The Student Room Group

How much?

Hi,
I'm researching universities to apply to in the autumn and have so far looked at UEA, Kent, Leicester, Loughborough, Lancaster, Newcastle and briefly Winchester as possibilities. I've looked at their respective rankings and reputations as universities as a whole as well as specifically for my course (Joint honours History and English Lit) and was wondering how much emphasis I should be placing upon things like league tables etc? Obviously league tables aren't the be all and end all of picking a uni but surely some importance lies in a university's position?
Domestic league tables are very volatile so you shouldn't expect any accuracy from them, however they can be used broadly. Ultimately between places like UEA, Kent and Newcastle the difference in terms of employment opportunities will be negligible. For normal grad jobs/schemes the employer will look at your degree grade, your work experience and extracurricular activities when making an interview offer. They won't reject you solely because you went to Kent and not Newcastle or reverse.

As much as the student room obsesses over university prestige, unless you're applying for a job which puts you in the top 10% of salaries - university ranking is more of an egotistical thing. Go wherever you're happy, if it's because the university has high entry requirements, a higher position on some league table or because you like the course structure, so be it
Reply 2
This thread reminds me of this video

http://youtu.be/_EOeNw3yHjg
Original post by LilyZo
Hi,
I'm researching universities to apply to in the autumn and have so far looked at UEA, Kent, Leicester, Loughborough, Lancaster, Newcastle and briefly Winchester as possibilities. I've looked at their respective rankings and reputations as universities as a whole as well as specifically for my course (Joint honours History and English Lit) and was wondering how much emphasis I should be placing upon things like league tables etc? Obviously league tables aren't the be all and end all of picking a uni but surely some importance lies in a university's position?


We often get posts saying

"I have firmed @@@@@ and the new league tables are out - they have dropped $$ places - what do I do"

As someone has already said the tables are volatile

If you are doing Law some firms take from some universities rather than others - that is not reflected in the league tables

If you are Oxbridge quality then they have a kudos (as do some others subject specific)

Other than that - you need to match your choices with your capacity - it is no good worrying about your choices being lower in the tables if your expected grades are BCC for example - they are the best choices for you
League tables don't show prestige, and they should be taken with more than a pinch of salt. There's a really useful thread here about understanding league tables http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1096372
Reply 5
Thank you for your advice, I think it's what you read on here how there's no point even trying for a job above a secretary if you went to a non-RG or red brick uni, that makes you obsess over league tables.


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Original post by LilyZo
Thank you for your advice, I think it's what you read on here how there's no point even trying for a job above a secretary if you went to a non-RG or red brick uni, that makes you obsess over league tables.


Posted from TSR Mobile

Yes, well, now you've sussed that out, you're in a position to make up your own mind about where is right for you.

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