Beng Aerospace, Bristol or Southamtpon?

Hey all, i'm an international student looking to return to the UK to study Aerospace Engineering for the duration of a Bachelor.
I got offers from Bristol and Southampon, and I am looking to decide which one to pick as a firm choice.
My backup is Sheffield.
Any help would be appreciated.

Reply 1

Joe_01

Original post by matteoduroy

Hi there,

They are both great universities and so you should pick the one that you think will be better suited for you.

One thing to note is you may get better/more local engineering career opportunities in Bristol since Airbus and Rolls Royce both have manufacturing plants there!

Joe

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 2

Helloworld_95

Bristol is more lively and I trust them more as an engineering faculty, Southampton is quite well known for overpromising and upselling what they have.

Out of the three I would probably say Bristol/Sheffield>Southampton, with the choice between Bristol and Sheffield being based on your preference of course structure. Bristol's course is closer to the standard format whereas Sheffield's goes off the rails quite a bit with its specialisms which can be great for some but awful for others.

Probably also worth adding that travel links could be an important consideration, Sheffield has better access to a major international airport than Southampton which has slightly better access than Bristol.

Reply 3

Moe_00

Original post by Helloworld_95

Southampton is quite well known for overpromising and upselling what they

Can I ask "known" by who or based on what.
I'm also currently choosing between Southampton and Sheffield, but for mechanical

Reply 4

Helloworld_95

Original post by Mshabana

Can I ask "known" by who or based on what.
I'm also currently choosing between Southampton and Sheffield, but for mechanical

Based on experiences of people at Southampton that I've heard and also comparisons between what Southampton advertises and experiences of people at other universities.

One of the big examples for their marketing of Aerospace specifically was Southampton advertising their little wind tunnels as something which is groundbreaking for a university to have, when in fact they're a pretty standard affair across universities offering aero and mechanical, and if anything many universities have much better ones available for student use.

And for examples of people's experiences at Southampton I've seen a few people who were really excited during first year because they did a lot of cool sounding projects, however these are really too early for them to learn much from, and then in later years they would become quite upset at the course. Pretty sure there's one guy who was on here that dropped out after second year because they completely lost their enthusiasm for it.

These things may be less of an issue for Mechanical however. I would also recommend against studying mechanical at Sheffield for other reasons relating to admin, course options, and research income which will have a fairly significant impact during your time there.

Reply 5

Moe_00

BTW I didn't respond to your question initially but I didn't apply to Bristol because they don't have a year in industry which I valued. That was for mechanical though so maybe look into it for aero.

Original post by matteoduroy

Reply 6

Helloworld_95

Original post by Mshabana

BTW I didn't respond to your question initially but I didn't apply to Bristol because they don't have a year in industry which I valued. That was for mechanical though so maybe look into it for aero.

For reference of anyone else reading this thread, just because a university doesn't offer an official year in industry doesn't mean you can't take one. Most universities will be happy to give you a year break so that you can do one, you just won't have the support and quality control from the university during it and it won't count towards you degree. It's also not as viable for someone here on a Tier 4 though I think you could probably make an argument to do it on a Tier 5 Government Authorised Exchange or Youth Mobility visa if you are eligible for it.