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Students on campus at the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
Coventry

Unconventional Issue

Hi all, this is probably more akin to a personal discussion than anything else, but it pertains to the University of Warwick, so here goes:

I was just accepted unconditionally by Warwick for economics, and, naturally, I was very happy. But when i mentioned this to my mother (we live in the United States), she yelled at me for even applying there and kept saying that she would only pay for Cambridge, andmaybe LSE, regardless of my emphasis that Warwick is a good school.
So what do i do? I hate the fact that my mother will not stop yelling at me for applying to Warwick and other schools in the UK like Durham (where i was also recently accepted), and i want her to realize that these are good schools, but she stubbornly refuses...
If anyone can offer any advice, then i would be extremely grateful!
(edited 7 years ago)
Tell her that you will be very happy there. I am applying to the US and my parents are concerned because they don't want to send me so far away from them to a place they don't know much about, even if it's very very good. Explain to her carefully how great the university is, and tell her where it stands. My parents had never heard of university of California Berkeley, but I'm gonna apply there after explaining how great it is!
Students on campus at the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
Coventry
Reply 2
While I, personally, believe that the rankings are flawed for various reasons, show her this: http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=economics
Point out to her that Warwick has the highest satisfaction in the top 10, and is 3rd, ahead of LSE.
give your places to us, we are still waiting..... :smile:
Reply 4
Okay, an update.
I talked to my mother and she accepted that they arent, in her words, "terrible schools". But because she isnt familiar with UK schools, she isnt sure how to compare them to the Ivy league, so if anyone can offer insights on this i would be very grateful.
In response to the last comment, i am aware that my holding a spot may disadvantage other applicants and their chance at an offer, so as soon as i hear from my early action school in the US at or around mid-december, i'll withdraw my applications for every school but Cambridge to make room for other applicants, since i would be only interested in Princeton or Cambridge.

Thanks for all the help!
Reply 5
Original post by Josh.Lyman
Okay, an update.
I talked to my mother and she accepted that they arent, in her words, "terrible schools". But because she isnt familiar with UK schools, she isnt sure how to compare them to the Ivy league, so if anyone can offer insights on this i would be very grateful.
In response to the last comment, i am aware that my holding a spot may disadvantage other applicants and their chance at an offer, so as soon as i hear from my early action school in the US at or around mid-december, i'll withdraw my applications for every school but Cambridge to make room for other applicants, since i would be only interested in Princeton or Cambridge.

Thanks for all the help!


You Don't have to give up your places because you're aiming high. What if you don't very into Princeton or Cambridge?
Warwick is an amazing university and it's very good for economics. It has a very good reputation and as the rankings show, it's consistently in the top 3 for economics. You aren't disadvantaging others by holding offers, you don't have to withdraw.
It's a shame that your mother isn't convinced by Warwick but I suppose most UK parents wouldn't know what to think about Berkeley, Brown, UPenn, Stanford, etc either. Are you planning to work in the US afterwards? I suppose US employers might take the same position as your mother, i.e. not know how to "rate" Warwick and Durham. For what it's worth, I went from Warwick to Harvard to Oxford and didn't feel particularly limited by Warwick at any stage. Congratulations on your offers. Why not wait to see what offers you end up with before making decisions and opening this conversation with your mother again?
Reply 7
Original post by Josh.Lyman
Okay, an update.
I talked to my mother and she accepted that they arent, in her words, "terrible schools". But because she isnt familiar with UK schools, she isnt sure how to compare them to the Ivy league, so if anyone can offer insights on this i would be very grateful.
In response to the last comment, i am aware that my holding a spot may disadvantage other applicants and their chance at an offer, so as soon as i hear from my early action school in the US at or around mid-december, i'll withdraw my applications for every school but Cambridge to make room for other applicants, since i would be only interested in Princeton or Cambridge.

Thanks for all the help!

Warwick is a member of what is known as the Russell Group, which is crudely the UK equivalent to Ivy League, if you look up Russell Group you can see what I mean.
Original post by ed98
Warwick is a member of what is known as the Russell Group, which is crudely the UK equivalent to Ivy League, if you look up Russell Group you can see what I mean.


I don't know that the Russell Group is necessarily comparable to the Ivy League. The former includes 24 institutions in a population of 65 million and the latter 8 in a population of 323 million. That said, the Ivy League can't really claim a monopoly on excellence as it excludes MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, etc.

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