[jonathancox]

Hi all,
I am Bermudian, been at school in Boston USA for the last 4 years. I have conditional offers based on AP scores from Southampton (55), Glasgow(444), Edinburgh(4) and Exeter(5) for Mechanical Engineering (plus either international study or management).
Southampton has the hardest offer, then Glasgow, then Edinburgh.
I also have a place at Northeastern University in Boston to study the same course.

I'd like some last-minute advice/opinions on which to firm. I'm leaning to the UK schools because of cost (I pay home fees here while Northeastern would cost around $50,000 a year before scholarships), the focus, different experience, family etc. However, when visiting the UK, I've been surprised at the number of British students trying to go to the US for uni. Also, Northeastern has an integrated co-op programme which would be helpful for employment.

If you were to rank the UK unis, which would you firm?
And, does anyone have opinion on the US vs UK idea ie. would you just take the unconditional place at Northeastern?
Thanks for reading.
-Jon.

[Aiden]

Im going to Glasgow to do a very sinilar degree, and i would recommmend that you chose either Glasgow or Nottingham. Nottingham may be held in a slightly higher regard for engineering, but glasgow probobly has a better reputation overall.

Glasgow is also a really great place to live. Cant comment on Nottingham, because ive never been.

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[Aiden]

Sorry, by Nottingham i mean Southampton

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[olympus123456]

(Original post by jonathancox)
Hi all,
I am Bermudian, been at school in Boston USA for the last 4 years. I have conditional offers based on AP scores from Southampton (55), Glasgow(444), Edinburgh(4) and Exeter(5) for Mechanical Engineering (plus either international study or management).
Southampton has the hardest offer, then Glasgow, then Edinburgh.
I also have a place at Northeastern University in Boston to study the same course.

I'd like some last-minute advice/opinions on which to firm. I'm leaning to the UK schools because of cost (I pay home fees here while Northeastern would cost around $50,000 a year before scholarships), the focus, different experience, family etc. However, when visiting the UK, I've been surprised at the number of British students trying to go to the US for uni. Also, Northeastern has an integrated co-op programme which would be helpful for employment.

If you were to rank the UK unis, which would you firm?
And, does anyone have opinion on the US vs UK idea ie. would you just take the unconditional place at Northeastern?
Thanks for reading.
-Jon.

I also had an offer from NorthEastern University but decided to go elsewhere. It is definitely a good university in terms of engineering. In my opinion, you should put Northeastern University as first, then Southampton, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

[Foghorn Leghorn]

I'd rank them edinburgh, southampton, glasgow. (you should have applied to strathclyde instead of glasgow if you ask me)

[SJS101]

Southampton is best by miles, firm it :d

[jonathancox]

Thanks all! Firmed Southampton just now

[SJS101]

(Original post by jonathancox)
Thanks all! Firmed Southampton just now

Great choice

[jonathancox]

SJS101- do you go there now? I chose it mostly because of its reputation for engineering, proximity to the sea, etc. A few people have told me the city itself isn't amazing but I've heard only good things from people who go to the uni. Any comment about the social life there? You seem to be enjoying which I find very encouraging (I can't change my decision, I'm merely interested)

[SJS101]

(Original post by jonathancox)
SJS101- do you go there now? I chose it mostly because of its reputation for engineering, proximity to the sea, etc. A few people have told me the city itself isn't amazing but I've heard only good things from people who go to the uni. Any comment about the social life there? You seem to be enjoying which I find very encouraging (I can't change my decision, I'm merely interested)

Sorry but I don't go their now, going next year with yourself. I also choose it due to its reputation but also because they are the top uni for getting students into f1. (I will be studying aero and astro next year). I rejected offers from uni's like Bristol to study at Southampton so I am hoping it was worth it lol. Also I have been to the city twice and it is no where near as bad as people make out. It's defo not as beautiful as Bristol, but it's pretty good. And yeah its by the sea but Southampton has no beaches. However I am hoping to spend some weekends in the isle of wight


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[jonathancox]

Thanks very much- haha Bristol wouldn't even accept my qualifications. Don't much like beaches myself but am happy to be able to sail and so on.
Didn't think about the Isle of Wight... awesome.

[SJS101]

(Original post by jonathancox)
Thanks very much- haha Bristol wouldn't even accept my qualifications. Don't much like beaches myself but am happy to be able to sail and so on.
Didn't think about the Isle of Wight... awesome.

Bristol wouldn't accept your grades? Did they reject you or something? I though both had similar grade requirements lol. Also it seems lots of people got rejected from bristol and yet I declined them lol. Anyways just hope soton pays off


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[jonathancox]

No they basically told me not to bother applying because they wouldn't accept my American maths qualification. I didn't actually ask Southampton- maybe that's why I got an offer

[SJS101]

(Original post by jonathancox)
No they basically told me not to bother applying because they wouldn't accept my American maths qualification. I didn't actually ask Southampton- maybe that's why I got an offer

The thing is Bristol is a very prestigious posh university, they have the most amount of applicants in the uk so therefore they can be picky about American maths lol. Btw in America how is Southampton regarded? Is like the top engineering uni or not. Also how is Bristol regarded? Thanks. Btw if you want any help with accommodation stuff just ask


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[jonathancox]

Thing is, people in America really don't know much about British unis at all... save Oxbridge, maybe Edinburgh. Science-y types might know about Imperial, and more recently lots of Americans have been applying to St. Andrews bc they added it to the American application system (and I guess bc Kate went there ). But "prestige" for most Americans means HarvardYalePrincetonStanfordMIT. I'd imagine relevant employers would respect a Bristol degree as "almost" on-par with those places though, perhaps "just below" Oxbridge.
I'm from Bermuda originally where lots of people go to British universities- I know a couple at Southampton. And we have ships that come from there...

[jonathancox]

Thanks btw. I noticed you're a bit more on-your-own in terms of accommodation in the UK than you'd be in the US. (here, they usually require firstyears to live in a hall they assign in the middle of June).
Yea the maths thing was annoying. I loved Sheffield when I visited and they told me the same thing about the qualification. So did Newcastle. I think the trick would have been not to ask.

[jonathancox]

I'm interested too- how are American universities generally regarded in the UK? I noticed when I last visited a number of British students wanted to go to one - is that because they want a different experience or because they think US unis are "better" do you think?

[Smack]

(Original post by jonathancox)
I'm interested too- how are American universities generally regarded in the UK? I noticed when I last visited a number of British students wanted to go to one - is that because they want a different experience or because they think US unis are "better" do you think?

Well, I've never heard of any US universities apart from Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT and Stanford. Most people in the UK simply will never have heard of any American universities beyond maybe these five, and take away MIT and Stanford for the non-sciency people... and probably Princeton too for most people.

I know that some Brits are attracted to American universities because they generally rank higher on international league tables and have much more funding. I personally cannot understand why anyone would want to pay tens of thousands of pounds to study in the States when they can study here for cheap. Although I suppose I'm not the best person to ask about that since, looking back at it, I primarily went to university to party and get myself a qualification that'll help set me up for a good graduate job. And so far it's working out very well.

American universities probably are generally better due to the extra cash they have. If I was concerned about getting the highest quality education and money was no object then it'd probably be something I'd consider since I've heard it's much easier to "buy" your way into top American universities.

In terms of the experience, I've heard from people who've done semesters in the States that they generally take their studies more seriously than us - probably because they're paying a **** load of money to be there. They also have to share a bedroom with someone else...

[0404343m]

(Original post by Smack)
Well, I've never heard of any US universities apart from Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT and Stanford. Most people in the UK simply will never have heard of any American universities beyond maybe these five, and take away MIT and Stanford for the non-sciency people... and probably Princeton too for most people.

I know that some Brits are attracted to American universities because they generally rank higher on international league tables and have much more funding. I personally cannot understand why anyone would want to pay tens of thousands of pounds to study in the States when they can study here for cheap. Although I suppose I'm not the best person to ask about that since, looking back at it, I primarily went to university to party and get myself a qualification that'll help set me up for a good graduate job. And so far it's working out very well.

American universities probably are generally better due to the extra cash they have. If I was concerned about getting the highest quality education and money was no object then it'd probably be something I'd consider since I've heard it's much easier to "buy" your way into top American universities.

In terms of the experience, I've heard from people who've done semesters in the States that they generally take their studies more seriously than us - probably because they're paying a **** load of money to be there. They also have to share a bedroom with someone else...

I'm also confused by this. You'll often hear on TSR people paranoid about how their Loughborough degree won't be well known in the US, or conversely how someone knows someone who knows things and s/he has heard of the university I'm at but not the one you're at sort of thing. The fact of the matter is, the combined number of living graduates of the Ivy League equates to about 0.1% of the US population, and 0.005% of the world. Most people travelling to other countries for jobs have degrees from places like the University of Central Florida or Arizona State or somewhere you've never heard of but is actually in a city with a population of two million somewhere in Russia.

American universities are strange things. Once you meet critical mass, I don't think the money goes a long way. Some Ivy League places have very nice PCs and very nice desks and libraries, but do you really need the i7 and the 24inch widescreen (I'm looking at you, Yale) or is the 19inch i3 just fine for a library? Also, I'm sure it's great not to have to queue to use an MRI machine (because they have three when most Russell Group universities have one or a share of one), but that's a luxury rather than a necessity for a good education. The Profs aren't always better either. Sometimes they have the big names who have done the square root of bugger all for the last 20 years, but in the 1980s had written the books worth reading and got a chair at Princeton as a result.

In Scotland, there is a degree of messing around that's unfortunate. Too many UGs rock up to do a degree because there's nothing riding on it. Pass, do another year. Fail, resit or dropout. Try it and see anyway. I think fees should be charged to a student, and the slate wiped when they graduate (unless they drop out for personal/health reasons, not because £1 vodkas were too tempting). That said, I don't think that's a UK phenomenon anymore- those paying high fees (even the old top-up fees) have tended to take things seriously in my experience.

[anam93]

(Original post by jonathancox)
Hi all,
I am Bermudian, been at school in Boston USA for the last 4 years. I have conditional offers based on AP scores from Southampton (55), Glasgow(444), Edinburgh(4) and Exeter(5) for Mechanical Engineering (plus either international study or management).
Southampton has the hardest offer, then Glasgow, then Edinburgh.
I also have a place at Northeastern University in Boston to study the same course.

I'd like some last-minute advice/opinions on which to firm. I'm leaning to the UK schools because of cost (I pay home fees here while Northeastern would cost around $50,000 a year before scholarships), the focus, different experience, family etc. However, when visiting the UK, I've been surprised at the number of British students trying to go to the US for uni. Also, Northeastern has an integrated co-op programme which would be helpful for employment.

If you were to rank the UK unis, which would you firm?
And, does anyone have opinion on the US vs UK idea ie. would you just take the unconditional place at Northeastern?
Thanks for reading.
-Jon.

Hey! I also applied to UK universities with my American (and Spanish grades) for Mech Eng. I'm from Barcelona but I go to an International/American school. Bath and UCL gave me conditionals for my Spanish grades and Warwick sort of went crazy and asked for 5's in AP Physics, AP Calculus, AP Chem and AP Microeconomics. I ended up declining their offer. I feel that universities in the UK are known by Americans who happen to be related to the field of study and vice-versa. For example if you are trying to get a job at an engineering company they'll probably known what the best unis for eng. are in the UK. Here in Spain for example generally people don't know about Imperial or Southampton unless they want to/have studied engineering or they are working at an engineering-related company.

I took a summer preArchitecture course at Northeastern and really liked the campus and the halls, I think it's a great uni for engineering so if you end up staying there it will also be a good decision but there's a great difference in £££!!


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