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Original post by intelligent con
Cambridge seems massively overhyped to me, people seem to think going to cambridge will automatically land you a 100k a week job upon graduation


I agree to an extent - three teachers in my school went to Cambridge and are now just school teachers, and this is the only job they've had despite doing respectable degrees :/
Whenever those in my school got offers from Cambridge a maaasive deal was made out of it from the school&the student's like they'd won the lottery or something - this even being before they'd confirmed their place
Cambridge has produced some great people in the past though
Original post by Pro Crastination
I rejected 3 RGs to come to Bath, most of the people I know did something similar, usually with a middling RG as insurance, some got to Oxbridge entrance exams. Maybe your perspective was true a decade or so ago but certainly not today.


How is Bath as you have experienced? I just received offers from Exeter, Nottingham and Bath in Economics. Most of my friends who are currently studying in the UK recommend Bath. Only one, who is attending Exeter, recommends Exeter. I prefer to study in a bigger city, but QMUL rejected me, though I might have a chance in clearing.

I'm worried about how well the school community is brought together (like clubs and the quality of students), the lectures and convenience to travel to nearby cities. I saw some pretty low student satisfaction scores on ranking sites. Are they that unreliable?
Original post by intelligent con
Cambridge seems massively overhyped to me, people seem to think going to cambridge will automatically land you a 100k a week job upon graduation


Cambridge deserves all the hype it gets. Its like the English MIT and Harvard combined.

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I don't even know but sometimes I feel like people don't give Sheffield it's glory.
Original post by Lawbringer
I didn't mean Btech or anything was worse. But those who did have btech did like rubbish I mean my mate got AAA and he didn't go bham like a hero so he got stuck in aston with people who have never done exams and cause the lecturers to stop a lot. He put so much effort in but aston let almost anyone in so he wasted his time going there. I ain't trying to hate but just tell it as it lol.

Uni of bham are much stricter so even you did do an alternative course you damn sure know the person did well in it or else they wouldn't be there. It's why I am taking 1 year out and applying to UoB instead of taking my place @ aston.


It's interesting to hear that actually. I found that when I visited both Aston and UoB, I got a better feeling at Birmingham than Aston. Aston is, in my opinion, very overrated for its business school.. I think Birmingham's is nicer even if it isn't really renowned for it. Plus, I like the fact (and you mentioned this too), that it's a filtered crowd, only people who have worked their butt off, get the offer and the place in the end. I mean, at Aston, the process is relatively the same, but it's less stricter than Birmingham :smile: What are you planning to study at UoB?
Original post by Lawliettt
They're both overrated too. I only mentioned Exeter because I've personally been there and i know for a fact it shouldn't be anywhere near 10th. I don't know what algorithm that website is using


How was it different to the other top 10 unis you visited?
Original post by Lovinlife2
It's interesting to hear that actually. I found that when I visited both Aston and UoB, I got a better feeling at Birmingham than Aston. Aston is, in my opinion, very overrated for its business school.. I think Birmingham's is nicer even if it isn't really renowned for it. Plus, I like the fact (and you mentioned this too), that it's a filtered crowd, only people who have worked their butt off, get the offer and the place in the end. I mean, at Aston, the process is relatively the same, but it's less stricter than Birmingham :smile: What are you planning to study at UoB?


I honest to god don't recommend Aston at all, if you really intend on studying there PM and will explain in more detail why.
Original post by JGBishop24
How is Bath as you have experienced? I just received offers from Exeter, Nottingham and Bath in Economics. Most of my friends who are currently studying in the UK recommend Bath. Only one, who is attending Exeter, recommends Exeter. I prefer to study in a bigger city, but QMUL rejected me, though I might have a chance in clearing.

I'm worried about how well the school community is brought together (like clubs and the quality of students), the lectures and convenience to travel to nearby cities. I saw some pretty low student satisfaction scores on ranking sites. Are they that unreliable?


I and a few others have made a few comments in this thread which might be useful in regards to Bath's student satisfaction and what that should mean for prospective applicants. In short, it depends on what you want to get out of your degree. If the career at the end of it is your top priority, Bath is the place to be (assuming you do a placement), otherwise, don't immediately write off the likes of Nottingham (I actually liked the look of Nottingham quite a bit when I visited an Economics open day there) or Exeter.
Original post by Pro Crastination
I and a few others have made a few comments in this thread which might be useful in regards to Bath's student satisfaction and what that should mean for prospective applicants. In short, it depends on what you want to get out of your degree. If the career at the end of it is your top priority, Bath is the place to be (assuming you do a placement), otherwise, don't immediately write off the likes of Nottingham (I actually liked the look of Nottingham quite a bit when I visited an Economics open day there) or Exeter.


Thank you so much!!:smile:
Original post by aymanzayedmannan
Overrated: UCL, Warwick, Durham


Underrated: Nottingham, Bath, Southampton, Manchester



No waaaay is KCL better than those unis! Columbia speaks for itself, the UCs are amazing and Duke is pretty much an Ivy. :laugh:


A few of the UCs are actually mediocre at best.
Original post by yl95
A few of the UCs are actually mediocre at best.


Berkeley is really good.

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Original post by Princepieman
They're above Imperial in global rankings, which is complete nonsense. All the current UCL applicants I've spoken to feel like they'll get their bottoms kissed because they have the uni's name on their CV. LSE because people think it's a ticket to big bucks, when really, they just compete against other top 5-10 uni students for jobs.

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LSE's never higher than Imperial in the global rankings. UCL is lower than Imperial on the THE rankings.
Original post by ServantOfMorgoth
Berkeley is really good.

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I know it is really good. Merced is pretty crap though.
Original post by Nameless Ghoul
How was it different to the other top 10 unis you visited?


I went for engineering and their department seemed meh. Their modules seemed so boring compared to Imperial, Cardiff, UCL, Carsiff, Manchester, Warwick and Bath. Or maybe the boring lecturer made it seem that way. But if he can't be enthusiastic for a visit day then when will he? Their accommodation is relatively expensive yet average. Their facilities were no better than any other uni I've visited. And the course apparently only had space for 40 people?

I didn't like the area itself. Probably because of the hills though. No way can i live like that for 4 years. Cardiff and Manchester were much better in this department despite being ranked lower. Manchester was probably my favourite out of all the Uni's I've visited.

There's genuinely nothing that stood out to say exeter is a top 10 uni in the UK. Their entry standards are also inflated compared to other Unis because they don't really have the space to run courses that don't require top grades. For example, if you compare course by course, Manchester/Cardiff, if anything have higher entry standards overall. I know they definetely do for engineering. But they also have things like large nursing and midwifery schools. And while these are respected courses, they'll bring entry requirements down since they're not asking for AAA or w.e

And ranking websited like the complete uni guide dont take this into account.

And their algorithm also lists having a very high student to staff ratio as a positive? I don't get it. Having a big Uni is great. But why would having hardly any staff for students to turn to be a good thing? You need a balance. Ranking on academic spend is strange too. Some Unis currently requre more refurbishment than others. That doesn't make them any better than a Uni who has undergone refurbishment years ago. And some courses are also more expensive to run than others.


The Exeter Uni itself isn't bad. It was ok. I liked it much more than other respected Uni's like Queen Marys. But for it to be that high is the definition of being overrated. It's not the 10th best Uni in England lol
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by yl95
A few of the UCs are actually mediocre at best.


Agreed. Only good ones are LA, B, I, SD, D and SB imho
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by yl95
A few of the UCs are actually mediocre at best.


When I said that, I had Berkeley, LA (and to some extent) San Diego in mind. :redface:
Original post by JGBishop24
How is Bath as you have experienced? I just received offers from Exeter, Nottingham and Bath in Economics. Most of my friends who are currently studying in the UK recommend Bath. Only one, who is attending Exeter, recommends Exeter. I prefer to study in a bigger city, but QMUL rejected me, though I might have a chance in clearing.

I'm worried about how well the school community is brought together (like clubs and the quality of students), the lectures and convenience to travel to nearby cities. I saw some pretty low student satisfaction scores on ranking sites. Are they that unreliable?


London unis always get low student satisfaction scores.

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University of Greenwich's engineering department is definately underrated (the head of mclaren applied technologies studied in greenwich).
Original post by quasa
University of Greenwich's engineering department is definately underrated (the head of mclaren applied technologies studied in greenwich).


Greenwich in general and the other "below QM" London universities in general are pretty underrated imo lol.
Original post by Lawliettt

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This seems largely to be focussed on your view of one department. When you said "Exeter doesn't deserve to be top 10", were you talking about the university generally or were you talking about the engineering department?

A few points you make generally: hills. expensive yet average accommodation, entry inflation. Hills, there's not a lot to say about that -- you get used to it and develop fine glutes in the process. Accommodation -- I would largely agree that it's quite expensive but so are most other places (see Bristol which is about a £500 more expensive).

Grade inflation -- I have to say you're off the mark here. Exeter rather than being dishonest about the grades it will accept is exceptionally honest. For civil engineering, for example, Exeter says its offer will at highest be AAA or at lowest be ABB, whereas the other two universities simply tell you that they will take AAA. Is there truth to this? Will Manchester or Cardiff take you only with AAA? The entry data tells us no; their entry is actually lower than Exeter's (Cardiff by 4 points and Manchester by 14). Entry flexibility is true for most courses at most unis which ask for AAA -- virtually none of them actually will only take AAA+. Whilst nursing likely does not help Cardiff's overall standing in the rankings, it is clearly untrue to suggest that Exeter is grade inflating. If anything, it's the other two which are guilty of this with their misleading AAA requirements.

As for your course-specific claims, you no doubt have more understanding than me. Enthusiasm for course. I always advise people against putting too much stock in the feel of an open day. People get overly excited by the performance of a single lecturer and sell their soul to the uni -- all the time. This is like choosing a GCSE or an A–Level based on the hope of getting your favourite teacher and uh-oh, when your timetable comes out you have Mr Barnes who you hate! In reality, you'll spend maybe 9 lectures at most with a single lecturer -- performance or enthusiasm of lectures should not decide whether you go to a particular uni. Some unis -- particularly newer ones -- will show off their finest lecturers in order to win you over, others won't bother and will hope you choose based on ranking or other factor. But both of them have lecturers who are crap, let me tell you!

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