Computer Science in UK?

I'm currently trying to decide my first choice, if all goes to plans my grades will be ;

HNC - A
Scottish Highers - AAAA or AAAB
Adv. Higher - A

What are some of the better CS universities, outside Oxbridge, I don't like to use the rankings as gospel due to the massive disparity in positions depending which organisation you use, i.e. Edinburgh is ranked 20th university in the world on one site and upper 100s on another --

-- so asking CS students here directly, in Scotland as well that'd be a plus?

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 1

St Andrews CompSci

5

Have you considered studying at St Andrews? If one of your Highers or your Advanced Higher is in Maths, then you would meet our minimum requirements and be considered for entry. As you note, the rankings can vary widely, but Computer Science at St Andrews was ranked top in Scotland in all of this year's UK tables.

I shall keep quiet now as you have asked to hear from students, rather than Admissions Tutors! But if you do have any questions, please take a look at our web pages for prospective applicants or contact us.

Reply 2

domcruz

OP

Original post by St Andrews CompSci

Have you considered studying at St Andrews? If one of your Highers or your Advanced Higher is in Maths, then you would meet our minimum requirements and be considered for entry. As you note, the rankings can vary widely, but Computer Science at St Andrews was ranked top in Scotland in all of this year's UK tables.

I shall keep quiet now as you have asked to hear from students, rather than Admissions Tutors! But if you do have any questions, please take a look at our web pages for prospective applicants or contact us.

Thank you, in my mind it was between St. Andrews & Edinburgh. Obviously both excellent universities, just a matter of course specifics. Not saying I am not open to other Scottish universities, but these two seem to rank consistently at the top.

Also:
http://www.topuniversities.com/institution/university-st-andrews/wur
http://www.topuniversities.com/institution/university-edinburgh/wur

Is QS not recognised by St Andrews as a reliable table?

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 3

Iqbal007

19

Original post by domcruz

I'm currently trying to decide my first choice, if all goes to plans my grades will be ;

HNC - A
Scottish Highers - AAAA or AAAB
Adv. Higher - A

What are some of the better CS universities, outside Oxbridge, I don't like to use the rankings as gospel due to the massive disparity in positions depending which organisation you use, i.e. Edinburgh is ranked 20th university in the world on one site and upper 100s on another --

-- so asking CS students here directly, in Scotland as well that'd be a plus?

Imperial and UCL are rated very highly :smile:

Reply 4

St Andrews CompSci

5

Original post by domcruz

Also:
http://www.topuniversities.com/institution/university-st-andrews/wur
http://www.topuniversities.com/institution/university-edinburgh/wur

Is QS not recognised by St Andrews as a reliable table?

St Andrews does not do well in some league tables due to their methodologies, which can sometimes penalise a small institution such as ourselves. We tend to point our undergraduate applicants towards tables such as the Guardian's that emphasise the undergraduate experience.

But rather than discuss the merits of the various tables, I would encourage you to visit us if you are interested in applying. Speaking to current students and staff, and seeing the University and town for itself, is one of the best ways to decide if a course is for you.

Reply 5

Stefanb

8

Original post by domcruz

I'm currently trying to decide my first choice, if all goes to plans my grades will be ;

HNC - A
Scottish Highers - AAAA or AAAB
Adv. Higher - A

What are some of the better CS universities, outside Oxbridge, I don't like to use the rankings as gospel due to the massive disparity in positions depending which organisation you use, i.e. Edinburgh is ranked 20th university in the world on one site and upper 100s on another --

-- so asking CS students here directly, in Scotland as well that'd be a plus?

Imo Edinburgh, St andrews then Glasgow if you're studying in Scotland. I'm first year at Glasgow and love it although I'm only a couple of weeks in. From what I've heard though Edinburghs the place to be :smile:

Reply 6

agrigoroi

Uni of Manchester is also a good choice. I like their curriculum a lot and think it is more practical than at other universities. Every year there is a team project where you should make (divided in teams) a working website/application etc (what it will be (and how complex) is up to you). It teaches you the real world of programming and also a lot about of team-work, project-management, task-division etc! Also in the third year you have a lot of business courses (i think 2 or 3).

P.S. they are low in the UK ratings, but are quite high in the international ones. Seems strange :smile:

Reply 7

laeof

14

If you have any questions about Edinburgh, feel free to PM me or w.e.

I chose Edinburgh of all Scottish Universities mostly because of the fact it offers the best research in the UK (in CS by FAR)...However I suppose research doesn't much matter when you are an Undergraduate - it was just something that was important to me. It has good Stanford and CMU links too and i've had a few emails about opportunities to go to CMU for the summer for courses etc during my time here. Also i just absolutely fell in love with the city. I love the fact it's a city but ten mins and you're in the country side, i find the place generally very peaceful and people very friendly. The views when driving around/busing around Edinburgh are amazing...Can't think of many other universities I saw that you can see 'mountain type things' in the background when you're driving around! Edinburgh festival is also awesome for the Summers if you're here but it can be distracting if you need to do retakes in August when it's on and the city is just buuuuuzzzzzing with shows etc going on.

Glasgow has better night-life however if that's what you're after.

St Andrews as far as i'm aware is very quiet and there's not much night-life but apparently their CS department is very shiny! (can't vouch for this).

I've not visited either Glasgow University or St Andrews so cannot compare.

All three have a great CS department.

Other great Universities in CS:
- York(Campus University so quite a different life to non-campus ones).
- Southampton
- Imperial
- Bath
- Bristol
- Sheffield
- Warwick(Campus University so quite a different life to non-campus ones).

I visited York, Sheffield, Southampton, Warwick, Lancaster so not sure which of the others are 'campus' type ones. Soton is semi-campus.

As someone said, Manchester is also a good University for CS although usually always ranked low and i'm not sure why. Their department from a friend i heard is awesome and so is their research.

Anything you're particularly after for University? Night-life, location, Societies etc?

Reply 8

f1mad

13

Original post by AshleyT

...

As someone said, Manchester is also a good University for CS although usually always ranked low and i'm not sure why. Their department from a friend i heard is awesome and so is their research.

Anything you're particularly after for University? Night-life, location, Societies etc?