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Need help choosing university to study (Durham/Warwick/York)

Hello I am a foreign student looking to study in the UK. I've made applications to the following universities:

Imperial
Durham
Warwick
York
Manchester

So far I have (unconditional) offers from Durham, Warwick and York. Manchester being my safe bet weirdly asks me for either an interview or portfolio work and Imperial hasn't replied although I think it will turn me down as I don't have an A* in Maths.

My main aim is to get to a University with the best employment prospects. Computer science is what I love the most but I do not want in any chance to be unemployed.

I'm rejecting Manchester since it lies further down the league tables.(25 Overall / 16 CSc)

Durham seems a very reputable university (5 Overall/ 14 CSc) and I have heard for it being an alternative to oxbridge, but I am a bit skeptic about the low ranking of the department, and the fact that it is not very well known outside the UK. The city though seems wonderful.

Warwick is also a very reputable university with a stronger computer science department than Durham (8 Overall (last year 6) / 10 CSc (last year 8)), which I had heard before applying (unlike Durham). They claim 100% employment after 6 months of graduation. However I 've read on these forums that Coventry is a dump and that troubles me a bit.

York lies a bit further down the table (12 Overall / 9 CSc) with marginally the best CSc department out of the three. This one I didn't look much into it and I don't know why. Maybe the name didn't sound too familiar.

Well I've never been to the UK before and league tables and pictures is all I have to judge with. Which would you recommend and why? Again, my priority is graduate prospects and student satisfaction

Thanks

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1

traumatised

League tables are worth looking at, but don't base your decisions solely on them. Just because York is one rank above Warwick does not mean it has the better department. It's just an arbitrary difference affected by subjective factors. Same goes for Manchester.

I agree you should probably not bother with Manchester though, it actually has a world-class computer science department and excellent graduate prospects, but not worth the extra effort when you have less demanding offers from unis of the same calibre.

As far as employability goes, all of your universities will give you a head start. Obviously Imperial is one of the best, if not the best, engineering/science schools out there, but you won't be at a big disadvantage going to Warwick, York, Durham or Manchester instead. As long as you get into a top uni, the rest is more up to your own capabilities.

Now to compare Warwick, York and Durham, you need to focus more on the course content. Generally speaking York has a more hardware-oriented programme while Warwick puts greater emphasis on the maths aspect of computer science. Durham is highly regarded as an alternative to Oxbridge, but I'd say its real strength is with social sciences. This is not to say the computer science department at Durham is weak, but you'd be better off going to a more sciencey uni, like the other four on your list.

In terms of prestige for computer science, it goes as follows (again, with mostly marginal differences):

Imperial

Warwick/York
Manchester
Durham

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 2

tes1996

The cities and universities themselves are something to think about- Durham is a small but very beautiful city, dominated by the university, whereas York and especially Warwick have campuses a fair way from their respective cities (Warwick is nowhere near the city/town of Warwick).

Reply 3

traumatised

Original post by tes1996

Warwick is between Coventry and Leamington Spa.

Reply 4

Damask-

If you're worried about employability, the York computer science department had a pretty good industrial placement scheme which you can opt in to do. Warwick don't - if you want to do a placement, you're pretty much on your own with it. Imperial have a short placement if you do an undergraduate masters but let's be real, no-one leaves Imperial unemployed unless they don't actually want a job.