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UK Colleges and Universities

Finnxeon

Finnxeon

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 20, 2006
114
0
Vermont
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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 :eek:

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.
 
Finnxeon said:
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
Click to expand...

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.
 
raggedjimmi said:
Nottingham is a classical style university similar to Oxford or Cambridge.
Click to expand...

roflcopter.gif
 
raggedjimmi said:
If you want to study something like animation, design, graphics etc. I hear Bournemouth is very, very good for that kind of thing.
Click to expand...


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.
 
raggedjimmi said:
Nottingham is a classical style university similar to Oxford or Cambridge.
Click to expand...
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.
 
raggedjimmi said:
Nottingham is a classical style university similar to Oxford or Cambridge.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
FleurDuMal said:
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.
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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:

vendettabass said:
I'm at salford too doing internet computing! its great!! and real close to manchester (with two apple stores!!)
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Nice one! Do you use the Centenary Building on the Adelphi Campus? Thats mine :)
 
Never been to Uni, but I can say... Do. Not. Go. To. Preston.

It's *****! 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:
 
Applespider said:
Edinburgh University is also a very good one - although slightly tougher to get into the popular courses.
Click to expand...

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 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!
 
robbieduncan said:
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)...
Click to expand...

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)
 
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 :eek:
 
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.
 
Atlasland said:
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.
Click to expand...

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
 
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