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I require advice on choosing a university for Computer Science?

I have 3 offers from Glasgow, St Andrews and Edinburgh. All unconditional since I have straight A grades. What I care about most is job prospects for american companies since I am hoping to move to USA afterwards. Edinburgh is highest in the world rankings, but St Andrews is highest in UK rankings. So which is more relevant? I am guessing however the UK rankings will be more accurate. What happens after university is all I care about. Please give me references. I am a Scottish student. The only requirement of selection is the university that will give me the maximum success
St. Andrews has had 100% job prospects in the past two years, so you'd be pretty likely to get a job there. However, since both St Andrews and Edinburgh are excellent universities, whether or not you get a top job is probably not going to depend on how good the university is, but how hard you work at uni, and the grade you get. I'd say go to the one you feel more comfortable in, as its generally easier to work in a place where you're comfortable.

EDIT: here's some stories from St Andrews alumni: http://blogs.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/alumni/stories/

EDIT: and here's some stories from Edinburgh alumni: http://www.ed.ac.uk/informatics/alumni/alumni-profiles
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by TimGB
St. Andrews has had 100% job prospects in the past two years, so you'd be pretty likely to get a job there. However, since both St Andrews and Edinburgh are excellent universities, whether or not you get a top job is probably not going to depend on how good the university is, but how hard you work at uni, and the grade you get. I'd say go to the one you feel more comfortable in, as its generally easier to work in a place where you're comfortable.

EDIT: here's some stories from St Andrews alumni: http://blogs.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/alumni/stories/

EDIT: and here's some stories from Edinburgh alumni: http://www.ed.ac.uk/informatics/alumni/alumni-profiles


I am aware in UK for the first 6 months St Andrews has a 100% graduate prospects but what about the long term job prospects internationally in countries like USA, they could prefer a larger university with high quality research and more recognition. Am I wrong to assume that?

and according to the QS world rankings Edinburgh has better graduate prospects. Which university would companies like apple, google or facebook prefer?
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by TheComputerGuy
I am aware in UK for the first 6 months St Andrews has a 100% graduate prospects but what about the long term job prospects internationally in countries like USA, they could prefer a larger university with high quality research and more recognition. Am I wrong to assume that?

and according to the QS world rankings Edinburgh has better graduate prospects. Which university would companies like apple, google or facebook prefer?



This is why I attached the alumni stories. It's incredibly hard to make a reliable statistic on how many people go on to work for top notch US companies, because the numbers change each year! It all depends on how YOU do at university. These employers aren't going to care if you went to a slightly better university - if you're right for the job, they'll hire you. To not do so and pick students based on where they studied would be moronic.

Now sure, if you go to some universities with not as good teaching, then you may not develop enough to be hired by top US companies. However, both universities have sent people to these top US companies, so they're both capable of teaching people the right skills to go on to work at these places. However, both universities have also sent people to work in less prestigious companies. It all comes down to how hard YOU are prepared to work. Neither university is going to give you a free ride to the US companies. Neither will stop you in your tracks. You've got two universities to choose from, choose whichever one you think YOU will work best at.
Original post by TimGB
St. Andrews has had 100% job prospects in the past two years, so you'd be pretty likely to get a job there. However, since both St Andrews and Edinburgh are excellent universities, whether or not you get a top job is probably not going to depend on how good the university is, but how hard you work at uni, and the grade you get. I'd say go to the one you feel more comfortable in, as its generally easier to work in a place where you're comfortable.

EDIT: here's some stories from St Andrews alumni: http://blogs.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/alumni/stories/

EDIT: and here's some stories from Edinburgh alumni: http://www.ed.ac.uk/informatics/alumni/alumni-profiles


I don't think you understand what that data is telling you... It's not OP's personal chances at all. It's how many people in a class 4-5 years senior to him/her have faired in terms of nabbing graduate study places and jobs.

It would be unwise to think of that statistic as a personal likelihood because OP (and his/her eventual class) will be completely different people.

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Original post by Princepieman
I don't think you understand what that data is telling you... It's not OP's personal chances at all. It's how many people in a class 4-5 years senior to him/her have faired in terms of nabbing graduate study places and jobs.

It would be unwise to think of that statistic as a personal likelihood because OP (and his/her eventual class) will be completely different people.

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My initial statement was admittedly a little biased, and you're right to say that it's probably irrelevant, but to be honest there's not much that can be deduced from any statistics about what OP wants. The alumni stories provide evidence that OP's goals can be reached at either uni, but that's about as far as we can go. All other statistics depend on different people's efforts. Even if there were more people going to American companies from one uni, it could easily just to boil down to that uni having harder-working students.

For @TheComputerGuy, probably the only course-wise thing you can do is to pick the course that more suitably fits the needs of big American companies. Though tbh you should be able to do a good enough course at either uni anyway, since they are both high-ranking courses. You would probably be better choosing location that you think would be easier to study in, since a significant amount of uni work is done independently.
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CSAdam
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I was in a similar situation to you this year, I chose St. Andrews as I got the feeling from visiting days and applicant days etc. that the computing department was extremely high quality and in my opinion, admittedly from limited evidence, superior to Edinburgh for computer science specifically. As for job prospects in the US, it seems as if neither university will help or hinder your career more than the other. Go with your favourite atmosphere as they are both quite different in terms of Uni size and town atmosphere.


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