[iamlovinit05]

(Original post by Sam1309)
I have no clue about that sort of thing but best of luck with that, I've firmed Manchester and can't wait to go but I loved the city before so I'm probably biased

Thanks for the information though! I'll try to find out all I can about the place, but the city seems like a lovely place.

And no degree is useless man, I'm doing econs under the BA umbrella as well

[Aramiss18]

TBH op I would ignore student satisfaction ratings.

I've noticed that the students who tend to fill in those sorts of things negatively are the people who want to blame everything and everyone for their failures. One lecturer (not at Manchester) told me how students complained the lecture slides didn't contain enough information so he endeavoured to put more notes in the module booklet. Some then complained that was too dense and hard to understand.

If it's too hard they complain so the ranking will be low. If it's easy then the ranking will be higher but that doesn't mean better teaching- simply lower expectations. Of course, this isn't always the case and sometimes departments will be ****e but it's something I've noticed.

The way of using %good honours on courses fails for much the same reason.

[Sam1309]

(Original post by sarah1345)
See you there! You're doing something useful at least, TSRians would say I'm doing a pointless arts degree lol. What halls you going for? I'm tied between Oak House and Whitworth Park :/

Meh, I enjoy science and maths, other people don't. I try to avoid being ignorant and moaning about that sort of thing as much as I can, life would be so boring if everyone became engineers!

I looked for that world ranking I was talking about, it doesn't say what ranking it's from but they quote themselves as 44th as of 2010 which I think is really cool to see a uni not picking and choosing the most flattering data at all times.

I went for Richmond Park, Oak House and Victoria Park, I really want self catering and preferably Fallowfield I just hope I get some decent accommodation

[sarah1345]

(Original post by Sam1309)
Meh, I enjoy science and maths, other people don't. I try to avoid being ignorant and moaning about that sort of thing as much as I can, life would be so boring if everyone became engineers!

I looked for that world ranking I was talking about, it doesn't say what ranking it's from but they quote themselves as 44th as of 2010 which I think is really cool to see a uni not picking and choosing the most flattering data at all times.

I went for Richmond Park, Oak House and Victoria Park, I really want self catering and preferably Fallowfield I just hope I get some decent accommodation

Have you already got your grades? So unconditional offer?

[Sam1309]

(Original post by sarah1345)
Have you already got your grades? So unconditional offer?

Nope, conditional so nervous about the grades, how about yourself?

[sarah1345]

(Original post by Sam1309)
Nope, conditional so nervous about the grades, how about yourself?

I'm conditional ABB. How do you apply?

[MasterPotatoHead]

Don't worry about what employers think, According to the High Fliers Research Limited's survey, the University of Manchester students are being targeted by more top recruiters for graduate vacancies than any other UK university students for three consecutive years from 2007. It was also the 4th best in the world in this survey.

[iamlovinit05]

(Original post by MasterPotatoHead)
Don't worry about what employers think, According to the High Fliers Research Limited's survey, the University of Manchester students are being targeted by more top recruiters for graduate vacancies than any other UK university students for three consecutive years from 2007. It was also the 4th best in the world in this survey.

Yea I've seen this survey, but honestly, i doubt the reliability of it. It just doesn't make sense that It beats the likes of Oxbridge and the other London Unis.

But nevertheless, Manchester must have quite a good employer rep to be win for 3 years.

[Goku101]

(Original post by sarah1345)
Why is Manchester ranked so poorly in the UK, mainly due to its poor ratings by students. I'm looking to study History, and I want some honest! opinions on teaching. I'm paying 50k here (well, in theory, at least), so I want decent teaching.

Any students willing to share their experience of teaching at manchester?

People are starting to say manc is wanc, and students have been protesting at poor teaching quality, even some senior officials have admitted poor standards of teaching?

I do Aerospace engineering and i think the satisfaction is low because you get around 4/5 pieces coursework/assignments each week starting from week 2 of each semester, giving you no time to study. They are also very difficult to complete sometimes and you end up doing all-nighters. However, because we are engineering students we tend to study hard no matter what. Most of us got around 70/80 % overall in the semester 1 examinations, which is a 1st (top grade). I can only guess that Arts students are not that dedicated to studying so hard

[MasterPotatoHead]

(Original post by iamlovinit05)
Yea I've seen this survey, but honestly, i doubt the reliability of it. It just doesn't make sense that It beats the likes of Oxbridge and the other London Unis.

But nevertheless, Manchester must have quite a good employer rep to be win for 3 years.

Just look at how far the Uni of Manchester has climbed in the international rankings in the last ten years. From around 80 to almost top 25. That's due to the government trying to break through the 'Golden Triangle' of Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial/UCL. I wouldn't say Manchester is on the levels of Oxbridge or anywhere just yet, but there's no doubt that it is an internationally excellent university. I'm firming it so obviously no biased opinions from me hahaha

[sarah1345]

(Original post by MasterPotatoHead)
Just look at how far the Uni of Manchester has climbed in the international rankings in the last ten years. From around 80 to almost top 25. That's due to the government trying to break through the 'Golden Triangle' of Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial/UCL. I wouldn't say Manchester is on the levels of Oxbridge or anywhere just yet, but there's no doubt that it is an internationally excellent university. I'm firming it so obviously no biased opinions from me hahaha

I'm firming too, what halls/course/grades do you need?

[MasterPotatoHead]

(Original post by sarah1345)
I'm firming too, what halls/course/grades do you need?

Chemical engineering, need 3 As
Gonna try and get a place in Oak House
What about you?

[Sam1309]

(Original post by sarah1345)
I'm conditional ABB. How do you apply?

Just normal UCAS UK student, although I am a reapplicant due to lack of work last year, you?

[sarah1345]

(Original post by Sam1309)
Just normal UCAS UK student, although I am a reapplicant due to lack of work last year, you?

No, no I meant how do you apply for accom lol. I'm UK UCAS as well

[sarah1345]

(Original post by MasterPotatoHead)
Chemical engineering, need 3 As
Gonna try and get a place in Oak House
What about you?

Modern History with Economics, need ABB, so not too bad, got ABB at AS, so need to maintain. I'm stuck between OH and WP :/

[Heresy]

[Warning: Long post]

Graduated from Manc recently. I was a student rep coordinator for my programme so ended up attending many meetings with students and academics. So I can say a lot about this from both the student and university perspectives.

The big problem with Manchester is its size, with over 40,000 students it is very difficult to give personalised service to all. It used to be that you only got personalised experience if you asked for it, and we know most students are not proactive, this led to poor student satisfaction. Now things are changing and should be reflected soon in the ratings. For one, in my last year it was made compulsory for students to get personalised feedback on their coursework within 15 working days. More office hours were allocated by lecturers and the university (at least my department) stepped up its training for tutors. I confirmed this from my friends now doing PHDs and tutor.

Manchester also had a VC who after the merger focused more on research and international reputation than teaching quality. Promotions were tied research which meant lecturers were more concerned about getting published and attending conferences than dealing with student issues. This is also changing as the new VC has refocused the university on providing excellent teaching and a great student experience. To show how serious they are, a student experience directorate was formed last year and a new registrar was brought in from Loughbrough (known for one of the best student experiences in the country)

UK rankings put more weighting on student satisfaction ratings while international rankings emphasise research, awards and reputation. The former works against Manchester because of the reasons above and the latter helps Manchester as depending on how you read it, Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) puts Manchester as a top3/top5 research institution int the country. Manchester also has the most active number of Nobel laureates in the country among its staff, even higher than Oxbridge.

For employment, outside of the 'triangle' Manchester is the most heavily recruited university and its career service has consistently won best career service awards. From a branding perspective, Manchester is seen even more favourably internationally.

Overall, I think Manchester is a fantastic university that will only get better. Enjoy your time in Manchester, I certainly did.

[MasterPotatoHead]

(Original post by sarah1345)
Modern History with Economics, need ABB, so not too bad, got ABB at AS, so need to maintain. I'm stuck between OH and WP :/

Isn't WP in Victoria? I know the hall is great but I'd prefer Fallowfield which I think is more active for students

[sarah1345]

(Original post by Heresy)
Graduated from Manc recently. I was a student rep coordinator for my programme so ended up attending many meetings with students and academics. So I can say a lot about this from both the student and university perspectives.

The big problem with Manchester is its size, with over 40,000 students it is very difficult to give personalised service to all. It used to be that you only got personalised experience if you asked for it, and we know most students are not proactive, this led to poor student satisfaction. Now things are changing and should be reflected soon in the ratings. For one, in my last year it was made compulsory for students to get personalised feedback on their coursework within 15 working days. More office hours were allocated by lecturers and the university (at least my department) stepped up it's training for tutors. I confirmed this from my friends now doing PHDs and tutor.

Manchester also had a VC who after the merger focused more on research and international reputation than teaching quality. Promotions were tied research which meant lecturers were more concerned about getting published and attending conferences than dealing with student issues. This is also changing as the new VC has refocused the university on providing excellent teaching and a great student experience. To show how serious they are, a student experience directorate was formed last year and a new registrar was brought in from Loughbrough (known for one of the best student experiences in the country)

UK rankings put more weighting on student satisfaction ratings while international rankings emphasise research, awards and reputation. The former works against Manchester because of the reasons above and the latter helps Manchester as depending on how you read it, Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) puts Manchester as a top3/top5 research institution int the country. Manchester also has the most active number of Nobel laureates in the country among its staff, even higher than Oxbridge.

For employment, outside of the 'triangle' Manchester is the most heavily recruited university and its career service has consistently won best career service awards. From a branding perspective, Manchester is seen even more favourably internationally.

Overall, I think Manchester is a fantastic university that will only get better. Enjoy your time in Manchester, I certainly did.

Sounds like things are changing, the people at the open day mentioned that to me as well, that they're starting to give more feedback on blackboard and stuff?
What did you study? And what are you doing now? Also, how good is the careers service? If I went there and asked for an internship in insurance/consultancy management, could they get me one?

[sarah1345]

(Original post by MasterPotatoHead)
Isn't WP in Victoria? I know the hall is great but I'd prefer Fallowfield which I think is more active for students

Whitworth Park? nah, that's city centre

[MasterPotatoHead]

(Original post by sarah1345)
Whitworth Park? nah, that's city centre

Oh my bad. Never even looked at City Centre lol don't know why...