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Best Computing Uni-----Cam/Imperial

Hi,
I was wondering which university do you think is the best to do Computing in the UK?
The debate is always between Imperial and Cambridge. Which one do you think is better? more recognized? easier to get a first?
Thanks.

Reply 1

mmmmmmmmmmmm

Yo,

Speaking as someone who will have to make a decision as to firm and insurance choices shortly, I'd say Cambridge is arguably the better of the two, but then of course that's down to personal opinion. There's no doubt that Imperial is well-respected by employers, and I was very impressed when I went to the open day there. The problem is, would you want to turn down an offer from Cambridge? I'll let the table speak for itself; (Taken from Times "Good University Guide")

Computer Science
Entry Standards Overall Score
1 Cambridge 547 100.0
2 Oxford 552 97.5
3 Imperial College 487 95.9

I wouldn't choose a university on which is "easier" to get a first though, I'd just look round them both first and see which one you'd be most happy at. :biggrin:

Reply 2

Psyk

I get the impression that the Cambridge course focuses much more on the theory and basically treats CS as a type of maths. Whereas Imperial has a bigger practical element.

There are certain international rankings that put Imperial higher than Cambridge. At the Imperial open day they showed some rankings that put Imperial 5th in the world, and the best in Europe (of the 4 above it 3 were in America and 1 was in India).

Given the choice I would probably pick Imperial but then again I was never particularly bothered about Oxbridge entry. And even then I actually picked Bristol over Imperial, so I guess my decision wouldn't really have been any different even if Cambridge was a possibility.

Reply 3

blanco

Psyk

Yes, the ranking said 4th for technology in the world and another paper put Imperial first, so rankings also dont agree.

Reply 4

Psyk

No rankings don't agree but it goes to show that not everyone thinks Oxford and Cambridge are the best at everything. There are many good reasons to pick Imperial over Cambridge.

Reply 5

digbycaesar

As someone who has studied at both Imperial and Cambridge - and currently at Imperial - I would say the biggest difference between the two lies in the relationship between the department and the students.

At Cambridge, the undergraduate belongs to the college and gets their tutorials and support organised by that college. There are typically one or two members of the department who are fellows of the college and therefore represent a department in that college. But, after lectures, the average student does not have any direct interaction with the department that provides their subject support. The problem with this is that if things go wrong with a lecture course or lecturer, it can be very difficult to get the department to do anything directly to set things straight - although you may get support through your college.

At the Department of Computing (Imperial), there seems to be much more direct contact and support - personal tutors, small group tutorials - from the department that can be mobilised very quickly by lecturers, teaching assistants and tutorial coordinators.

Also bear in mind that in Cambridge, the prime money holders are the colleges and the departments have very little money other than direct research grants - so any extra tutorials have to come though your college. If your college is not one of the rich 3 (Trinity, Kings, Johns) then extra tuition is unlikely to be forthcoming.

At Imperial, the prime money holders are the departments and again my observation was that tuition money could be brought to support a situation much more rapidly - and in a way that supports everybody at the same time.

Having said all that - most of the time lectures work well and both institutions have top quality lecturers and courses. I think eroded ought make the decision based on which department offers the course that most interests and excites him. I would be wary of picking an institution based on historical reputation alone - although its understandably tempting.

Reply 6

gwright

Personally I feel that a computer science course should be as theoretical as possible. If you're good enough to crack the theoretical element (and you really shouldn't be doing computer science if you can't) then the practical side should be easy enough to teach yourself. The idea of a practical degree in computer science is, in my opinion, a degree with a timebomb due to the ever-changing nature of computer science.

Reply 7

Psyk

gwright

I personally think there should be a balance between the two. If all they do is teach you how to program for 3 years that wouldn't be much use, but I think it's useful that they teach you the skills you need to actually implement the theory.

Reply 8

kuls

How do you think, is it possible to go to Cambridge and if you don't like it to go to Imperial after the first year?

Reply 9

gerjomarty

I have exactly the same choice to make here. I was also very impressed by Imperial's facilities on the Interview Day, but I also fear turning down a Cambridge degree when I had the chance to have it. I do feel that the Cambridge course will be very theoretical, and I'm also worries that it only has 50% CompSci.

Reply 10

blanco

gerjomarty

The 50% NatSci and pure maths worry people would are good at/like computing rather than physics.

Reply 11

egoneo

well i know that cambridge and oxford degrees are very theoretical, so you'll probably spend more time doing maths rather than actual programming, imperial is good in a way as i think it gives a reasonable balance between both but is actually much more practical, thats why imperials computing degree is an engineering one, and oxford and cambridge are only Bcs. Imperial also do Haskell in their first year which is functional programming, which imo is a ****ty language to learn if your not good on maths but helps you get the basics right.

Reply 12

gerjomarty

blanco

The 50% NatSci and pure maths worry people would are good at/like computing rather than physics.

Did you read my mind or something? I wouldn't mind going for Cambridge, but I despise Physics and the thought of doing it at University is sickening. But I've done it at A-Level, so will that mean I'll be expected to pick up the Physics module of NatSci? That's what's worrying me.

Reply 13

Psyk

egoneo

Bristol's course is quite similar. It has an engineering focus and they also teach Haskell in the first year. From the open days there didn't seem to be much between the two courses, they're both very good.

Reply 14

d3lirious

between bristol and imperial? yea i would agree, although bristol doesn't seem to have as much maths

Reply 15

Psyk

Yeah I did get the impression that Imperial had a bit more.

Reply 16

ThE_OnE

Bristol is better module wise in my opinion. Oh and there is maths in Bristol's CS degree - I am not sure what gave you the impression that there was not much. Pure/discr/stats etc all there in plentiful supply.

Reply 17

Psyk

Oh yeah I know there is a lot of maths, I'm studying at Bristol myself. I just got the impression that Imperial had a little bit more than Bristol. Maybe that's just what they show at the open day though. No easy way to compare without doing both courses though.

The thing about maths for CS at Bristol is there is only one (quite basic) maths module that's compulsory. However there is a lot taught in context along with other stuff.