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University College London, University of London
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UCL vs Manchester vs Edinburgh

Hi Guys,

I am an international student from Singapore enrolling with the following universities in September 2009 and I have received offers to study Chemical Engineering at UCL, Edinburgh, and Manchester University. I am so confused which to choose.

Reputation-wise, UCL is the best out of the 3 - in terms of overall world rankings, which should stand me in good stead after my degree, however I have heard that Chem Eng at Manchester - according to the league tables is really good as well (after Cambridge and Imperial).

In terms of job prospects with good contacts with the industry - which would be the better choice?

Cost is not a matter for me so UCL would seem like the best bet to me, but I'm not sure if the Chem Eng department in UCL is world-class as compared to other faculties in UCL.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Reply 1
manchester's chem dep are amazing so i'd go with that.
University College London, University of London
University College London
London
UCL Engineering department is not it's best, but it would definitely set you in good stead career-wise...
Reply 3
General Rule of thumb when choosing your university is that Overall reputation > Faculty Reputation. Employers always pay more attention to overall 'branding' than individual strength of the university's faculty. The only exception is when the course is a very specialised and professional one such as Engineering (which is your situation) and perphaps law. If i were you, i would look at the issue in this manner:

UCL's Strength:
1. London advantage - The location may sound pretty irrelevant at your current stage but you will soon feel its impact the moment you start your education. Apart from the 'social and fun' aspects, many major events and high profile international speakers come to london, etc so its really a good eye opening opportunity.
2. Stronger Overall reptuation - UCL attracts many more top employers than Manchester to hold recruitment events at their campus. The proximity to the financial centres also means easier time for networking sessoins. I m not sure how much stronger is Manchester's engineering but UCL will definitely give u and edge when u are applying for non-engineering jobs such as finance etc.
3. Many top firms only hire from a select few target schools, and this is never going to prove more true during this financial crisis. For example, in the current market, u hardly stand a chance to get into top IBS or consultancies if you dont come from oxbridge, lse, imperial, ucl, warwick etc without top-notching personal connections.

Manchester's strength:
1. A stronger faculty will probably give u better employment prospects when your application is reviewed by employers who are in the industry and who are AWARE of this particular strength of the engineering department.
2. Stronger departments boast of more high profile reserachers whose reference may of greater weight if you are applying to graduate schools. However, given UCL's general reputation i wont personally see this as making overly significant difference.

So overal i think UCL should still be your first choice. Yea, hope to see ya here next year. I also did my a levels in Singapore, btw haha
Reply 4
thanks for your detailed reply, actually i'm starting in september this year. what course are studying, hope we can meet :smile:
Reply 5
What centrade stated is gold-worth. I thought that this link could be helpful as well:
http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/tol_gug/gooduniversityguide.php?subject=CHEMICAL
Reply 6
haha, i m doing economics man, currently in my first year. I did my a levels in Hwachong, how abt u? :smile:
Reply 7
Hmm, regarding the ranking:

1. Manchester's engine is ranked 3rd and UCL 12th
2. However,UCL's research is 5A*, which is higher than manchester's 5A.
3. Manchester seems to have a higher entry standard (412) than UCL (377). Is this the main reason that accounts for the ranking differenceS?
4. Manchester has a graduate prospect of 86% while UCL's is onlu 71%. Im not sure how this is measured but if we look at the rankings of the universities in terms of graduate prospects then:

1. Surrey 4B 281 78% 100% 86.1
2. Newcastle 5B 361 71% 95% 85.7
3. Cambridge 5A 531 94% 100
4. Sheffield 4B 352 76% 92% 85.7
5. Swansea 4A 276 77% 90% 84.1
6. Leeds 5C 310 71% 89% 80.4
7. Queen's Belfast

This looks like a really weird result for there are 6 out of the top 7 universities whose names are relatively unheard of.....

so...take all rankings with a pinch of salt :P

LSE is ranked 57th in the world in THES, but that school still has an unrivalled employment prospects among the other london universities.

Like i have said General rep> Faculty Rep and the only situation where one should give up general rep for faculty rep is when:
first, the faculty rep of the university is extremely established
second, there is not a significant difference between the general rep of the 2 universities

A good example would be say giving up Oxford's engineering for Imperials'.

That said manchester is a fine university and i think Teo Chee hean is a former alumnus of electrical engineering hahaha
Reply 8
welll thanks, im so confused now haha.. anyways i'm making my way down to UK to check out the universities next week, ill be visiting UCL on thursday(16th) and manchester on wednesday(15th) just to get first hand information. Hopefully i'll be able to make my decision by then.

the plus point with manchester is that they give you a 4 year masters, which includes 1 year of industrial experience. this effectively means you can finish your masters in 3 years(excluding year in industry), as well as earn some money and experience during your 3rd year in industry. not sure if any other universities have such an advantage.

cheers
Reply 9
that is a very good reason why i picked manchester. i will be basically be spending a year doing an industrial placement which can help me a lot when it comes to employment.

but it is incredibly confusing, i agree.
I have offer letter of both Manchester and UCL for computer Science .Which one do I chose?
I don't know which one would be best - UCL or Manchester. But if I were confused and couldn't decide between the two, then I would simply go for UCL. This is because UCL is the 'safe' option: it currently has a world class reputation and it will continue to have a world class reputation throughout your lifetime.

I've just realised how old this thread is... Doh!
Original post by patrick_black
I don't know which one would be best - UCL or Manchester. But if I were confused and couldn't decide between the two, then I would simply go for UCL. This is because UCL is the 'safe' option: it currently has a world class reputation and it will continue to have a world class reputation throughout your lifetime.

I've just realised how old this thread is... Doh!

I'm an international student and I have heard that there is a lot of racism in UK
Like Indian get under paid and so on. And also I won't be able to work after completing my BSc degree.
Is it true?
Reply 13
Original post by aryanrulezz
I have offer letter of both Manchester and UCL for computer Science .Which one do I chose?


both are equally good.....upto you on that one...i might go with manchester (personal preference)
Reply 14
Original post by aryanrulezz
I'm an international student and I have heard that there is a lot of racism in UK
Like Indian get under paid and so on. And also I won't be able to work after completing my BSc degree.
Is it true?


im on the same boat....racism shouldnt be there in this modern world but job issues are there..im stuck in this situation as well ( also from india)
Original post by aryanrulezz
I'm an international student and I have heard that there is a lot of racism in UK
Like Indian get under paid and so on. And also I won't be able to work after completing my BSc degree.
Is it true?


It's not really true, no. Racism occurs throughout the world. My friend, who was born in apartheid South Africa, said that of all the countries she has ever lived in, the UK was the least racist country. That doesn't mean that it really is the least racist country! It just means that she encountered racism in every country except the UK - and she has lived in a lot of countries all over the world. She's currently living in Australia.

Having said that, there are regional differences. You're less likely to experience racism in London, UK, which is very multi-cultural, and more likely to experience racism in Bradford, UK (where there is tension between some young Indian men and some young white men). But I lived in Bradford for 3 years and experienced no racism. So, you need to put things in perspective. Racism exists in the UK, but the UK is probably one of the least racist countries in the world.

As for your right to stay in the UK and work after your degree - I really don't know. It depends where you're from. Unfortunately, many people in the UK believe that immigrants are coming to the UK and putting a burden on the UK welfare system (i.e. more patients in hospitals, more people receiving state hand outs; this is an idea that it common across the world), so there is pressure on the UK government to limit immigration. So, maybe there will be stricter policies in future over who can stay and work and who can come only to receive an education. You would need to check what the official rule is for people coming in from your particular country, but I know a lot of people from all around the world who now live and work in the UK.
(edited 8 years ago)
dont go to UCL its rubbish the professors really don't care its really expensive and exams are a mess
But how does UCL compare with other universities? There's no point saying that UCL is "rubbish" if, e.g., Manchester is also rubbish! It's about the comparison!

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