UK Colleges and Universities [Archive]

Finnxeon

Nov 26, 2006, 09:07 PM

jonharris200

Nov 26, 2006, 09:18 PM

There are so many to choose from, so it will help if you can give more detail as to what you are after. In particular:

1. What subject to you want to study (I think our UK courses are more specific, whereas in the US it's more broad)?
2. What do you mean by 'good' schools? Are you talking size, reputation, location, value for money, or what?

Finally, be aware that what you in the US call 'schools' we in the UK call 'universities' or 'colleges'. To someone in the UK, 'school' is where you are at from the ages of about 5-18. The US and UK education systems, from my limited understanding, are very different and can be hard to compare as a result.

AppleMatt

Nov 26, 2006, 09:28 PM

How old are you? And what field do you wish to study?

AppleMatt

SMM

Nov 26, 2006, 09:44 PM

I commend you for your choice. I doubt if any education system can bear Great Britain for providing a classical education. My friend Alan is an assistant headmaster at what we would call a high school. Their term is different, maybe it is a comprehensive school. During my visits with Alan and Pamela, I learned a great deal about their education system.

If you are going to pursue a general education in the Arts, you will notice that British children will be more familiar with classical literature than their American counterparts. Their knowledge of history will be different, but that is easy to predict. They will also have a broader view of world affairs.

However, good students will quickly adapt. I envy you. I wish I would have been as prepared as you and earned the same opportunity.

raggedjimmi

Nov 27, 2006, 08:20 AM

If you want to study something like animation, design, graphics etc. I hear Bournemouth is very, very good for that kind of thing.
Nottingham is a classical style university similar to Oxford or Cambridge.

But it really is quite hard to say.

I studied New Media Design at Manchester Met University and found it to be a little poor (old buildings and tech etc). Now shifted to Design Futures at Salford University which is a much nicer place. Nobody recommended Salford at first as its not as big or popular as Manchester. Wishing I spent all 3 years at Salford now I'm in my last year :o

Huddersfield University is quite nice, they converted some old mills and all the tech seems to be new. Though I only spent a single day there so I can't really comment on much else :) , but it's a lovely setting, lovely place.

FleurDuMal

Nov 27, 2006, 08:28 AM

I am currently a high school junior in the United States, and i am in the process of my college search. I am very interested in attending school in the UK, however, I am not extreamly familiar with schools overseas. I was wondering if anyone, either from the UK or otherwise, could make some recomendations of good schools(not nessesarily the "best Schools"), based on personal experience or opinion. I really appreciate all responces, and i only ask the good people of MacRumors because i value and trust all of your opinions. THANKS!

Finnxeon

PS Also if you have any info on the difficulty of getting into certain schools, it would be greatly appreciated. I do have a 4.0 GPA and am 10th in my class but if a school is very competative, i may not want to waste my time. Thanks again

Depends entirely on what you're thinking of doing. I know quite a bit about Law, Social Sciences and Humanities, but beyond that I'd merely be guessing as to status.

It also depends on what type of university experience you want (i.e. Campus vs City-based). That's something that many people fail to consider when applying for university, and as a result I know a couple of people who feel they've made the wrong choice.

Max Payne

Nov 27, 2006, 08:28 AM

Nottingham is a classical style university similar to Oxford or Cambridge.

I agree. :)

Allotriophagy

Nov 27, 2006, 08:33 AM

Nottingham is a classical style university similar to Oxford or Cambridge.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y89/jason_fritch/roflcopter.gif

thworple

Nov 27, 2006, 08:34 AM

If you want to study something like animation, design, graphics etc. I hear Bournemouth is very, very good for that kind of thing.

Yup. I went to Bournemouth - its great. But bear in mind there are 2 higher education institutions. The University is excellent for TV Production (which I did), script writing and Advertising and Marketing, while the Arts Institute is one of the best around for Graphics and Design. A lot of Brits who have gone on to work for ILM did degrees there.

Jaffa Cake

Nov 27, 2006, 08:39 AM

Nottingham is a classical style university similar to Oxford or Cambridge.Maybe Nottingham University is a little more 'classical', but Nottingham Trent University (where I went) can't really be described as such... :p

I studied Graphic Design there about ten years ago now (blimey). It was a decent enough place in a generally student friendly city, in the end I got my degree from there and got a job off the back of it, so I can't really grumble.

FleurDuMal

Nov 27, 2006, 08:47 AM

Nottingham is a classical style university similar to Oxford or Cambridge.

I get your point, insofar as the strengths of Oxford and Cambridge lie in similar fields to Nottinghams, but it would take a very large leap of the imagination to suggest that Nottingham matches up to Oxford or Cambridge in prestige.

By prestige I mean the prejudices and assumptions of the layman, rather than the actual teaching and research quality, which remains suprising consistent at any institution on the top rung of universities.

Applespider

Nov 27, 2006, 08:53 AM

There are old and new universities/colleges in the UK and it's going to be very hard without knowing something about what kind of thing you want to study or what other hobbies and interest you have.

Although I didn't go there (it didn't offer the course I wanted), Stirling University is lovely. Very well-regarded for certain courses and a beautiful campus which many universities don't have as they'll have buildings scattered around a city. Edinburgh University is also a very good one - although slightly tougher to get into the popular courses.

geese

Nov 27, 2006, 09:11 AM

If you want to do Politics or English, you could try University of East Anglia. A modern university, with a great campus life. Its English department is supposed to be one of the best in the country.

vendettabass

Nov 27, 2006, 09:14 AM

I'm at salford too doing internet computing! its great!! and real close to manchester (with two apple stores!!)

raggedjimmi

Nov 27, 2006, 10:45 AM

I get your point, insofar as the strengths of Oxford and Cambridge lie in similar fields to Nottinghams, but it would take a very large leap of the imagination to suggest that Nottingham matches up to Oxford or Cambridge in prestige.

By prestige I mean the prejudices and assumptions of the layman, rather than the actual teaching and research quality, which remains suprising consistent at any institution on the top rung of universities.

Don't twist what I said. I said it was classical styled, not equal. Even Manchester University (the main one, not the Met) is classical styled too. Traditional courses and that. Of course I'm just repeating what I've been told, I've never been to Nottingham University :D
Frankly I don't even see how people came to the conclusion that I said Nottingham is up there with Oxbridge. :confused:

I'm at salford too doing internet computing! its great!! and real close to manchester (with two apple stores!!)

Nice one! Do you use the Centenary Building on the Adelphi Campus? Thats mine :)

macOSX-tastic

Nov 27, 2006, 11:24 AM

i'm at loughborough uni. very very good quality of campus, teaching and social life:D

S

FleurDuMal

Nov 27, 2006, 11:29 AM

Don't twist what I said.

Oh calm down. No ones trying to twist what you said :rolleyes:

Markleshark

Nov 27, 2006, 11:37 AM

Never been to Uni, but I can say... Do. Not. Go. To. Preston.

It's shite! The digs as cramped, small and very expensive. The place is full of crime and it is generally not a nice place to be. Can't say much about the education, but it would have to be very good to justify the living.

Also, Paul 'The Judas' Simpson lives there... :mad:

Allotriophagy

Nov 27, 2006, 11:37 AM

Oh calm down. No ones trying to twist what you said :rolleyes:

You = http://www.faidutti.com/ludo_files/twister.jpg !

Dun dun duuuuun!

I think the OP really ought to speak to careers/admissions people at school/college. They will know a lot more.

robbieduncan

Nov 27, 2006, 11:41 AM

Edinburgh University is also a very good one - although slightly tougher to get into the popular courses.

Edinburgh is wonderful (it's where I went). A truly world class Uni in a world class city. Massive variety of courses (and students), great staff, decent facilities, awesome Student Union (when I was there one of the Union buildings housed the biggest lighting rig in Scotland!).

Attracts lots of foreign students (and the rejects from Cambridge)...

grum

Nov 27, 2006, 11:51 AM

I would say dont go by the overall reputation of the uni - find out the teaching and research gradings of the actualy department you wish to apply to at different unis.

Also, depending on how much you care about being in a good place to live - look into the city where each uni is. If you like cities Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool are all pretty cool.

And yeah dont go to Preston whatever you do!

RedTomato

Nov 27, 2006, 12:32 PM

Edinburgh is wonderful (it's where I went). A truly world class Uni in a world class city. Massive variety of courses (and students), great staff, decent facilities, awesome Student Union (when I was there one of the Union buildings housed the biggest lighting rig in Scotland!).

Attracts lots of foreign students (and the rejects from Cambridge)...

I went to Edinb. Teaching is nice enough, but the northern environment was hell for me. There's something soul-destroying about 14 hours of darkness a day.

If you're a northern type, fine. If you like your sun then don't go there.

Personally I wish I'd gone to one of the central London universities or colleges.

And Robbieduncan, are you seriously recommending picking a university based on the size of the lighting rig in their student union? (I think Teviot house is closed now anyway)

shawsinio

Nov 27, 2006, 02:02 PM

As has been said already, it really does depend on wat subject you wish to study. I'm at Birmingham Univeristy which has a pretty good reputation too. and the social life here is damn good. I'm out 5 nights a week on average, which doesn't leave that much time for work :o

Atlasland

Nov 27, 2006, 03:24 PM

FleurDuMal

Nov 27, 2006, 03:33 PM

Here's a pretty good list. Based on:

overall prestige to the layman
quality of teaching
reputation of graduates in commerce & industry

I'm not really qualified to speak about subjects such as drama or graphic design etc. Therefore this list is mainly about the more traditional subjects.

Tiers 1-3 are essentially made up of Russell group Universities.

Universities are not ordered within tiers.

The list is by no means exhaustive, and only my opinion...

Tier 1
Oxford
Cambridge

Tier 2
Bristol
Durham
Nottingham
Imperial College (obviously Science subjects)
UCL
Warwick (strong Maths & business management departments)
LSE (obviously, very well respected for finance/economics)
Edinburgh
Kings College London (Medicine)

Tier 3
Birmingham
Glasgow
Leeds
Liverpool
Manchester
Belfast
Sheffield
Southampton
Newcastle
Cardiff

Tier 4
CASS (suprisingly well respected for finance)
Lancaster (has a good management department)
St. Andrews
Reading
Bath
Exeter

et al.

I'd put Manchester into the second tier - especially for Law and, from what I hear, sciences. But that's just me being pedantic.

And no, I don't go to Manchester :p

Jaffa Cake

Nov 27, 2006, 03:34 PM

For what it's worth, Edmund Blackadder listed England's three great universities as being Oxford, Cambridge and Hull... ;)

Badradio

Nov 27, 2006, 03:59 PM

I'd put Manchester into the second tier - especially for Law and, from what I hear, sciences. But that's just me being pedantic.

And no, I don't go to Manchester :p
So would I, and I went to Liverpool.

raggedjimmi

Nov 27, 2006, 05:37 PM

Nobody feel like mentioning Saffordshire or Stoke university :D

Actually Staffs is supposedly quite good. Visited the main campus once, the whole place is like some kind of isolated university town! Rarely have I seen that in England. Pity I ended up getting an unconditional offer for Stoke :o went to Manchester Met in the end. Though with our rooms being upgraded we had to go to City College Manchester for lectures... excellent. Though it is quite a good college (reads thread title) it seems. And my dad teaches there ;)

Law is very good at Manchester.

Funny that Bristol and Nottingham should get mentioned in Tier 2... My girlfriend's triplet brother and sister each go to them!

Finnxeon

Nov 27, 2006, 05:55 PM

raggedjimmi

Nov 27, 2006, 07:26 PM

How very very interesting! One of my girlfriends brothers is doing Engineering at Huddersfield and the other is studying to become a radiographer in Bristol. Strange :)

Medicine? Kings College London might be worth a look into.

Eraserhead

Nov 27, 2006, 07:35 PM

NATO

Nov 27, 2006, 08:25 PM

Check out this (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/section/0,,6734,00.html) guide to UK Universities. It ranks them according to subject as obviously all Universities will be better in one area than another.

I'm doing Electrical & Electronic Engineering at The Queen's University of Belfast and i find the quality of teaching to be excellent.

adroit

Nov 27, 2006, 08:43 PM

One other thing that I would do (other than picking universities) is finding out what kind of requirement you need to have coming from an American school.

I am pretty sure that A level is a little bit more advance than US Grade 12. However, you might be able to use AP as being equivalent to A level (I'm not sure if this will work). I was interested in going to university oversea when I was in high school so I enrolled in the IB program (it is equivalent to A level) and that open up doors for me to go to where ever I want.

Check the requirement first. You have lots of time to pick a university.

fitinferno

Nov 27, 2006, 10:32 PM

Might be able to help you with this one as I have done this very thing. Am an American who went off for University here rather than in the States. First thing is first, if you can't get into any IB programme, sign up next year for as many AP classes as you can possibly take if you're not in quite a few already. The British universities will base most of the acceptance off of AP exams. In fact, one of my friends who did the same as me was told to take an AP exam he hadn't even had a class for! :eek:

They'll generally look for 4s or 5s for your results so having AP exams that you've already taken and gotten those marks for is VERY good because then they may not have to do a conditional offer.

Also, you have to be pretty damn sure what you want to go into. The BIG difference between British universities and American universities is that you apply directly onto a course. You don't have a year or so to faff about and instead go straight in. (As a result, the length of a bachelor's is 3 years instead of 4) Ex: If you were to apply to LSE, you would apply to straight to econometrics if you so desired. You wouldn't get a general acceptance, take a few courses and then choose econometrics. Once you're accepted into the course and start it, it is quite difficult to swtich to another course. Sometimes you can do it, but you risk taking on an extra year. A lot of British students take a gap year between the end of college and beginning of university. It helps them take a bit of time to get an idea of what it really is they want to do (haha, at least, in theory).

Another thing to remember is that because of the whole AP exam thing, if you do get only conditional offers and nothing firm, you would definitely need to have a backup school or else you could wind up getting screwed over. It's very risky as you have to wait so long to confirm things.

As for Universities, if you're considering medicine defintely check out UCL and King's. But especially UCL. They're pretty good at other things as well :) Oh, and Imperial is good too! For schools outside of London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Oxford and Cambridge are all great.

Oh, and the difficulty of getting into certain schools really is hit and miss, I've found. I applied to King's, City, Manchester, LSE and St Andrew's and got rejected from all except LSE and St Andrew's...which is bizarre (well, particularly considering the City rejection! The course I applied for wound up in clearing, which means they couldn't fill all the places and they were offering it up to students who had gotten rejected from EVERYTHING and needed to attempt to find a last chance place to go and course to study).

But good job on even considering the jump to UK universities! It's a worthwhile endeavour and it would teach you an incredible amount. Much more than you might be able to learn in America...but that's just my opinion of course :cool:

fitinferno

Nov 27, 2006, 10:41 PM

Check out this (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/section/0,,6734,00.html) guide to UK Universities. It ranks them according to subject as obviously all Universities will be better in one area than another.

This I'd think one has to be careful on. The university I go to is ranked second in the country for my subject and yet it's leaving something very big to be desired.......at least it'll look good on a CV? :rolleyes:

FleurDuMal

Nov 28, 2006, 05:14 AM

wow have i missed alot while i was at school today lol, sorry i haven't replied to anyone. well for those of you who were interested in what i am looking to study, most likely either engineering or medicine....i like computers and graphic design but i am not sure i want to major in such.

Thanks for all the help!:)

If you're thinking about Medicine, you should definitely consider King's College London (my uni), UCL or Imperial (all London uni's). Every med student I know from these colleges has nothing but good things to say about it.

If you want to know anything about King's, just PM me :)

EDIT: Oh, and if you change your mind and decide to do something which is taught at LSE, you should definitely apply there. They love foreign students there - mainly because they make you pay extortionate amounts - and it has a pretty good rep, and its not as hard to get into as some people think. Plus I may be there next year ;)

SpookTheHamster

Nov 28, 2006, 09:11 AM

For electronics, look at the University of Surrey, it's very highly ranked for electronics subjects, and it's in a nice part of the country.

I don't go there, but I used to live relatively near.

fitinferno

Nov 28, 2006, 12:29 PM

EDIT: Oh, and if you change your mind and decide to do something which is taught at LSE, you should definitely apply there. They love foreign students there - mainly because they make you pay extortionate amounts - and it has a pretty good rep, and its not as hard to get into as some people think. Plus I may be there next year ;)

Ouch! But can't say it's not true, I suppose. What are you thinking of doing here next year? More law? How is King's anyway? When I applied for undergrad, it would've been my first choice but I got rejected. Then they claimed they'd have a new Master's programme I desperately wanted to be in...but ultimately made it PT rather than FT and I couldn't take it :(

Yeah, if LSE is on your mind at all...I can give you the dl on it quite well...been here way too long!

FleurDuMal

Nov 28, 2006, 01:20 PM

Ouch! But can't say it's not true, I suppose. What are you thinking of doing here next year? More law? How is King's anyway? When I applied for undergrad, it would've been my first choice but I got rejected. Then they claimed they'd have a new Master's programme I desperately wanted to be in...but ultimately made it PT rather than FT and I couldn't take it :(

Yeah, if LSE is on your mind at all...I can give you the dl on it quite well...been here way too long!

Well, I've applied for the LLM at King's as well as LSE, Oxford, and Cambridge. However, I've only got my application in for LSE so far (thanks to referee's dragging their feet). I'm pretty confident of getting into King's as I'm there now and am aiming for a First - but, heck, these application processes can just come down to luck these days.

All in all, given the option of any of the places I've applied for, I'd probably either stay at King's or go to LSE (if I can afford the fee's). Oxford and Cambridge's courses almost entirely neglect the area's I want to specialise in - socio-legal studies - apart from the obligatory Law & Social Theory module. LSE and King's are the only two that actually have a large degree of focus on it. I know all the tutors at King's who teach my specialisation and know that they are all very friendly and talented tutors, so I see no reason to leave.

What you doin at LSE then? Is the student body as intense as the rumours say? My experience at King's has taught me that the quality of teaching can be pretty hit and miss. It's mostly excellent, but every so often you'll get a tutor that is more concerned with his/her grand research projects than their students. Also, if you don't want to become a city lawyer, the law society will make it clear they have no interest in you :rolleyes:

Mr Skills

Nov 28, 2006, 01:54 PM

I would suggest you divide your research into two sections.

1) First, work out which are the best academically for what you want to do (including advice from here)
2) Post your shortlist on this thread so we can all say what we think of them in terms of nightlife, atmosphere, cost of living and all that stuff

.

.

fitinferno

Dec 26, 2006, 10:27 PM

Well, I've applied for the LLM at King's as well as LSE, Oxford, and Cambridge. However, I've only got my application in for LSE so far (thanks to referee's dragging their feet). I'm pretty confident of getting into King's as I'm there now and am aiming for a First - but, heck, these application processes can just come down to luck these days.

All in all, given the option of any of the places I've applied for, I'd probably either stay at King's or go to LSE (if I can afford the fee's). Oxford and Cambridge's courses almost entirely neglect the area's I want to specialise in - socio-legal studies - apart from the obligatory Law & Social Theory module. LSE and King's are the only two that actually have a large degree of focus on it. I know all the tutors at King's who teach my specialisation and know that they are all very friendly and talented tutors, so I see no reason to leave.

What you doin at LSE then? Is the student body as intense as the rumours say? My experience at King's has taught me that the quality of teaching can be pretty hit and miss. It's mostly excellent, but every so often you'll get a tutor that is more concerned with his/her grand research projects than their students. Also, if you don't want to become a city lawyer, the law society will make it clear they have no interest in you :rolleyes:

Wow, I'm sorry, I totally let this go for a way long time. Haven't been logged into MR for a bit w/last minute essays, skiing and holidays! I'm doing Environmental Policy and Regulation here. And the student body is pretty intense, but there are definitely variations. The most intense you'll get are the hardcore econ people, but the social science people can wind up being pretty laid back. Can hear you well on King's quality of teaching, we get pretty much the same. Same thing w/some of our societies...it can be pretty disheartening at times.

Good luck w/your applications! Hope you're able to get into what you want. And yeah, the staying on at King's probably could make things a whole lot easier, especially when you need references for a job (lol, yeah, all LSE ppl are job-focused for some reason). ;)

Finnxeon

Mar 9, 2008, 08:16 PM

OK, so much has happened in the last year! I thought it would be good to give everyone a little update in my college search. I want to thank everybody again for all your guidance, and I am serious when I say that I really do appreciate it.

I have been offered a place at The University Of Manchester for this coming fall in a four year honors master degree programme for Biomedical Engineering!

I was also accepted to Newcastle University and awarded a 1500 pound scholarship, as well as the University of Westminster (where my grandfather studied). Most likely i will accept the offer from the University of Manchester however. I am so excited!

Thanks again!

Cromulent

Mar 9, 2008, 09:13 PM

For electronics, look at the University of Surrey, it's very highly ranked for electronics subjects, and it's in a nice part of the country.

I don't go there, but I used to live relatively near.

I live pretty close to Guildford and can say it is a nice area. Very easy to get to London as well. Just be prepared for the expensive night life. £3 a pint is not uncommon ($6 roughly).

ShaunPriest

Mar 9, 2008, 09:30 PM

Here's a pretty good list. Based on:

overall prestige to the layman
quality of teaching
reputation of graduates in commerce & industry

I'm not really qualified to speak about subjects such as drama or graphic design etc. Therefore this list is mainly about the more traditional subjects.

Tiers 1-3 are essentially made up of Russell group Universities.

Universities are not ordered within tiers.

The list is by no means exhaustive, and only my opinion...

Tier 1
Oxford
Cambridge

Tier 2
Bristol
Durham
Nottingham
Imperial College (obviously Science subjects)
UCL
Warwick (strong Maths & business management departments)
LSE (obviously, very well respected for finance/economics)
Edinburgh
Kings College London (Medicine)

Tier 3
Birmingham
Glasgow
Leeds
Liverpool
Manchester
Belfast
Sheffield
Southampton
Newcastle
Cardiff

Tier 4
CASS (suprisingly well respected for finance)
Lancaster (has a good management department)
St. Andrews
Reading
Bath
Exeter

et al.

Glasgow should definitely be in Tier 2!

The University of Glasgow (Scottish Gaelic: Oilthigh Ghlaschu) was founded in 1451, in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a renowned centre for teaching and research, with an international reputation, being one of the ancient universities of Scotland, the fourth oldest in the English-speaking world and amongst the largest, and most prestigious seats of learning in the United Kingdom.[4][5] The University has recently been named the Sunday Times Scottish University of the Year, 2007/2008.

Patmian212

Mar 9, 2008, 10:17 PM

No one take offense to what I am about to post, as I go to a university like this as well.

Usually if the world "Metropolitan" is in the name of the university it is a second rate school. It would have been an old polytechnic converted into a university. When I say second rate, I do not necessarily mean the education is bad but usually the campuses are spread out around the city and old and falling apart. If you look at the ranking you will also not see any "Metropolitan" university anywhere near the top. I go to UWIC myself, Cardiff's metropolitan university. I HATE it, in fact I hate it so much I got amazing grades and am transferring back to a decent school in the US ASAP. STAY AWAY FROM UWIC!!!

PS: The tier 3 and 4 schools mentioned in the list on top are still EXCELLENT universities and I dont know if there even is a difference between tier 3 or 4, maybe even two. . . All those schools listed are great.

PSS: St. Andrews is definitely a VERY HIGH tier 2 school, considering their entrance standards

Rodimus Prime

Mar 9, 2008, 10:42 PM

A question that I have not seen an answer to is why do you want to go to the UK for school.

Stardotboy

Mar 10, 2008, 07:55 AM

Conrgatulations on getting your place at Manchester - I'm sure you'll enjoy it, it's a fantastic city to live and study in. I went there myself and now 4 years after graduating I'm still here!

SpaceMagic

Mar 10, 2008, 09:24 AM

Here's a pretty good list. Based on:

overall prestige to the layman
quality of teaching
reputation of graduates in commerce & industry

I'm not really qualified to speak about subjects such as drama or graphic design etc. Therefore this list is mainly about the more traditional subjects.

Tiers 1-3 are essentially made up of Russell group Universities.

Universities are not ordered within tiers.

The list is by no means exhaustive, and only my opinion...

Tier 1
Oxford
Cambridge

Tier 2
Bristol
Durham
Nottingham
Imperial College (obviously Science subjects)
UCL
Warwick (strong Maths & business management departments)
LSE (obviously, very well respected for finance/economics)
Edinburgh
Kings College London (Medicine)

Tier 3
Birmingham
Glasgow
Leeds
Liverpool
Manchester
Belfast
Sheffield
Southampton
Newcastle
Cardiff

Tier 4
CASS (suprisingly well respected for finance)
Lancaster (has a good management department)
St. Andrews
Reading
Bath
Exeter

et al.

Think everyone could argue about this for hours. I go to Bath and as it is number 9 in the UK overall, I would have to put it in Tier 2... but then, like I said, we could argue forever.

However... a lot of Americans go to St. Andrews and love it. You get to go to a top ten university, built into a real castle, near some of the most beautiful countryside in the world. Plus you can play Golf and.. like all top 15 UK unis (including Bath ;) job prospects are fantastic.

Naturally, if you can get into our Cambridge and Oxford, it says a lot on the Resume. Not for everyone though as the work is tough.

richardjames

Mar 10, 2008, 03:44 PM

Conrgatulations on getting your place at Manchester - I'm sure you'll enjoy it, it's a fantastic city to live and study in. I went there myself and now 4 years after graduating I'm still here!

Similar here. I went to Manchester to study Computer Science (they have a very well respected computer science department). I am still loving Manchester two years after graduating. It is a lively city with lots to do, you are going to enjoy it!

nw43

Mar 10, 2008, 06:41 PM

For what it's worth, Edmund Blackadder listed England's three great universities as being Oxford, Cambridge and Hull... ;)

I think you'll find only two of those are great universities...;)

(your turn now...)

iShak

Mar 10, 2008, 06:46 PM

For electronics, look at the University of Surrey, it's very highly ranked for electronics subjects, and it's in a nice part of the country.

I don't go there, but I used to live relatively near.

I am currently at University of Surrey .. doing Computer science and engineering .. we have one of the highest placement and employment rate in UK. Very good university and beautiful campus.

Marble

Mar 10, 2008, 07:22 PM

I'll be crossing the Atlantic to attend the U of East Anglia's creative writing (scriptwriting) program next year, which I hear is quite a good one. I'll be going for the MA.

I notice this Uni doesn't make any of your lists and hasn't been mentioned yet. I suppose it is not so prestigious in other subjects? I'm very curious about what this experience will be like, and am looking forward to it a great deal.

Finnxeon

Mar 11, 2008, 06:37 PM

A question that I have not seen an answer to is why do you want to go to the UK for school.

To answer your question, i want to attend university in the UK for several reasons. One of which is that it is my father's place of birth, and my grandfather obviously lived there for a great deal of time. I would love to experience the land where my father, grandfather, an ancestors lived. I also would like to exit the United States due to my personal feelings on the status and functioning of my country. Both my parents and I feel that if i want to leave the country that now is the time to do it, before exchange rates get any worse. I think that my family is actually quite excited for my adventure. I know it will be costly, and difficult at times, but it is an investment that i am willing to make.

Believe it or not, but if I end up attending Manchester i will actually be saving money in the long run. Despite the exchange rate and international fees, obtaining my masters degree in 4 years will prevent me from having to take 2 extra years of graduate school. This is really attractive to me, even with the hard work i know it will require.

Hope that answered your question:) Thanks for asking

jaded-mandarin

Mar 11, 2008, 06:49 PM

Huddersfield University is quite nice, they converted some old mills and all the tech seems to be new. Though I only spent a single day there so I can't really comment on much else :) , but it's a lovely setting, lovely place.
This made my night, being born and bred Huddersfield. :rolleyes:

My girlfriend is in her 2nd year at the Business School in Huddersfield (HUBS).

I'm at Liverpool studying Graphic Arts.

Stardotboy

Mar 12, 2008, 04:58 AM

All good reasons for doing it :) yeah it must be strange with the exchange rate the way it is - I was in the states last summer on holiday and everything seemed incredibly cheap, so can only imagine how it must be the other way around.

However Manchester has the largest student population in Europe so there's always plenty of options for doing what you want to do, whatever your budget. I managed to survive my first year of university spending £10 a week (~$20) on food whereas I probably spend 10 times that now :D

iSamurai

Mar 13, 2008, 03:15 PM

Tier 2
Bristol
Durham
Nottingham
Imperial College (obviously Science subjects)
UCL
Warwick (strong Maths & business management departments)
LSE (obviously, very well respected for finance/economics)
Edinburgh
Kings College London (Medicine)

I <3 Bristol, Nottingham and Warwick... I'm also looking for a University next year, either in UK or Germany. If I don't have a scholarship for UK then it's Germany...

ooo, I hope I can get it (first to be accepted!). I <3 automotive engineering and design. On discovery channel they once said people who love cars love them more than their wives. :D whatever.

yeah, Oxbridge are really, really difficult to get into! You've got to almost split the atom (IYKWIM).