Comp Sci @ Warwick or Manchester?

Hi, I have offers from both warwick and manchester to study computer science and I cant decide which one to firm (Offers are AAA and AAB respectively). I hear manchester is slightly better than warwick for computing but Warwick is really prestigious.

I've been to both uni's a month ago and like them both so just tell me what you think? Is Manchester really better than warwick for computer?

Thanks

Reply 1

patrick ye

Original post by Ellul92

TIMES ranks Warwick top ten,but Machester out of ten for CS...I don't know whether it is trustworthy.

Reply 2

Thinker03

Congratulations!
Both are really good universities, having studies my undergraduate at CS department of Manchester I can say I was really pleased.

Just to let you know, almost all my classmates found very good jobs in good companies with competitive salaries even before they finished their degrees. Manchester is one of the safest bets for future career in the whole UK. Warwick if you're looking for PhD since it has great prestige in the academic world.

Can't go wrong with either!

Reply 3

aankhi

Original post by Thinker03

Manchester's second in UK and first in England for research in Computer Science, so a research PhD there would be better, right? I'm not having a go at you, I'm just asking for the sake of my knowledge.

OP: I would say - "Go to Manchester!" because I'm plain biased, so I won't go into that. Both are good, decide where you want to be over the next few years :smile:

Reply 4

FinalMH

Original post by aankhi

He's talking about OVERALL prestige

OP Warwick.

I would also like to point out that in terms of research Manchester is higher (RAE) but if you look at multiply university guides they place Manchester in 10 - 20. Even through it has great research doesn't mean it is the best places to study it :smile:

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 5

Artifical_Neuron

Original post by FinalMH

Manchester does badly in home tables only because it has the biggest CS department in terms of students and therefore does badly in the student satisfaction, entry tariff, student per staff ratio and other subjective and meaningless measures.

One example:
Oxford has 120 students and Manchester has 720 in its department. 50% of the people go into "great" jobs from Oxford and only 10% from Manchester get a "great" job. As a result 60 People from Oxford get the "great" job and 72(more people) get a "great job" from Manchester. All of these people had A's on A-levels. So it really didn't matter where they would have gotten their education.

Because of the variety of students in Manchester, ranging from highly qualified to very poorly qualified, the university is not doing well in home tables. Despite that, if you want to study, get a great job and do great in life you can't go wrong with Manchester. The only problem with the university is that the majority of people will not think like you, but this has some positive aspects too.

The university however does very well on the international league tables because they take into account the quality of the course and how respected it is among academic circuits and employers. As a result Manchester is 31th in the world and only 5th behind Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial and Edinburgh in the UK(Computer Science).

Warwick is a very good university, especially for finance, statistics and some other mathematics courses, but it is not really as good as Manchester in the field of Computer Science.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 6

Dreizhen

Original post by Artifical_Neuron

The university however does very well on the international league tables because they take into account the quality of the course and how respected it is among academic circuits and employers. As a result Manchester is 31th in the world and only 5th behind Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial and Edinburgh in the UK(Computer Science).

Yeah, but the same table puts King's ahead of UCL AND Warwick! Which would be awesome if it was true, but I just...don't see it...

Reply 7

aankhi

Original post by FinalMH

I think the word 'prestige' is too subjective. The UK league tables don't look at the course content, they look at only statistical things like student satisfaction, graduate prospect, entry standards, etc. (ignoring research as it is irrelevant for UG studies). Student satisfaction for CS, going by this, shows that Warwick and Manchester are equal, the entry standards for Manchester is lower (not, by any means, low) because it is a much larger class and Artificial Neuron has explained the graduate prospect factor well.

At the same time, international rankings look at things like academic reputation, employer reputation and research (yet again, we agree that it is irrelevant). For Computer Science, Manchester is 31 and Warwick is 51-100 according to QS CS ranking 2011 and Manchester is 42 in ARWU - CS, while Warwick isn't in the top 100 there.

Since you spoke of 'overall prestige' of Warwick being greater, perhaps it is so in the minds of other students - which is irrelevant in the real world. Warwick isn't in the top 200 universities in the world according to THE, it is 23 places below Manchester in the QS ranking and not in the top150 in ARWU (where Manchester is 44).

With that, I don't mean to demean Warwick, it is a very good university, I admit. University rankings are not the end-all and be-all (then we would lose all our jobs to Oxbridge students). I think the OP should decide on where (s)he wants to live over the next few years, for if a student is not happy where (s)he is, they would not be able to do well. What matters even more than choosing the 'more prestigious' university is graduating with the best grades possible. Furthermore, OP should look into the course content of both the universities and choose what (s)he finds more interesting.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 8

FinalMH

Original post by aankhi

What you said in your last post was really biased so i thought i would add unbiased opinion towards the thread. (Post 4)

One thing i don't understand is why you continue to show "research tables" :s-smilie:

they have noting to do with UG degree's (which you did point out) so they are irrelevant.

http://www.highfliers.co.uk/download/GMReport11.pdf

This is survey carried out by 2000 major employees in the UK, its shows that Warwick is the 2nd sort after uni for Jobs, with Manchester been 3rd.

Even though Warwick is not international known it is the second sort after degree.

I am noway saying that the OP should go to Warwick, either university he choose would be good choices and would not in no way affect his career path.

The OP should go look at both uni's and have in detail look at both courses and decide which one he prefers.

Reply 9

aankhi

Original post by FinalMH

In post #4, I asked a question to Thinker03 and mentioned that I won't advise the OP on this matter BECAUSE I know that I am biased.

I did not mean to attack you by my last post, I'm sorry (if) it sounded that way, but I wanted to make a point. Also, they are not 'research tables' like RAE, they take into consideration other factors too. Frankly, I think tables are BS and I look at them only to assert whether the university is famous enough to be given credit in my country (I'm international). I also think the prestige factor is overrated - good grades = good job, by the time we graduate, the tables will have changed. :redface:

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 10

Tastyburger4

Hi again,

Sorry its been so long since the first post, been doing exams..

So I basically thought it through and chose manchester in the end. Yes Warwick is slightly more prestigious but for computer science manchester is definitely more reputable. It also has a world ranking of 30 (http://www.topuniversities.com/institution/university-manchester/wur) while warwick is about 53 or something. Manchester also seems to be in its prime as its really trying to make a name for itself at the moment.

I found that link of FINALMH really usefull : http://www.highfliers.co.uk/download/GMReport11.pdf
It shows what employers are looking for and how certain job sectors are doing in the world right now.

Another benefit manchester had which warwick didnt was that they really help you out if you want to do industrial placement. Apparently they have a site where all the companies post their vacancies and they correspond with them for you so that you get a place. Warwick do not help you with this and for an industrial placement you need to find it yourself.

Last but not least the city. I love the city of manchester, it seems quite young and alive and theres always something going. I've visited both universities about 2 months ago and manchester seemed like the place to be.

Also the fact that companies seem to love manchester graduates is also a plus.

Thanks for all the input, I've asked this question several times before and never really got some good feedback! :smile:

GOOD LUCK FOR THE FUTURE!!!
Andrew

Reply 11

aankhi

Original post by Ellul92

GOOD LUCK FOR THE FUTURE!!!
Andrew

Great move, future classmate! :wink:

Reply 12

Tastyburger4

Original post by aankhi

Great move, future classmate! :wink:

YEAH! Are you going for computer science also? Got my last exam coming up, this is the decider...

Btw where did you apply for accommodation? I'm applying now, think its late?

Reply 13

Thinker03

Original post by Ellul92

YEAH! Are you going for computer science also? Got my last exam coming up, this is the decider...

Btw where did you apply for accommodation? I'm applying now, think its late?

Nope, as long as it's before August you'll most probably get what you want. Even when the course begins you can still find nice accommodations!

Reply 14

aankhi

Original post by Ellul92

YEAH! Are you going for computer science also? Got my last exam coming up, this is the decider...

Btw where did you apply for accommodation? I'm applying now, think its late?

Well, I do have an offer for CS, but waiting for results.

I know a lot of people who have already applied for accommodation and also people who haven't, so I think you should be fine :smile:

I wanted a catered for the first year so my choices are Ashburne hall (twice) and Woolton hall. You could check out the accommodation thread in the UoM forum. :smile: