The 'Ask a current student' thread! (University of Birmingham)

Falling for that?! There's no trick. I'm not some secret university manager intent on identifying and resolving problems by skulking around student forums. I'm also certainly not wishing your opinion to be disillusionment, but given the general consensus on social life I find it somewhat incomprehensibly.

Oh I see, looks alright, but I've been to the university and main redbrick buildings do look better though .

So I assume that whole building is for economics, right? and is it just for seminars, as in it doesn't have any lecture halls/theatre?

You said they're moving to the business building, is that a much better place? , because it just seems a bit pointless to move out just to share a space with another department.

I assumed that in lectures, people just sit and listen

Stop the fake surprised reaction, it looks so contrite

and it's wrong and you know it.

Bham is not a target school

False, I most certainly do not "know it".

You have a very warped view of the reputation of the course - it's sufficient enough that if a student achieves well and has the right skills also, they can go on to most firms in London.

We are NOT a target school.

This is TSR, Target schools are common knowledge - inescapable fact, sorry.

Again, I'm unsure where your evidence for this is.

Here is some actual research that shows on page 27, contrary to your beliefs, that the uni is a target for graduate employers on their list. You may try and debunk it as "not valid" or something, I'm not sure - in your own words "who cares".

What ? pg 27 of this thread ?

LOL now that's really desperate.

MS, GS, JPM were nowhere to be seen during that poxy financial services function they had last Nov.

You would know that if you went -was @ AW building .

btw, I have ALREADY been in IB , I am a mature student.

Desperate?
Or rather, some legitimate evidence from a report this year on where employers are interested in.

Are you referring to the Finance and Professional services careers fair? That may be so, but investment banking is only one sector that graduates go into, so you may think you're incredibly enlightened on their interests. I know that the university ensure they have a broad range of different employers from the various sectors, and given how busy it was, they couldn't have had any more there.
A firm not being present at the fair doesn't mean they don't value the degree in that they won't employ someone who has it, granted they have the right skills.

Yes, exactly a fair was a good way to describe it, with all their poxie stalls around the edge of the room like a fairground.

Well, now we are coming close to the truth, yes there were non IBs there.

And a good degree from any of the top 30 U's may be valued by them (IBs).

But certainly, I went to the fair with a special eye to look out for the MS's and Goldman's of this world and I was not surprised when I dd not find them there.

So the point is many if not most econ related grads will be looking at that sector and whilst some may get in, Bham is NOT a target and that makes it harder.

Careers fairs are not something that only Birmingham does?
I would assume that pretty much all universities do them who have an interest in where their graduates go. Then yes, it may be more difficult for students to get into investment banking if the firm isn't at a career fair, but if they're genuinely interested then there's support and information at the Careers centre, as well as everything online.
Their absence doesn't mean the uni isn't a target. That research I linked to lists MS, JPM and GS among them, which I have already said shows the uni is a target. You may feel otherwise, if you had a hard time getting a job in one of them or a similar firm, but a single case should not be generalised.

While I've attempted to give a well reasoned argument, you've just given me your raw opinion which, it is clear, is rather biased, and not constructive to the discussion. Thanks for your time.

You clearly do not know what a Target uni is.

You need to search the plethora of threads on this.

Bottom line - they were NOT there.

Get over it, stop defending the indefensible.

FYI, I am not applying to IBs, I am trying to get out of it, But I do have experience and you'd be well wise to listen up - you'll need it since you are at a non target school and you got rejected.

Sigh. This thread should not be a discussion of this, but I work with a number of employers, along with the employer liaison office at the university, so I'm sorry but this is something I do know about. You have your opinion, and I'm not seeking to change that, rather give the facts.

Regarding experience, I don't think that logic transfers. Regardless of which uni you attend, it's good to get experience. It's not something I consequently need due to the premise of studying at Birmingham.
I'm getting increasingly confused by the way in which you converse, so am not sure what you mean when you say I "got rejected".

You said you hard time getting in, so I'm trying to help you.

Is this how you normally treat people who try to help you ?

Very strange to say the least

3rd year philosophy undergrad, spent first year in tennis courts (on the vale) taken part in the newspaper and a sports team (not one of the uni ones). Birmingham is a quality uni with a quality reputation, I would recommend it to anyone.

Just to wade in on the little debate going on here.....I don't like to flame but uob whoever you are, you come across real conceited; talking as though your word is law/fact. I think you make a valid point in saying that the halls you are in really affects what you would recommend, and that socially you can have as much fun in any one of the halls as another. I think the advantage of the Vale is that it is central and the majority of people you meet outside of your own halls will be on the Vale or Pritchatts park (the most central halls). So internally yeah the social life of any hall can be great, but if you want to branch out a bit the Vale is definitely more convenient. Furthermore Hunters Court, The Beeches, QHC etc are all more than a thirty minute walk, whereas on the Vale and Pritchatts it ranges from 10-25mins. As someone who has done a bit of extra-curricular I can safely say it affects your ability to do stuff if you are far from campus, I know a lot of the people I play sport with didn't bother in first year because their halls were too far away.

Secondly this guild business, the guild ARE tossers. They are out to make money and promote the reputation of the uni, beyond that they do not give a monkey's about Joe Bloggs student. The guild is a 'fab' building and has a lot of great services for students (im sure that facilities wise our union is right up there) but it is run by a bunch of massive douchebags. This probably won't affect your uni life that much though, it certainly hasn't mine.

Also the target uni's thing is true, Birmingham uni has definitely not been a target uni for the last few years (if ever as far as i know). There is no definitive list but if you search around the net you can get a good idea. This is not to say that it is bad for grad jobs, far from it, you just aren't as sought after as someone from oxbridge, durham, warwick, bristol etc.
In fact everything uob says about careers is basically a load of tripe, I have whored myself out to gradschemes over the last year and haven't bothered with the careers department once. The fact that employers come to our uni shows they are willing to recruit from us but beyond that is meaningless, you will not get a job by visiting a stall at a careers fair, you will just learn about the gradscheme, which you could do by sitting at home and going on wikijobs. The only way the uni can help you with careers is if your too dull to do the research yourself, or if they have some kind of special relationship with a particular employer, or if I guess the uni is particularly respected for say tennis racket research and you wanna make tennis rackets and learnt from Mr tennis racket research god (purely hypothetical example).

ps again I hate to flame, but I hate to keep my mouth shut more so uob, you seem like an absolute keeno (very keen on doing well academically) who is really involved with doing for/with the guild (work with the careers liason officer blah blah blah) who is a bit smug (sorted out after graduation thanks blah blah blah). This is absolutely fine and will probably stand you in good stead for life and isn't that much of a bad thing I guess BUT you are not representative of the "average student" if there is one.

pps Target Uni's, jeeees you have no idea. Just because a company sends a poxy stall to our careers fair does not mean they are targeting us, not in the sense that the Target Uni's (capital letters for nouns, cos they are an actual bloody thing) are targeted. Basically there is a group of uni's, dunno how many, about ten or something, that the FS sector and IB's particularly look to recruit most of their grads from, because that is where they think the quality is. But what kind of idiot recruiter wouldn't send a stall to a decent redbrick like bham where there might be some (not as many as the Target Uni's [see its that noun thing again]) potential grads. They are just being thorough. But at the end of the day Birmingham is a good enough uni to get you considered for any gradscheme as long as you personally stack up.

3rd year philosophy undergrad, spent first year in tennis courts (on the vale) taken part in the newspaper and a sports team (not one of the uni ones). Birmingham is a quality uni with a quality reputation, I would recommend it to anyone.

Just to wade in on the little debate going on here.....I don't like to flame but uob whoever you are, you come across real conceited; talking as though your word is law/fact. I think you make a valid point in saying that the halls you are in really affects what you would recommend, and that socially you can have as much fun in any one of the halls as another. I think the advantage of the Vale is that it is central and the majority of people you meet outside of your own halls will be on the Vale or Pritchatts park (the most central halls). So internally yeah the social life of any hall can be great, but if you want to branch out a bit the Vale is definitely more convenient. Furthermore Hunters Court, The Beeches, QHC etc are all more than a thirty minute walk, whereas on the Vale and Pritchatts it ranges from 10-25mins. As someone who has done a bit of extra-curricular I can safely say it affects your ability to do stuff if you are far from campus, I know a lot of the people I play sport with didn't bother in first year because their halls were too far away.

Secondly this guild business, the guild ARE tossers. They are out to make money and promote the reputation of the uni, beyond that they do not give a monkey's about Joe Bloggs student. The guild is a 'fab' building and has a lot of great services for students (im sure that facilities wise our union is right up there) but it is run by a bunch of massive douchebags. This probably won't affect your uni life that much though, it certainly hasn't mine.

Also the target uni's thing is true, Birmingham uni has definitely not been a target uni for the last few years (if ever as far as i know). There is no definitive list but if you search around the net you can get a good idea. This is not to say that it is bad for grad jobs, far from it, you just aren't as sought after as someone from oxbridge, durham, warwick, bristol etc.
In fact everything uob says about careers is basically a load of tripe, I have whored myself out to gradschemes over the last year and haven't bothered with the careers department once. The fact that employers come to our uni shows they are willing to recruit from us but beyond that is meaningless, you will not get a job by visiting a stall at a careers fair, you will just learn about the gradscheme, which you could do by sitting at home and going on wikijobs. The only way the uni can help you with careers is if your too dull to do the research yourself, or if they have some kind of special relationship with a particular employer, or if I guess the uni is particularly respected for say tennis racket research and you wanna make tennis rackets and learnt from Mr tennis racket research god (purely hypothetical example).

ps again I hate to flame, but I hate to keep my mouth shut more so uob, you seem like an absolute keeno (very keen on doing well academically) who is really involved with doing for/with the guild (work with the careers liason officer blah blah blah) who is a bit smug (sorted out after graduation thanks blah blah blah). This is absolutely fine and will probably stand you in good stead for life and isn't that much of a bad thing I guess BUT you are not representative of the "average student" if there is one.

pps Target Uni's, jeeees you have no idea. Just because a company sends a poxy stall to our careers fair does not mean they are targeting us, not in the sense that the Target Uni's (capital letters for nouns, cos they are an actual bloody thing) are targeted. Basically there is a group of uni's, dunno how many, about ten or something, that the FS sector and IB's particularly look to recruit most of their grads from, because that is where they think the quality is. But what kind of idiot recruiter wouldn't send a stall to a decent redbrick like bham where there might be some (not as many as the Target Uni's [see its that noun thing again]) potential grads. They are just being thorough. But at the end of the day Birmingham is a good enough uni to get you considered for any gradscheme as long as you personally stack up.

3rd year philosophy undergrad, spent first year in tennis courts (on the vale) taken part in the newspaper and a sports team (not one of the uni ones). Birmingham is a quality uni with a quality reputation, I would recommend it to anyone.

Just to wade in on the little debate going on here.....I don't like to flame but uob whoever you are, you come across real conceited; talking as though your word is law/fact. I think you make a valid point in saying that the halls you are in really affects what you would recommend, and that socially you can have as much fun in any one of the halls as another. I think the advantage of the Vale is that it is central and the majority of people you meet outside of your own halls will be on the Vale or Pritchatts park (the most central halls). So internally yeah the social life of any hall can be great, but if you want to branch out a bit the Vale is definitely more convenient. Furthermore Hunters Court, The Beeches, QHC etc are all more than a thirty minute walk, whereas on the Vale and Pritchatts it ranges from 10-25mins. As someone who has done a bit of extra-curricular I can safely say it affects your ability to do stuff if you are far from campus, I know a lot of the people I play sport with didn't bother in first year because their halls were too far away.

Secondly this guild business, the guild ARE tossers. They are out to make money and promote the reputation of the uni, beyond that they do not give a monkey's about Joe Bloggs student. The guild is a 'fab' building and has a lot of great services for students (im sure that facilities wise our union is right up there) but it is run by a bunch of massive douchebags. This probably won't affect your uni life that much though, it certainly hasn't mine.

Also the target uni's thing is true, Birmingham uni has definitely not been a target uni for the last few years (if ever as far as i know). There is no definitive list but if you search around the net you can get a good idea. This is not to say that it is bad for grad jobs, far from it, you just aren't as sought after as someone from oxbridge, durham, warwick, bristol etc.
In fact everything uob says about careers is basically a load of tripe, I have whored myself out to gradschemes over the last year and haven't bothered with the careers department once. The fact that employers come to our uni shows they are willing to recruit from us but beyond that is meaningless, you will not get a job by visiting a stall at a careers fair, you will just learn about the gradscheme, which you could do by sitting at home and going on wikijobs. The only way the uni can help you with careers is if your too dull to do the research yourself, or if they have some kind of special relationship with a particular employer, or if I guess the uni is particularly respected for say tennis racket research and you wanna make tennis rackets and learnt from Mr tennis racket research god (purely hypothetical example).

ps again I hate to flame, but I hate to keep my mouth shut more so uob, you seem like an absolute keeno (very keen on doing well academically) who is really involved with doing for/with the guild (work with the careers liason officer blah blah blah) who is a bit smug (sorted out after graduation thanks blah blah blah). This is absolutely fine and will probably stand you in good stead for life and isn't that much of a bad thing I guess BUT you are not representative of the "average student" if there is one.

pps Target Uni's, jeeees you have no idea. Just because a company sends a poxy stall to our careers fair does not mean they are targeting us, not in the sense that the Target Uni's (capital letters for nouns, cos they are an actual bloody thing) are targeted. Basically there is a group of uni's, dunno how many, about ten or something, that the FS sector and IB's particularly look to recruit most of their grads from, because that is where they think the quality is. But what kind of idiot recruiter wouldn't send a stall to a decent redbrick like bham where there might be some (not as many as the Target Uni's [see its that noun thing again]) potential grads. They are just being thorough. But at the end of the day Birmingham is a good enough uni to get you considered for any gradscheme as long as you personally stack up.

Is the Vale a good place to live at B'ham? I've applied for most of my accom there and liked it at the open day I but was wondering what it like to live there as an actual student Thanks x