Confused between Unis for Msc

I currently hold an offer from Lancaster uni, The university of sheffield and QMUL in the course Msc in Data Science. I am an international student and do not have the opportunity to visit the unis individually.

Can someone help me make a decision. I will also be working during my study. Please let me know which university will benefit me the most given that I am an Indian student who is self funding my course and will be working part time during the study and in furure would like to settle in UK and work in UK

Reply 1

study-granger

10

Hi, I wouldn't say that I am the best person to make this decision because you would know exactly what you are looking for in a uni.
Look at how the university interacts with students, how is the course like, the activities that you can do there, how do students feel about the university / course, whether the city is very diverse, whether the degree is favourable with job applicants etc etc.

Reply 2

physgradstudent

11

So I would say all of those universities have very similar reputations so future prospects will probably be similar for all of those courses.

There is a clear difference between QMUL and the other two, because it is based in London. London will be much much more expensive (living expenses will be twice as much, if not more). However, if you are an international student maybe the appeal of studying in such a metropolitan and famous city may be appealing. There is always a lot to do there.

Lancaster itself is a very small city and the university is a campus a little bit away from the city. This can lead to a close knit community of students as all of the students are grouped together in the campus. You'll be part of a graduate college, which will arrange lots of social events for you.

Sheffield is somewhere in between, it's a medium sized city. The campus is right on the edge of the city centre and fairly close to everything. The city is also not too far from the peak district, so if you enjoy both the countryside and the city feel this is a good place to go.

Reply 3

sris_bee

OP

3

Since I'll be taking a loan to fund my studies, expensive/posh living is definitely not what I am looking for, I want to make the best use of my time in UK , study well and secure a good job so that I can pay back the debt. Given these circumstances will London be a good place?

Reply 4

McGinger

18

Look at Campus Tour films on YouTube - this will give you a good idea of what each looks like and how big it is.
All three Unis are 'good' - Lancaster is smaller Uni/smaller city but has an excellent reputation, Sheffield is in a large industrial city, QMUL has the added expense of being in London. I'd go for Lancaster.

Reply 5

physgradstudent

11

Original post by sris_bee

Since I'll be taking a loan to fund my studies, expensive/posh living is definitely not what I am looking for, I want to make the best use of my time in UK , study well and secure a good job so that I can pay back the debt. Given these circumstances will London be a good place?

No London is much more expensive than the other two to live in so you will end up in much more debt. I'd be tempted to say that Sheffield has better opportunities for finding a part time job than Lancaster because it's in a bigger city so there'll be more opportunities, but I'm sure that you'd equally be able to find a job in Lancaster if you were keen and look in the right places.

(edited 2 years ago)

It seems that the trade-off is that London is more expensive to live in during your master's (although would also offer higher paying part-time work tbf) but London also offers way way better graduate job prospects. Most data science employers will be in London so this can make it very handy for networking, going to interviews and insight events.

Whereas at Sheffield and Lancaster it will take hours each way by train to get to career events and interviews in London. However the cost of living will be lower and the part-time job salary will also be lower.

I think the best thing is to just pick the best course that you can afford.

Reply 7

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

15

Original post by sris_bee

I currently hold an offer from Lancaster uni, The university of sheffield and QMUL in the course Msc in Data Science. I am an international student and do not have the opportunity to visit the unis individually.

Can someone help me make a decision. I will also be working during my study. Please let me know which university will benefit me the most given that I am an Indian student who is self funding my course and will be working part time during the study and in furure would like to settle in UK and work in UK

Hello @sris_bee,

First of all, congratulations on your University offers! :smile:

I am a current undergraduate student at Lancaster, so I can tell you a little about life here. As some of the other responses have said, Lancaster is a smaller city which has a great community of friendly students from all around the world. Campus has all of the facilities you could ever need and we also have lots of nightlife, hospitality and entertainment in the city; such as theatres, parks, restaurants, bars and even a castle! Many people work part-time and there is a great service at the University to help you find work, whether that be in a campus cafe or in town, or even representing the University online and at events like me.

Although I don't study MSc Data Science, if you take a look at this page, you will be able to chat with students on similar courses which may help you decide! They can also answer any other questions you have about life at Lancaster, or you can leave them below for me :smile:

Best of luck with your decision and your studies!

Charlie :smile:

Finance & Economics BSc

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 8

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

15

Original post by sris_bee

I currently hold an offer from Lancaster uni, The university of sheffield and QMUL in the course Msc in Data Science. I am an international student and do not have the opportunity to visit the unis individually.

Can someone help me make a decision. I will also be working during my study. Please let me know which university will benefit me the most given that I am an Indian student who is self funding my course and will be working part time during the study and in furure would like to settle in UK and work in UK

Hi @sris_bee,

Congratulations on your offers! I am a current student at Lancaster University and have really enjoyed my time here.

Here is a link to our virtual tour of the campus to give you a greater insight into Lancaster University. There are many places on campus to find a job and the university have their own recruitment website to help you with this! The city is about a 10 minute bus ride away and there is lots going off here so you could also look for a job in the city!

I would recommend chatting to current Data Science students here to get to know more about their experience at Lancaster.

I hope this helps. If you have any general questions about Lancaster University then please ask me and I will happily help :smile:

.

Rebecca (Final Year BSc Hons Marketing Management Student)

Reply 9

University of Sheffield Students

Official Rep

14

Original post by sris_bee

I currently hold an offer from Lancaster uni, The university of sheffield and QMUL in the course Msc in Data Science. I am an international student and do not have the opportunity to visit the unis individually.

Can someone help me make a decision. I will also be working during my study. Please let me know which university will benefit me the most given that I am an Indian student who is self funding my course and will be working part time during the study and in furure would like to settle in UK and work in UK

Hey, current Sheffield student here!

I can tell you a bit about my experience with working part-time and the cost of living here to get an idea about what it might be like for you. Sheffield is said to be one of the most affordable student cities in the UK and I can't speak for everyone, of course, but for me it's been super easy to live with a moderate budget for the past three years as a student here. Both accommodation and the cost of general services (e.g. coffee or takeaway food) are really affordable, especially compared to other cities. The best part is that it's also a city with loads of opportunities to have a diverse social life, with anything from going out to being part of sports teams or taking walks in the Peak District which is one bus ride away. Also, as a student, a lot of opportunities will be more affordable to you either because of student discounts or because many opportunities are free if you are part of one (or more) of our 400+ societies. But because you mentioned working and staying in the UK after your studies, it's important to know that the Uni of Sheffield is very serious about employability.

Each department has its own employability events but at a University level there is the Careers Service. Among other things, they organise the Careers Fair where we can meet and talk to employers and company representatives about how we can get to work with them and there are also placements and internships that are offered through our Uni platform (called Career Connect) that are specifically for Sheffield students. Also, they offer 1:1 sessions or workshops about writing CVs and job applications and do mock interviews, just to name a few (you can check out their webpage here if you're curious). In terms of part-time jobs, there are jobs available to students both on and off campus and normally you can find these on the JobShop (which is both a physical service in the Students' Union and an online platform). I've worked as a student ambassador for both of my academic departments (Politics & Philosophy), for the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, and for other administrative departments within the university and I've found all of these opportunities there.

I hope this helps in giving you an idea about what Sheffield is like as a place to study. If you have any questions, just ask! 😊

– Andreea
3rd Year, Politics & Philosophy

Confused between Unis for Msc

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