Be prepared for some stressful times when your teenager has to make up their mind whether or not to go to university. Advice, however valuable and however well meant, only has a 50% chance of sinking in when it comes from parents. If that. So patience, in this case, is definitely a virtue. Perhaps you went to university yourself, in which case when you look back on those days, you need to remember that things are very different today – for all sorts of reasons.
Missing out on university could be the biggest mistake of your teenager’s life, and it’s your job to make sure they understand that. You could start by saying that going to university gives them the chance to find their own feet and live independently while still in a safe environment. You could go on to say that it’s their opportunity to meet all kinds of people they’d never have chance to meet otherwise. And somehow you should let your teenager know that a university education is definitely a financial investment.
If they need proof of that, all you have to do is quote a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers showing that graduates earned 129,000 more on average throughout their working life than those who chose not to go to university. To many teenagers, a sum of money like that doesn’t mean much… until you equate it to things in real life, like a semidetached house in the suburbs… or even a couple of brand-new Porsches.
As long as you don’t nag (or at least appear to be nagging), with gentle little reminders of the benefits of a university education will start to sink in until your teenager makes the decision that university is, actually, a pretty good idea. Now’s the time to start providing more practical assistance. Their school or college will help, but with budget cuts and policy changes, there’s no guarantee how effective that help will be… so once your teenager comes home at the end of the day, it’s all hands on deck.
These days, gathering information from university web sites and promotional material isn’t difficult – what does present a challenge, though, is actually looking through all that information to find exactly what you’re looking for. One way of helping your teenager choose their ideal university is to offer to help them by looking through all that information – but for only one particular topic at a time. But that doesn’t stop you from having a look at the other subjects, just in case you come across something interesting and useful. During the selection process, please do remember that even though you may have helped them decide that university is a good thing, the decision about which university to go to is theirs. Or so they’d like to think.
Apply to uni is a website that provide information to students on applying to university. The site also has information on the different type of accounting courses available in top UK universities. Information also includes student loans, UCAS clearing and student life information.