I don't know which Uni to choose!!!

Hi guys, I have a huge dilemma.
I have offers from Edinburgh, Loughborough and Surrey, and all are AAB (for Business Economics) and I have no idea which one I am going to choose. The problem, in short, is that Edinburgh doesn’t offer a placement year, whereas Loughborough and Surrey both do. So I don’t know whether I should choose Edinburgh, with its incredible reputation and vibrant nightlife, or Surrey/Loughborough, that both offer placement years, with the likes of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, that could give me a headstart over other graduates. I also liked the feel of the campuses, but the city of Edinburgh is also incredible
Many thanks in advance for your help and opinions.

Reply 1

SlowlorisIncognito

16

Original post by CRichardson18

Hi guys, I have a huge dilemma.
I have offers from Edinburgh, Loughborough and Surrey, and all are AAB (for Business Economics) and I have no idea which one I am going to choose. The problem, in short, is that Edinburgh doesn’t offer a placement year, whereas Loughborough and Surrey both do. So I don’t know whether I should choose Edinburgh, with its incredible reputation and vibrant nightlife, or Surrey/Loughborough, that both offer placement years, with the likes of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, that could give me a headstart over other graduates. I also liked the feel of the campuses, but the city of Edinburgh is also incredible
Many thanks in advance for your help and opinions.

Is Edinburgh's reputation really that good for Business Economics? That's not sarcasm- I just haven't ever heard it mentioned in that context before

I mean, ultimately, a placement year is going to give you much better employment prospects, regardless of what uni you go to, especially at a well known company like the ones you mention. That said, you could equally do an internship after uni, or build up experience in the summers to help make up for this.

However, employment aside, you seem much more keen on Edinburgh as a location- don't discount this, as you want to enjoy the next three years of your life.

I would also consider location in the country. Loughborough is pretty central, and Edinburgh does have pretty good transport links. However, depending on where you live, the journey to or from either Edinburgh or Surrey could be very long and expensive. It's something to think about before you commit to it for three years.

Have you thought about course content at all? This might vary quite widely between unis, so you should chose somewhere where you're going to enjoy studying the course and can chose from modules that interest you.

Don't get too hung up on a uni's perceived reputation when making your choice.

Reply 2

mizzsnazzter

18

Edinburgh is far superior in prestige and so you're more likely to get interviews for graduate jobs by going to Edinburgh. If it doesn't do a placement year, just make sure you know to apply for spring weeks/work experience in first year and then internships in second year. If you do that, and perform well in the internship you'll get the grad job anyway.

Seriously. You'll regret taking Loughborough/Surrey (Surrey is a non employer target and Loughborough is at the bottom of the target pack) - that's coming from working in the graduate recruitment teams for two companies now where we target only 15 UK universities

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Reply 3

CRichardson18

OP

1

Original post by mizzsnazzter

Edinburgh is far superior in prestige and so you're more likely to get interviews for graduate jobs by going to Edinburgh. If it doesn't do a placement year, just make sure you know to apply for spring weeks/work experience in first year and then internships in second year. If you do that, and perform well in the internship you'll get the grad job anyway.

Seriously. You'll regret taking Loughborough/Surrey (Surrey is a non employer target and Loughborough is at the bottom of the target pack) - that's coming from working in the graduate recruitment teams for two companies now where we target only 15 UK universities

Posted from TSR Mobile

Can I ask what the other 14 are?

Reply 4

realcloud

12

It's a difficult decision I would recommend you look at unistats and see what percentage of people got firsts.

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Reply 5

nulli tertius

21

Original post by mizzsnazzter

Edinburgh is far superior in prestige and so you're more likely to get interviews for graduate jobs by going to Edinburgh. If it doesn't do a placement year, just make sure you know to apply for spring weeks/work experience in first year and then internships in second year. If you do that, and perform well in the internship you'll get the grad job anyway.

Seriously. You'll regret taking Loughborough/Surrey (Surrey is a non employer target and Loughborough is at the bottom of the target pack) - that's coming from working in the graduate recruitment teams for two companies now where we target only 15 UK universities

Posted from TSR Mobile

If you work in recruitment I am surprised you haven't realised that the reason your employer won't target any university that routinely has placement years with prestigious employers is because the returns will be so poor for the effort involved. Anyone worth having will have been sewn up by the firm providing him or her with the placement year long before other companies get the chance to interview.

Reply 6

mizzsnazzter

18

Original post by nulli tertius

If you work in recruitment I am surprised you haven't realised that the reason your employer won't target any university that routinely has placement years with prestigious employers is because the returns will be so poor for the effort involved. Anyone worth having will have been sewn up by the firm providing him or her with the placement year long before other companies get the chance to interview.

My main job isn't in recruitment but I've spent three years helping run the graduate recruitment on the side. And we do actually target unis which offer placements such as Bath, however places like Loughborough and Aston aren't high up on the target list of the first company I worked for and so get a lower budget (surrey isn't on the list at all) and at my new firm Loughborough and surrey aren't there at all.

Placements are a great opportunity to get your foot in the door, so if you were deciding between similar prestige universities I would recommend the one with the placement year. But not if you're going to have to take a knock to prestige, there's always summers and term time to really build on your CV

Reply 7

mizzsnazzter

18

Sorry I should note actually that I'm talking about top tier firms. Firms with large graduate recruitment such as the big 4 etc aren't that bothered, and potentially the placement year could look actually help secure the job (I was referring to top tier strategy consultancies, investments etc)

Reply 8

nulli tertius

21

Original post by mizzsnazzter

Sorry I should note actually that I'm talking about top tier firms. Firms with large graduate recruitment such as the big 4 etc aren't that bothered, and potentially the placement year could look actually help secure the job (I was referring to top tier strategy consultancies, investments etc)

I am glad you made this point because a severe weakness of TSR advice on jobs is that it is skewed towards a tiny proportion of vacancies. The reality is that in two or three years time many of the present university applicants would be falling over themselves to get a position with a big four accountancy practice.

I don't know which Uni to choose!!!

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