there are more than enough bursaries and access funds, as well as part time jobs to make uni life possible without the bank of mum and dad.
And then go to Loughborough
You will have a good time wherever you go but will definitely have more fun being on a campus uni in a decent sized city.
If you have any questions about the place, just ask.
He hasn't looked back since. He is the only one in his office who has no degree but he's earning the same money as the ones that have and my son is the youngest there by about 6 years.
I wont knock anyone who wants to go down the higher education route but for me there must be something real at the end of it not just doing it to pass 3 years and end up doing a job a 16 year old with half a brain could do.
I have no idea of the scale of these places , i think i'm down to park on site when we arrive , but it will be sods law we get there and they say we haven't got a parking space!
Are things quite close on Site to walk between , when lined up for different talks on an open day?
I get the comment people make about doing something that you're really going to enjoy , my son wants to take something with a career in finance , he's taking Maths , Physics , Economics & Geography at A Level.
University wasn't really an option in my family, when i asked my dad about going when i was a kid , he said it was for Bankers & Politicians so i started full time work at 16( i think 5% of the population went at that time , its now about 25%) so i know some of my questions sounds a bit daft too people that may take it for granted and the 'norm'.
Also let him get on the train and look around the place. He's the one that will be living there for 3 years, not you, at the end of the day at 17/18 these are the type of decisions he should be making for himself.
Also don't be put off if a place has a bad reputation. I ended up going through clearing and ending up in Hull. At the time I was a little upset about the whole thing, now I've got one year left of my four year course and I'm trying to work out how I can save up enough money to do a masters.
Also, bear in mind that as things are structured now most students will not pay back all of their money. It starts getting collected when they are earning £21k and is written off after 30 years.
Look at their website.