Parents kicking off about my university choices

How much would your plane journey cost? Sounds a bit strenuous to get on a plane every time you want to visit home

if your flying your probably only going home for breaks (easter ,summer, christmas) and things like that

I'm not sure of the specifics, but also consider air travel. Although I'm going 9 hours away to Belfast, I can get home within 1 hour using a plane (just a bit less regularly, obviously). I'd imagine there's something similar so you don't need to use a long train ride?

True

Ew Belfast. Just kidding, I'm from N.Ireland. What made you pick there?

@jessyjellytot14 coach would be cheaper most likely. But you should sit down and have a sensible conversation with your parents, explaining why you want to go to Lancaster.

Being part-Irish
Having an LDR with a girl from there currently
I really like their History course, and the fact they have some medically-related units
Good chance to get away from here, don't like it in Sussex a great deal
The place is absolutely beautiful and natural areas are pretty abundant
....the beer is cheap

It's just all around a good place imo

Coaches would also be cheaper, although their availability is questionable I'd imagine? If you can get one though aye, t'is probably cheaper. As a few other people have brought up, it depends how often you'd be going home as well.

Their history course is pretty good. I was gonna consider there for history and politics but I went to an applicants day and was told by the politics department that they practically ignore their joint honours students during first year.

I also don't like Belfast as a whole. But that could be because 1) I'm from Derry so biased. 2) Most of my old school go to Queens for uni. I needed to escape.

Yeah, availability may be a bit questionable.

Wait, seriously? Why? o.o I confess I never made it to any applicant days, is there anything bad about it I'm missing? D:
Ahah, makes sense. To be fair I feel the same way about London, everyone went there and I wanted nothing to do with them

No, Queen's is alright, I guess. Though I didn't like their first year accommodation but I'm picky

The "far away" university is Lancaster and the closer university is Loughborough.

I can understand and sympathise with your parents' position even though I totally disagree with it. This is your life. Your future. You have to make the decision that is best for you, based on your needs and what you want from a university. Your parents are just worried about you I imagine but even so they're out of line to try and control where you go.

I recently firmed Lancaster and went an open day in September and absolutely loved it! I obviously couldn't give you a student's perspective on the uni (whereas I'm sure many people on TSR can) but I can tell you a little bit about some of the various perks and things they have there general to the university that you might not find on the internet.

Also, have you considered ordering a prospectus? If not, I highly recommend it. It has a lot of useful information in which is easier to navigate than a webpage. Also look for student vlogs on YouTube... they can give an interesting insight into student life sometimes as well

I nearly applied for Loughborough but didn't. I'm the opposite to you. Loughborough is a 3 hour train ride away for me and Lancaster 40 minutes by car. For you, maybe coach travel could be a cheaper option? I've never used it in my life but my mum recently used it to travel to Nottingham to visit my sister and it was cheaper than a train fare.

But, bottom line, if you want to go Lancaster, go Lancaster, and I would encourage slowly and gently trying to bring your parents round to the idea of attending an applicant day, rather than just getting angry with them and having a forceful conversation. Show that this means a lot to you and in the end I don't think they would try and deny you going to Lancaster if that's what you really want


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YES JESS. I want to goto Lancaster. What course?

Says she through gritted teeth, no doubt
I saw pictures of it, didn't look all that awful to me. But growing up in the dirt-poor parts of the Southeast, maybe my expectations are a bit low

Psychology with study abroad
I'm guessing you'll be doing maths?

Cant you take your parents to the applicant day, and show them the uni.
Maybe that might bring them round a bit.

Psychology with study abroad
I'm guessing you'll be doing maths?

With regards to applicant days: I personally had three interviews at Oxford, imperial and Bristol and they all cost a fair bit of money.. imperial was almost 100 quid to get the trains.... But I asked my College's Finance team whether they could reimburse my travel costs and they roughly covered about 2/3rds. Check with the Universities, they most probably reimburse if you're from a low-income household (Bristol reimbursed me fully (almost 90 quid)).
Its worth applying but if you're not eligible for the reimbursement, it comes down to having a heartfelt conversation with your parents :P

I also had the same problem with my parents. At the end it came down to a compromise and I was a little smart about my compromise and I only picked one University that wasn't too far from home (Warwick) because the other close ones are awful. Anyways I had a good discussion with them which eventually became an argument and I said, I will compromise but at the end of the day, I'm 18... Yeah, probably could've phrased that a bit better but I'm not staying at home and going to a not-so-good University when I have offers from some great Universities that are maybe 30-60 minutes further away Just my take on it. Make sure you keep your relationship with your parents healthy

Regrettably, sometimes you just have to be forceful about it...they're likely scared about having their child going so far away after caring for them and raising them for so long, you know? Of course they'd prefer to be close to you in case something happens.

But if you have your heart set on a place - you've just gotta express that while staying calm and understanding they're just scared for you. Don't be a pushover, but don't retaliate, and eventually they'll calm and listen. I had something similar when I said I wanted to go to Belfast (considering I live in SE England...good 9 hours or so), but in the end I made it clear it was the best step for my future and they relented.