The Student Room Group

Surrey or Nottingham? (Physics)

I have received offers from both. I am planning to pick Surrey as my insurance choice. Nottingham has asked (told) me to go to there in two weeks to informally discuss the precise offer level. Nottingham's offer is likely to be the same as my first (and second and third) choice, so I do not see how I would end up there, and so I am considering withdrawing my application to Nottingham. I am posting this to get some outside opinions before I do anything drastic.

This is, of course, assuming that I get an offer from at least one of my first three choices; apparently they all make most of their offers after the January deadline.

I like Surrey and Nottingham equally, although I haven't actually visited Nottingham.
Reply 1
Original post by ombtom
I have received offers from both. I am planning to pick Surrey as my insurance choice. Nottingham has asked (told) me to go to there in two weeks to informally discuss the precise offer level. Nottingham's offer is likely to be the same as my first (and second and third) choice, so I do not see how I would end up there, and so I am considering withdrawing my application to Nottingham. I am posting this to get some outside opinions before I do anything drastic.

This is, of course, assuming that I get an offer from at least one of my first three choices; apparently they all make most of their offers after the January deadline.

I like Surrey and Nottingham equally, although I haven't actually visited Nottingham.


Hi there. a little off topic but I have a question.
Like you, I have just received a conditional offer from surrey (for biomedical science) . Do we have to respond to the offer now, using the login portal or do we wait till we receive a decision from all our choices? keep thinking we have to respond now to them. when did you receive your surrey offer and have you been invited to an applicant day. Thanks a lot
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 2
Original post by Fuego1
Hi, there a little off topic but I have a question.
Like you, I have just received a conditional offer from surrey (for biomedical science) . Do we have to respond to the offer now, using the login portal or do we wait till we receive a decision from all our choices? keep thinking we have to respond now to them. when did you receive your surrey offer and have you been invited to an applicant day. Thanks a lot


We wait until we receive a decision from all of our choices. :smile:

I received my offer from Surrey within three weeks of applying (mid-October). I have been invited to the applicant days, but I'm not sure if I can go yet.
Reply 3
Original post by ombtom
We wait until we receive a decision from all of our choices. :smile:

I received my offer from Surrey within three weeks of applying (mid-October). I have been invited to the applicant days, but I'm not sure if I can go yet.


Ahh thats great. so you didn't have to do anything once surrey made you the offer, like send them an acknowledgement email of the offer, through the login portal. after you're offer. how long did you have to wait for an invite to the applicant day? got my offer on the 28th oct and still waiting for an invite...
Reply 4
Original post by Fuego1
Ahh thats great. so you didn't have to do anything once surrey made you the offer, like send them an acknowledgement email of the offer, through the login portal. after you're offer. how long did you have to wait for an invite to the applicant day? got my offer on the 28th oct and still waiting for an invite...


I've done nothing like that. :tongue: I could register for the applicant day as soon as I had a portal account thing (you should have a look on there); they sent an email about it a few days after I received the offer.
Nottingham generally has a better achademic reputation and I have been to the campus, it was very good
Reply 6
Original post by Lucasium
Nottingham generally has a better achademic reputation and I have been to the campus, it was very good


According to complete university guide, surrey is 8th and Nottingham is 25th overall. In terms of physics, surrey is 11th, Nottingham is 16th
Reply 7
Original post by Fuego1
According to complete university guide, surrey is 8th and Nottingham is 25th overall. In terms of physics, surrey is 11th, Nottingham is 16th


Although rankings aren't everything, I'm surprised how many people say Nottingham has a better reputation.
Original post by ombtom
Although rankings aren't everything, I'm surprised how many people say Nottingham has a better reputation.


Surrey's ranking is all down to the gaming of 'student satisfaction' stats. Worldwide, and within many top career sectors no one would mistake Surrey for being more 'respected'.

The same phenomenon happens with Lancaster; when I went there for an open day every second sentence mentioned them being in the 'top 10', a true top 10 university reputation wouldn't be so insecure about it. Sure, they're both great, but by no means have they accrued the same level of reputational currency as Notts and other decent redbricks.

That all said, the decision should boil down to how much you want to go to Notts. If there are other universities that pique your fancy, and that you have received offers from, yeah, go for it.

Personally, I'd at least attend the visit day to further solidify my opinion of the university. But again, it's your choice.

Posted from TSR Mobile
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 9
Original post by Princepieman
Surrey's ranking is all down to the gaming of 'student satisfaction' stats. Worldwide, and within many top career sector no one would mistake Surrey for being more 'respected'.

The same phenomenon happens with Lancaster; when I went there for an open day every second sentence mentioned them being in the 'top 10', a true top 10 university reputation wouldn't be so insecure about it. Sure, they're both great, but by no means have they accrued the same level of reputational currency as Notts and other decent redbricks.

That all said, the decision should boil down to how much you want to go to Notts. If there are other universities that pique your fancy, and that you have received offers from, yeah, go for it.

Personally, I'd at least attend the visit day to further solidify my opinion of the university. But again, it's your choice.

Posted from TSR Mobile

You do raise a great point here however, I'd be quite impressed if I saw the student satisfaction stats were very good for a university, After all, you're paying £27000 and investing 3-4 years of your life into something and you want to enjoy it. I went to UCL's open day and wasn't too impressed with the way my course was going to be taught and I think they relied on the fact that they're a 'Russel group' and didnt sell themselves enough in other ways compared to a non Russel group such as surrey.
Only if your an elite from Oxbridge, LSE or Imperial might you be favoured by some top firms but most dont even care about Mr so&so being from a 'respected' university. All they care about is if you have the right people skills, work experiences and if you're suited to the job. If someone went to surrey, had maybe done a placement year to gain experience and was the right person for the job, they take him over a person from a 'more respected university' and had zero experience and limited skill sets . I think there isnt much difference between surrey and notts apart from the rankings and one being a russel group
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 10
Original post by Fuego1
You do raise a great point here however, I'd be quite impressed if I saw the student satisfaction stats were very good for a university, After all, you're paying £27000 and investing 3-4 years of your life into something and you want to enjoy it. I went to UCL's open day and wasn't too impressed with the way my course was going to be taught and I think they relied on the fact that they're a 'Russel group' and didnt sell themselves enough in other ways compared to a non Russel group such as surrey.
Only if your an elite from Oxbridge, LSE or Imperial might you be favoured by some top firms but most dont even care about Mr so&so being from a 'respected' university. All they care about is if you have the right people skills, work experiences and if you're suited to the job. If someone went to surrey, had maybe done a placement year to gain experience and was the right person for the job, they take him over a person from a 'more respected university' and had zero experience and limited skill sets . I think there isnt much difference between surrey and notts apart from the rankings and one being a russel group


I'm not concerned with the 'Russell Group'. It's basically irrelevant for undergraduates, as far as I know.

Surrey's placement year is one of its main attributes.
Reply 11
Original post by ombtom
I'm not concerned with the 'Russell Group'. It's basically irrelevant for undergraduates, as far as I know.

Surrey's placement year is one of its main attributes.


Thats another thing why I want to do biomed at surrey - the placement year.Apparently, Aston also offers placement years on 70% of their courses. Dont think notts can offer this
Original post by Fuego1
You do raise a great point here however, I'd be quite impressed if I saw the student satisfaction stats were very good for a university, After all, you're paying £27000 and investing 3-4 years of your life into something and you want to enjoy it. I went to UCL's open day and wasn't too impressed with the way my course was going to be taught and I think they relied on the fact that they're a 'Russel group' and didnt sell themselves enough in other ways compared to a non Russel group such as surrey.
Only if your an elite from Oxbridge, LSE or Imperial might you be favoured by some top firms but most dont even care about Mr so&so being from a 'respected' university. All they care about is if you have the right people skills, work experiences and if you're suited to the job. If someone went to surrey, had maybe done a placement year to gain experience and was the right person for the job, they take him over a person from a 'more respected university' and had zero experience and limited skill sets . I think there isnt much difference between surrey and notts apart from the rankings and one being a russel group


I agree to an extent. Certainly, if you aren't looking to go into high finance, law conversion, consulting etc, there is no difference between the two. But if you were thinking about these fields, Notts has a clear lead in terms of reputation amongst employers of that ilk. It's very dominant in the law field and is also considered a 'semi-target' for finance roles (after the core targets, it along with a few others send a very solid stream into said roles), generally a luxury that isn't afforded by Surrey.

Aside from that, the difference is quite nominal as they are both decent universities. I'm not going to join in on the usual TSR cranium-massaging exercise of comparing their relative 'prospects or 'reputation'' as it were because frankly, it doesn't mean anything.
Original post by Fuego1
Thats another thing why I want to do biomed at surrey - the placement year.Apparently, Aston also offers placement years on 70% of their courses. Dont think notts can offer this


They can, you just have to arrange it with the department.

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