is this a mistake

I just asked my friend if she's looking at any universities yet and she said no. But I also found out she wants to look into some pretty far away unis but (friend) said no. I asked why that's stopping her and she says friend and I have decided we're going to the same place but don't know where yet. Obviously I tried to tell her she shouldn't choose her uni because that's where friend is going and 'we said we're going together'.

I said you can't decide that if you haven't even looked for yourself but she won't listen. She said 'we'll be sad if we don't'.

I guess I want to know if any of you or your friends did this and if it worked out well. I'm just worried that she's making a mistake. Were still year 12 atm so there's still time for her not to do this but I'm just worried about her.

That is an absolutely ridiculous idea to choose a university based on friendship.

You need to explain to her that she might not enjoy the same atmosphere and should look go around for universities herself.

Unfortunately, there is only so much you can say to her as she needs to realise this herself.

That's a poor reason for choosing a university. You can try and explain to her why that's not a good idea but at the end of the day, it's ultimately her decision so you can only advise.

It sounds like she's quite dependent on this friend, so it might be hard to persuade her to look at universities independently. Has she told you why she wants to go to the same university as her friend? Is this friend being pushy?

The likelihood is that if they went to the same uni, the friend she relies on would make new friends, drift away from her, and your friend would end up lonely and full of regret. There's also no guarantee that they would be given accommodation in the same flat/building, not to mention their timetables and locations of lectures may be completely different.

If she wants the best start to her adult life, she needs to consider which university is best for her and her alone, not thinking about what others may want.

Update for anyone who is interested. She has applied to different universities and is most enthusiastic about a different one to her friend and the ones that are much further like she wanted to