Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

A 'strong' degree from an okay Uni or a 'soft' degree from a Top 5 uni?

Scroll to see replies

Yeah I agree with the student satisfaction point.. being an Edinburgh student which should be a top 10 but student satisfaction pulls us down sadly :frown:

Forget what crappy domestic league tables say.

International league tables, the ones from America, China, and the UK like ARWU, QS and THE are still the gold standard of university selection

Reply 21

pairofjeans

Original post by UWS

STEM > everything else

Original post by 999tigger

Plus it gets you loads of hot girls.

It should honestly be TEM. Biology, Chemistry and (less so) physics grads usually struggle to find relevant work.

Reply 22

rashka10

I need help with gcse English
I got 175 and I got D and to get C is 180 and I need 5 marks to get C overall
please help me am doing foundation.
in my coursework I got D (score 62)
in my exam I got C(score 113)
and I don't wanna re do it again please give me advice.

Reply 23

username2130115

Original post by Vividly clear

Everyone knows that A 2:2 from a University like Cambridge > A 1st from Warwick.

are you trying to start a flame war ?

Reply 24

username2130115

Original post by pairofjeans

It should honestly be TEM. Biology, Chemistry and (less so) physics grads usually struggle to find relevant work.

nah it should be TE
forget the S&M

Reply 25

username738914

Original post by cicilyvontes

I'm interested in sciences, Economics and politics. Would it be better to have an Economics and politics degree from Exeter, Southampton,leeds,Birmingham etc; or either a human sciences or population health degree from UCL.
I hope to one day work in banking in the city and on a recent internship at HSBC headquarters were were told the degree subject isn't that important, but that UCL is a target uni for many banks.
Any advice would be much appreciated. PS - I would enjoy either of the subjects.

With IB in mind UCL (alongside: Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial, Warwick, Bristol, Notts, Durham etc etc) would see you being in a stronger position (doing any subject) than Leeds/Birmingham/Soton. That doesn't mean however, that you're doomed if you don't go to a 'target' or 'semi-target', just means you have to work a bit harder and won't have as much peer support, employer engagement, alumni to tap into etc..

That all said, what should come principal to all of this is your own preference both course wise and university wise because at the end of the day you're going to be spending 3-4+ years studying whatever you choose to study at wherever university you choose to go to. So of course, keep in mind the above, but don't let it be your main criteria.

Will repeat what I always repeat: the course you do rarely matters for anything finance related.

Good luck anyway.

PS: ignore the people saying you "have" to do a masters if you don't choose to go to a more targeted university. That is a last resort after you've applied to and tried to get on to the very tight career funnel (spring week > summer > grad) that banks have but failed.

Posted from TSR Mobile

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 26

Vividly clear

Not really but if anyone took offence, I'm ready

Reply 27

BabyLadDarren

Original post by post-grad-u-ate

Get a solid 1st in economics from Birmingham and then do a masters in economics at UCL/LSE.

£25k isn't gonna come out of thin air.

Reply 28

pairofjeans

Original post by Vividly clear

Not really but if anyone took offence, I'm ready

a 2:2 and below is pointless anywhere though. Your employer won't be like "Oh so I see you were lazy throughout your degree and got mediocre scores. But you went to Cambridge so let me employ you over more qualified candidates who put time and effort into their subject!!

"Sure, there will be some success stories with 2:2's. But if your uni is even half decent, a first from it will look significantly better a 2:2 from Cambridge. And we can all agree that Warwick is more than half decent. So I think your example is wrong.

Reply 29

username738914

Original post by pairofjeans

TSR logic:

'How to hire uni grads:

Prestige/league table weighting + degree class + coolness of subject (or STEMness)'

Done, here's £35k starting.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 30

RachaelBee

Prestige isn't always as meaningful as people on here make out. My friend once told me "I got a 2.1 from Cambridge and I couldn't get a job! I was outraged, then my friend pointed out I studied English Lit and I needed to get over myself; it hurt but he was right". Personally I'd choose the course you think you'd do better at if the degree doesn't really matter, but remember you might have to explain to an employer why you chose the subject you did if it's completely unrelated to a job you're applying for.