Trinity College Dublin, Imperial, or Warwick

I have a fairly standard offer from Warwick (A1A1AAA Irish Leaving Certificate with A1 in Maths and Applied Maths, as well as a II in any STEP paper), I am waiting for Imperial to get back to me and I have Trinity College Dublin as my first choice on the CAO.

My problem is, it seems very hard to make direct comparisons between these universities. From what I can tell, Warwick and Imperial are both significantly ahead of Trinity. Problem solved? Not quite. You see, attending Warwick or Imperial will incur significant costs in the form of tuition fees and accommodation. If I go to Trinity the tuition fees are only about 3000£ - but these have to be paid up front. As well as that, I can commute to Trinity from my parent's house, so that's another cost saved.

However, as I mentioned I am quite sure that Warwick and Imperial are better than Trinity for maths. Trinity is still a good university, the best in Ireland, but I think there's a good chance I'll be working or studying in the UK after I get my undergraduate degree. Either pursuing further study or perhaps working in the financial sector/City of London. With this in mind I think Imperial/Warwick would have a significant edge over Trinity.

Another issue is the degree structure: In the UK, bachelors degrees are 3 years long. In Ireland, they are 4. Am I getting the same degree in the UK in one less year? If so I'd obviously go to the UK in a heartbeat, however I'm not sure if it's that straight forward. From looking at Trinity Graduate destinations, a lot seem to go on to get an MMath in the UK after their 4 years in trinity, i.e 5 years for an MMath, suggesting that the 3 year UK degree is similar to the 4 year Ireland degree.


My final concern is entry requirements. Trinity required 465 points in 2011. This is across 6 subjects and is roughly equivalent to BBBBBB in terms of points. (A B2, that is, 75-79% is worth 80 points). Warwick only takes into account 5 subjects, but in these it requires A1A1AAA, as well as STEP. My worry is that Trinity's entry requirements are too low, which may mean the classes move at quite a slow pace. Trinity only requires a B1 in Mathematics - that is, 80% or higher, and does not require Applied Maths (Not a surprise given that most schools don't do it.)

So with these factors taken into account, do you think that Warwick and/or Imperial justify the extra cost over Trinity?