Is going to an upper mid-range university still worth it?

Having witnessed the dreaded "unsuccessful" message come up on my UCAS page for both my first and second university choices, I'd like peoples' opinions on whether obtaining a degree from an upper-middle range university is still an economically sound decision given the increase in tuition fees and the abysmal jobs market?

To give a you little more information to go on: I've applied to study Chemistry and I'm currently holding offers from Leeds, Newcastle, Southampton and Queen Mary, University of London. As I say, I'd like to know your personal view of whether studying my subject at one of the aforementioned universities is worth getting into £30,000-£40,000 worth of debt?

Thanks for taking the time to consider my question.

So you got rejected from your top two choices and you have 4 offers? How does that work?

Leeds, Newcastle and Southampton are not upper-middle universities. Put your copy of the Guardian down; they are top unis.

Unless you go to the big 5 then the next 20/30 unis vary in strength depending on the department. Southampton for example has one of the best engineering departments in the country.

So I assume that you would therefore be of the opinion that taking up a place to study my subject at one of these universities would be worth the financial outlay?

I'm slightly concerned about your perception of 'upper-mid range universities.' I can think of universities much, much, much lower down the league tables than those which are still well worth spending £40,000 on.

What's your alternative? If you want to make an objective finance based decision, it depends on what else you might do instead. If you've got a career in mind that has good non-graduate entry routes then it's probably not worth the money. If your second option is just 'try to find a job', then I think 3 years where you don't have to worry about the present ****ness of the economy followed by proper graduate opportunities is by far your best bet.

I don't really see that this is any of your business, but if you must know, my place at QMUL was arranged via the Open University's 'Openplus' scheme, not through UCAS. Now could you possibly address the question posed in my OP?

Why on earth am I getting negged for this?

Having witnessed the dreaded "unsuccessful" message come up on my UCAS page for both my first and second university choices, I'd like peoples' opinions on whether obtaining a degree from an upper-middle range university is still an economically sound decision given the increase in tuition fees and the abysmal jobs market?

To give a you little more information to go on: I've applied to study Chemistry and I'm currently holding offers from Leeds, Newcastle, Southampton and Queen Mary, University of London. As I say, I'd like to know your personal view of whether studying my subject at one of the aforementioned universities is worth getting into £30,000-£40,000 worth of debt?

Thanks for taking the time to consider my question.

I have been considering applying for a place on the NATS air traffic controller training programme as an alternative to going to university, but gaining a place obviously isn't guaranteed.

Out of interest, what were your first and second-choice universities?

It depends what you mean by 'worth the financial outlay' - if you want to become a research scientist, then having an undergraduate degree (to start with) is pretty much essential. This obviously also applies for other professions like banking or law. However, if you want to become an entrepreneur, it's not that useful. It really depends what you want to do with your life, or what types of jobs you want to be available to you in the future. All of them are good universities. If you're still hung-up on the fact that you didn't get into your top two, you could always play the risky game and a) take a gap year and reapply (which my best friend did - she declined her firm Warwick offer and the next year received an unconditional from Oxford) or b) go to one of these universities and then decide to apply for a Masters at either of the 'top two.'

I was merely curious; there was no need to get rude. But to answer your original question, yes, I think it is worth spending the money to study at those universities. Southampton is a lot more reputable than you think, btw.

Having witnessed the dreaded "unsuccessful" message come up on my UCAS page for both my first and second university choices, I'd like peoples' opinions on whether obtaining a degree from an upper-middle range university is still an economically sound decision given the increase in tuition fees and the abysmal jobs market?

To give a you little more information to go on: I've applied to study Chemistry and I'm currently holding offers from Leeds, Newcastle, Southampton and Queen Mary, University of London. As I say, I'd like to know your personal view of whether studying my subject at one of the aforementioned universities is worth getting into £30,000-£40,000 worth of debt?

Thanks for taking the time to consider my question.

The universities I was rejected from were Imperial College and Durham.

I'm not 100% sure what career path I want to follow yet to be honest. I am interested in research but I'm slightly put off by the relatively low salary and job security. All I know for sure is that I want to work in the science industry in some way or other.

Taking a gap year doesn't really appeal to me, as I have little money to do anything worthwhile. I'd most likely just end up wasting most of the year looking for a job. I think if I'm going to go to uni it really needs to be this year.

Ok, my apologies.

May I ask why you mention Southampton specifically? I was learning towards Newcastle if anything.

The universities I was rejected from were Imperial College and Durham.

I'm not 100% sure what career path I want to follow yet to be honest. I am interested in research but I'm slightly put off by the relatively low salary and job security. All I know for sure is that I want to work in the science industry in some way or other.

Taking a gap year doesn't really appeal to me, as I have little money to do anything worthwhile. I'd most likely just end up wasting most of the year looking for a job. I think if I'm going to go to uni it really needs to be this year.